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, TSN's commentator Vic Rauter announces his retirement; ESPN's 2026 MLB broadcast team announced for the season; and more.NBA and Kenny Beecham's Enjoy Basketball Launch Multi-Platform Partnership Featuring Original Trivia Series, Alt-Casts, and NBA TV Appearances
Enjoy Basketball, the digital media and lifestyle company co-founded by YouTube creator Kenny Beecham, announced a partnership with the NBA to produce a three-episode original content series called the Trivia Show to be distributed on the NBA App and Enjoy Basketball's YouTube channels.
The partnership expands the collaboration between Enjoy Basketball and the NBA, demonstrating the league's commitment to original creator-led basketball content and digital programming.
The Trivia Show episodes will be roughly 45-minutes each and feature Enjoy Basketball talent, such as Kenny Beecham, Pierre Andresen, Mike Heard, and Darrick Miller answering a series of basketball-related trivia questions. Viewers will have the opportunity to play along and compare their scores with the creators for an interactive and engaging experience.
Enjoy Basketball talent will make guest appearances on NBA TV programs, including The Association, The Association: Weekend, and The Warm-Up.
Talent will be featured analysts in an alt-cast of a live-streamed regular season NBA game for the NBA App and NBA League Pass.
Enjoy talent will appear at this year's NBA Creator Cup at 2026 Summer League
To promote the partnership and drive engagement, Enjoy Basketball and the NBA will post clips, teasers, and other promotional material from these programs on their social media channels.
The partnership with the NBA comes on the heels off several high-profile partnerships that underscore how the media landscape is embracing digital voices shaping the modern basketball conversation, including:
Enjoy Basketball's recent partnership with NBC Sports to bring its popular basketball podcasts to NBCUniversal's streaming channels, Peacock, and NBC Sports NOW.
Partnering with the NBA's Charlotte Hornets to produce the first episode of a new series, Access Granted that delivered all-access, original content centered on their rookie class, including interviews with Kon Knueppel, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Sion James, and Liam McNeeley.
ESPN to Stream Inaugural Rock League Curling Season
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock League event begins Monday, April 6 at noon ET at the TMU Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, concluding with the finals at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 12.
The launch event features 60 athletes, including 39 who competed at the 2026 Winter Olympics, 25 of whom earned medals. The roster includes 36 Grand Slam champions representing 12 countries.
We built Rock League to showcase the best men's and women's curlers on the planet, says Nic Sulsky, Co-Founder and CEO, The Curling Group. Coming off the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, the timing couldn't be better for the launch of the sport's first professional league. ESPN allows Rock League to nurture and expand our growing audience in America while providing our fans with the most optimal viewing and fan experience possible.
Six franchises will compete in the seven-day preview season: Alpine Curling Club, Frontier Curling Club, Maple United, Northern United, Shield Curling Club, and Typhoon Curling Club. Each franchise has five men's and five women's curlers competing in men's, women's, mixed, and mixed doubles formats.
Broadcast team:
Play-by-play: John Cullen and Tyler George
Analysts: Jennifer Jones, Joanne Courtney, Mike Harris, and Chelsea Carey
On-ice hosts: Devin Heroux and Matt Hamilton
TNT Sports and CBS Sports to Reunite Michigan's Iconic Fab Five for Special NCAA Men's Final Four Altcast on truTV & HBO MaxTNT Sports and CBS Sports will reunite Michigan's iconic Fab Five - Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson - for a special alternate presentation of the Michigan-Arizona NCAA Men's Final Four National Semifinal on Saturday, April 4, airing on truTV and HBO Max. The Michigan-Arizona matchup will also be available via the traditional game broadcast across TBS, TNT and HBO Max.
All five members of Michigan's 1991 recruiting class will be together on-site in Indianapolis - one of only a handful of times they have reunited in more than three decades - offering a rare, collective perspective from one of the most culturally influential teams in college basketball history. Webber, Rose, Howard, King, and Jackson will join host Adam Lefkoe to share real-time reactions, unique perspectives on the game, and untold stories and candid reflections from their historic run at Michigan.
The Fab Five revolutionized college basketball upon arriving together as freshmen in 1991, quickly emerging as both an elite program and a significant cultural force. The group led the Wolverines to consecutive national championship game appearances in 1992 and 1993.
MVP Announces MVPW On-Air TalentMost Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced the U.S. and global on-air talent lineup for MVPW, the new year-round global platform for women's boxing, with championship bouts on every card. MVP has partnered with ESPN and Sky Sports to deliver MVPW events across the U.S. and UK.
Crystina Poncher, the top female announcer in boxing, will serve as lead blow-by-blow commentator and host for all MVPW events, beginning with MVPW-01 live on ESPN on Sunday, April 5. MVP
