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11/12/2001 As sports television programs and networks turn increasingly to print journalists as experts, RLR Associates has taken notice, signing print talent not for its literary department but for its television side. In the last month, the agency has signed Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon and New York Daily News columnist Bill Madden, adding them to a roster that includes ESPN NBA reporter David Aldridge, formerly of the Washington Post, and the Philadelphia Inquirer's Stephen A. Smith, who appears on Fox Sports Net. Agent Greg Friedlander said that a print journalism background provides "instant credibility," and that writers, who are lured by television's big league money, often have long-standing relationships with players, coaches and general managers that provide material and insight that anchors wouldn't have. Even when former writers give up their daily print jobs, Friedlander said, "they have skills and a foundation that a pretty boy groomed to read off the TelePrompTer doesn't have." Friedlander said RLR handled Wilbon's three-year deal, worth more than $200,000, to be co-host of ESPN's new show "Pardon the Interruption" with fellow Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser. Madden was represented by RLR's literary side for his most recent book, "Zim: A Baseball Life," a biography of Yankee coach Don Zimmer. He also will be a leading candidate for the new YES network, which will televise New York Yankees games, Friedlander said. "We think he has a lot of potential." RLR rarely seeks out writers but instead it is usually approached, Friedlander said. The firm is careful about whom it signs, he said, because even the biggest names must perform well on camera and few jobs are available since there is little turnover in roles that have big dollars and high visibility.
The above is an excerpt from Millers "Print Media" column which originally appeared on page 14 of the Sports Business Journal on November 12, 2001. |
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