Tim Brando

Tim Brando (born February 27, 1956) is an American sportscaster with FOX Sports. Formerly with ESPN, CBS Sports and SiriusXM, Brando has primarily covered NCAA football and basketball. Along with radio duties, Brando has also served as a studio host for games, a play-by-play announcer, and halftime host.

Biography

In 1976 Brando did a stint as a disk jockey at radio station KROK FM in his native Shreveport, Louisiana. From 1981 to 1986, Brando was the assistant sports director at WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge; he did telecasts of Louisiana State University men's and women's basketball^[1] on Tigervision. From 1986 to 1994, he served as a studio host for SportsCenter, for ESPN's college football halftime show, and for the network's coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.^[2] In 1994, he provided play-by-play for TNT's coverage of the NBA Playoffs. Brando also called Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Braves games for SportSouth and also auditioned for Wheel of Fortune during this period.

In 1996, Brando joined CBS Sports and began calling NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games. Three years later, he added hosting duties on College Football Today,^[3] which is the broadcast network home of SEC football. He also provided play-by-play for the NFL on CBS from 1998 to 2002. In addition to his CBS duties, Brando calls games for Raycom's coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball telecasts. Tim is in his eighth season of hosting Raycom's Emmy Award-winning show, "Football Saturdays In The South."

Brando called the four games in Tampa, Florida, during the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where for the first time ever, all four lower seeded teams won in the same venue on the same day.

Brando announced in January 2014 that he is leaving his position with CBS because of differences with the network over his future as an announcer.^[4]

In June 2014, reports indicated that Brando had reached an agreement to call college basketball games for ESPN’s SEC Network. Brando stated that the deal fell through because the network felt calling college football games wasn't “part of [SEC Network's] short term vision for my future".

On June 25, 2014, Fox Sports announced that it had hired Brando to serve as a play-by-play voice for college football and college basketball games on Fox and Fox Sports 1 starting in fall 2014. He was also named as a backup NFL announcer for Fox in October of that year.

Personal life

Brando's father, Hub Brando, was a broadcaster at radio station KCIJ in Shreveport. While growing up in Shreveport, Tim Brando knew the KWKH broadcaster, Frank Page as a close family friend.^[5]

Tim Brando graduated in 1974 from Fair Park High School in Shreveport.^[1] He then attended Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe).^[3] He resides in Shreveport with his wife, Terri, of 35 years.^[1] The couple has two daughters: Tiffany, 30, who attended Louisiana State University; and Tara, 23, who recently graduated from University of Mississippi at Oxford, Mississippi. Brando serves as a television announcer for New Orleans Saints preseason games alongside Solomon Wilcots. He previously served as the preseason voice of the Carolina Panthers from 1995 through 2001.

Broadcasting partners

• Dan Bonner
• Ed Cunningham
• Spencer Tillman
• Tony Barnhart
• Craig James
• Lou Holtz
• Mike Gminski
• Charles Mann
• Solomon Wilcots
• Aaron Taylor

References