A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser or analyst. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the main commentator is not describing the action. The color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy, and injury reports on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes or coaches of the sport being broadcast.
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. Radio was the first medium for sports broadcasts, and radio commentators must describe all aspects of the action to listeners who cannot see it for themselves, that way there is an understanding of what is going on. In the case of televised sports coverage, commentators are presented as a voiceover, with images of the contest shown on viewers' screens and sounds of the action and spectators heard in the background. Television commentators are rarely shown on screen during an event, though some networks choose to feature their announcers on camera either before or after the contest or briefly during breaks in the action.
Andrew Maher is an Australian sports journalist and broadcaster for the Seven Network and Melbourne sport radio station 1116 SEN. He is best known for covering both Australian rules football and the Big Bash League for the Ten television network, as well as hosting AFL review program Before the Game.
Nine's Wide World of Sports is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this brand, the flagship sports being rugby league, rugby union and Grand Slam tennis and spring horse racing. Previous sporting rights include the Australian rules football, Australian Cricket Team home season, autumn horse racing, swimming until 2008, and golf since 2018.
Fox Footy is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Australia operated out of its Melbourne based studios and available throughout Australia on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel is a revival of the former Fox Footy Channel, which was in operation between 2002 and 2006. The channel recommenced prior to the 2012 AFL season after a new broadcast agreement was reached between the former Premier Media Group, Austar, Foxtel and the Australian Football League (AFL).
Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited is the division of Foxtel that owns and operates the Fox Sports television networks and digital properties in Australia. The group operates nine Fox Sports Channels as well as Fox Sports News, Fox Cricket, Fox League, Fox Footy, Watch AFL and Watch NRL. Fox Sports channels such as Fox Netball are available via Foxtel or Kayo. The group's main competitors are beIN Sports, ESPN, Optus Sport and Stan Sport. Unlike The American Fox Sports, the group is not owned directly by the Fox Corporation. However News Corp which holds a 65% stake in Foxtel is Fox Corporation's sister company.
Seven Sport is the brand and production department under which all sporting events on the Seven Network are broadcast. It broadcasts some of Australia's most prominent sporting events, such as the AFL and cricket, as well as horse racing and motor racing.
From 2006 to 2008, NBC's studio show was originally broadcast out of the rink at New York's Rockefeller Center, at the foot of NBC's offices during January and February. This allowed the on-air talent, including commentators for NHL on NBC, and their guests to demonstrate plays and hockey skills. From April onwards, and during inclement weather, the studio show moved to Studio 8G inside the GE Building, where NBC produces its Football Night in America program. For the Stanley Cup Finals, the show was usually broadcast on location.
ABC Sport, formerly ABC Radio Grandstand, is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) local radio network across Australia and on one digital-only station.
Alison Mitchell is an English-Australian cricket commentator and sports broadcaster, working for the BBC, Australia's Channel 7 and the Australian Open among others. She was the first woman to become a regular commentator on the BBC's Test Match Special, and has been commentating on men's and women's international cricket around the world since 2007. She also spent many years reporting and commentating on a variety of sports for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, including Olympic and Commonwealth Games, Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open and Open Golf. In March 2014, she was voted SJA Sports Broadcaster of the Year 2013 by members of the Sports Journalists' Association. She is also the first woman to have called men's cricket ball-by-ball on ABC Radio Grandstand in Australia.
David Basheer is an Australian sports commentator and presenter. He is best known for presenting football (soccer) commentary, in particular on The World Game on television network SBS from 2007 to 2018. Basheer was engaged by the Seven Network to commentate the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Big Bash League is an Australian men's professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash League replaced the previous competition, the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, and features eight city-based franchises instead of the six state teams which had participated previously. The competition has been sponsored by fast food-chicken outlet KFC since its inception. It was in 2016/17 one of the two T20 cricket leagues, alongside the Indian Premier League, to feature amongst the top ten domestic sport leagues in average attendance. The winner of BBL 13 (2023/2024) was the Brisbane Heat, who beat the Sydney Sixers by 54 runs in the final.
10 Sport is the brand that all sporting events broadcast on Network 10, an Australian free-to-air commercial television network. Sports streamed on Paramount+ in Australia since August 2021 are also broadcast under the 10 Sport banner.
Melanie Louise McLaughlin is an Australian sport presenter for the Seven Network. McLaughlin previously worked for Fox Sports where she hosted association football shows including Kick Off, Indian Super League and Fox Sports FC, while also being a regular on Fox Sports News.
Warren Smith is a rugby league commentator for Fox Sports Australia.
Optus Sport is an Australian group of sports channels, owned by Optus launched on 13 July 2016. The network was launched after Optus outbid the incumbent Foxtel.
Fox League is an Australian subscription television channel dedicated to screening rugby league matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited and is available throughout Australia on Foxtel. The channel was launched on 27 February 2017.
Neroli Meadows is an Australian television presenter, sports journalist and sports commentator. Meadows has been a boundary rider for Triple M's Australian Football League (AFL) coverage and was a presenter and commentator across the Fox Sports network for nine years, covering Australian rules football, cricket and basketball. She also co-hosted the short-lived revamp of the Nine Network program The Footy Show in 2019.
The 2018–19 Big Bash League season or BBL|08 was the eighth season of the KFC Big Bash League, the professional men's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament started on 19 December 2018. Adelaide Strikers were the defending champions. The competition was extended to a full home and away season for the first time, with each team to play each other twice at both a home venue and away venue. This consists of 56 regular season matches, two semi-final fixtures and the final. For this season of the tournament, the toss was replaced by a bat flip, with "roofs and flats" used instead of heads or tails.
Macquarie Sports Radio was a short-lived Australian commercial radio network broadcasting to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Owned and operated by Macquarie Media, the network launched on 4 April 2018, replacing Talking Lifestyle. Following the acquisition of Macquarie Media by Nine Entertainment Co., programs outside of live sports commentary were suspended in October 2019, and on 1 February 2020 the network ultimately ceased broadcasting.
