Jeff Zucker Could Be Mulling a Future in Sports

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThere’s a new contender in the arena.As Discovery begins its new era of operating Warner Bros., HBO and Turner, all eyes are on how the new company will navigate the media sector’s streaming wars with thousands of hours of content from popular TV brands like TLC, TBS, TNT, CNN and HBO. Behind that effort, however, could look a new sports giant that is poised to add another deep-pocketed player vying for major league negotiations that it previously ignored.Warner Bros.

Dave co-creators Dave Burd and Jeff Schaffer joined actor and consultant GaTa on stage for a panel at Deadline’s Contenders TV event on Sunday at the Paramount Theatre.

Dodgers play-by-play announcer Joe Davis has a new role at Fox Sports. He’s been named the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports’ Major League Baseball coverage.“It’s been amazing to watch Joe’s continued growth over the years developing into one of the elite broadcasters in all of sports,” Brad Zager, president of production/operations and executive producer for Fox Sports, said in a statement. “As an integral part of our coverage over the last several years, his transition onto baseball’s biggest stage is a natural fit and we couldn’t be more excited to have him as the new voice of MLB on Fox.”Davis has been calling Los Angeles Dodgers game since 2017, succeeding the legendary Vin Scully.

Veteran sportscaster Joe Davis has been tapped to become the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports’ Major League Baseball coverage.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThere’s a new regular Joe calling baseball games on Fox.Joe Davis, a veteran sportscaster who has been known on the West Coast for calling Los Angeles Dodger games and as a Fox Sports regular, will take over as the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports’ Major League Baseball coverage. He succeeds Joe Buck, the longtime Fox baseball and football announcer who has moved to ESPN to work on “Monday Night Football.” Davis will join John Smoltz in the network’s lead baseball booth.“If you had asked me when I was 10 what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would’ve told you ‘Call the World Series.’ So when I say this is a dream-come-true, I really mean it,” said Davis, in a statement.  Davis and Smoltz, along with reporters Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal, are expected to call Fox’s coverage of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game, MLB at Field of Dreams Game and the MLB post-season Postseason, including its 25th Fall Classic.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDisney has over the past two years spent billions to snare new rights deals with top sports properties like Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the PGA Tour and others. But in months to come, the company may place new emphasis on programming around those big properties.New research from the company indicates more sports fans are interested in “the game around the game,” says Lisa Valentino, executive vice president at Disney Advertising Sales, in an interview, and that could manifest itself increasingly in sports content that is found on smartphones; activity related to fantasy sports; or content related to sports-betting.

Shirley Ju Separately from each other, producers Mike Dean (pictured above) and Jeff Bhasker (below) are both synth gods in their own right. As a unit, performing their first show on Friday (April 1) at OffSunset in West Hollywood, the two were otherworldly.The intimate set reunited the Kanye West collaborators, who each have five Grammy Awards, and included an all-star guest list that both teased on socials prior to the event.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has the first exclusive track from Jeff Danna’s score for Julia, which is set for release tomorrow via Watertower Music.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSome people who tune in ESPN2 for an April 6 NBA match-up between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks may think they’ve gone back in time.The game will open in black and white and use graphics that evoke ABC’s 1960s coverage, then shift to a look that mirrors CBS’ NBA telecasts of the 1970s and 1980s. Look for a presentation that emulates NBC’s 1990s telecasts as well, complete with that network’s signature music.

Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling has made a sensational U-turn on his decision to step down as the host of Soccer Saturday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorOne of the automobile sector’s newest players is making a big bet on the Oscars at a time when many other car manufacturers are staying away from the glitzy event.Lucid Motors, a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles that believes it can compete with traditional auto companies like Mercedes-Benz, has typically spent most of its TV-advertising money for  around sports and news programming. On Sunday, it will sponsor the Oscars, an entertainment program, for the first time, part of a bid to get its name out to a broader audience.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJon Adler, a veteran behind the production of many of CNN’s original series, has been named a senior vice president overseeing that programming at CNN as the WarnerMedia unit is creating more documentary content for its soon-to-launch streaming outlet, CNN Plus.“With the expansion of our mandate to create premium long-form programming for CNN Plus, Jon’s experience developing distinctive content for CNN linear will now benefit our newest platform,” said Amy Entelis, CNN’s executive vice president for talent and content development, in a memo to staffers. “Jon is one of the most passionate advocates for all things CNN and we are excited to see him embark on this new chapter.” Adler reports to Entelis.

Taylor Zakhar Perez bares it all (while wearing a prosthetic) in the new HBO Max series Minx and Instagram thinks his new role is too steamy for the platform.

Loose Women star Kaye Adams slammed critics of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after she was branded 'ungrateful' upon her return to the UK.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorVeteran sportscaster Mike Tirico will join NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” next fall, pairing up with analyst Cris Collinsworth in the latest shake up among the announcers who call the plays of TV’s most-watched sport.Tirico fills a spot left vacant by the departure of Al Michaels, who is expected to join Amazon to call “Thursday Night Football.”“When Mike joined NBC Sports in 2016, it was our plan for him to become our primetime Olympics host and the play-by-play voice of Sunday Night Football,” said Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports, in a statement. “We are excited to have Mike join Cris Collinsworth full-time in the booth this season.”NBC confirms speculation about the future of its “Sunday Night Football” booth with an NFL meeting slated to take place later this week.

EXCLUSIVE: Vito Schnabel (Before Night Falls), Julia Fox (Uncut Gems) and Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos) have signed on to star in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.