Fox will deploy one of ESPN/ABC's homegrown stars —Erin Andrews— as it this season takes on ESPN/ABC's marquee Saturday night football.
Sports Television
By Michael Hiestand,
USA Today July 2, 2012
For Andrews, leaving ESPN isn't just business. "It's been difficult," she said by phone Sunday. "I'll be honest, it's been bittersweet. There've been a lot of tears. ESPN has been my family for eight years. I've been a little sister there."
In calling ESPN colleagues such as Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, who she worked with on College GameDay, "I was barely able to say hello before I started crying."
So why is she leaving? Says Andrews, who'll host a new Fox college football studio show in Saturday prime time: "Being able to host a show, be on MLB at the playoff level, being on an NFL pregame show — it's an amazing opportunity to try other things and grow a little."
In her last ESPN/ABC deal, Andrews — who was on ABC's
Dancing with the Stars in 2010 — occasionally reported on ABC's
Good Morning America. As to what non-sports elements might be part of her Fox deal, Andrews says "nothing has been decided with Fox News. We haven't gotten that far. We wanted to deal with sports first. There are other opportunities we're looking at entertainment-wise. I'm not going to lie, after GMA and Dancing, I'm excited to try other things."
Like, say, motherhood. Andrews, 34, says she cut back on travel to games in her last ESPN deal. While she won't elaborate on all her Fox duties — saying Fox will announce them this week — she says she realizes, "I need a life. I need to start thinking about starting a family at some point."
For ESPN, who recently lost Michelle Beadle to NBC, replacing Andrew shouldn't be novel: ESPN's unofficial motto, when it comes to on-air types, is that everybody is sort of replaceable.
Full article can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/story/2012-07-01/hiestand-erin-andrews-bob-costas/55966654/1
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