Behind The Mic: Reports Have Michelle Beadle & Jalen Rose Joining ESPN’s New Mike Greenberg Morning Show, Katie Nolan Exiting Fox Sports Early

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose are reportedly set to join Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s upcoming morning show; Katie Nolan is reportedly negotiating an early exit from Fox Sports; seasoned vet Doris Burke takes on new role as full-time ESPN NBA game analyst while still leading in her longtime role of sideline reporter; ESPN adds Paul Pierce to its NBA analyst roster; Barry Melrose joins NHL’s roster of on-air talent as studio analyst while continuing his ESPN role, and Rondé and Tiki Barber will team up in the Fox NFL broadcast booth for Sunday’s New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. 

….Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose will join Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s upcoming morning show when it premiers in spring 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The program, which will air from 7 to 10 a.m., will originate from a new studio in lower Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. Rose and Beadle, who will relocate from Los Angeles for the show, will continue as full-time hosts of ESPN’s NBA Countdown for now. Rose will continue to co-host the ESPN Radio show Jalen & Jacoby. Greenberg has already announced that his last day on his popular Mike & Mike program will be Nov. 17. (Hollywood Reporter)…

…Katie Nolan is negotiating an early release from her Fox Sports contract, according to Sports Illustrated‘s Richard Deitsch. Her contract is believed to officially conclude at the end of 2017, but the formal release is expected to come sooner. Nolan joined FS1 when the network launched in 2013 as the digital correspondent and co-host of Crowd Goes Wild, a daily show hosted by Regis Philbin, featuring panelists Jason Gay, Trevor Pryce and Georgie Thompson. The network later gave her a solo project, Garbage Time With Katie Nolan, which debuted in March 2015 and won a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Social TV Experience in 2016, but struggled to find viewership at multiple time slots. (SI.com)…

…ESPN announced that highly-respected basketball commentator Doris Burke will start a new role as a full-time ESPN NBA game analyst. The versatile veteran will serve as an analyst for ESPN NBA telecasts throughout the regular season and during the NBA Playoffs. She has served as an ESPN NBA game analyst for select games in recent seasons. She will begin the full-time role during ESPN’s NBA preseason coverage on October 8. Burke will also continue her role as lead ESPN NBA sideline reporter for the company’s coverage of the most significant NBA games of the year, including the NBA Finals on ABC and the NBA Conference Finals. Burke has covered basketball for ESPN since 1991. Across nearly three decades, she has been a top commentator on several significant ESPN properties…

…ESPN has announced former NBA Finals M.V.P. Paul Pierce has joined the company as an NBA studio analyst. The 10-time NBA All-Star will regularly appear on NBA Countdown and The Jump throughout the regular season and the NBA Playoffs. Pierce has contributed to ESPN’s NBA Finals pregame and halftime coverage each of the past two seasons. Pierce will appear on ESPN and ABC editions of NBA Countdown with host Michelle Beadle, and fellow analysts Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billups and Jalen Rose. He’ll appear on The Jump multiple times per week with host Rachel Nichols and a cast of ESPN NBA analysts and reporters….

…NHL Network has announced that Barry Melrose, a six-year NHL veteran, former NHL head coach and one of the best-known personalities in hockey, has joined its roster of on-air talent as a studio analyst. Melrose, who previously served as an NHL Network analyst from 2011-2015, will mark his return to NHL Network on NHL Tonight: Western Conference Preview on Sunday, October 1 at 4:00 p.m. ET In addition to NHL Network, Melrose will continue his role as a hockey analyst at ESPN, where he has covered 21 Stanley Cup Finals since first joining the network in 1996 and has called games during the NHL regular season, Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. In June 2008, Melrose became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, his first such position since coaching the Los Angeles Kings 13 years before. With the Kings, Melrose made franchise history by leading the team to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final in his debut season…

….The NFL’s well-known twins, Rondé and Tiki Barber, will team up in the Fox NFL broadcast booth for Sunday’s New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers game (4:00 p.m. ET on Fox) alongside play-by-play announcer Kenny Albert and sideline reporter Kristina Pink. Sunday’s Fox broadcast, featuring their former teams (Bucs – Rondé; Giants – Tiki), is believed to be the first time the brothers have called an NFL game for national broadcast television. Rondé, who played his entire 16-year NFL career for the Bucs, predicts Sunday’s assignment will be more challenging for Tiki than anything he did on the field in his decade with the Giants. Sunday marks Tiki’s first time as a game analyst.