A look at four ways to watch NFL Draft. And NBA TV changes, Corso’s sendoff, media notes
A six-pack of media notes on a Tuesday:
▪ From a media perspective, the NFL Draft leaves every fan with two highly personal decisions:
1). Do you want to know the picks before they’re announced? (If not, then definitely do not scroll through X, or what you might still call Twitter.)
2). With whom would you like to spend several hours on Thursday and Friday nights?
If the answer is Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis and Joel Klatt (with Kurt Warner and Ian Rapoport chiming in), then tune in NFL Network.
If your company of choice is Mike Greenberg, Louis Riddick, Mel Kiper Jr., and Booger McFarland, then tune into ESPN’s traditional draft coverage.
If you prefer a perspective with “storytelling and [chronicling of] the draftee’s road to the NFL Draft, highlighting their lesser-known stories,” and you enjoy the company of Rece Davis, Nick Saban (the former Dolphins and Alabama coach best known for his Vrbo ads), Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard, then tune in ABC.
There’s a fourth option this year, too, at least for the first round: The Pat McAfee Show Draft Spectacular, available across YouTube, TikTok, the ESPN App and streaming on ESPN+.
Flipping between the four is also recommended, if there’s one analyst that particularly grates on you or if you want a blend of opinion.
Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle once said that televising the draft would be akin to reading names from a phone book and asked ESPN executives who would possibly watch.
Four years later, the interest is so massive that it warrants four different broadcast/streamed presentations.
▪ On Day 3, NFL Network will stick with the same talent from the first two days (minus Klatt), but ESPN and ABC will simulcast rounds four through seven with a different set – Davis, Kiper, Field Yates, Matt Miller and Riddick.
Peter Schrager, who recently left NFL Network for ESPN, will join Adam Schefter in an “insider” role on Day 3. Schefter will handle the insider stuff alone on Thursday and Friday.
▪ NBA TV’s coverage of Game 2 of the Heat-Cavaliers series – with Toronto Raptors TV voice Matt Devlin and Greg Anthony – will be blacked out in South Florida, Palm Beach, Naples and Fort Myers, unlike the Heat broadcasts on ESPN and TNT.
But at least the first six games will be carried in South Florida by FanDuel Sports Sun, with Eric Reid and John Crotty.
This will be the final year that regional sports networks can carry first-round games. The first-round will be exclusive to ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Amazon beginning next season.
Amazon Prime will get the entire play-in tournament beginning next season, replacing ESPN and TNT.
▪ Aside from any possible ABC games, first-round Panthers games will continue to be televised on both a national network and WSFL-Channel 39, with Steve Goldstein and Randy Moller on the call. The NHL has no plans to make the first round exclusive to its national rights-holders.
The Panthers will get the lead announcing teams of both network rights-holders for their first two games in Tampa: ESPN’s Sean McDonough and Ray Ferraro at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, and TBS’ Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Unlike with Heat games on NBA TV, there are no network blackouts of Panthers games in South Florida.
On Saturday afternoon, Turner Sports will air two playoff games from South Florida at the same time - Game 3 of Heat-Cavaliers at 1 p.m. on TNT and Game 3 of Panthers-Lightning at 1 p.m. on TBS.
▪ ESPN has displayed class and elegance in handling its aging announcers. Hubie Brown, 91, was given a royal sendoff on a 76ers-Bucks game on Super Bowl Sunday. ESPN and Dick Vitale, 85, have worked together on a limited schedule as he battled four different types of cancer.
And Lee Corso, 89, assuredly will get a lavish farewell on his final appearance of College GameDay on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.
When Corso suffered a stroke that affected his speech in 2009, it wasn’t clear how long ESPN would keep him. The fact he remained on the popular Saturday show for another 16 years was a testament to Corso’s determination, stamina and likability and ESPN’s appreciation for the special chemistry between Corso, Herbstreit and Rece Davis, and before him, Chris Fowler.
Corso’s theatrics -- including wearing the headgear of one of the team’s mascots of the team he picks to win -- had immeasurable value that has helped make GameDay arguably the second-most entertaining sports studio show on television, behind only TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”
With the additions of Saban and McAfee to the GameDay cast in recent years, there isn’t necessarily a need to replace Corso.
But you can count on ESPN playfully and poignantly honoring the only man on Earth who ever coached a college football team (Louisville, Indiana, Northern Illinois) and worked as an executive at a No. 2 pencil manufacturer (Dixon Ticonderoga).
That day will come Aug. 30, at a site to be determined.
One coincidental aside: As it turns out, Brown and Jimmy Johnson (who retired from broadcasting) ended their broadcasting careers on the same day (Super Bowl Sunday).
▪ WPLG-10, which is hiring about 20 reporters to help fill hours of news after it loses ABC programming to WSVN in August, is adding Kacy Hintz from the NBC affiliate in Raleigh to join Will Manso and Clay Ferraro on their sports staff.
The South Florida market (WTVJ, specifically) employed the first female local TV sportscaster in U.S. history (Jane Chastain).
And now South Florida will have a record seven women in local TV sportscasting: Hintz; Sara Cardona on NBC-6; Samantha Rivera and Trish Christakis on CBS-4; Kelly Saco on FanDuel Sports Sun (Heat) and Florida (Marlins); Heat radio analyst and TV studio analyst Amy Audibert; and Jessica Blaylock on WSFL’s Panthers coverage.
Patrick dies
One sad note: Mike Patrick, the voice of ESPN’s Sunday Night Football from 1987 to 2005, died at 80. He called ESPN’s first ever NFL game in 1987 with Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire.
Patrick was a quintessential pro - always prepared - and deftly served as a straight man of sorts for Maguire.
Patrick also called college football and basketball, among other events, during his 36 years at ESPN. Per the network, he died of natural causes on Sunday in Fairfax, Va.
This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 5:34 PM.
