Kevin Harlan is set to make history on Sunday, calling his 13th consecutive Super Bowl.
Harlan, who is the voice of Monday Night Football on Westwood One on the radio and calls NFL games on TV for CBS, said on Bernstein & Holmes on 670 The Score it’s not lost on him what a privilege calling games like the Super Bowl is.
“When I put on that headset wherever I am, it’s a pretty special moment,” Harlan said. “And I never take it lightly and always think of the people that preceded me.”
Since Harlan has experience in both TV and radio, he was asked about the primary differences in calling NFL games. Kevin said the play-by-play voice isn’t the main priority on TV.
“On TV the play-by-play guy is the fourth most important thing on there,” he said. “It’s the picture – what the cameras are shooting – then the analyst, cause he’s gotta tell a lot of people and helps everybody in deciding why a play worked or didn’t. Then the graphics, then the replays and the bells and whistles, and all those fun things we see that they do in the truck. And then the play-by-play guy.”
Harlan meant no offense to his colleagues who have called games on television, but Kevin said he just understands where his position on the broadcast stands on TV versus radio.
“I’m there to accentuate the picture, accentuate the graphics and the statistics they put on the screen, set up the color analyst, give some pockets of space on television – let it breathe and give people a chance to digest what they’ve seen – what they just heard the analyst say,” he said. “Maybe try to digest the statistic or the graphic that’s been thrown up on the screen. They don’t want to overload them.
“On the radio, all you have for the listener is the theater of their imagination and their thoughts and their emotions,” Harlan added. “So the play-by-play guy on the radio is number one. So it’s all about pacing, delivery, word usage, reporting skill, and using the crowd as an orchestra if there’s a big play. But making sure that they’re constantly aware of score and time.”
Harlan has always found radio to be the dream industry to work in. He said there’s nothing quite like a radio broadcast.
“It’s the purest form of broadcasting,” he said. “It’s voice, it’s diction, it’s vocabulary, it’s pacing, it’s delivery, it’s reporting skill, it’s like every touch point that somebody in our business needs. Whereas in TV it’s a whole other set of skills.”
Makes sense as to why Kevin is EXHAUSTING to listen to on radio. he thinks he is most important so he talks constantly….way overdoes the detail….and never lets thing breathe. Every play is not the 3pointer with :01 left.