Behind the Mic: ESPN Re-signs Van Pelt, Top PxP Callers; Fox Taps Andrews, George, Harrington as College Football Studio Team

ESPN SportsCenter anchor and ESPN Radio host Scott Van Pelt has signed a multi-year extension, which will add several on-site College GameDay appearances throughout the football season. He will travel to some of the GameDay locations in support of his features, interviews, and reports. He will also be part of the network’s BCS Championship Game coverage. Van Pelt, who joined ESPN in spring 2001 as its lead professional golf reporter, will remain among SportsCenter’s 11 p.m. ET anchors, and continue to host ESPN Radio’s Scott Van Pelt Show (M-F 1-4 p.m., simulcast 1-3 p.m. on ESPNEWS). He will also remain as the lead reporter and host of the network’s major golf coverage, including the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship…

…ESPN has signed several of its top play-by-play commentators to multi-year contract extensions, including Mark Jones (ESPN2 Saturday primetime football game, men’s college basketball, and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship), Sean McDonough (Big Monday BIG EAST basketball and other college basketball action, Monday Night Baseball, and as a hole announcer on ESPN’s golf coverage), Brad Nessler (ESPN Saturday Primetime football telecast since 2009, as well as SEC basketball), Dave Pasch (Saturday college football coverage, men’s college basketball, and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship), Joe Tessitore (Friday Night Fights, as well as host of the new daily host of College Football Live and the face of ESPN’s “Heismanology”), and Bob Wischusen (college football, men’s college basketball, and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship)…

…Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Eddie George and former Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington will partner with host Erin Andrews to form the FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL studio team.  Andrews and the analyst duo of George and Harrington will handle all pregame, halftime and postgame studio coverage live from the FOX Network Center in Los Angeles…

…Three-time Super Bowl champion and former New England Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light is joining ESPN’s NFL analyst team. A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Light will appear on NFL Live, NFL32 and SportsCenter. He will also contribute features to Sunday NFL Countdown. Light, who visited ESPN as a guest NFL analyst in May, will make his debut Monday, July 23…

…CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz will receive the fourth annual Court of Honor Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation on Monday, September 17. The 2012 Court of Honor Gala will be held in New York City at Cipriani, 110 E. 42nd Street between Lexington and Park. The Court of Honor Award is presented to an individual who has roots in college basketball, values those roots, and has gone on to distinguish himself in his profession, exhibiting the highest standards of leadership. Nantz called his 27th consecutive broadcast of the NCAA® Men’s Final Four® this year…

…Comcast SportsNet Bay Area has announced that Palo Alto native Dave Feldman, an ESPN veteran and five-time Emmy Award winner – including three for Best Sportscaster, has joined the network and will serve as an anchor/reporter for its San Francisco 49ers programming, SportsNet Central, MLB, NBA and NHL pre- and post-game shows, and other studio shows. Feldman arrives at CSN Bay Area after 12 years (2000-2012) at WTTG-TV (FOX) in Washington, DC, where he was named National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association’s 2011 Washington DC Sportscaster of the Year…

…Francisco Gabriel de Anda has joined ESPN Deportes’ team of expert analysts. De Anda will be integrated into Futbol Picante’s table of analysts Fridays and Saturdays, and become part of ESPN Futbol Center, the program dedicated to Mexican and International soccer, providing content loaded with highlights, reports, analysis, outstanding moments and relevant soccer news from around the world. De Anda, former Mexican national squad player, played in the 2002 Japan-Korea FIFA World Cup and was a member of various Mexican soccer clubs.