Kevin Harlan stopped by Scott & BR on Wednesday to talk about the broadcasting industry with his Westwood One colleague Scott Kaplan. Kaplan was not afraid to immediately put Harlan on the spot, asking the radio voice of Monday Night Football if he has heard the rumors that ESPN was interested in getting him and Kurt Warner out of the radio booth and on to the television broadcast.
“Well, it was around a little bit,” Harlan said. He then clarified that ALL he ever heard were rumors. “I was never approached by ESPN. No one ever told me that.”
As for who he thinks should get the job, Harlan said that he never doubted ESPN was going to promote from within for the play-by-play chair. It is the smartest move for the World Wide Leader.
“They have developed so many great, young play-by-play guys that are now in the throws of their career,” Harlan said. “And they will hire someone that will be great in that position.”
The conversation also turned to the financial courtship of some high profile broadcasters and analysts, starting with Tony Romo, who Harlan referred to as “a once-in-a-generation type guy.”
Harlan said that TV networks view the contribution of Tony Romo similar to that of a television star that gets paid millions per episode. ESPN and FOX may have made strong offers, but Harlan said CBS was never going to let Romo go anywhere, because the investment in the former Cowboys quarterback’s broadcasting career began before he even retired. Harlan said he had never seen a network make a commitment to developing a future talent like CBS made to Romo.
“They may have done a practice game in preseason [with other guys], but nothing like they did with Romo. They flew to Texas to have him do simulated games off a screen. The crew, the director, the producers, and Nantz, they all flew down to Texas. They all met. They did hours and hours of practice, walk-throughs of all the things the machines in the trucks do. (Romo) is like a cultivated, homegrown, CBS-branded guy.”
So what effect will those big numbers have on broadcaster negotiations in the future? Harlan told Kaplan that it’s not hard to imagine anyone sitting opposite from Tony Romo, Drew Brees, or anyone else with an eight-figure salary will not be satisfied.
“You can bet that is going to be the standard, and there’s gonna be play-by-play guys that say ‘If he’s worth that…well, I think I’m pretty important too.'”
