Sports commentator
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.
Because of their skill level, commentators like Al Michaels, Brian Anderson, Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Jim Nantz, and Joe Buck in the US, David Coleman in the UK, and Bruce McAvaney in Australia may have careers in which they call several different sports at one time or another.
The analyst or color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy on the teams and athletes, and occasionally anecdotes or light humor.
There are however exceptions to this—most of the United Kingdom's leading cricket and snooker commentators are former professionals in their sports, while the former Formula One racing commentator Murray Walker had no formal journalistic training and only limited racing experience of his own (he had come from an advertising background and his initial hiring was more of a comic double act than a traditional sports commentary pairing).
The three-person booth is a format used on Monday Night Football, in which there are two color commentators, usually one being a former player or coach and the other being an outsider, such as a journalist (Howard Cosell was one long-running example) or a comedian (such as the before mentioned Dennis Miller).
During their shows, the presenter/studio host may be joined by additional analysts or pundits, especially when showing highlights of various other matches (e.g. in 1985, Jim Nantz was the studio host for The Prudential College Football Report in Studio 43 in New York for CBS Sports, and during his four-year tenure there [1985 through 1988 college football seasons], he had Pat Haden [in 1985] and Ara Parseghian [in 1987 and 1988] as his co-hosts/pundits).
[15] It was not until the year 1977 when Melissa Ludtke, a sportswriter from Sports Illustrated, was given the assignment to cover the New York Yankees playoff series but was denied entry into the men's locker room.
The court ruled that the Yankees organization devise a plan to protect the players of their privacy while female sportswriters conducted interviews, suggesting the use of towels.
[18] "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Macho Man" Randy Savage pioneered the "babyface sympathizer" for color commentary in wrestling.
However, after Lawler suffered a legitimate heart attack on the September 10, 2012 episode of Raw, Cole broke character and continued to provide updates on his colleague's condition whilst simultaneously calling the action.
His professionalism in the situation led to a slow babyface transition, which was cemented when the two men hugged in the ring upon Lawler's return to commentating two month later.
Acting as a commentator has also been used to keep injured wrestlers – such as Samoa Joe on Raw between late 2019 and April 2021 – in the public eye while recuperating.
Special guest color commentators serve two purposes: the primary is usually to place them in position to interfere with the match they are calling, the second is to provide promoters with the opportunity to determine if this performer can speak well extemporaneously.
