ESPN has tapped returning reporter Rachel Nichols as host of a new, daily NBA-focused program. The Jump is slated to debut Thursday, February 18 when NBA games resume following the All-Star break. Airing on ESPN at 3:30 PM ET Monday-Friday, the half-hour program originating from ESPN’s L.A. studios, will include…

CNN’s sports reporter Rachel Nichols is returning to ESPN as an anchor and reporter starting early next year, including participation in SportsCenter. Jim Miller, author of best-selling oral history Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN, broke the news on Twitter this morning:

Are sports journalists being punished for criticizing Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s history of domestic abuse? That’s the question with only hours to go before tonight’s Mayweather championship bout with Manny Pacquiao. Numerous reports and overnight tweets contend that ESPN/HBO reporter Michelle Beadle, USA Today’s Martin…

The first time it went out with a bang — this time it went out with a whimper; CNN’s Crossfire is no more. Again. The show had been missing in action for weeks and already some of its co-hosts — Stephanie Cutter, Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp and Van Jones — have been popping up as contributors around the network’s…

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In notable recent TV castings, Rachel Nichols has joined CBS’ Criminal Minds as a recurring, Izabella Miko has boarded NBC’s The Cape and Cartoon Network has assembled the cast of its live-action comedy pilot KROG.

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