How certain was WUSA-TV 9 Sports Director Brett Haber he would not be named “Best Sports Anchor,” over retired legend George Michael of NBC 4? So certain Haber went to his college reunion in New Hampshire and skipped the Emmy Awards dinner.
He won in absentia.
“If I had a vote, I would have voted for George,” Haber said. “I thought this was going to be George’s night so I figured it would be a safe bet to go to my college reunion. I got the news when someone from the station text messaged me from the dinner.”
Winning the award was something Haber didn’t expect but was grateful to receive.
“I am glad that the academy recognized the hard work that we have done,” Haber said. “We have a great staff both in front of and behind the camera and the support that we have from the management of the station is second to none.
“With George Michael retiring that leaves the market wide open and we feel that our relationships with both the Redskins and the Nationals, as well as dedicating more time than any other station to sports each day, including a feature every day at 5 p.m., gives us a real shot at being the leader in Washington for sports.”
The other big Emmys surprise came when CN8 “Out of Bounds,” host Gregg Murphy won the “Best Host of a Daily Show.” He tied with fellow CN8 host Lynn Doyle.
Murphy’s easygoing style works well on the show, which features sports talk radio hosts and writers from the Eastern seaboard in a daily discourse on topics of the day.
“It was a great honor … for a show that is less than a year old,” Marshall said. “Our executive producer, Seth Magalaner, is the driving force behind our show and with such great talkers as we have it makes my job easy.”
The envelopes please
Emmy award winners in sports categories:
» News Single Story: “Heap Of Hope: The Zachary Lederer Story”, Comcast SportsNet
» Sportscast: George Michael, NBC 4
» News Series: Nationals Spring Training, WUSA 9
» Anchor: Brett Haber, WUSA 9
» News Feature: “16 Minutes From Home”, Comcast SportsNet
» Program Feature/Segment: “May We See Your Locker, Please?”, NBC4
» Play-by-Play: Joe Beninati, Comcast SportsNet
Nice resume
» Haber served as an anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter when it won the national Emmy for best studio show in 1996.
» He also won the Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in sports reporting.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. E-mail him at [email protected].
