Seen on Screen: NFL Network Bolsters GameDay; CBS Sports Network Set For All-Female Talk Show

by Jarrel Harris, Editorial Assistant

NFL Network continues to add live programming on NFL Sundays. The channel will announce that it will add yet another show to its live NFL GameDay brand when the season kicks off in earnest on Sunday, September 7.

NFL Network has already expanded the Sunday morning pregame show to the early morning hours at 7 a.m. ET with GameDay First hosted by Melissa Stark with analysts Sterling Sharpe and Shaun O’Hara. And it still airs GameDay Morning at 9 a.m. with network original Rich Eisen as host with a merry band of analysts including Steve Mariucci, Michael Irvin and Warren Sapp. 

…CBS Sports Network will launch the first all-female sports talk show We Need to Talk on Sept. 30.The one-hour talker, which will air in primetime at 10 p.m., will feature various female CBS Sports staffers including Lesley Visser, Amy Trask, Tracy Wolfson, Dana Jacobson and Allie LaForce.

We Need to Talk will all also have non-CBS women that will appear including NFL Network’s Andrea Kremer, boxer Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali), former WNBA star Lisa Leslie and current star Swin Cash, Olympic medalist Dara Torres, veteran sports reporter Summer Sanders and former tennis player and VP of the USTA Katrina Adams.

CBS This Morning’s Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King will appear as guests. The show will also feature a few high-profile men from the sports world.

“This is a very proud moment for all of us at CBS Sports,” said CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus. “A sports show featuring all women is long overdue, and we are thrilled to be able to make television history this fall with the national launch of We Need to Talk.”

We Need to Talk will also be produced exclusively by women, led by coordinating producers Emilie Deutsch and Suzanne Smith (the only woman currently producing or directing NFL games). Amy Salmanson and Julie Keryc will also produce with Smith directing.

…ESPN networks will combine to carry every game of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain continuing through Sunday, September 14. ESPN and ESPN2 will televise 13 games, including every USA Basketball Men’s National Team game, as well as the Semifinals, Finals and select Quarterfinal games. Analyst and international basketball expert Fran Fraschilla will provide analysis for all games on ESPN and ESPN2, while Kevin Connors and Marc Kestecher will rotate on play-by-play assignments.

…In a move designed to enhance the current ratings growth of the personality-focused ESPN2 lineup, Keith Olbermann’s Emmy-nominated program Olbermann will be shifting to an afternoon time slot on the network on Monday, Sept. 8. The show will continue to be produced live from ABC’s Times Square studios in New York City and will air daily at 5 p.m. ET followed by Outside the Lines, hosted by Bob Ley.

“Keith has had a fantastic return to ESPN and we’re proud of the quality content featured in the first year of Olbermann, immediately garnering the program its first Emmy nomination,” said Norby Williamson, executive vice president of program scheduling & development. “We feel that strategically shifting the time of this show will not only provide access to a broader audience, but gives us greater flexibility for Keith to do cross-platform opportunities, including hosting key editions of SportsCenter surrounding major news or events throughout the year, while enabling us to secure a more consistent time slot to showcase his distinctive voice.”

Olbermann and Outside the Lines complete an ESPN2 lineup that includes diverse and unique voices such as: Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and Cari Champion on First Take; Michael Smith and Jemele Hill on Numbers Never Lie; Colin Cowherd on You Herd Me; Dan LeBatard, Bomani Jones and Gonzalo “Papi” LeBatard on Highly Questionable; and Michelle Beadle, Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley on SportsNation…

…Campus Insiders, the leading digital content platform for college sports fans, announced that four new original programs will be debuting on the network for the 2014-15 school year. The Feed with Shae Peppler, #Brashtag, Campus Insiders Saturday Blitz and Campus Classics will join the Campus Insiders’ schedule. The new programs will join The Seth Davis Show and The Download with Bonnie Bernstein, which are entering their second seasons on Campus Insiders.

Campus Insiders Saturday Blitz will be a one stop shop for college football fans offering more than 30 VOD segments throughout the day, featuring highlights, analysis, defining moments, the biggest storylines, and much more.  With Campus Classics, Campus Insiders will be dipping into the archives to air some of the greatest games and performances in the history the Big 12, Mountain West and Patriot League. A new game will be airing daily, each week throughout football season.

Shae Peppler, current Campus Insiders’ host and reporter, will debut The Feed with Shae Peppler. The show will be an interactive experience focused on what’s trending daily at the cross section of college sports and pop culture, while showcasing Peppler’s knowledge and style.

#Brashtag will bridge sports, pop culture and social media from an urban perspective. The show features Campus Insider Analysts, former Marshall University and NFL running back Doug Chapman and Jordan Cornette, the all-time leading shot blocker and a two-time captain at the University of Notre Dame, bringing spirited opinion, insight and honest commentary from an African-American perspective.

The award-winning Seth Davis Show, hosted by veteran broadcaster, writer, and author Seth Davis, features in-depth interviews with some of the biggest personalities in sports and entertainment.  The first of this season’s 35 episodes will feature first-year University of Texas head coach Charlie Strong.  Additional guests in the coming weeks will include Robert Griffin III, Larry Fitzgerald and Vin Scully.

The Download with Bonnie Bernstein is also returning for a second season.  Led by accomplished sports journalist Bonnie Bernstein, featuring a team of over 100 embedded Insiders all across the country, the show will offer news, analysis and debate on the hot topics in college sports, along with interviews with coaches, players and personalities and on-location reporting from the largest events in college sports…

…Nickelodeon has signed programming deals with the NFL, NASCAR and MLS and plans to launch a weekly prime-time sports block on its Nicktoons channel. A two-hour block of sports-themed programming called “NickSports” debuts Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET and will run every Wednesday night.