Behind the Mic: Ray Lewis Joins Fox Sports; Jerry Remy Taking Break at NESN for Cancer Treatment

Behind the Mic: Ray Lewis Joins Fox Sports; Jerry Remy Taking Break at NESN for Cancer Treatment By Brittany Berke, Assistant Editor

Tuesday, June 20, 2017 - 8:32 am

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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, Ray Lewis heads to Fox Sports, Chiney Ogwumike joins ESPN in sub-Saharan Africa, Jerry Remy take a break from NESN due to recurrence of lung cancer, Bellator Re-ups Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo and brings Brendan Schaub aboard, and Fox Sports unveils its talent roster for the Confederations Cup.

Two-time Super Bowl Champion, two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year and 13-Time NFL Pro-Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis has joined FOX Sports, serving as NFL contributor to several key studio shows across FS1 and FOX Sports' digital platforms in 2017. The future Hall of Famer will appear regularly on FS1 daily studio shows including Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, The Herd With Colin Cowherd, Speak For Yourself as well as First Things First With Cris Carter and Nick Wright, a brand new daily studio show for FS1, premiering Tuesday, Sept. 5. (Fox Sports)

Boston Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy announced Monday that he will soon start treatment after a recurrence of lung cancer. Remy was treated for lung cancer on three prior occasions. Remy told The Boston Globe that will undergo surgery to remove a small triangular area of the impacted lung after the Red Sox conclude a road trip on June 21. Remy said he expects to return to the broadcast booth, where he's served as an analyst for Red Sox games on NESN since 1988, in three to four weeks. (USA Today)

Chiney Ogwumike, the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year, All-Star and former first overall pick in the WNBA draft, has joined ESPN as the co-host of SportsCenter across sub-Saharan Africa. Ogwumike, who earlier this year signed a multi-year extension with the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, will co-host the African edition of SportsCenter. Ogwumike joins co-host Phil Murphy on SportsCenter in Africa, bringing sports fans across 19 sub-Saharan nations a nightly look at the latest in International and American sports news, highlights and updates in the program's signature fast-paced format. The daily edition of the iconic program is produced for the ESPN channel on the Kwes television platform as part of a long-term multimedia collaboration between Econet Media and ESPN and also provides video segments on the co-branded Kwese ESPN website and app across Africa (ESPN)

Brendan Schaub, a former professional MMA fighter and football player, host of the popular MMA podcast Big Brown Breakdown and co-host of the hit podcast Fighter and the Kid , will serve as co-host for Spike TV's LIVE pre-show leading into Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva, from New York's legendary Madison Square Garden on June 24. Schaub will join Bellator host, Jenn Brown, in the broadcast booth and will offer insight and analysis for all the fights on Spike's stacked Bellator 180: Davis vs. Bader card leading into the biggest event in the promotion's history, Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva. Additionally, Schaub will be featured in original Bellator digital content in advance of the event. (Fightful)

Bellator has also signed longstanding MMA commentators Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo to multi-event broadcast agreements beginning with Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva and Bellator 180: Davis vs. Bader on June 24. The move sees Goldberg return to SPIKE for the first time since 2011, while Ranallo reunites with Bellator President Scott Coker, having worked together through 2013. The pair will join a broadcast team that currently includes Jimmy Smith, Jenn Brown and Chael Sonnen. Goldberg is best known for his 20 plus years of play-by-play work in professional MMA and trademark calls that made him popular with fans around the globe. In addition to his two decades in mixed martial arts, he has broadcast every major sport at the network level, most notably his 900 games in the NHL, both nationally and with the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings. He has also hosted entertainment shows, including Shaq Vs. In addition, Ranallo gained notoriety with MMA fans during his tenure with PRIDE, and later STRIKEFORCE, where his voice became synonymous with the now-legendary events. Throughout his career, Ranallo has spent time working with various sports outside of MMA, including boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing and ice hockey, and will continue his work with Showtime Boxing. (Bellator)

Fox Sports has unveiled a marquee lineup of international broadcasters for its presentation of the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017, beginning Saturday, June 17, across the Fox Sports family of networks. FOX Sports' talent roster for its first Confederations Cup is comprised of three broadcast teams, plus studio coverage originating from two locations - Saint Petersburg and Los Angeles. Kate Abdo hosts studio coverage from Saint Petersburg alongside former U.S. MNT member Eric Wynalda and a rotation of analysts including German legend Lothar Matth us and former coach Guus Hiddink, who led three different countries (Netherlands, South Korea and Australia) to the World Cup. Lead play-by-play announcer John Strong and former U.S. MNT member Stu Holden call the action live from multiple locations in Russia with Maria Komandnaya reporting from the sidelines. National Geographic Explorer Sergey Gordeev will also be in Russia, showcasing the host country's cultural richness to the American audience. Francisco X. Rivera will be embedded with the Mexico National Team, providing in-depth reports throughout the tournament for television, digital

LINK:	http://www.sportsvideo.org/2017/06/20/behind-the-mic-ray-lewis-joins-f...
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