Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 2, 1990 TAG: 9004020066
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Medium
Because the move was announced on April Fool's Day and a day before the NCAA basketball championship game - which Musburger still is scheduled to broadcast - many television officials at first dismissed it as a joke.
A worker at CBS Sports' studios in New York called The Associated Press insisting the announcement was not true, even while CBS Sports president Neal Pilson was discussing the move at the Final Four in Denver.
"It is not a joke," Pilson said. "It's a difficult decision. It's never easy to deal with individuals with whom you have personal or business relationships."
Ted Shaker, executive producer of CBS Sports, said the network believed Musburger's work load was "too much" and wanted to give its other sportscasters more assignments.
"We have a great group of young broadcasters. They're our present and our future," Shaker said.
Broadcasting the UNLV-Duke game will be the final CBS assignment for Musburger, whose 5 1/2-year contract expires in July.
"I was surprised, but it was a great run and I have a million memories, and I leave behind a lot of good friends," Musburger said in a statement read by Jimmy Tubbs, his personal assistant. "At this time, I'm going to take an extended vacation, and I'll be working again someday, somewhere."
Musburger, who has been with CBS Sports since 1975, was scheduled to become the main voice for CBS' baseball coverage, which begins April 14. He also was in line to be the host for the network's coverage of the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.
Pilson said negotiations for a new contract had been going on for several months between the network and Todd Musburger, who represents his brother. Pilson said the Musburgers had asked for a decision by Sunday.
Both Musburgers were unavailable Sunday but Tubbs, Musburger's assistant for 5 1/2 years, answered questions.
"It wasn't right out of the blue," Tubbs said. "He knew for a couple of days that things were not going well in contract negotiations. Negotiations had been going on and they just broke off."
The first hint of the move came when CBS spokeswoman Susan Kerr read a terse two-paragraph statement.
"CBS Sports announced today that it had declined to renew Brent Musburger's employment agreement, which expires within the next few months," the statement said. "Brent's final event for CBS Sports will be the NCAA men's championship game on Monday, April 2, 1990."
Kerr said it wasn't accurate to say that Musburger had been fired.
"We just didn't renew his contract," she said.
Asked why Musburger wasn't staying until July, Kerr said: "It wouldn't be right to have him start baseball and not be around at the end of the season."
Musburger has been a frequent target of television critics, who have accused him of overhyping events and being a bland personality. But Shaker said the media criticism didn't play a role in CBS' decision.
Musburger is in his sixth season as lead play-by-play man for the NCAA basketball tournament and has been host of "The NFL Today" since 1975. He has anchored the Masters golf tournament, the NBA finals, the Pan American Games and late-night coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. He also broadcast college football games.
Musburger, who turns 51 in May, reportedly earned nearly $2 million per year at CBS. Pilson said he would not describe the negotiations as "a squabble over money," but would not talk about the matters of dispute in the talks.
"It was a very, very difficult decision for us," Shaker said. "Brent Musburger has been a colleague and friend and teacher of mine for 12 years. He made a very valuable contribution to CBS Sports."
Musburger was hired by former CBS Sports president Robert Wussler in 1975 and quickly became the network's most prominent sportscaster.
"He was for many years someone that we turned to in difficult situations," Pilson said. "I think that we're grateful for his contributions. We're a much stronger sports organization now than we were five or 10 years ago, and we have a need to groom other people to represent major franchises."
Pilson said CBS would make an announcement this week on its baseball plans. Industry speculation on a possible replacement centers on Al Michaels, said to be unhappy with his status at ABC. Michaels was unavailable for comment Sunday.
by CNB