WSVN-7 hires replacement for retiring Steve Shapiro. And NFL takes on college football
For the first time this century, Miami-Fort Lauderdale’s Fox affiliate faces life after Steve Shapiro.
The market’s longest-tenured sportscaster — who joined WSVN in 1997 after a previous stint at what now is WFOR — is retiring at the end of December.
And WSVN-7 already has hired his replacement: Josh Moser, who most recently worked at the Fox affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Alice Jacobs, WSVN’s longtime vice president/news and local programming, said more than 200 people applied for the job, and she evaluated tape of 174 of them.
What stood out about Moser?
“He has a command of sports knowledge, an enthusiasm that you can feel through the camera lens and a creative approach to his sportscasts,” Jacobs said in an e-mail to the Miami Herald.
Moser, who was born in Southern California, previously was a sports reporter and sports director at the CBS affiliate in Grand Junction, Colorado, and the NBC affiliate in Denver.
WSVN bypassed two of its staffers — Mike DePasquale and Donovan Campbell — for the lead job, but both will remain on staff.
Moser will anchor most weeknight sportscasts and the Sunday night show, “Sports Xtra.”
Shapiro has anchored and reported sports in South Florida for 30 years — longer than anyone else in the market’s history.
AROUND THE DIAL
▪ Though the defending NBA champions always play in the TNT-televised Tuesday opening doubleheader the following season, the loser of the Finals often does not.
And though it’s still being discussed, we hear the NBA’s initial sentiment was not to schedule the Heat on the opening night of the season (Dec. 22) and instead showcase Brooklyn in the early game.
There is an element of curiosity with the Nets, with Kevin Durant set to make his Brooklyn debut after missing last season due to injury.
The Heat is expected to get a game on Christmas, which is a Friday.
At least some of the network NBA telecasts are expected to be announced remotely, as opposed to on site.
▪ The NFL plans to compete directly with college football conference championship games on Dec. 19.
ABC’s 4 p.m. broadcast of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship will go head-to-head with Bills-Broncos on NFL Network.
CBS’ coverage of the Southeastern Conference championship will compete with Panthers-Packers on NFL Network that evening.
Game time and TV information haven’t been set for UM’s game against Georgia Tech that day (if they play at all) or UM’s Dec. 5 game vs Wake Forest and Dec. 12 game vs North Carolina.
The UM-Georgia Tech game would be played only if the result would not affect the matchup in the ACC championship game.
▪ Quick stuff: Longtime ESPN personality Trey Wingo departed this week after the network didn’t renew his contract… CBS’ Bill Macatee is retiring after a long career that featured golf, NFL games for both NBC and CBS earlier in his life and many other assignments...
The Marlins aren’t featured in ESPN’s first week of MLB games… We might see some movement in the Comcast/ACC Network standoff next September, when Disney’s carriage deal with Comcast/Xfinity expires… ABC replaced its rescheduled Oklahoma-West Virginia Saturday night telecast with Utah-Washington...
Here are Sunday’s NFL maps... Andrew Catalon and James Lofton announce the next two Dolphins games (Jets, Bengals) for CBS.... Steelers-Ravens, rescheduled from Thanksgiving night because of a COVID outbreak on the Baltimore team, is moving from 1:15 p.m. Sunday to 8 p.m. Tuesday and will be televised nationally by NBC. If that game gets played on Tuesday, next Thursday’s Ravens-Cowboys game would move to Monday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. and be televised nationally on Fox and NFL Network.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 10:52 AM.
