ESPN nabs Ch. 28's Crawford for new show
By ERIC DEGGANS, Times Television Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 5, 2003
He knows that, in many ways, this may be one of the worst times for this to happen.
But after years of telling himself and friends that he would never leave the Tampa Bay area, WFTS-Ch. 28 sports director Jay Crawford finally got an offer he couldn't refuse - agreeing to leave the station later this month to help cable sports channel ESPN start a new morning show.
Crawford, 38, said his last day on WFTS will probably be Aug. 29 - right after the Buccaneers' last preseason game - paving the way for weekend sports anchor Al Keck to take over as lead sports anchor.
And even though his departure means the station must change anchors just as the Bucs begin their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions, Crawford remained confident the transition won't harm viewership or coverage.
"When we brought Al in, I felt we had the deepest sports staff of any station," he said of Keck, who came to WFTS in 2001 after more than 12 years at rival WTSP-Ch. 10. "It's not like (viewers) are going to be left with some guy coming in from Sacramento who doesn't know where One Buc Place is."
Keck downplayed the irony of taking over at WFTS 21/2 years after longtime employer WTSP declined to renew his contract. "(WFTS) is extremely aggressive...they understand the importance of local sports and what that can mean to the community," said Keck, 48. "That wasn't something that was happening where I had been before."
Crawford will head to Manhattan, where he expects to cohost a two-hour, 7 a.m. show - curiously titled Cold Pizza - that he described as "like the Today show, but with sports."
He said ESPN officials - including Crawford's friend, ESPN's senior vice president and general manager of programming, Mark Shapiro - first began talking to him about the job in April, getting serious about an offer in late June or early July. Crawford came to WFTS from Ohio in 1998, replacing colorful anchor Drew Soicher.
The departing anchor admitted it will be tough to leave WFTS, a station that has remained committed to sports coverage at a time when some competitors have pulled sports segments from early evening newscasts and pared back coverage.
"We do a lot of sports specials and Bucs specials that do well in ratings and revenue," said Crawford. "(But local TV sportscasts) are...going the way of the dinosaur. It was easy to stay here, because they had such a committment."
Keck agreed, shrugging off conventional TV wisdom that up to 40 percent of the local TV news audience doesn't care about sports. "Think back to January...what was every person in this area mesmerized by?" he said. "People could not wait until this (Bucs) season started again. It's the one thing that ties the community together."
Neither news director Bill Berra nor general manager Sam Stallworth could be reached for comment. But Keck said the station will likely hire two new sports anchors, including a replacement weekend anchor and a backup anchor.
Crawford's just looking forward to working on a channel where sports comes first. "I see where local TV is going...(and now) we'll no longer be behind three segments of news and weather," he said. "The newsroom is quick to say "Let's take time out of sports.' Sometimes, you think you're fighting a battle you're never going to win."
Three months after meteorologist Jeff Berardelli left for a job in New York City, WTSP has named two new weather forecasters.
Cliff Michaelsen joins the CBS affiliate Aug. 25, coming from a job as atmospheric researcher for the Ozone Transport Commission in Washington D.C. (he has also worked as a meterologist for TV stations in Jacksonville). At WTSP, he'll provide forecasts on weekend mornings, serve as an environmental issues reporter and work with the station's weather computers.
Brandon native Anna Allen starts Sept. 8, serving as forecaster for WTSP's weekday morning and noontime newscasts. Allen comes from KDFW-TV in Dallas to replace Berardelli, who left in May for a job at WCBS-TV.
Both Allen and Michaelsen - who is not related to WTSP news director and vice president of news Lane Michaelsen - join Dick Fletcher and Randy Rauch on the weather staff, which one executive said was understaffed, even when Berardelli was in town (WTSP and the St. Petersburg Times share news and features under a partnership agreement).
"(Four forecasters) are what you need to cover the weather appropriately," said Pete Nikiel, director of marketing and promotion for WTSP. "When you only have three (forecasters) and someone goes on vacation, you invariably have somebody working 14 days straight."
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