ESPN Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

EXCLUSIVE: TV anchor Sage Steele has replaced Candace Owens in the voice cast of The Daily Wire‘s upcoming animated sitcom Mr Birchum, following the latter’s recent exit from the right wing news platform.

A brand new F1 channel is launching for US fans!

Aaron LaBerge, who helped oversee Disney‘s expansion into streaming during two stints totaling 20 years, is exiting the company.

Good Morning Football is making a brief return to the NFL Network to cover the NFL Draft this week.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. One of the oldest rivalries in sports takes to the soccer pitch Sunday as Real Madrid hosts FC Barcelona for the 2024 El Clásico game. The La Liga Clásico takes place Sunday, April 21 at 3 p.m.

Howie Schwab, a longtime ESPN producer and star of the ESPN trivia show Stump the Schwab, died today at 63, according to his family. No cause or location was given.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. After a record-breaking Super Bowl, the 2024-25 NFL regular season begins with the NFL Draft this month, with a new slate of rookies entering the league. The Chicago Bears (via the Carolina Panthers) are expected to select USC-star quarterback Caleb Williams with the No.

Whoopi Goldberg is so over Travis Kelce…

Today, Andscape, the Black multimedia platform from Disney and ESPN, known as the premier platform for exploring the intersections of race, sports, and culture,” announced the new anthology franchise “&360,” which explores the massive influence of Black culture on American society. The franchise will premiere with the documentary feature “Hip-Hop And The White House, directed by Jesse Washington and featuring Jeezy, whose song “My President” was a significant hip-hop political touchstone.

Travis Kelce is in the hot seat after seemingly showing support for Donald Trump!

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. After 31 years, UFC 300 is shaping up to be a big milestone since “UFC 1: The Beginning” in 1993. For the main event, Brazilian Alex Pereira (9-2) is looking to defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship belt against American Jamahal Hill (12-1) at the top of the main card on Saturday, April 13.

EXCLUSIVE: ESPN Films today announced it has greenlit an upcoming 30 for 30 documentary to be centered around the extraordinary life of Stuart Scott. Andre Gaines will direct.

ESPN’s live telecast of the first round of the Masters Tournament on Thursday averaged 3.2 million viewers, the highest for the first round since 2015. It represented a jump of 28% in viewership over last year’s first round.

NASCAR has hired John Dahl as its new SVP Content, bolstering the sanctioning body’s efforts to further connect with current and new fans across the globe over a range of content platforms.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor John Dahl, an ESPN veteran who helped produce the much-lauded Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance,” is getting into gear at NASCAR, where he will lead new efforts to connect to fans with content. Dahl has been named senior vice president of content, and will start in his new role on May 1.

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions is staying in business with ESPN through 2034.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter ESPN and Peyton Manning‘s Omaha Productions have signed a new long-term content deal. The deal will keep Manning in business with the sports network until 2034. Manning and Omaha Productions had originally signed a deal with ESPN in 2021 for three years, though an extension was announced in 2022.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The NCAA men’s basketball national championship game is finally here, capping off an action-packed March Madness season. No.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The University of South Carolina overwhelmed the Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday in a rollicking NCAA Women’s College Basketball Championship game that capped an unprecedented run for women’s sports. The game that ended 87-75 saw University of Iowa megastar Caitlin Clark wrap her collegiate career and the birth of not one but two WNBA stars, as Clark and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso head off to next week’s WNBA draft. The Iowa-South Carolina game was a seesaw from the start.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Caitlin Clark and Co. delivered big-time for ESPN on Friday with a record audience tuning in to the Final Four game that sent the University of Iowa to Sunday’s national championship. ESPN’s nighttime telecast of UConn-Iowa faceoff delivered an audience of 14.2 million viewers, a new high mark for a women’s college basketball game, per ESPN citing Nielsen data.

Thee women’s NCAA Semifinals on ESPN shattered viewership records, as all-time NCAA basketball scoring leader Caitlin Clark led her Iowa Hawkeyes to a thrilling win over the UConn Huskies, 71-69, in a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.

—and the pressure is mounting.The led the Iowa Hawkeyes to victory against UConn on April 5, sending the college team to the women’s NCAA championship game against the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.Just last week, Iowa's win against Louisiana State University became the in women’s college history, with 12.3 million viewers tuning in to see the epic rematch between Clark and fellow generational talent . While Clark has yet to win a national title, the superstar recently became the the all-time , male or female.

ESPN EVP of Production Norby Williamson, who helped build SportsCenter into a signature franchise but recently had a public clash with Pat McAfee, is departing after nearly 40 years at the network.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Norby Williamson, the ESPN veteran who has managed everything from NFL coverage to “SportsCenter,” is leaving the Disney sports-media giant abruptly just weeks after being called out on camera in a surprise and unprecedented outburst by daytime host Pat McAfee. The McAfee contretemps is not at the root of Williamson’s departure, according to a person familiar with the matter, but rather disagreements between the executive and the longer-term strategy being devised by Burke Magnus, who was handed oversight of content and news production in March of last year.

Women’s basketball is heating up on ESPN.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fierce media rivals like ESPN and Fox Sports aren’t often eager to see the other do well. But the competitors may be cheering one another this weekend. Fox and ESPN will this weekend each broadcast two games from the new — depending on how one looks at it — UFL, a league that has been built out of the former USFL and its rival, the XFL.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor One of the benefits of hosting any sort of news or discussion program on TV is an authorization to talk. Now some TV journalists and personalities are also being given permission to bite. NBCUniversal needs to get out the proverbial Bactine after being savaged earlier this week by many of its top news personalities over the hire made by NBC News executives of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel.

Veteran ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson said today that he will retire from the show at the end of June.

Speculation over Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United and possible replacements for the manager continues to bubbles since the takeover by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with Wolves boss Gary O’Neil the latest to be linked.

As the viewing landscape continues to get more complex, ESPN is aiming to streamline things for sports fans by integrating links to video feeds from regional sports networks into its main app and website.