BOB COSTAS                                                                                                        MAY 2007

 

 

WITH THE ADVENT OF NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”,
BOB COSTAS ADDS ANOTHER CHAPTER TO HIS LONG AND DIVERSE CAREER IN SPORTS
TELEVISION.  COSTAS WILL HOST THE PRIME
TIME SUNDAY NIGHT BROADCAST OF TOP NFL GAMES, INCLUDING PLAYOFF GAMES EACH
SEASON, AND TWO SUPER BOWLS         OVER
SIX YEARS.   BOB HAS BEEN WITH NBC SPORTS
SINCE 1979, AND HAS ALSO HOSTED HBO SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS SINCE
2001.  HE HAS COVERED EVERY MAJOR SPORT,
BUT IS PERHAPS MOST IDENTIFIED WITH THE OLYMPICS AND BASEBALL. HE ANCHORED
NBC’S PRIMETIME COVERAGE OF THE LAST FOUR SUMMER OLYMPICS—BARCELONA
1992, ATLANTA 1996, SYDNEY,
AUSTRALIA IN THE YEAR 2000,
AND ATHENS, GREECE 2004.  HE ALSO HOSTED THE WINTER GAMES IN SALT LAKE CITY 2002,
AND THE WINTER GAMES IN TORINO,
ITALY
2006.  BOB’S FIRST OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
CAME IN SEOUL, KOREA IN 1988, WHERE HE SERVED AS
THE LATE-NIGHT HOST.  HE IS SCHEDULED TO
HOST NBC’S COVERAGE OF THE 2008 BEIJING SUMMER
OLYMPICS, THE 2010 VANCOUVER WINTER GAMES, AND
THE 2012 LONDON
SUMMER GAMES.

 

FROM 1983 THROUGH
1989, BOB TEAMED WITH TONY KUBEK ON NBC’S BASEBALL “GAME OF THE WEEK” TELECASTS. 
HE HOSTED THE NETWORK’S “NFL LIVE”
PRE-GAME SHOW FOR NINE YEARS (1984-1992), STEPPING ASIDE FOLLOWING SUPER BOWL
XXVII.  COSTAS HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE
COVERAGE OF SIX LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES AND FIVE WORLD SERIES FOR NBC
SPORTS.  HE HAS HOSTED FOUR SUPER BOWLS.

 

IN THE 90’S, COSTAS
RETURNED TO BASEBALL, HANDLING PLAY-BY-PLAY FOR NBC’S ALL STAR, PLAYOFF AND WORLD
SERIES TELECASTS.  HE TEAMED FIRST WITH
BOB UECKER AND JOE MORGAN, AND THEN MORGAN ALONE, FOR THESE GAMES.  COSTAS’ REPUTATION  WITHIN BASEBALL IS LONG STANDING, DATING TO
HIS “GAME OF THE WEEK” PARTNERSHIP
WITH TONY KUBEK.  HIS FREQUENT AND
PASSIONATE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE GAME'S HISTORY, APPEAL, AND ONGOING PROBLEMS,
HAS EARNED HIM THE RESPECT AND ADMIRATION OF MILLI0NS OF FANS.  HIS BOOK, “FAIR BALL, A FAN’S CASE FOR BASEBALL”, EARNED EXCELLENT REVIEWS,
REMAINED ON THE NEW YORK TIMES
BEST SELLER LIST FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, AND INFLUENCED THE ONGOING DISCUSSION
CONCERNING THE GAME’S DIRECTION.

 

BOB WAS THE
PLAY-BY-PLAY VOICE OF THE NBA ON NBC FROM 1997 THROUGH THE 1999-2000
SEASON.  FOR MANY YEARS PRIOR HE HAD BEEN
THE HOST OF NBC’S NBA COVERAGE. 

HE WAS ALSO A
CONTRIBUTING INTERVIEWER AND ESSAYIST ON NBC’S NFL PRE-GAME SHOW, THE PROGRAM
HE PREVIOUSLY HOSTED FOR NINE YEARS. 

