Apple replaces Katie Nolan and Melanie Newman as their MLB booth broadcasters
AppleTV has replaced Katie Nolan and Melanie Newman as their Friday Night MLB Broadcasters.
Follow Us
Source: Public domain
In one of their latest reports, New York Post found Apple TV+’s Katie Nolan and Melanie Newman will not be featuring as broadcasters in the streaming service’s MLB night doubleheaders. In their second season of covering baseball, Apple will reportedly hire Fox Sports‘ Dontrelle Willis as game analyst.
Furthermore, Wayne Randazzo will return to Apple TV as a play-by-play announcer in the 2023 season. This offseason, Randazzo moved to LA Angels as a play-on-play commentator from the Mets and is also expected to feature frequently with Apple.
Since it started streaming baseball on its premium streaming service, Apple has wanted a straightforward approach to broadcasting after featuring three-person booths in its inaugural season of broadcasting baseball. The last season was started with Melanie Newman, alongside Yahoo baseball columnist Hannah Keyser and Chris Young, calling for the games.
However, it seems that Katie Nolan and Melanie Newman were not entirely content with coming back with Apple in their second year of entering the MLB broadcasting scene. In a podcast with Kenny Mayne, Nolan elaborated further on her decision not to return with Apple TV.
Related: Mike Trout Opens Up About Shohei Ohtani’s Future With Angels
Apple drops Katie Nolan and Melanie Newman as broadcasters
In the podcast with Kenny Mayne, Katie Nolan admitted that her association with Apple was awkward right from the start. Nolan is known for bringing comedic elements to her in-game commentary and did not have much experience analyzing games in the booth. She was paired with Hunter Pence and Stephen Nelson, which according to Nolan, did not quite work out.
Speaking to Mayne, she says, “When I found out what it was, I was like, ‘Are they confused? Do they know what I do?’” She further adds, “… And then I got on the phone with them and they sold me on the idea of me. They sold me on the idea of this like vision they had for a baseball booth. As with most things that start as visions, they don’t always end up being executed the same way.
Katie Nolan was initially on-board with the idea that Apple had pitched to her last season. However, this did not seem like her cup of tea. Reflecting on her position, Nolan adds, “When you’re trying to do something different in a position that’s always been done basically one way, there’s a lot of not only push back, but moments where you go, ‘Let’s go back. Let’s revert, let’s revert, just to be safe. And then we’ll take a couple swings, but we’re not going to go full hard into this idea, this direction.'”
On the other hand, Melanie Newman, who made history as part of ESPN’s all-female broadcast crew for an MLB game, will continue covering games for the Baltimore Orioles and the MLB Network.
In case you missed it:
New MLB Book reveals shocking info on LA Dodgers allegedly cheating scandal in 2018 World Series
Stay Updated!
Siddid Dey Purkayastha
(528 Articles Published)