Connect with us
Jim Cutler Demos

Sports TV News

Michele Tafoya To Exit Sideline Role After Season

“This means 2022 will be a season of upheaval for Sunday Night Football. Cris Collinsworth is suddenly set to be the lone bit of continuity.”

Published

on

According to The New York Post, Michele Tafoya is done with NFL sidelines. Her final assignment for NBC will be the upcoming Super Bowl. Neither she nor the network commented on the story.

It has been three weeks since fans have seen Michele Tafoya on Sunday Night Football. NBC insists the absences were planned due to the longer NFL season. It is worth noting that it coincides with an appearance on ABC’s The View where Tafoya came under fire for comparing COVID-19 to the flu and insisting that Colin Kaepernick was not blackballed from the NFL because he knelt for the national anthem during the 2016 season.

Who will take her place next season? Nothing official has been said, but Andrew Marchand writes that “Kathryn Tappen is the clear leading candidate.” He notes that she has been the person the network has turned to every week Tafoya has been off.

This means 2022 will be a season of upheaval for Sunday Night Football. Cris Collinsworth is suddenly set to be the lone bit of continuity. It is expected that in addition to a new sideline reporter, Mike Tirico will move from the studio into the broadcast booth to replace Al Michaels.

The future is a bit murky at the moment for Michele Tafoya. She has been covering NFL sidelines for more than 30 years, having spent time with CBS, ESPN/ABC and now NBC.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sports TV News

Cory Provus: Moving From Minnesota Twins Radio to TV ‘Ultimate Challenge’ of Career

“I’m just excited for the opportunity, I really am, to be able to challenge myself in a way I haven’t before.”

Jordan Bondurant

Published

on

Cory Provus

The Minnesota Twins have found their new TV play-by-play announcer. They didn’t have to look far to tap Cory Provus for the role.

Provus has been the Twins radio play-by-play voice for 12 years. Following the exit of longtime announcer Dick Bremer, Cory will become the guide for Twins fans on television.

“It’s an exciting day, a humbling day, an emotional day on many fronts,” Provus told TwinCities.com. “I’m just excited for the opportunity, I really am, to be able to challenge myself in a way I haven’t before.”

A radio guy the vast majority of his career, Provus begins the transition into television. Though it requires making a few adjustments, the thought of reaching additional fans now that local blackout restrictions are being lifted was a big selling point to Provus.

“I’ve always thought of myself as being ambitious and challenging myself, and this, to me, is the ultimate challenge by far,” he said. “And the idea of joining this group in this way now, I think I would regret at least not trying.”

Provus will hand over the reins on the radio side to Kris Atteberry. Kris has been with the team since 2007 as the team’s radio color commentator. Now he finally earns his chance to be on the call.

“Let’s be honest: I’ve been calling big-league games for 17 years, not as the lead guy,” Atteberry said. “There is a difference. I’ve called a billion games in my life. But to be the lead guy, that’s what everybody wants. That’s what I’ve wanted to be since I was a 6-year-old kid.”

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports TV News

Marquee Sports Network GM Mike McCarthy Stepping Down

McCarthy joined Marquee Sports Network upon its launch after previously leading MSG Networks.

Jordan Bondurant

Published

on

Marquee logo

Marquee Sports Network will soon need a new general manager. Longtime GM Mike McCarthy announced over the weekend he is stepping down.

McCarthy helped oversee the launch of the Chicago Cubs-owned regional sports network in 2019, but Chicago Sun-Times media columnist Jeff Agrest shared on X on Friday that McCarthy needed time to focus on his health.

McCarthy was tapped to work on Marquee given his track record at MSG. He rose from coordinating producer in 1982 to the network president in 2000, overseeing the merging of MSG Network and SportsChannel New York.

Between 2005 and 2019, McCarthy enjoyed stints with the St. Louis Blues as the team’s vice chairman and CEO and with the Milwaukee Bucks as chief operating officer. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports TV News

Sports Media Reacts to Final SEC on CBS Broadcast

The network began airing SEC broadcasts in 1996.

Jordan Bondurant

Published

on

SEC on CBS logo

Saturday marked the final SEC broadcast for CBS, as Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson called Alabama’s upset victory over Georgia for the conference championship.

CBS is moving on to become a media partner for the Big Ten for the next decade, but not before Nessler and Danielson could offer their final thoughts on Saturday’s broadcast.

“It’s been quite a ride for us, our entire crew, Gary and I,” Nessler said. “The people that have come before us, all the places we get to see and the people we get to meet and the coaches we get to be around. Some roads have to end somewhere and our road comes to an end tonight with the SEC.”

Danielson credited CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus for developing the concept of a national college football game of the week for a conference and having the vision to make sure the best people were in place. He also complimented McManus for developing the now iconic theme song. The longtime analyst was appreciative of the opportunity to succeed Todd Blackledge, and shared that though CBS’s run deserved to be celebrated and recognized, all he did was his job.

“What we really did is nothing new, and I’m going to steal another line from another network. But I think it’s going to have a pass here,” Danielson said. “What we did was follow the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

“Whether you were in your favorite bar having a beer or in your easy chair at home or watching us on your streaming devices, whatever, we want to thank you, the fans, the viewers, everybody that’s been with us every Saturday at 3:30 for the SEC on CBS,” Nessler concluded.

Several across sports media had their own reactions to the network’s final broadcast, which included using former play-by-play voice Verne Lundquist in the opening element.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Advertisement

Upcoming Events

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2023 Barrett Media.