ESPN's Suzy Kolber and Trey Wingo have agreed to long-term contract extensions, with both taking expanded on-air roles in the coming NFL season. Kolber becomes the new full-time host of "Monday Night Countdown" in addition to continuing her hosting duties on "NFL Insiders." Wingo will continue to host "NFL Live" and "NFL PrimeTime." Starting Sept. 13, he also will host a new Sunday morning pregame show called "NFL Insiders: Sunday Edition." With the addition of the 10:00am ET show, "Sunday NFL Countdown" will shift back to a two-hour format, 11:00am-1:00pm (ESPN). NFL Insiders "will partner" Wingo with Adam Schefter, Chris Mortensen and Louis Riddick. It is believed that Matthew Berry "will get a much more prominent role on Countdown as ESPN’s fantasy expert as well" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 7/23).
THIS IS THE END: SI's Richard Deitsch writes having a broadcaster like Tim McCarver or Dick Enberg with "national bona fides in a local market, even in the twilight of his or her career, gives a broadcast a big-game feel." McCarver is scheduled to call 40 MLB Cardinals games this year, and the team lets him "make his schedule." Enberg calls 130-135 Padres games per season and similarly "gets to pick his days off." Enberg said, "The most dramatic difference is that as a network broadcaster, you go into a game with no bias and you try to be diligent in terms of offering equal commentary for both sides. As long as you did you work well, you did not care who won or lost, whereas for a local announcer it is quite different. You care whether your team wins, and you carry those wins and losses seriously" (SI, 7/27 issue).
FORCED TO SLIDE: In Chicago, Ed Sherman notes it is "expected the Cubs will move" from WBBM-AM to sister station WSCR-AM in the wake of the White Sox' departure. Station officials declined comment, but Sherman writes the shift "makes sense on several levels." WBBM would "prefer to keep its all-news format ... during the week, especially during the afternoon when it now gets preempted by Cubs games." WSCR also offers "more opportunity for longer pre- and postgame shows" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/24).
