Former Bengals QB Boomer Esiason will replace Frank
Gifford in the broadcast booth of ABC's "Monday Night
Football" next season, according to Larry Stewart of the
L.A. TIMES. Gifford "will serve with a yet-to-be-named co-
host of a new 20-minute pregame show," after working more
than 600 consecutive "MNF" games. Stewart added that
Gifford is also "expected to become more involved" with
Disney's Classic Sports Network (L.A. TIMES, 1/17). Al
Michaels and Dan Dierdorf will return for their 13th and
12th seasons on "MNF," respectively. Dierdorf is in the
final year of his ABC contract, which has a clause
"stipulating that he appear" on "MNF" (Dan Caesar, ST. LOUIS
POST-DISPATCH, 1/17). ABC Sports Senior VP/Production Steve
Anderson said that the net "has not decided" what role to
assign Chris Berman, who has hosted the halftime show for
the past two years (David Barron, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/19).
MONEY TALKS: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir put Esiason's
five-year deal at "an estimated" $1.7-$1.8M per year (N.Y.
TIMES, 1/19). USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand put the deal at
"about" $1.5M annually (USA TODAY, 1/19). In Cincinnati,
Todd Archer wrote the five-year deal is "worth close to"
$17M (CINCINNATI POST, 1/17). In N.Y., Steve Zipay put the
deal at "more than" $10M (NEWSDAY, 1/19).
MAD CITY? Regarding speculation that Fox's John Madden
was headed to "MNF," ABC Sports spokesperson Mark Mandel
said, "Madden and his agent campaigned for this job in the
press extensively. They pressured us to make a decision
and, make no mistake about it, we turned down John Madden.
We have the team that we want and anyone who works with ABC
Sports knows that we can't be pressured into making
decisions." ABC's Anderson: "Boomer was clearly our first,
and really only choice" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/19).
