Behind the Mic: Fowler Replaces Musburgur on ABC Saturday Night Football; Fox Snaps Up Francesa Simulcast Rights

After months of rumors, ESPN officially announced last week that Chris Fowler would be replacing Brent Musburger the play-by-play announcer on ABC’s weekly Saturday Night Football series. Fowler inked a nine-year extension and will work Saturday Night Football – alongside returning analyst Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Heather Cox – as well as the new College Football Playoff and national championship game. He will continue to host College GameDay, a position he has held since 1990. Fowler will also continue to play a major role in ESPN’s tennis coverage, highlighted by the four Majors – Wimbledon, US Open, French Open and Australian Open – where  he hosts and calls matches.

Musburgur, meanwhile will transition into the role of SEC Network’s lead booth, joining college football analyst Jesse Palmer in the booth every Saturday on the ESPN-produced conference network when it launches next fall. Musburger’s multi-year contract extension makes him the voice to one of the three football games slated for the network each Saturday, and he will remain play-by-play announcer for Big 12 college basketball games across ESPN networks. He and Palmer will call multiple college football bowl games on ESPN as well.

Palmer, who also reached a new agreement with ESPN, will also continue as an analyst on ESPN’s Thursday Night College Football package and contribute to ESPN’s postseason coverage…

…Fox Sports quickly gobbled up the simulcast rights for Mike Francesa last week. FOX Sports and CBS RADIO’s WFAN-AM/FM have reached a multi-year, multi-media agreement that brings Francesa’s radio show to FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2, live from coast-to-coast.  Francesa moves to FS1 after spending over a decade at YES Network.  The Mike Francesa Show begins weekday telecasts Monday, March 24 on FOX Sports 1 (1:00-4:00 PM ET) and FOX Sports 2 (4:00-6:00 PM ET), continuing to originate from WFAN’s lower Manhattan studios and broadcast locally at 66AM and 101.9FM.  The show is also streamed live via FOX Sports GO through participating video providers…

…Rick Reilly is out ESPN.com just in time for the arrival of Nate Silver and the revamped FiveThirtyEight.com. The long-time front-page columnist and former Sports Illustrated columnist has decided to go part-time. Beginning July 1, Reilly will let his cease his weekly column and concentrate on television duties for ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, presenting his weekly four-minute human interest features as well as other features and essays for SportsCenter and Sunday NFL Countdown. Reilly began writing for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine in 2008. He was at Sports Illustrated for 23 years before that. He has been named National Sportswriter of the Year 11 times…

…FOX Sports has added former Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz and broadcaster Matt Vasgersian to call MLB games on the FOX Broadcast Network and FOX Sports 1. Vasgersian has called MLB and NFL on FOX telecasts and hosted FOX Sports’ national pregame show from the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J. He continues to work in the booth and studio for MLB Network and on MLB Tonight. Smoltz also continues to work as a game and studio analyst for MLB Network and previously spent time in the booth for TBS during the network’s regular and postseason games…

…In other Fox Sports news, Mike Hill will serve as the host of Fox Sports 1’s new America’s Pregame hour-long weeknight program. Air Force veteran Mike Hill joined FOX Sports in August, just prior to the launch of FOX Sports 1, and has taken on multiple roles before taking on this assignment.  He’s served as an anchor on FOX SPORTS LIVE, FOX Sports 1’s flagship news, opinion and highlights program, and hosted FOX FOOTBALL DAILY…

…CBS Sports broadcaster Verne Lundquist will receive the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting from WFUV Radio (90.7 FM/wfuv.org) at the station’s Seventh Annual Spring Gala on Thursday night,  May 8,  at Gotham Hall in New York City. Lundquist, the lead play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports’ coverage of college football, also does play-by-play for NCAA basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, and provides commentary for the Masters and the PGA Championship, among other PGA Tour events.