Admin Update: Jenn Sterger joins new Versus show

USA Today
3-4-10

Keith Jackson returns; Jenn Sterger joins new Versus show

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2010-03-03-keith-jackson_N.htm

Versus vs. Sportscenter. Versus will today announce its first daily live studio show —The DailyLine— that will debut April 5 at 6 p.m. ET, opposite ESPN's SportsCenter.

But, says producer Andy Meyer, the show isn't meant to be any kind of knockoff. "Most shows have the same formula, with hosts in suits in front of a plasma screen showing highlights," he says. "This show will curate what's happening all over the Web that day. … And we don't want to have a lot of people shouting about sports, there's already too much of that."

Instead, says Meyer, the show will continually field tweets, texts, calls and emails from viewers and use them on-air. With the show having an "unscripted" feel, he says, "we're hoping we'll hear from viewers that take us in new directions during shows. … The only master we're serving is what fans care about."

Figuring out exactly what such a master wants could be daunting. But ESPN2's afternoon SportsNation already takes a stab at that by incorporates lots of viewer feedback and online elements — the show has about 650,000 Twitter followers.

Meyer says The Daily Line— which, despite the title, won't offer betting tips — will "have a huge presence of material from blogs, more than any other show."

The show's four on-air people, all new to Versus, includes Jenn Sterger, whose public profile was launched when she appeared in a crowd shot on a 2005 Florida State home football game and announcer Brent Musburger said, "1,500 red-blooded Americans just decided to apply to Florida State.

"I always felt sports TV was a bunch of guys in suits yelling at me," says Sterger, who's been an online columnist and host for SI.com and the New York Jets, has appeared in Maxim and Playboy, wears lingerie on her YouTube videos and has been the only female spokesperson forDr Pepper in both U.S. and non-U.S. markets.

"Other shows don't exactly know how to use social media and the Web," says Sterger. "Since I'm practically living on the Web, I've got a pulse on what going on out there. … And I'll be personally accessible to the audience, except for my personal phone number."