Significant news coming out of CBS Sports on Monday: Hall of Fame CBS sportscaster James Brown is the recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters’ 2023 Distinguished Service Award, the organization’s highest honor.
The presentation will take place during the NAB Marconi Awards Dinner on Oct. 25 at NAB Show New York.
The NAB’s Distinguished Service Award “annually recognizes a broadcaster who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the American system of broadcasting.”
Known to sports fans as “JB,” Brown is a three-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster. He has served as host of The NFL Today on CBS since 2006 and this season will serve as the host for CBS Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl LVIII, hosting for a record-setting 12th time in his career.
Brown previously hosted Inside the NFL on Showtime and Paramount +, Thursday Night Football on CBS and The NFL Network, and previously co-hosted Fox NFL Sunday, as well as hosted a nationally syndicated radio show on Sporting News Radio.
Additionally, Brown serves as a special correspondent for CBS News, contributing across all platforms. Consistent viewers of the CBS Evening News viewers have seen him fill in for Norah O’Donnell on several occasions this summer as guest-anchor.
Brown’s broadcast career started in his native Washington, D.C., where he worked for Home Team Sports as a play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s Washington Bullets and then as a sports anchor for WUSA-TV.
Brown was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2021 and received the 2016 Pete Rozelle Award for Excellence in Broadcasting from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In addition, Brown will sit down with NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt for a special session at NAB Show New York titled One-on-One with James Brown.
“James Brown is a broadcast legend both for his captivating work on-air and his commitment to his community,” LeGeyt said in a statement. “His dynamic talents shined brightly during his Hall-of-Fame career and made him a household name to millions of sports fans. We are excited to honor James for his significant contributions to our industry and celebrate all his accomplishments during the Marconi Radio Awards this fall.”
Previous recipients of the NAB DSA include Ryan Seacrest, Robin Roberts, Bob Schieffer, President Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite and Oprah Winfrey.