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"Sunday Night Football" Sideline Reporter??

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
With reports that Al Michaels will be joining NBC to call "Sunday Night Football", there seems to be one on-air position for which no announcement has been made: Sideline reporter.

My guess is that onetime "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter (and current NBC "Today Show" special correspondent) Melissa Stark would be the odds-on favorite.

Long-shot possibilities are Leslie Visser (who currently does sideline reporting work for CBS' NFL telecasts and is being loaned to NBC for the Winter Olympics; she's a well-respected sportswriter and broadcaster whose coming to "Sunday Night Football" would give NBC some prestige), and Andrea Joyce, who will be serving as an NBC reporter for figure-skating at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Turin/Torino.

A long-long-long-longshot for the sideline role is former U.S. woman's hockey captain Cammi Granato, who is serving as a rinkside reporter (or "Inside The Glass" as NBC calls it) for NBC's NHL coverage and will be part of the network's coverage in Turin/Torino, where she'll be a studio analyst. If she's a big fan of the NFL, she could be a longshot if the network doesn't get Stark, Visser, or Joyce.

But I would be extremely surprised if Stark isn't the sideline reporter. I'd give the odds as 99 and 44/100% that Stark will become the sideline reporter.

Update, 10:15 P.M. EST, February 2nd: It is being claimed on the TV Spy.com messageboards that Bonnie Bernstein is leaving CBS. Were she to leave CBS, she certainly would be the best available sideline reporter. See my later thread for further information and opinion.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Joseph_Gallant on 02/03/06 03:19 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Another Possible "Sunday Night Football" Sideline Reporter??

I had thought that Melissa Stark, being both a former "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter and currently on-staff at NBC (where she's a roving correspondent for the "Today Show"), would get the job as sideline reporter on "Sunday Night Football" starting this Fall.

This evening (February 2nd), someone has written on a messageboard on the TV Spy.com website that Bonnie Bernstein, who was the sideline reporter on CBS' lead NFL announcing team, is leaving the network, supposdely to start up a company where she would critique tapes and help young people wanting to break into sports broadcasting.

But I think there's more to this story. Bernstein certainly could have continued to work for CBS on weekends during the NFL season, and work for her business during the week.

Call it a hunch, but I think Bernstein, besides starting-up her new business, is about to change networks. I suspect she will become the sideline reporter for NBC's coverage of "Sunday Night Football".

With NBC already hiring the best analyst in the history of televised football (John Madden, who is also arguably the best analyst in the history of televised sports in North America), the most recent producer (Fred Gaudelli) and most recent director (Drew Esocoff) of "Monday Night Football", the best studio host of this generation (Bob Costas), a man who could very well become the best NFL studio analyst of this generation (Cris Collinsworth), and likely to add the best all-around play-by-play sportscaster of the last quarter-century (Al Michaels) for "Sunday Night Football", NBC will want the best sideline reporter. And right now, Bonnie Bernstein is the best sideline reporter in televised football.

Hiring her would be a major coup for NBC, and with Michaels, would complete a on-air and behind-the-scenes "dream team" of talent unprecedented in the history of televised pro football.

It's been rumored NBC might make an announcement about hiring Michaels (in the form of a press release) as early as late Sunday night, one the Big Game ends (with a press conference early in the week). Such an announcement might also end up including the name of Bonnie Bernstein as sideline reporter
 
Re: Another Possible "Sunday Night Football" Sideline Reporter??

Stark declined the job in November.

> I had thought that Melissa Stark, being both a former
> "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter and currently
> on-staff at NBC (where she's a roving correspondent for the
> "Today Show"), would get the job as sideline reporter on
> "Sunday Night Football" starting this Fall.
>
> This evening (February 2nd), someone has written on a
> messageboard on the TV Spy.com website that Bonnie
> Bernstein, who was the sideline reporter on CBS' lead NFL
> announcing team, is leaving the network, supposdely to start
> up a company where she would critique tapes and help young
> people wanting to break into sports broadcasting.
>
> But I think there's more to this story. Bernstein certainly
> could have continued to work for CBS on weekends during the
> NFL season, and work for her business during the week.
>
> Call it a hunch, but I think Bernstein, besides starting-up
> her new business, is about to change networks. I suspect she
> will become the sideline reporter for NBC's coverage of
> "Sunday Night Football".
>
> With NBC already hiring the best analyst in the history of
> televised football (John Madden, who is also arguably the
> best analyst in the history of televised sports in North
> America), the most recent producer (Fred Gaudelli) and most
> recent director (Drew Esocoff) of "Monday Night Football",
> the best studio host of this generation (Bob Costas), a man
> who could very well become the best NFL studio analyst of
> this generation (Cris Collinsworth), and likely to add the
> best all-around play-by-play sportscaster of the last
> quarter-century (Al Michaels) for "Sunday Night Football",
> NBC will want the best sideline reporter. And right now,
> Bonnie Bernstein is the best sideline reporter in televised
> football.
>
> Hiring her would be a major coup for NBC, and with Michaels,
> would complete a on-air and behind-the-scenes "dream team"
> of talent unprecedented in the history of televised pro
> football.
>
> It's been rumored NBC might make an announcement about
> hiring Michaels (in the form of a press release) as early as
> late Sunday night, one the Big Game ends (with a press
> conference early in the week). Such an announcement might
> also end up including the name of Bonnie Bernstein as
> sideline reporter
>
 
Hi everyone:

> With reports that Al Michaels will be joining NBC to call
> "Sunday Night Football", there seems to be one on-air
> position for which no announcement has been made: Sideline
> reporter.
>
> My guess is that onetime "Monday Night Football" sideline
> reporter (and current NBC "Today Show" special
> correspondent) Melissa Stark would be the odds-on favorite.

What's wrong with the guy they have for sideline reporter for Arena Football?

> Long-shot possibilities are Leslie Visser (who currently
> does sideline reporting work for CBS' NFL telecasts and is
> being loaned to NBC for the Winter Olympics;

I hate to be the one to correct you Joseph, but she hasn't done the NFL for years now. It's been ARMEN KETAYEN and (as you outlined below) BONNIE BERNSTEIN who have done the job.

I also doubt VERY SERIOUSLY that CBS will even CONSIDER the idea of "loaning" Leslie Visser to NBC for ANYTHING (much less for the Olympics or the NFL). Networks aren't in the practice of doing that. If they were, I would think they would be in violation of the reporters contract (not to mention they would be putting the reporter in the awkward position of doing the same).

> Update, 10:15 P.M. EST, February 2nd: It is being claimed on
> the TV Spy.com messageboards that Bonnie Bernstein is
> leaving CBS. Were she to leave CBS, she certainly would be
> the best available sideline reporter. See my later thread
> for further information and opinion.

If she DOES leave CBS, I can see her signing with NBC. But again Joseph, CBS Nor any of the other networks) aren't going to "loan" NBC *ANYONE* as they just get into the practice of doing so.

Now, a REGIONAL cable sports outlet such as MSG is a completely different story altogether. Isn't AL TRAUTWIG still on their payroll?

Cheers everyone :)

Pat
<P ID="signature">______________
patspodcast03a.jpg

http://patspodcast.blogspot.com/
Radio? Uhh.....What's THAT?? :)</P>
 
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