Behind the Mic: Jim Nantz To Call Last Final Four in 2023; Jay Wright To Join CBS Sports for NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Coverage,
Story Highlights
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, Jay Wright To Join CBS Sports For NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Coverage, Fubo Sports Network Signs Multi-Year Renewal With Gilbert Arenas and Josiah Johnson for Channel’s Top Original Series No Chill, and more.
Jay Wright To Join Warner Bros. Discovery Sports And CBS Sports For NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament Coverage
Hall of Fame Head Coach Jay Wright, who won two National Championships and made four Final Four appearances with Villanova, has joined CBS Sports and WBD Sports as a college basketball analyst.
Wright, who retired from coaching in April after guiding the Wildcats to the Final Four, will join as a studio analyst for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship with all 67 games televised live across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – and via NCAA March Madness Live.
The six-time Big East Coach of the Year will work as a studio and game analyst for CBS Sports throughout the college basketball regular season, making appearances on both the CBS Television Network and CBS Sports Network.
Fubo Sports Network Signs Multi-Year Renewal With Gilbert Arenas and Josiah Johnson for Channel’s Top Original Series No Chill
Fubo Sports Network, the live, free-to-consumer TV network from FuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO), the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform,has announced that it has signed a new, multi-year renewal with Gilbert Arenas and Josiah Johnson, hosts of No Chill with Gilbert Arenas. The popular original TV series will premiere its third season on October 27 at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT on YouTube and on Fubo Sports Network’s linear channel on October 30 at 7 p.m. ET/PT as the 2022-23 NBA season begins. No Chill is also available in audio form across podcast platforms.
Three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenasand NBA social media king Josiah Johnson talk with athletes, celebrities and more about basketball and life around it. The duo will welcome guest Victor Oladipo of the Miami Heat to the season premiere with additional guests joining new episodes each week. In addition to weekly episodes, Arenas and Johnson will host off-the-cuff and often live programming during the NBA season around events such as the NBA All-Star weekend, Playoffs, Draft and Summer League including watch parties, interviews and much more.
In addition to No Chill, Fubo Sports Network has expanded its professional basketball content with the recent debut of original series, The Young Person Basketball Podcast with R.J. Hampton. The series, which streams monthly throughout the NBA season, premiered with the Orlando Magic guard interviewing teammate and number one overall pick in the NBA draft Paolo Banchero.
Fubo Sports Network has experienced record high viewership within the past year driven by its original programming and exclusive live sports. During the month of September, viewership on the network increased by 121% year-over-year.
The network’s most watched original program No Chill with Gilbert Arenas also continues to amass audiences, generating 5.4 million total streams to date and over 2.7 million podcast downloads. On YouTube, it has garnered 73.5 million views and 6.5 million hours watched.
MSG Networks Adds Thomas Hickey to Islanders Coverage as Studio Analyst
MSG Networks, the television home of the New York Islanders, today announced that former Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey will officially join the MSG Networks’ Islanders broadcast team as a studio analyst for this season.
Hickey will team up in studio with host Shannon Hogan for Islanders pregame, intermission and postgame coverage on MSGSN. AJ Mleczko will also continue to serve as a studio analyst throughout the season.
Jim Nantz to call his final NCAA Tournament with Ian Eagle as successor
After more than three decades as the voice of the Final Four, Jim Nantz will call his last NCAA Men’s Tournament this March, and then Ian Eagle will succeed him as the lead play-by-player on CBS and Turner Sports’ coverage of the tournament, The Post has learned.
Nantz, 63, picked 2023 for his final run because of the location of this year’s Final Four and the network it will be on. CBS and TBS alternate years in terms of airing the Final Four.
The ’23 edition will be on CBS and take place in Houston, which has special significance for Nantz as he began his sportscasting career there as a University of Houston undergrad.
