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Friedman Heats Up ESPN's 'Pizza'

Cable World, June 2, 2003

Byline: SHIRLEY BRADY

ESPN has signed veteran network morning show producer Steve Friedman as consulting producer for Cold Pizza, its new 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. morning show on ESPN2.

Friedman, who took a year off after stepping down last year as executive producer of CBS's The Early Show, is helping develop the new show but says he does not plan to stay on board after it launches in October.

"It's still in the very early stage, as they're still building a studio on 34th Street [in New York] and they've just begun the demolition there," Friedman says.

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The new show will feature a mix of lifestyles, music, fashion from ESPN's new studio in New York, along with Regis-and-Kelly-like banter from co-host Kit Hoover, a correspondent for Fox News Channel, and her as-yet-unnamed male counterpart.

Calling Cold Pizza a "brilliant idea," Friedman adds: "ESPN is in a great position to tap into their natural constituency and give them something else to turn to in the morning that is really worthwhile and really fun, in addition to the reruns of SportsCenter on ESPN."

Landing Friedman to spice up Pizza is a coup for ESPN2, which on April 1 introduced Drive Time, a daily two-hour sports talk show starting at 5 p.m.

Friedman has more than three decades of experience to his credit, having produced NBC's Today Show for most of the 1980s and1990s before joining CBS to launch The Early Show in 1999. He quit as its senior executive producer last year following the departure of Early Show host Bryant Gumbel, a friend since the early '70s, when they worked together at KNBC in Los Angeles.

Friedman says he is eager to join a cable news network if the right opportunity comes along, although he is also busy producing news specials for PBS affiliate WETA in Washington, D.C.

He has been meeting since last fall with Fox News Channel and CNN; he turned down the executive producer job on CNN's American Evening, Paula Zahn's 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. show launching later this summer. That position was filled last week by James Miller, an award-winning producer and writer who most recently consulted for ABC's Good Morning America.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

*Why hasn't MSNBC, which needs Friedman's expertise more than CNN or FNC, made him an offer?

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Friedman Heats Up ESPN's 'Pizza'

Cable World, June 2, 2003

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