Behind the Mic: Keith Olbermann Back at ESPN; Actor Anthony Anderson To Host 2018 NBA Awards on TNT
01/06/2018
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 8:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, Keith Olbermann receives more responsibilities in another stint at ESPN, Anthony Anderson hosts the 2018 NBA Awards on TNT, Danica Patrick emcees the 2018 ESPYS, Poker Central appoints Ali Nejad, Lon McEachern, and Norman Chad as the broadcast team of the World Series of Poker, ESPN hires Lindsey Thiry to cover the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and reassigns Alden Gonzalez to a new multimedia role, Ariel Helwani is pegged as ESPN's newest reporter to their MMA initiative, Kate Abdo will head Turner and Bleacher Report's involvement in the UEFA Champions League, and ESPN broadens reporting duties for Louis Riddick in addition to hiring John Fox as an analyst.
Keith Olbermann guest co-hosting ESPN's Pardon the Interruption
Keith Olbermann will expand his existing ESPN role by making additional appearances across ESPN platforms and programs in 2018 as part of a new agreement. Olbermann, who has contributed to various ESPN shows since January, will combine select studio assignments with on-site opportunities, including radio play-by-play. On SportsCenter, he will continue to develop regular features on timely and historical topics. Olbermann will also guest anchor approximately 20 special editions of the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter throughout the year.
Olbermann will take on select MLB studio and game assignments, including play-by-play for a few games as well as a handful of studio hosting responsibilities on Baseball Tonight and cut-ins/highlights within game telecasts. Additionally, he will be on site at the MLB All-Star Game and hosting segments for SportsCenter. He will also host SportsCenter segments during the MLB post-season, including the World Series.
As he has done in recent weeks, Olbermann will co-host a handful of editions of PTI and will make guest appearances on Outside the Lines with host Bob Ley. Olbermann is expected to make appearances as both a guest host and a call-in guest on various ESPN Audio programs.
Prior to his latest ESPN role, which began in January, Olbermann hosted ESPN2's daily series Olbermann from 2013 to 2015. He had other stints working for ESPN over the years, most notably as SportsCenter anchor from 1992 to 1997
Turner and the NBA announced that comedy and sports will collide as Anthony Anderson will take the helm as host for the 2018 NBA Awards on TNT presented by Kia airing Monday, June 25 with coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET. This year's event - presented live from historic Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. - will honor all of the league's top performers from the 2017-18 NBA season including the exclusive unveiling of the Kia NBA MVP, Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement Award. Anderson's career spans roles across film and television including the sitcom black-ish, the game show To Tell the Truth, Barbershop: the Next Cut, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Additionally, Inside the NBA studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal will be integrated throughout the show
The 2018 ESPYS Presented by Capital One will be hosted by motorsports pioneer Danica Patrick. The trailblazing racecar driver, who retired from racing following the Indianapolis 500, will be joined by top celebrities from sports and entertainment to commemorate the past year in sports by recognizing major sports achievements, reliving unforgettable moments, and saluting the leading performers and performances. The ESPYS will be broadcast live on ABC on Wednesday, July 18, at 8 p.m. ET from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Patrick has been a mainstay at the awards show over the years due to her successful career on the track, and somewhat unsurprisingly holds another record for most consecutive years in attendance by any athlete: 13
Poker Central revealed the broadcast talent for its World Series of Poker (WSOP) coverage, which will stream live on its OTT subscription platform PokerGO from June 2 - July 17. Long-time poker personality Ali Nejad - best known as the voice of Poker Central's Poker After Dark - will anchor play-by-play duties throughout the bracelet events with guest play-by-play from the voice of the World Series of Poker, ESPN's Lon McEachern. The team will also be joined by a rotating cast of color commentators, including longtime ESPN color commentator, Norman Chad, with additional names to be announced on an event-by-event basis
ESPN has hired reporter Lindsey Thiry to cover the Los Angeles Rams, while former NFL Nation team reporter Alden Gonzalez moves into a new multimedia reporter role. Thiry joins ESPN from the Los Angeles Times where she worked as a multimedia sports reporter the past four years - covering the Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC, and UCLA. Gonzalez has covered the Rams as an NFL Nation team reporter for ESPN since he joined the company in 2016. He has also contributed to editions of SportsCenter and ESPN's NFL shows, written features across multiple sports for ESPN.com, and assisted with coverage of the NFL's games in Mexico City .
Award-winning mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist and host Ariel Helwani will join ESPN in June to cover the MMA world. Helwani will have several roles at ESPN -co-hosting Ariel & The Bad Guy, a new weekly MMA program on ESPN+, hosting an ongoing podcast Ariel Helwani's MMA Show and reporting for MMA across ESPN digital media and television platf
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
09/05/2024
Rohde & Schwarz showcases operational efficiency at MPTS
Rohde & Schwarz showcases operational efficiency at MPTS Uncompromised quality and reliability coupled with simplicity and efficiency Rohde & Schwarz will ...
