Chris Berman Moving To New Role At ESPN

[mvcg66b3r]

Shocking news out of Bristol as The Big Lead reports the one man who is perhaps more synonymous with ESPN than anyone, Chris Berman, will be leaving the network after the 2016 NFL season when his contract expires.

Berman started at ESPN just after the network launched in 1979 and has been in Bristol for almost forty years. Over the decades, he’s anchored SportsCenter, been an NFL studio host, and done play by play for events ranging from MLB coverage to golf’s US Open to Monday Night Football.

It’s in his role as NFL highlight anchor that Berman became one of the most recognizable individuals not just in sports, but in all of television. Regardless of how you feel about Berman now in 2016, he is a revolutionary figure in sports television. The way he did NFL highlights and his many years of service on ESPN’s NFL Primetime were gamechangers for the industry. His larger than life persona, constant use of nicknames, and unique calls of highlights set the tone for an entire generation of sportscasters.

If the news is true and this is the swan song for The Swami, expect ESPN to pull out all the stops in honoring his contributions to the network and the NFL throughout the 2016 campaign.

UPDATE: Well this is interesting. Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talked to Berman’s agent, who denied the report from The Big Lead.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/chris-berman-might-be-retiring-after-this-nfl-season.html

 

[FreddyE1977]

I have not seen him enough recently to have an opinion, but friends who watch a lot of ESPN tell me that his performance has been slipping badly over the past few years.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

Chris Berman Moving To New Role At ESPN

Sports broadcasting legend Chris Berman, the six-time National Sportscaster of the Year who arrived at ESPN a month after the network launched in 1979 and became one of the industry’s most popular voices during his almost four decades with the company, will assume a new role for ESPN after the NFL season.

Berman will make appearances on-air and will also serve in public-facing roles on behalf of the company, stepping away from his longtime position as the face of ESPN’s NFL studio coverage, NFL Draft and Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby.

Berman will continue to host ESPN’s NFL PrimeTime highlights show from the field after the Super Bowl as well as the NFL Conference Championship games. He will also offer opinion and perspective on historical events in the NFL, including still appearing weekly on Monday Night Countdown. In addition, he will handle play-by-play for ESPN Radio during the MLB Divisional Playoffs and participate in ESPN’s annual ESPY Awards.

https://mediaconfidential.blogspot.com/2017/01/chris-berman-moving-to-new-role-at-espn.html

 

[TheBigA]

Unfortunately, they lost the obvious replacement for Chris on the NFL, which was Mike Tirico.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Unfortunately, they lost the obvious replacement for Chris on the NFL, which was Mike Tirico.

Trey Wingo is practically their lead NFL anchor nowadays when it comes to their studio coverage; I imagine it'll be either him or Suzy Kolber to replace Berman on Sunday mornings next fall.