Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994 TAG: 9401070153
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RICHARD SANDOMIR THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
John Madden's future may be with ABC-TV's "Monday Night Football."
The CBS-TV analyst, broadcast industry sources say, is likely to replace Dan Dierdorf on Monday night NFL telecasts. Dierdorf might shift to college football or join the Fox Network.
"We're in a negotiation and we have no comment," said Barry Frank, Madden's agent. An ABC spokesman, Mark Mandel, said: "John Madden is an employee of CBS and we can't say anything else about him."
Madden is a free agent because Fox knocked CBS out of pro football with a $1.58 billion deal for National Conference games.
If Madden has agreed to join ABC, any announcement is likely to be withheld until after Madden's final CBS appearance, the announcement of the All-Madden Team.
Madden has been touted as the broadcasting jewel Fox needs to bring it instant credibility.
Rupert Murdoch, Fox's chairman, said he would pursue Madden, and sources said Murdoch has offered him an estimated $4.5 million a year to join Fox, almost twice what he makes at CBS and likely would make at ABC.
by CNB