Lampley Will Replace Hill on Channel 2

Channel 2 will announce today that it has hired former ABC sportscaster Jim Lampley as a replacement for departed sports anchor Jim Hill.

A CBS source said Lampley has agreed to a three-year contract. Reportedly, it will pay about $700,000 per year, which was what Lampley made with ABC.

Channel 2 had offered Hill $600,000 to stay, but Channel 7 reportedly offered considerably more.

In a separate arrangement, Lampley will also work for CBS Sports as a play-by-play announcer. He will announce 11 National Football League games with new commentator Ken Stabler and also announce some NCAA basketball tournament games.

Before Hill left for ABC-owned Channel 7, he had a deal with CBS Sports to announce eight NFL games with Stabler.

Hill now has a separate network deal with ABC in which he will co-host the college football scoreboard shows with Al Trautwig and also work the 1988 Winter Olympics. In recent years, Lampley served as the sole host on the scoreboard shows.

Lampley, now living in New York, is scheduled to start at Channel 2 in mid-September. About the same time, Channel 2 is changing its schedule for news, dropping the 4 o’clock news in favor of a half-hour show at 7 p.m.

Lampley will be the sports anchor on all the weeknight news shows and will be the host of the Sunday night “Sports Final.” He will also work on periodic half-hour sports specials.

Tony Hernandez, currently filling in on weeknights, will go back to weekends after Lampley’s arrival.

Lampley, 38, was hired by ABC in 1974 while he was attending the University of North Carolina as a graduate student. He was one of two college students hired to serve as sideline reporters during college football telecasts.

Under former ABC Sports president Roone Arledge, Lampley’s career flourished and he was given top assignments. He and Donna de Verona served as co-hosts of ABC’s late-night coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympics, and they also announced the swimming events.