As first reported by SportsByBrooks.com, ESPN Radio has announced that Sports Center anchor Mike Hill and former NFL lineman Mark Schlereth will take over the 7pm to 10pm Eastern (4pm to 7pm Pacific) timeslot on Tuesday, January 10. The show fills the void left when Brian Kenny departed ESPN for MLB Network in September.
In addition to his duties on ESPN, Schlereth had been co-hosting afternoons at Lincoln Financial Media’s “104.3 The Fan” KKFN Denver until the station lost its ESPN affiliation at the end of 2011.
The Press Release from ESPN follows:
ESPN Radio will present Hill & Schlereth, a new prime time show debuting January 10, 2012, featuring co-hosts Mark Schlereth, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and SportsCenter anchor Mike Hill. Hill & Schlereth will run 7-10 p.m. ET M-Thu for the remainder of the NFL season, going M-F after the Super Bowl.
Mark Schlereth & Mike Hill (Credit Joe: Faraoni/ESPN)
Hill & Schlereth Podcast will be posted 30 minutes after each show, commercial free, for download on ESPNRadio.com and iTunes.
Schlereth & Hill will be an entertainment, information and personality-driven show, featuring an interactive-listener format, with Tweets, text messages, e-mails and a live chat room where listeners can give their opinions on the show’s current topic.
“Mike Hill and Mark Schlereth are already fan favorites,†said Mo Davenport, Senior Vice President of ESPN Audio. “Their ability to expand on their friendship, their experiences, and their knowledge of sports, combined with our listeners’ passion, equals great content that can be enjoyed on multiple platforms.â€
“I’m more than thrilled to be a part of the ESPN Radio team, which allows me another platform, to go along with television, to get a few things off my chest,†Hill said. “Mark and I have always had great chemistry and a bond off and on the air, so I’m very much looking forward to this endeavor with him. Our plan is to make the show informative, provocative, VERY entertaining and most importantly, fun to listen to.â€
Schlereth, a former All-Pro offensive guard who joined ESPN in 2001 as an NFL analyst, said, “I’m both excited and humbled to have the opportunity to join ESPN Audio on a full time basis. In my 11 years at the network there is nothing I’ve enjoyed more than talking sports and telling stories on Mike and Mike, and now I get to do it on a nightly basis. As if that isn’t enough, I get to do it with Mike Hill, one of my best friends and a guy I have a ton of respect for.â€
Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Schlereth was the first Alaska native to play in the NFL. His son, Daniel, was selected in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft as a relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks and currently plays for the Detroit Tigers.
Prior to ESPN, Hill, a native new Yorker, was sports anchor at KXAS-TV in Dallas (2002-04), and earned two local Emmy Awards and the “Best Sportscaster†Award from The Tennessean while at Nashville’s WKRN-TV (1997–2000). He enlisted in the Air Force where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1994.