 

IN FEBRUARY 2001,
HBO LAUNCHED THE CRITICALLY PRAISED AND EMMY AWARD-WINNING SHOW “ON THE RECORD WITH BOB COSTAS”, SUBSEQUENTLY RE-NAMED “COSTAS NOW”. 

 

COSTAS HAS WON
NINETEEN EMMY AWARDS—FIFTEEN FOR OUTSTANDING SPORTS HOST OR PLAY-BY-PLAY, TWO
FOR WRITING, ONE FOR HIS LATE NIGHT INTERVIEW SHOW, “LATER….WITH BOB COSTAS”, AND ONE FOR FEATURE REPORTING.  UNIQUELY, BOB HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR EMMYS IN
FIVE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES: PLAY-BY-PLAY, HOSTING, WRITING, INTERVIEWING (FOR “LATER….WITH BOB COSTAS”), AND
JOURNALISM. 

 

BOB HAS BEEN NAMED
“NATIONAL SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR” AN UNPRECEDENTED EIGHT TIMES BY HIS
PEERS—IN 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, AND 2000. 

 

IN 1988 BOB BEGAN TO
DIVERSIFY BEYOND SPORTS BROADCASTING.  HE
SERVED AS A SUBSTITUTE HOST FOR BRYANT GUMBEL ON NBC’S “TODAY SHOW”, THEN WENT ON TO HOST HIS OWN LATE NIGHT PROGRAM, “LATER….WITH BOB COSTAS”.  THIS EMMY AWARD-WINNING SHOW FEATURED
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS EXPLORING THE LIVES OF NEWSMAKERS, ENTERTAINERS AND
PERSONALITIES FROM VARIED BACKGROUNDS. 
AFTER A 5-1/2 YEAR RUN, BOB LEFT “LATER”
IN FEBRUARY 1994.  HE STILL CONTRIBUTES
OCCASIONAL INTERVIEWS AND COMMENTARY TO NBC’S “TODAY SHOW” AND “NIGHTLY
NEWS” PROGRAM.

 

AT AGE TWENTY-TWO, BOB
LANDED A JOB AT KMOX RADIO IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST PROMINENT RADIO
STATIONS.  HE BROADCAST A WIDE VARIETY OF
LIVE  PLAY-BY-PLAY AND STUDIO PROGRAMS
FROM 1974 THROUGH 1981.  ONE OF HIS
PRIMARY ASSIGNMENTS DURING THIS TIME WAS ANNOUNCING THE PLAY-BY-PLAY FOR THE ABA’S SPIRITS OF ST. LOUIS TEAM.  HE WAS ALSO THE RADIO VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI BASKETBALL GAMES.

 

BOB’S LOVE OF RADIO LED
HIM BACK TO THE MEDIUM IN 1986 WHEN HE INAUGURATED THE VERY POPULAR SYNDICATED
PROGRAM, “COSTAS
COAST TO COAST”.  THE WEEKLY, TWO HOUR PROGRAM RAN FOR TEN
YEARS UNTIL 1996. 

 

 

 

NOW, A DECADE LATER, CLEAR
CHANNEL RADIO HAS ASKED BOB TO BRING THE PROGRAM BACK, AND “COAST TO COAST”
RETURNED IN SEPTEMBER OF 2006 WITH THE SAME WEEKLY

TWO-HOUR MIX OF INTERVIEWS
AND COMMENTARY THAT MADE IT SO WELL RECEIVED DURING ITS FIRST RUN.

 

BOB COSTAS IS A NATIVE OF QUEENS, NEW YORK AND GREW
UP ON LONG ISLAND. 
HE ATTENDED SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY IN NEW
YORK, WHERE HE MAJORED IN COMMUNICATIONS.  HE BEGAN HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER AT WSYR-TV
AND RADIO IN 1973 WHILE STUDYING AT SYRACUSE.