Seen on Screen: ESPN's NFL Live To Relaunch With New Team in August; NBA, Formula 1 Brace for Return to Play By SVG Staff
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 - 10:09 am
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Seen on Screen provides a roundup of the current sports programming landscape as networks deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In this week's edition, major networks like NBC Sports, Fox Sports, and ESPN are combating the silence of no live sports with previously-released, taped, or archival content. Many networks have also continued producing live studio content - often with on-air talent located remotely.
ESPN will relaunch NFL Live, the year-round weekday NFL news and information show, in August with new host Laura Rutledge and a consistent roster of daily analysts that features Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky, Keyshawn Johnson, and Mina Kimes, who moves into a new NFL analyst role.
NFL analyst Ryan Clark will join NFL Live on Fridays. In addition, ESPN NFL reporters, insiders and news-breakers Jeff Darlington, Dan Graziano, Kimberley A. Martin, Chris Mortensen, Louis Riddick, Dianna Russini, Adam Schefter, and others will continue to contribute to the weekday show.
Rutledge joined the company as an SEC Network reporter in 2014 and has consistently expanded her portfolio of responsibilities across ESPN and SEC Network over the past six years, most recently joining Get Up as a permanent contributor last fall. Rutledge has hosted SEC Network's Saturday college football pregame show, SEC Nation, the past three years - a role she will continue doing in addition to hosting NFL Live. Rutledge has also contributed to live-event programming for college football, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, and softball and been a mainstay in ESPN's championship event coverage, including the College Football Playoff.
In addition to Rutledge, NFL Live will now feature a consistent panel of analysts throughout the week.
Spears, who has signed a new multi-year ESPN extension, will now appear daily on NFL Live as he moves into a pro football-centric analyst role. The eight-year NFL defensive end originally joined SEC Network in 2014 and has worked with Rutledge for years on both SEC Nation and Get Up. Spears debuted on NFL Live last fall in addition to traveling to SEC Nation and appearing regularly on Get Up, SportsCenter, First Take, and other shows.
Orlovsky, who played 12 NFL seasons at quarterback, will now appear daily on NFL Live, while continuing to call a weekly college football game for ESPN and ABC. Orlovsky, who joined the company in 2018 and began appearing on NFL Live a year ago, has worked consistently with both Rutledge and Spears on Get Up. He and Spears also developed a great rapport working together the past year on NFL Live.
Kimes, who has been widely praised for her NFL feature writing and football analysis on ESPN Digital and Audio platforms the past six years, moves into a new NFL analyst role. She will appear on NFL Live while continuing to host The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny football podcast. She will also continue to write for ESPN.com and contribute to programs like Around the Horn and Highly Questionable. During the NFL offseason, Kimes will continue to be a contributor to the ESPN Daily podcast which she launched as the host in October 2019.
Johnson, who has signed a new multi-year extension, will continue to have a host role on ESPN Radio while also making regular appearances as an analyst on NFL Live. A Super Bowl champion and 11-year NFL wide receiver, Johnson was a member of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown pregame shows from 2007-2015. The past four years, he has served as a Los Angeles-based analyst in addition to co-hosting the Mornings with Keyshawn, LZ, and Travis radio show on ESPN LA 710.
Spears, Orlovsky, Kimes, and Johnson will all continue to appear on Get Up, SportsCenter, First Take, and more in addition to NFL Live
ESPN and ABC will combine to televise 20 live NBA seeding games from Walt Disney World Resort starting Friday, July 31. The opening stretch will include 10 live game telecasts in ESPN's first four days of the season resuming. As part of its seeding games slate, ESPN will carry three conclusive NBA games on Friday, August 14, which is the last night of the regular season before the NBA Playoffs begin.
ESPN's coverage resumes on July 31, when the Boston Celtics and Jayson Tatum take on the first place Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo at 6:30 p.m. ET. In addition, the Houston Rockets and James Harden will battle the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James will square off with the Defending NBA Champion Toronto Raptors on Sunday, August 1, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
The NBA on ABC resumes on Sunday, August 2, with two blockbuster matchups. The Bucks will collide with the Rockets in prime time at 8:30 p.m., while the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard battle the Celtics at 3:30 p.m. in a special matinee broadcast. All NBA games on ESPN and ABC are also available to stream via the ESPN App.
Click here for the full schedule of seeding games
Turner Sports, in its 36th consecutive year of NBA coverage, will tip off the league's comeback with a blockbuster NBA on TNT doubleheader, Thursday, July 30. In the NBA's first regular season game since March, the New Orleans Pelicans and rookie standout Zion Williamson will take on the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell at 6:30 p.m. ET. Two of the Western Conference's top teams will follow - the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis vs. the LA Clippers with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George - at 9 p.m.
TNT will present a total of 18 games, highlighted by Tuesday doubleheaders and Thursday tripleheaders throughout the remainder of the regular season,
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Seen on Screen: ESPN's NFL Live To Relaunch With New Team in August; NBA, Formula 1 Brace for Return to Play By SVG Staff 
