John Madden has signed a new five-year deal to return
to Fox Sports. The 61-year-old Madden rejoins his partner
of 17 years, Pat Summerall, as Fox's No. 1 NFL team (Fox
Sports). Industry sources said that Madden's contract "was
close" to the $8M a year he was paid to join the network
(Leonard Shapiro, WASHINGTON POST, 1/16). USA TODAY's Rudy
Martzke writes that Madden will be paid $8M a year (USA
TODAY, 1/16). Madden's agent, Barry Frank, said the deal
was for "at least" $8M a year (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/16).
A 2ND BOOMER? In Cincinnati, Geoff Hobson reports that
ABC "went after" Bengals QB Boomer Esiason on Thursday with
a five-year contract to be an analyst for "MNF" (CINCINNATI
ENQUIRER, 1/16)....In N.Y., Richard Johnson of the POST's
"Page Six" reports that Kathie Lee Gifford, is "threatening
to quit her own show" if her husband, Frank Gifford, "gets
axed" from "MNF." Johnson adds that Kathie Lee met with ABC
President Bob Iger (N.Y. POST, 1/16).
EASY, DAVE: CBS' Jim Nantz was on the "Late Show" with
David Letterman last night. Letterman, on speculation that
Madden would return to CBS: "That carpetbagger, we're not
bringing him back. I'm telling you, before the ink was dry
on the deal at Fox he was outta here." Nantz: "[W]e would
love to have him back." Letterman: "No, no, no. We don't
want him back. He's a traitor. ... Who needs him? And Pat
Summerall, how old is Pat Summerall? ... (imitating
Summerall) 'You know when I used to kick, we wore cardboard
helmets.' ... It certainly shows, Pat" ("Late Show," 1/15).
KEEPING AN EYE OUT: CBS announced that it "has ended
its long-standing policy of automatically making matching
contributions to employee 401(k) retirement plans." Tim
Jones of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that future payments
"will be tied to CBS meeting overall company objectives and
profit goals." Jones: "Although the policy switch was made
before CBS announced its expensive return to NFL broadcasts,
employees are grumbling that the football contract will only
heighten corporate cost pressures" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/16).