08/05/2024
Saved! and Rudo y Cursi Among Films With May Anniversaries
Diego Luna's character Beto aims to play professional soccer in Carlos Cuar n's film Rudo y Cursi....
08/05/2024
SGL Carbon: Focus on global growth trends pays off
SGL Carbon had a solid start to the first quarter of 2024. Despite the slight decline in sales of 3.9% to 272.6 million (Q1 2023: 283.7 million), adjusted EBI...
08/05/2024
The results are in from Malm Arena as Semi Final 1 participants move through to the Grand Final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest
The results are in from Malm Arena as Semi Final 1 participants move through to...
08/05/2024
Powerful NITV documentary Kindred to premiere during Reconciliation Week
Powerful NITV documentary Kindred to premiere during Reconciliation Week Media releases A journey of family, friendship and home *Watch the trailer here* ...
08/05/2024
Aerojet Rocketdyne Selected by DoD to Demonstrate Powder-in, Engine-out Hypersonic Propulsion Manufacturing
Aerojet Rocketdyne delivers a broad range of capabilities to support hypersonic ...
08/05/2024
L3Harris is Advancing the Future Fleet by Delivering Integrated Solutions
Selected by Fincantieri Marinette Marine, L3Harris is the shipboard design integrator and a key partner on the Fincantieri team for delivering critical subsyste...
08/05/2024
EditShare Goes Beyond Storage at MPTS
EditShare Goes Beyond Storage at MPTS Workflow, server and delivery solutions from storyboard to screen Stand D40, London Olympia, May 15-16, 2024 - EditShar...
08/05/2024
Tegna, Indiana Fever Expand Broadcast Distribution to 11 Additional Markets
TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. and the Indiana Fever have announced they have expanded the broadcast distribution of 17 Fever WNBA games to 11 additional markets....
08/05/2024
Comcast Business Boosts Internet Speeds
PHILADELPHIA Comcast Business has increased Internet speeds for customers, nationwide, at no additional cost and has introduced its fastest Internet plans yet ...
08/05/2024
Clear-Com to Showcase Cutting-Edge Communication Solution...
Clear-Com , a renowned provider of professional real-time communication solutions, is thrilled to announce its participation at InfoComm 2024, the largest profe...
08/05/2024
MRMC Achieves its Second Kings Award for Enterprise
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a Nikon company, is one of the 252 organisations recognised with a prestigious King's Award for Enterprise. Announced to...
08/05/2024
EditShare goes beyond storage at MPTS
EditShare, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative workflows at every stage from storyboard to screen, is exhibiting ...
08/05/2024
Magnifi and Linius Fuse Live and Archive Content to Redef...
Magnifi by VideoVerse an AI-driven video technology company and powerful video-editing SaaS platform is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Linius ...
08/05/2024
NVIDIA RTX GPU Connects DaVinci Resolve to Power
NVIDIA RTX GPU Connects DaVinci Resolve to Power Brie Clayton May 8, 2024 0 Comments Two of the most important questions that the Creative COW audienc...
08/05/2024
Q&A with Visiting Artist Lei Liang
Q&A with Visiting Artist Lei Liang The acclaimed composer discusses his collaboration with Boston Conservatory, his work as a research artist, and what it mea...
08/05/2024
More Stations in San Antonio Launch NextGen TV Broadcasts
A second group of stations has begun broadcasting NextGen TV signals in San Antonio, Texas....
08/05/2024
NBC Orders More Deal or No Deal Island'
NBC has ordered a second season of unscripted Deal or No Deal Island. Joe Manganiello hosts, and executive produces alongside Howie Mandel. Manganiello will ret...
08/05/2024
Tegna Names Greg Retsinas GM At KGW, Portland, Oregon
Tegna said it named Greg Retsinas as president and general manager of KGW, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon, effective June 3....
08/05/2024
Measurement Company Comscore Posts $5.2 Million Loss in 1st Quarter
Comscore lost money in the first quarter as weak linear ad sales impacted its cross-platform measurement business....
08/05/2024
Funny Business as NBC Orders Happy's Place,' Renews Lopez vs. Lopez'
NBC said it bolstered its comedy slate by renewing Lopez vs. Lopez and ordering Happy's Place, starring Reba McEntire....
08/05/2024
Knuckles' Knocks Fallout' From Top of TVision Power Score Rankings
Paramount Plus's Knuckles knocked Amazon Prime Video's Fallout out of the top spot in TVision's Power Score ranking of the top show on connected TV ...
08/05/2024
Tegna Adds 11 Markets To Lineup for Indiana Fever Games
Tegna, which made a deal to broadcast 17 Indiana Fever games featuring top WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark, said it made deals that will put the games on stations...
08/05/2024
EchoStar Loses 348,000 Pay TV Subs in 1st Quarter
EchoStar said it lost another 348,000 pay TV subscribers so far this year, closing the first quarter with 8.18 million subscribers. That total includes 6.26 mil...
