Behind the Mic: Hannah Storm, Andrea Kremer Become First Female Broadcasting Team in NFL History; NHL on NBC Release Names for 2018-19 Season

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer will make history on NFL’s Thursday Night Football, NBC Sports releases their broadcasting team for the 2018-19 NHL season, and ESPN resigns Todd Blackledge to keep him inside the college football booth.

Amazon Prime Video announced that Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer, two of the most accomplished and well-respected sports journalists in the industry, will provide commentary and analysis for its live streaming coverage of 11 Thursday Night Football games on Prime Video beginning September 27 when the Los Angeles Rams host the Minnesota Vikings.

Amazon is once again producing multiple audio options to enable customers around the world to customize their viewing experience. Prime Video customers can choose between the Fox broadcast with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, and three separate Prime Video exclusive audio streams: Kremer and Storm, Spanish-language announcers, and a U.K. English language broadcast team. To access these additional audio options, Prime members simply select their desired audio track from the Prime Video player menu.

“NFL fans will hear history made this season — bringing two female announcers together to call an entire NFL game has never been done before,” says Greg Hart, Vice President of Prime Video. “Our customers around the world love to stream football — we are thrilled to have Andrea and Hannah bring their extensive knowledge of the game to fans on Prime Video.”

Kremer was recently honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the prestigious Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which recognizes “long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.” A multiple Emmy Award winner, Kremer currently serves as the Chief Correspondent for the NFL Network and is a correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. She is also a co-host for CBS Sports Network’s We Need to Talk. Earlier in her career, Kremer was the sideline and feature reporter for Sunday Night Football on NBC. She has worked more than 25 Super Bowls. In 2011, she was named one of the 10 greatest female sportscasters of all time.

“Teaming up with Hannah and Amazon for this is truly special,” says Kremer. “Hannah is a brilliant journalist and she has been a friend for many years. With decades of experience as storytellers, we will be bringing a different voice and viewpoint to covering the game of football.”

Storm is a pioneer in the field of sports broadcasting. Storm, who was named one of AdWeek’s “30 Most Powerful Women in Sports,” currently serves as an ESPN SportsCenter anchor, including a new 90-minute Monday Night Football edition, hosts marquee events and conducts in-depth interviews with the most prominent figures in the sports world. Over the course of her career, Storm handled premier events at NBC Sports and CNN, where she was the first female host of CNN Sports Tonight, and served as a host of The Early Show on CBS. In 2008 Storm created Brainstormin’ Productions and has produced, executive produced, and directed major projects for ESPN, espnW, SEC Network, and EPIX, and has received multiple Gracie Awards and New York Festivals TV & Film Awards.

“I can’t imagine embarking upon this new role with anyone better than Andrea,” says Storm. “A lifelong friend with Pro Football Hall of Fame credentials, she is the perfect partner. Together we’re looking forward to offering a new option for Prime members on Thursday nights and I’m excited to get to work!”

Prime members will be able to stream all 11 games via the Prime Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices, and online here. All 11 games will also be available on NFL Network…

…NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season will feature its largest commentary team to date, utilizing more than 40 game and studio commentators this season, highlighted by six-time Emmy Award-winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, who returns for his 14th season as NBC Sports’ lead NHL play-by-play commentator.

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk and Emmy Award-winning Inside-the-Glass analyst Pierre McGuire join Emrick to comprise NBC Sports’ lead NHL game commentary team for the 13th consecutive season.

Liam McHugh and Kathryn Tappen serve as the primary hosts for NBC Sports’ NHL studio team, alongside analysts and former players Mike Milbury and Keith Jones.

While the Emrick-Olczyk-McGuire trio will serve as the lead team for 2018-19 season, with a record number of Wednesday Night Hockey doubleheaders, McGuire will often be assigned to the late game to help establish the new format. Brian Boucher will join Emrick and Olczyk for Wednesday Night Hockey telecasts when McGuire is working the Western half of the doubleheader.

Milbury, Joe Micheletti, AJ Mleczko, Jones, Brian Hayward, Andy Brickley, Jim Fox, Brian Engblom, Shane Hnidy, and Mike Johnson will also serve as game analysts for NBC Sports’ NHL coverage this season.

Play-by-play commentators Kenny Albert, John Forslund, Chris Cuthbert, and Gord Miller will all make significant contributions to NBC Sports’ NHL coverage throughout the season. Also, Brendan Burke, Dave Goucher, Rick Peckham, Alex Faust, and Ken Daniels will be NHL on NBC play-by-play commentators this season.

In addition to NBC Sports’ primary NHL studio crew of McHugh, Tappen, Milbury, and Jones, Paul Burmeister returns as a studio host for the 2018-19 season, and Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter return as studio analysts. Roenick will also be featured as an on-site roving reporter during the nightcap of Wednesday Night Hockey doubleheaders, illustrating the unique environments of NHL fanbases and cities during the season.

Patrick Sharp, Colby Armstrong, Mike Rupp, and Johnson will also contribute to NBC Sports’ studio coverage this season. NHL insiders Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger also reprise their roles for the 2018-19 season, joining the Wednesday Night Hockey studio team on NBCSN.

NBC Sports will utilize the commentary teams from NBC Sports Washington, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and NBC Sports California for select Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and San Jose Sharks telecasts airing on NBCSN throughout the 2018-19 season.

NBC Sports Washington – Joe Beninati (play-by-play), Craig Laughlin (analyst)
NBC Sports Philadelphia – Jim Jackson (play-by-play), Jones (analyst)
NBC Sports California – Randy Hahn (play-by-play), Jamie Baker (analyst), Bret Hedican (Inside-the-Glass analyst)…

…ESPN has re-signed veteran college football analyst Todd Blackledge to a new multi-year deal, continuing the esteemed football voice’s long-term tenure with ESPN and ABC which originally began in 1994. The Penn State national championship-winning quarterback turned football pundit has been a staple of ESPN’s college football coverage since returning to ESPN and ABC in 2006, calling prime-time games regularly during the season. Since the inception of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the former NFL first-round pick has called a CFP Semifinal each year on ESPN and the CFP National Championship on ESPN Radio. Dating back to 2006, Blackledge has called 10 national championships on ESPN Radio…