Musburger Takes Job With ABC : Television: Announcer reportedly has a six-year contract. He says he will have no trouble coexisting with Al Michaels.

Brent Musburger, one month after being fired by CBS, was hired by ABC Wednesday.

Although no terms were announced, industry sources said he received a six-year contract worth between $11 million and $12 million.

Musburger, who worked for both CBS-TV and CBS Radio, was earning $2 million a year.

Dennis Swanson, ABC Sports president, said Musburger will do play-by-play on college football, college basketball and the new professional World League of American Football, which is scheduled to begin operation next March.

Musburger will also do play-by-play on one of the two Saturday wild-card National Football League games that ABC acquired under an expanded playoff format.

Musburger’s broadcasting partner on football will be Dick Vermeil, Swanson said.

Musburger will also serve as host of ABC’s Super Bowl pregame show next January and will be involved with “Wide World of Sports” programming.

His first assignment for ABC will be June 25, when the network broadcasts a two-hour prime-time special, “The All-Star Sports Awards,” from the Universal Amphitheater.

There has been speculation that ABC’s Al Michaels is headed for CBS, but Swanson said Michaels is under a long-term contract to ABC and will be held to it.

Michaels and his New York agent, Art Kaminsky, are attempting to get Michaels out of his contract and have filed for arbitration with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in Los Angeles. A date for a hearing has not been set.

Michaels and Kaminsky claim that Swanson voided the contract when he suspended Michaels for two weeks without pay in March because Michaels’ teen-age daughter worked as an ABC messenger, which is against a company nepotism policy.

Musburger said he hopes Michaels stays at ABC. “He’s a heck of a broadcaster,” Musburger said. “I will have no trouble coexisting with Al.”

CBS announced on April 1, the day before the NCAA basketball championship game in Denver, that it would not renew Musburger’s 5 1/2-year-old contract.

As for the terms of Musburger’s ABC contract, Swanson said: “It’s a long-term contract that pays a significant amount of money, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

Musburger, asked if he took a pay cut, said, “I’m not getting into that. Those matters are being handled by Dennis.”

Swanson said there are no plans to involve Musburger in “Monday Night Football,” the network’s Indianapolis 500 coverage, horse racing or golf, adding: “As far as we’re concerned, it will be Al, Frank (Gifford), and Dan (Dierdorf) on ‘Monday Night Football.’ ”

But there was speculation within the industry that Musburger would eventually be given more assignments, particularly if Michaels gets out of his contract.

Said Musburger: “Whatever ABC wants me to do, I’ll do. If they want me to show up tomorrow, I’ll show up tomorrow. If they want me to show up week after next, then I won’t show up until then.”

Swanson said Keith Jackson and Bob Griese will remain as a college football announcing team. “With the addition of the (College Football Assn.) package, we’ll probably have to hire at least one more team,” he said.

Musburger and Swanson, besides working for competing networks in recent years, worked in sports for different Chicago TV stations in the early 1970s. Later, Musburger was a news anchorman at Channel 2 in Los Angeles when Swanson was the news director at Channel 7.

Said Musburger: “I’ve been chasing Dennis for too long. It’s time to settle back and go to work for him.”

Swanson said he began pursuing Musburger almost immediately after Musburger was fired by CBS.

Musburger said he also has received job offers from Turner Broadcasting and Chicago’s WGN-TV.

Musburger, on criticism he has gotten over the years from newspapers columnists, said: “People can write whatever they want, as long as it’s not a lie. Those things have never bothered me. The only thing that bothers me is when there’s a portrayal of me as someone who is difficult to work with. That’s just not the case.”

At CBS, Musburger was the host of “The NFL Today” pregame show since 1975. He also broadcast college football and college basketball, and anchored CBS’ coverage of the Masters golf tournament, the NBA Finals, the Pan American Games and the U.S. Open tennis highlights shows.

His last event for CBS was the NCAA basketball championship game. The week after that event, he appeared on other networks and accused Neal Pilson, CBS Sports president, and Ted Shaker, that division’s executive producer, of conspiring to oust him.

But Wednesday, Musburger said: “Yesterday is gone. I’ve put all that behind me.”

Times staff writer Shav Glick contributed to this story.