Leonard Berman (born June 14, 1947) is an American television sportscaster and journalist who is based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He is currently hosting the morning show on
WOR along with
Michael Riedel.
Berman is widely known for his television career with
NBC, specifically his work for the network's flagship station
WNBC-TV
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo s ...
. Berman spent 27 years as the lead sports anchor for WNBC and also worked for
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
covering
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
and the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
. He was employed by WNBC until 2009, and prior to that he worked for
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
in New York City from April 1979 through August 1982 and
WBZ-TV in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, where he
announced Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
games on TV with Celtics legend
Bob Cousy. He also worked at HBO Sports covering
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
, college basketball and a weekly baseball show ''
Race for the Pennant'' from 1978 to 1981.
Early life
Berman graduated from the
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
's
S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1968. He also earned a master's degree there in 1970. While at Syracuse, he was the sports director at
WAER calling
Syracuse Orange games. He was inducted into WAER Hall of Fame in 2018 along with
Steve Kroft.
Despite having a very neutral viewpoint when reporting sports in New York City, he grew up an avid
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
fan. He is partial to
Big East basketball. Berman's Big East connections included, other than being a Syracuse alum, are several years of calling the conference's basketball games for
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
and in syndication for the Big East Network.
Career
On March 1, 2012, Berman hosted a segment on the 10 o'clock news evening sports report on WNYW—Fox 5—in New York City. He presented his top-5 most interesting sports stories of the week prior.
In March 2015, Berman co-hosted a morning radio program from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00am on
WOR. The flagship news-talk station for iHeart Radio, originally named "Len and Todd in the Morning".
On October 20, 2017, Berman announced during a broadcast that
Todd Schnitt was no longer working at the station because he could not come to terms on a contract. The show is now called "Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning."
Berman announced his last WNBC's sportscast on Wednesday April 22, 2009. Following the announcement, the station showed taped goodbye and good luck messages from
Matt Lauer,
Al Roker, and
Brian Williams.
''Spanning the World''
One popular monthly feature Berman responsible for is Spanning the World which aired on WNBC-TV's newscasts and
The Today Show. Spanning is a reel of odd and interesting sports highlights from the past month, with a recorded introduction and closing by
Don Pardo. When the segment begins, the world is torn in two with the sound of a rooster crowing playing. When the segment ends, the world goes back to its "pre-torn" state. With the same rooster sound, announcer Don Pardo says "Tune in next time for Spanning the World, if there is a next time. I'm Don Pardo." In his last WNBC broadcast, Berman mentioned that the segment would continue on The Today Show. Berman would occasionally do a version of the segment for
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...
titled "Spanning the Week". Thus, would review odd and interesting stories from the past week. A common catchphrase from the segment said by Berman "And nobody got hurt!" after a clip featuring some sort of accident that might have caused injury.
''Sports on NBC''
From
1982 to part of
1984, Berman also hosted ''
The NFL on NBC Pregame Show'', then known as ''NFL (insert year)'', until he was supplanted by
Bob Costas. During the early weeks of the
1988 NFL season, Berman served as the host of what was, by that time, called ''
NFL Live!'' while regular host Costas was hosting NBC's coverage of the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...
in
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
. Berman hosted Super Bowl XVII in Pasadena. He also hosted the Baseball Game of the Week for NBC and co-hosted the 1984 World Series.
''Live at Five''
In 2005, he was one of a handful of rotating co-anchors with
Sue Simmons on ''
Live at Five'' after
Jim Rosenfield left for
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
.
Awards
He is the winner of eight Emmy Awards and a 6-time New York State Sportscaster of the Year. He has been inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the WAER Radio Hall of Fame (Syracuse University).
As an infantryman in the Boy Scout's Explorers Len won Marksman, Sharpshooter and Grenade Man Squad 2.
Berman's blog
From 2008 until 2015, Len wrote a blog and daily newsletter, "Len Berman Sports", at LenBermanSports.com, using the form to continue his type of humor and whimsical sports stories.
Blogging Himself To Live
/ref>
Berman published books
Berman has written six books and five children's books:
* ''Spanning the World.''
* ''And Nobody Got Hurt!'' (Volumes I and II).
* ''The Greatest Moments in Sports'' (New York Times Bestseller).
* ''The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.''
* ''Greatest Moments in Sports.''
* ''Upsets and Underdogs.''
Personal life
Berman resides in Port Washington, New York
Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...
.
See also
* New Yorkers in journalism
References
External links
The Career Cookbook Len Berman Profile
Len Berman Sports
Len Berman on Obsessed TV
Len Berman on Big Apple Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Len
1947 births
Living people
21st-century American Jews
American television reporters and correspondents
American television sports anchors
Boston Celtics announcers
American boxing commentators
College basketball announcers in the United States
Jewish American sports announcers
Major League Baseball broadcasters
NFL announcers
NBA broadcasters
New England Patriots announcers
New York (state) television reporters
Olympic Games broadcasters
Journalists from Brooklyn
American sports radio personalities
People from Port Washington, New York
Radio personalities from New York City
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni
Stuyvesant High School alumni
Television anchors from Boston
Television anchors from New York City