Bob Costas

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Bob Costas : biography

March 22, 1952 –

In June 2005, Costas was named by CNN president Jonathan Klein as a regular substitute anchor for Larry King’s Larry King Live for one year. Costas, as well as Klein, have said that Costas was not trying out for King’s position on a permanent basis. Nancy Grace was also named a regular substitute host for the show.

On August 18, 2005, Costas refused to host a Larry King Live broadcast where the subject was missing teenager Natalee Holloway. Costas said he had no hard feelings about the subject, but that he was uncomfortable with it.

Since October 2011, Costas is a correspondent for Rock Center with Brian Williams. He gained acclaim for his November 2011 live interview of former Pennsylvania State University assistant coach Jerry Sandusky concerning charges of sexual abuse of minors, in which Sandusky called in by telephone to deny the charges.

Costas currently hosts a monthly talk show Costas Tonight on NBC Sports Network.

HBO Sports

In 2001, Costas was hired by HBO to host a 12-week series called On the Record with Bob Costas.Database (undated). . Internet Movie Database. On the Record with Bob Costas was similar to the format of the old Later program as they both concentrated on in-depth interviews.

In 2002, Costas began a stint as co-host of HBO’s long-running series Inside the NFL. Costas remained host of Inside the NFL through the end of the 2007 NFL season. He hosted the show with Cris Collinsworth and former NFL legends Dan Marino and Cris Carter. The program aired each week during the NFL season.

In 2005, On the Record with Bob Costas was revamped to become Costas Now, a monthly show that would focus more on sports and air year-round in a 9 p.m. ET/PT time slot. Costas Now was more akin to HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Costas left HBO to sign with MLB Network in February 2009.

MLB Network

Costas agreed to become a contributor to MLB Network. At the channel’s launch on January 1, 2009, he hosted the premiere episode of All Time Games, a presentation of the recently-discovered kinescope of Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. During the episode, he held a forum with Don Larsen, who pitched MLB’s only postseason perfect game during that game, and Yogi Berra, who caught the game.

Costas joined the network full-time on February 3, 2009. He hosts a regular interview show titled MLB Network Studio 42 with Bob Costas as well as special programming, and provides play-by-play for select live Thursday Night Baseball games.Press release (February 3, 2009). . MLB.com. Retrieved August 5, 2012.

Other appearances

Costas provided significant contributions to the Ken Burns, PBS mini series Baseball as well as its follow-up The 10th Inning. He also appears in another PBS film, A Time for Champions, produced by St. Louis’ Nine Network of Public Media.

Career timeline

  • 1974–1976: Spirits of St. Louis Play-by-play, KMOX radio
  • 1976-1981: Missouri Tigers men’s basketball Play-by-play, KMOX radio
  • 1976–1979: NFL on CBS Play-by-play
  • 1979–1980: Chicago Bulls Play-by-play, WGN-TV
  • 1980–1983: NFL on NBC Play-by-play
  • 1983–1989: MLB on NBC #2 play-by-play
  • 1984–1992, 2006–present: NFL on NBC Studio Host
  • 1988–1994: Later Host
  • 1990-1997, 2002: NBA on NBC Studio Host
  • 1992–present: Summer Olympics Primetime Host
  • 1994–2000: MLB on NBC Lead play-by-play
  • 1997–2000: NBA on NBC Lead play-by-play
  • 2001–2009: On the Record with Bob Costas and Costas Now Host
  • 2002–present: Winter Olympics Primetime Host
  • 2002–2008: Inside the NFL Host
  • 2008–present: AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic Host
  • 2009–present: MLB Network Studio 42 with Bob Costas Host, Thursday Night Baseball Play-by-play