Colin Cowherd Joins Fox Sports – Variety

Fox Sports has confirmed what most of the sports-media world already knew: Former ESPN host Colin Cowherd will join the organization and host a program that will be broadcast simultaneously on Fox Sports 1 and radio.

The three-hour program, to be titled “The Herd,” will start airing Tuesday, Sept. 8, on Fox Sports 1 and the Fox Sports Radio Network weekdays between noon and 3 p.m. ET. Fox Sports Radio is distributed under a long-term agreement between Fox Sports and Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia.

As part of his pact with the company, Cowherd will  become a team member of “Fox NFL Kickoff,”a pre-game show that will move from Fox Sports 1 to the Fox broadcast network on Sundays at 11 a.m. when football games are broadcast. Cowherd will take part in other event coverage, too.

He will also contribute to other Fox Sports 1 coverage. In what could be an interesting opportunity, Cowherd will help cover Jim Harbaugh’s debut as University of Michigan head coach on Thursday, September 3. During an ESPN radio interview in July, Cowherd hung up on Harbaugh after the latter declined to answer his questions with detail.

“It’s hard to put into words how much fun it is for me, as a broadcaster, to build something with really smart, talented people,” Cowherd said in a prepared statement.  “I can’t wait for this next chapter in my career to start.”

The move puts Cowherd back with a former colleague. Jamie Horowitz, now president of both Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, hired Cowherd for the first studio show he oversaw when he was working at ESPN2, selecting Cowherd to be the first co-host of that network’s “SportsNation.”

Cowherd  joined ESPN Radio in 2004 as the host of an hourlong broadcast heard only on the West Coast. Prior to ESPN Radio, Cowherd hosted a popular three-hour morning drive program in Portland, Ore., and anchored sports programs for KGW Northwest NewsChannel 8. He began his career as the play-by-play voice for the Pacific Coast League’s Las Vegas Stars baseball team.