{"id":142677,"date":"2018-06-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/?p=142677"},"modified":"2018-06-29T14:27:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T18:27:01","slug":"behind-the-mic-june-25-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/2018\/06\/29\/behind-the-mic-june-25-29\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Dan Le Batard and Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner Sign Another ESPN Deal; David Ortiz Returns to Fox Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s edition, ESPN re-ups Dan Le Batard<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner <\/strong>with\u00a0a multi-year agreement, Fox Sports inks David Ortiz<\/strong> to return to the network’s baseball coverage, CBS Sports hires\u00a0Gene Steratore\u00a0<\/strong>as a rules analyst, the NFL Network releases their broadcast teams for the American Flag Football League’s U.S. Open of Football Tournament, Ashley ShahAhmadi\u00a0<\/strong>is named Digital\/Social Media Content Producer and Talent of all Fox Sports regional networks in the Southeast,\u00a0Covino & Rich is added to the ESPN Radio list of shows, and NBC Sports names Terry McAulay\u00a0<\/strong>as an on-air rules analyst as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dan Le Batard (left) and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner (right) will be at ESPN for the foreseeable future.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dan Le Batard<\/strong> and Jon \u201cStugotz\u201d Weiner<\/strong>, hosts of the popular daytime ESPN Radio program The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz<\/em> have signed multiyear agreements to remain with ESPN. The duo will continue to host their Miami-based program, from 10 a.m. \u2013 1 p.m. ET, on ESPN Radio (and simulcast on ESPNEWS). Le Batard will also continue to co-host Highly Questionable<\/em> alongside his father Gonzalo \u201cPapi\u201d Le Batard<\/strong> and another of a rotating crop of guest hosts. Le Batard will also conduct six longform interviews each year that will live across multiple ESPN platforms including TV and digital. Weiner will make appearances on SportsCenter and continue hosting and guesting on other ESPN Radio shows.<\/p>\n

“ESPN has given us ridiculous freedom to have fun, and made us more popular than we deserve,\u201d says Le Batard. \u201cA whole lot of people have supported our nonsense in a way that isn’t always easy to support but easy to grow. As an added bonus \u2014 and we’re especially thankful for this \u2014 they also pay us.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hoping for the lifetime contract, to be honest,” Weiner adds. “I’m a little disappointed. Maybe next time.”<\/p>\n

Known for its offbeat take on sports and culture \u2014 and often welcoming guests as diverse as saxophonist Kenny G<\/strong>, the late actor Alan Thicke<\/strong>, writer Malcolm Gladwell<\/strong>, and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz is one of ESPN Radio\u2019s top-rated programs. The show is heard by 2.2 million people a week in 258 stations in 151 markets, and its podcast \u2014 a daily digital offering of the original radio program \u2014 is the network\u2019s No. 1-downloaded show-to-podcast product, with more than 53 million downloads in 2017.<\/p>\n

ESPN Senior Vice President, Audio and Talent, Traug Keller<\/strong> says: \u201cDan and Stugotz have a chemistry and a viewpoint that is among the most unique in the business. They take what they do seriously, but not themselves, which bonds them with a growing group of loyal listeners. Dan\u2019s sensibilities and intelligence combined with Stugotz\u2019s incredible lack of either quality is a winning combination. I look forward to the stress of having to listen to the show in the years to come!\u201d…<\/p>\n

…Three-time World Series Champion, World Series MVP presented by Chevrolet and ten-time MLB All-Star, David Ortiz<\/strong> appears on Fox Sports as studio analyst for the network\u2019s pregame and postgame coverage, signing a multi-year deal. The announcement was made today by John Entz<\/strong>, Fox Sports President of Production & Executive Producer. Ortiz contributed as studio analyst throughout Fox Sports\u2019 coverage of the 2017 postseason and will again be alongside first ballot Hall-of-Famer Frank Thomas<\/strong>, World Series Champion Alex Rodriguez<\/strong> and Emmy-nominated host Kevin Burkhardt<\/strong>. Ortiz will contribute to Fox Sports\u2019 spring training, regular season, All-Star Game, postseason, and World Series coverage. He makes his 2018 debut during the network\u2019s coverage of the 89th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard from Nationals Park in Washington, DC…<\/p>\n

…CBS Sports has added former NFL and NCAA basketball referee Gene Steratore<\/strong> to the broadcast team as a rules analyst for coverage of The NFL on CBS<\/em>\u00a0and college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men\u2019s Basketball Championship. The announcement was made today by Sean McManus<\/strong>, Chairman, CBS Sports. He will provide rules analysis from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City on Sundays throughout the season. Additionally, he will be in the booth for CBS\u2019s Thanksgiving Day game and playoff coverage, including Super Bowl LIII which will be broadcast on CBS on February 3, 2019. Steratore also will serve as a rules analyst for the network\u2019s regular-season college basketball coverage, as well as CBS Sports and Turner Sports\u2019 combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men\u2019s Basketball Championship…<\/p>\n

…NFL Network announced its broadcast assignments for live coverage of the American Flag Football League’s (AFFL) U.S. Open of Football Tournament. Giants radio voice Bob Papa<\/strong> will be joined in the booth by former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky<\/strong> and Good Morning Football’s Kay Adams<\/strong> on the sideline for live AFFL game action June 30-July 1 from Pittsburgh, July 7-8 from Atlanta, and for the Ultimate Final July 19 in Houston. NFL Total Access host Cole Wright<\/strong> will pick up play-by-play duties and join Orlovsky and Adams July 14 in Indianapolis…<\/p>\n

…The Fox Sports regional networks serving the Southeast \u2014 Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Carolinas, and Fox Sports Tennessee \u2014 have named Ashley ShahAhmadi<\/strong> as digital and social media content producer and talent. ShahAhmadi will produce content and serve as talent for the networks\u2019 digital and social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter…<\/p>\n

…ESPN Radio will debut Covino & Rich<\/em> on Saturday, June 30, at Noon ET. The program, which first premiered on SiriusXM in 2005, is co-hosted by Steve Covino<\/strong> and Rich Davis.<\/strong> Covino & Rich<\/em> will air Saturdays and Sundays from Noon \u2013 4 p.m. this summer and cover the hottest topics and stories in sports, seasoned with opinions and humor. They will appear on multiple platforms in addition to ESPN Radio…<\/p>\n

…NBC Sports named Terry McAulay<\/strong> as an on-air rules analyst for NBC Sunday Night Football<\/em>, Football Night in America<\/em>, and Notre Dame Football. McAulay joins NBC Sports following his recent retirement after 20 years as an on-field NFL game official, and a college football officiating administrator for the past 10 seasons. McAulay will be on-site at SNF<\/em> and Notre Dame Football games \u2014 moving between the broadcast booth during the game and the studio set for pregame and halftime shows. In addition, on the mornings after games where rulings are a hot topic, McAulay will join Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio<\/strong><\/em> on NBC Sports Radio and NBCSN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s […]\n More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":142826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9248,33],"tags":[15253,131,3285,438,7827,117],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142677"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142955,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142677\/revisions\/142955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}