Results tagged “lenberman”

Len Berman didn't exactly use his farewell from the WNBC 4 sports desk as an opportunity to have his Howard Beale moment, but he did get in a couple of jabs at all of the cutbacks around the station that led them to let him go after almost twenty-five years covering local sports there. When presented with a cake, Berman quipped, "Is this in the budget?" Apparently personalizing it was not.

Tonight will be the final broadcasts at WNBC 4 for longtime sportscaster Len Berman. Berman will be on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts tonight and tells the Daily News, "I know they have a video and surprises planned at 6 p.m." Will one of those surprises be a goodbye kiss from Sue Simmons? His heart is likely racing to find out. As for what happens next, Berman tells the News, "I am happy to report there will be a next time." His signature segment of wacky highlights, "Spanning the World," will remain at its second home on . There hasn't been any word on further pink slips at WNBC, which has seen quite a few recently. As for his departure, Berman says he has "definitely mixed emotions." Here's to hoping that nobody got hurt.

The news has set in that longtime WNBC sports anchor Len Berman is leaving/being let go from the station, and it seems that Berman himself is a little conflicted. Though upbeat—he told Newsday's Neil Best, "This was something we have been talking about for a long time, and I think it benefits both of us... I feel I have other talents besides just reading sports news. And my wife [Jill] is jumping up and down."—Berman did say to the Daily News' Richard Huff, "I've done the same thing for so long I've gotten up and gone to work at 30 Rock for so long. I'm not going to have to wear a suit and tie. It's really a bit of angst." Berman's (rumored $1 million/year) contract ran into 2010 and he and WNBC had apparently been negotiating a settlement for months. Best put the news into perspective, "The man had a heck of a run. I'm so old, though, that to me he still seems like the new guy who just replaced Marv Albert on the Ch. 4 news."

Veteran WNBC sportscaster Len Berman will make April his last month at Channel 4. NY Post says he was eliminated "as the station continues to cut high-priced talent" while the Daily News offers WNBC's spin: Apparently news director Vickie Burns sent an e-mail saying Berman had an "interest in pursuing different opportunities within the local sports arena. To that end, we have mutually agreed that the time is right for Len to take advantage of those opportunities." (The News also points out that he's "the latest casualty in a depressed economy that has claimed the jobs of several market veterans, and specifically made sportscasters walking targets.") Berman, who joined WNBC in 1985, issued a statement, "I've had a great run here at WNBC and will miss the talented people I've worked with over the years both on and off the air. I'm looking forward to the various media projects I'll be involved with." Sad. Does this give legs to the rumor that Chuck Scarborough will get the axe?

This past Sunday the New York Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences had its local Emmy awards presentation and there were some surprises among the winners in the local news categories along with the amount stations took home compared to last year.

We interviewed hundreds of people this year, from long-time rockers to the designer of New York’s subway map. Here are a few conversations you may have missed:

• On the day Radiohead’s In Rainbows was released exclusively online, musician Jonny Greenwood talked about the “experiment.”
  Continue reading "Gothamist Year In Interviews"

While the end of his playing days have been long over, Curtis Martin only officially announced his retirement from the NFL today. Martin, the running back for the Jets for 8 seasons, retires from the NFL after 11 seasons as the fourth-leading rusher in league history with 14,101 yards. The future member of the Hall of Fame only trails Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders on that list. Martin, 34, joined the Jets in 1998 after three seasons with the New England Patriots.

Yesterday was supposedly the luckiest day of the century and many people got married to better their marriage success odds. The Post has a feature on a couple who met while they were waiting for a 7 train - the wedding of Diana and Joseph Saporito included seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, 21 tables (21 being a multiple of seven) and Lucky 7 lotto tickets.

Radio shock jock Don Imus was suspended for two weeks by CBS, which owns WFAN and Westwood One (the radio outlets his show is broadcast and syndicated on) and MSNBC, which broadcasts a televised simulcast of the radio show, over remarks he made towards the Rutgers women's basketball team. MSNBC announced that Imus would be suspended first, then CBS announced a similar suspension.

Earlier this week Gothamist had the chance to attend the taping of Len Berman's 20th Anniversary of Spanning the World special at NBC’s 30 Rock studios.. The show was filled with some of the best clips of the past twenty years and a visit by the always fun Al Roker. During the breaks in the taping Len answered questions from the audience, including several interesting hockey related questions from a young Rangers fan which he handled with aplomb. Hopefully everything else will make the final cut when the special airs on Saturday at 7:00 p. m. on WNBC. And nobody got hurt.

Last Monday, Gothamist set down with award winning sportscaster Len Berman. A New York native, Berman attended Stuyvesant High School and started his broadcast career while a student at Syracuse University. He got his start in television news as a reporter (and later news anchor) in 1970 at WLWD-TV (now WDTN-TV)in Dayton, Ohio. Three years later, he moved to Boston’s WBZ-TV, where he served as sports director and called Boston Celtics and New England Patriots games. In 1979 he returned to New York as weekend sports anchor for WCBS-TV.

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

Twenty years ago today, on WNBC's 6 p.m. newscast a monthly sports segment created by Len Berman made its debut - Spanning the World. Since then, viewers in the tri-state area along with those who catch the segment of wild and wacky sports highlights when Len visits the Today show have been hearing his trademark "and nobody got hurt" along with Don Pardo intoning "Tune in next time for Spanning the World, if there is a next time." We haven't heard of any special anniversary commemoration today, however there will be a half hour 20th anniversary special taped in front of a live audience airing on March 24th at 7:00 p.m. on NBC 4.

This past Wednesday, the WNBC Live at Five team was joking around with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. Live at Five co-anchor Perri Peltz talking about flossing and periodontal disease, and, as you can see from the YouTube video above for the first 2+ minutes, it's important but very boring stuff. So co-anchor Sue Simmons "pretends" to fall asleep during the banter...but ends up falling off her chair! Good times!

There are some things from the 90's that we never want to see again, but on Gothamist Contribute someone added a link to the awesome, awesome commercial from WNBC in the 90's on Youtube and it brings back all sorts of memories. Gothamist remembers watching the ad on TV when we were younger and singing along with the commercial (sad, we know). At least there wasn't any dancing like the Rockettes or what seem like the Knick City Dancers. The commercial has appearances from Chuck and Sue, a big Al Roker and Len Berman and a nice shot of the World Trade Center.

In game one, Mike Mussina gave up three runs in the first inning and the Yankees managed only one run and three hits off Johan Santana. Lucky for the Yankees, the Twins have already clinched. Santana was pulled after five innings to rest for the playoffs which begin next week. After Santana left, the Yankees were free to have their way with them - okay, not really, but they notched four runs in the 7th inning and went on to win 5-3 (box score).