08/05/2024
Fox Has Net Income of $666 Million in 3rd Quarter
Fox reported a profit for its fiscal third quarter....
08/05/2024
IPG's Kinesso Unit Adds Senior Executives to Lineup
Kinesso, the centralized tech and data unit at media agency IPG Mediabrands, named Tom Amies-Cull as global chief operating officer and Amie Owen as global chie...
08/05/2024
Post production houses adopt Cleanfeed Cinema solution
The solutions in-browser stream focuses on low latency, making it suited to low bandwidth scenarios By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 The solutio...
08/05/2024
TAG unveils subtitling language detection feature
Driven by algorithms, the solution performs a quality analysis informed by language-specific dictionaries By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 Drive...
08/05/2024
Mobilelinks acquires 2 SAT Europe to increase SNG truck fleet
The increase in fleet size will reduce travel distances, aligning with sustainability goals, said Mobilelinks By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 T...
08/05/2024
Arqiva adds Caroline Cardozo and James Lelyveld to technology team
The company said the new arrivals would drive collaboration and technological transformation across key business units By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, ...
08/05/2024
Actus Digital Set to Shine at CABSAT and Broadcast Asia
Following a successful NAB Las Vegas 2024 and winning a Best of Show Award, Actus Digital, a leading provider of Intelligent Monitoring Platforms, will bring it...
08/05/2024
TAG Revolutionizes Closed Captions and Subtitles Quality...
TAG Video Systems, a leading force in video monitoring solutions, has developed a new Language Detection feature set to transform how operators ensure quality a...
08/05/2024
Pliant Technologies Unveils New SmartBoom LITE Headset at...
Pliant Technologies, a leading provider of professional wireless intercom solutions,presents its new SmartBoom LITE Headset at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C5116). The ...
08/05/2024
Prism Sound Showcases High-Quality Audio Conversion at MP...
At the Media Production & Technology Show 2024, Prism Sound will showcase high-quality audio conversion products designed to suit the demands of professional us...
08/05/2024
Julian Day Joins FooEngine
Soho stalwart Julian Day has joined FooEngine as Business Development Director after 13 years at ZOO Digital. Julian has been at the heart of the London post pr...
08/05/2024
Cleanfeed Cinema Redefines Audio Post Production Workflow...
Following its successful launch at NAB 2024, Cleanfeed Cinema - the latest remote recording innovation from Emmy Award-winning Cleanfeed - is already helping au...
08/05/2024
DHD to Showcase New Product Line-up at MPTS 2024
DHD's range of digital broadcast equipment, systems and related software will be promoted on stand D22 at the Media Production & Technology Show by UK-regio...
08/05/2024
MSP CloudReso selects Cubbit hyper-resilient DS3 distribu...
Cubbit, the innovator behind Europe's first distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced that CloudReso, a France-based distributor of MSP security so...
08/05/2024
MwareTV boosts Americas presence with Daniel Conde Coto
MwareTV, a prominent cloud-based multi-tenant platform provider, has attracted Daniel Conde Coto to join the company as director, sales operations. This is a si...
08/05/2024
LiveU Demonstrates its Efficient IP-Video Workflows for L...
In a year set to see record-breaking IP-video adoption, with over 70 elections and global sports events, LiveU heads to Broadcast Asia 2024 with a focus on its ...
08/05/2024
nxtedition Showcases a Fully Automated AR Studio Gallery...
Pioneers in microservices-based production environments, nxtedition, will demonstrate the latest advances in storytelling technology at the Media Production & T...
08/05/2024
MPTS 2024 - Leader and PHABRIX to showcase multiple new T...
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced that it will again exhibit at The Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), which tak...
08/05/2024
Livepeer Studio cuts the cost of live streaming and trans...
Livepeer Studio unveils a revolutionary video streaming platform offering an unprecedented combination of quality and cost-efficiency to content creators, media...
08/05/2024
Ikegami to Demonstrate Complete Broadcast Media Productio...
Ikegami Electronics (Europe) will demonstrate a complete broadcast media production system on stand S1-A15 at CABSAT 2024 in Dubai, Tuesday May 21 through Thurs...
08/05/2024
Experience Commerce Bags Digital Agency Mandate for SAVSO...
Experience Commerce (EC), a leading digital agency within the Cheil Network, is pleased to announce that it has won the digital mandate for SAVSOL, the flagship...
08/05/2024
Global Telecom & Pay TV Services Market to Slowdown in 2024
NEEDHAM, Mass. The International Data Corporation is predicting that worldwide spending on telecom services and pay TV services will increase by 1.4% in 2024 to...
08/05/2024
Apple Unveils New iPad Live Multicam Production Studio
CUPERTINO, Calif. In a notable development for news and live video production, Apple has unveiled a number of significant upgrades to its Final Cut Pro software...
08/05/2024
Pliant Technologies to Showcase New Smartboom Lite Headset at InfoComm 2024
Pliant Technologies has announced that it will be presenting its new SmartBoom LITE Headset at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C5116). The latest updates include enhanceme...