Nearly two months after MASN's controversial decision to eliminate pre- and post-game coverage from its Nationals and Orioles broadcasts, former pre-and-post-game announcer Dan Kolko has landed a new job working directly for the Nationals organization.
"I have officially joined the Nationals organization, marking by far the worst signing the team has made all offseason," Kolko announced on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. "I'll be bouncing around in a number of roles on a number of platforms. You'll see & hear a lot of me. I'm sorry about that in advance."
"This has been a weird last couple months, but I love D.C. and I love this organization, and I'm so thankful to so many people at the Nats that we were able to make this happen," he wrote. "It wouldn't have felt right going somewhere else. I can't wait to get back to work. Let's go."
MASN's profound cost-cutting measures, which were first reported by Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic in January, caught many by surprise, including the Nationals. Washington made clear it did not support the regional sports network's decision, which also eliminated the jobs of pre-and-post announcer Bo Porter and in-game reporter Alex Chappell.
Related
"To say that we are incredibly disappointed and upset by MASN's decisions would be a gross understatement," read a statement from the Nationals. "To be clear - these decisions were made by MASN and against our wishes."
"As we have expressed to both MASN and Major League Baseball, we are very concerned about the negative impact these decisions could have on our fans, especially now when content shared via broadcast and digital channels is vital for them to stay connected with our team," the statement continued. "We want to thank Dan, Bo and Alex for their professionalism and for being good stewards of our team’s story over the years. They are part of the Washington Nationals family and we wish them all the best."
Sadly, these moves — even if intended by MASN to be short-term — have had long-term consequences. People need to work and will eventually move on. In fact, both Chappell and Porter have since found other work. Chappell has taken a position with Amazon Web Services.
Porter is now a consultant for Major League Baseball.
While Nationals fans will be relieved to see that at least Kolko is returning in some capacity to their game-day experience, the Chappell and Porter departures seem a bit more permanent and will serve throughout the season as a daily reminder of the devastating impact the global pandemic has had over the past year.
It's also a reminder that the Nationals' contentious relationship with its regional sports network — which includes a years-long legal dispute over rights fees — continues to fray. MASN is majority owned by the Baltimore Orioles.
In-game announcer Bob Carpenter, F.P. Santangelo and reporter Mark Zuckerman are continuing in their roles for MASN.
Byron Kerr, who had been with MASN for 12 years in various roles — often as the go-to fill-in host and reporter — was also let go as part of the Jan. cuts.
Kolko will continue hosting "Nats Insider" weekly on 106.7 The Fan, the radio flagship for the Washington Nationals, on Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m. beginning Saturday, March 20.
106.7 The Fan will continue to have pre-game shows, beginning 30 minutes before each game, and post-game shows with Nationals play-by-play announcers Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler, plus additional post-game coverage with Pete Medhurst and Craig Heist for 45 minutes after each home game.
Related
