Two major NFL-related TV announcements came down Monday. Ex-ESPN anchor Dan Patrick is joining NBC's Football Night in America pregame studio show as co-host. He will reteam with his former SportsCenter deskmate Keith Olbermann. "I'm delighted to be reunited with my tag team partner," Olbermann said, and in an homage to a favorite SportsCenter catchphrase, "I can't stop Dan Patrick from working with me again, I can only hope to contain him."Patrick left ESPN last summer after 18 years with the company. He continues to host his eponymous radio show and write a column for Sports Illustrated.Meanwhile, over at Inside the NFL, which is moving to Showtime from HBO, James Brown, Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth were named cohosts. Brown and Simms will continue their work for CBS (which owns Showtime), as host of The NFL Today and lead game analyst, respectively. Collinsworth is a holdover from the HBO incarnation, and will remain on the Football Night in America panel and as analyst for ...
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In what can be best described as a media trade-off, Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly has jumped to ESPN, perhaps as a direct response to SI’s hiring of former SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick last week.According to the sports network, Reilly will take his popular back-page column to ESPN: The Magazine and ESPN.com, while also contributing to short television essays and interviews.“I’m thrilled, this is an itch I’d love to scratch,” Reilly said in a conference call with the media today. “I want to take my voice to a different place, and I’m hoping to bring well-written essays to TV.”Reilly was mum about the hiring of Patrick, however, insisting the moves were purely coincidental and that he wishes Patrick the best of luck. Patrick was hired by Sports Illustrated to contribute a weekly column and provide a platform for his radio show on SI.com. —Reporting by Rob MoynihanUPDATE: The New York Post reports that ESPN snagged Reilly with ...
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The X-Files: The Complete Collectors' Edition, a 61-disc package, arrives on DVD Nov. 6 at a retail price of $329.98.... Dexter celebrates Halloween on Oct. 28 with an episode where our "hero" seeks to avenge his mother's murder.... Surf's Up topped last week's DVD sales and rental charts, besting Evan Almighty and Fantastic Four 2, respectively.... ESPN alum Dan Patrick has inked a deal to write a weekly column for Sports Illustrated, says Variety.... Twentieth Century Fox TV has signed L.I.E. director Michael Cuesta to develop, produce and direct series for the studio. Cuesta was behind the passed-on CBS pilot Babylon Fields and is helming the Fox pilot The Oaks.
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After serving up 18 years of wonderfully snark-flavored sports coverage, Dan Patrick announced on Monday his resignation from ESPN, where he has anchored SportsCenter and hosted an eponymous radio show. Noting that "I've spent a third of my life at ESPN," Patrick tells Variety he wants to "try something different," but specified no next step following his August 17 ESPN sign-off.Recently, Patrick's name unexpectedly entered the "Who will host The Price Is Right?" mix, but he turned down the job. "I didn't think it was the right time to do something like that, but I did appreciate them inquiring," Patrick tells the Reporter, adding, "No, I'm holding out for Wheel of Fortune."
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