The Los Angeles Chargers announced today the additions of Pro Football Hall-of-Fame running back and Chargers legend LaDainian Tomlinson, NFL Network expert analyst Daniel Jeremiah and award-winning sports anchor Mario Solis to the team's 2018 preseason television, English language radio and Spanish language radio broadcast teams, respectively.
KABC-TV (ABC7), the most watched television station in Southern California, continues as the exclusive local televisionhome of Chargers preseason football games in Los Angeles. ABC7 will air three games this coming preseason, with special pre and postgame coverage: Saturday, Aug. 11 at Arizona (7:00 pm PT), Saturday Aug. 18 vs. Seattle (7:00 pm PT) and Thursday, Aug. 30 at San Francisco (7:00 pm PT). Additionally, furthering the team's commitment to create a unified destination for all Chargers fans, ABC7 is partnering with KFWB-980 AM La Mera Mera to provide its Spanish-language play-by-play broadcast on the ABC7 SAP channel during all locally televised Chargers preseason games.
As the Chargers' flagship English-language radio partner, iHeartMedia Los Angeles will again air all preseason, regular season and postseason Chargers games on KFI AM-640 – No. 1 in news, talk and sports in Los Angeles and Orange County, as well as across 13 affiliates. In addition to game broadcasts, KFI AM-640 and AM 570 LA Sports will broadcast 10 hours of game day coverage, while iHeartMedia Los Angeles' stable of eight radio stations – led by ALT 98.7 – will support the Chargers with year-round programming, marketing, community outreach and promotional content.
KFWB 980-AM La Mera Mera, housed under the Lotus Communications umbrella and the most listened to AM music station in the country in any language, will again broadcast all preseason, regular season and postseason Chargers games, including pre and postgame shows. The station, which dates back to 1925 and was the first to broadcast the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA, will also air a weekly Chargers series throughout the season.
Chargers fans in San Diego can once again see every preseason game on KFMB-TV (CBS 8). Entering its 20th year as the official home of Chargers preseason football in San Diego, CBS 8 is recognized as the network's strongest West Coast affiliate and San Diego's leader in news and sports reporting. On top of the Chargers' three locally broadcast preseason games, CBS 8 will also carry the team's nationally televised preseason game on Saturday, Aug. 25 vs. New Orleans (5:00 pm PT) as well as 12 of the Bolts regular season contests.
In the booth for Chargers' preseason telecasts, Tomlinson will provide color commentary and expert analysis alongside Spero Dedes, who enters his fourth year as the play-by-play voice for Bolts preseason games, and Hayley Elwood, who will add preseason sideline reporting to her duties as team reporter. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame in 2017, the dynamic TCU product rushed for 10 or more touchdowns in each of his nine seasons with the Chargers and helped lead the Bolts to five AFC West Division titles in a six-season span between 2004 and 2009. In 2006 he was named NFL Most Valuable Player after rushing for a career-best 1,815 yards and 28 touchdowns to go along with three receiving touchdowns – Tomlinson's 31 total touchdowns and 186 points that season both established new single-season NFL records. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Tomlinson concluded his career ranked fifth all-time in yards rushing (13,684), second in rushing touchdowns (145), third in total touchdowns (163) and fifth in yards from scrimmage (18,456). In 2012, Tomlinson began his career in broadcast when he signed on with NFL Network. Since then, he has become a mainstay as a studio analyst for numerous NFL Network programs that include NFL GameDay Prime and NFL Total Access.
Jeremiah, a former NFL scout who spent a combined eight seasons with three NFL teams prior to joining the NFL Network in 2012, will partner with radio play-by-play announcer Matt "Money" Smith and sideline reporter Shannon Farren as the color analyst on KFI AM-640's Chargers game broadcasts. A 2000 graduate of Appalachian State, where he was a three-year starter at quarterback, Jeremiah began his NFL career as a personnel assistant with the Baltimore Ravens scouting department in 2003 and was promoted to area scout in 2005. Moving to the Cleveland Browns as a National Scout prior to the 2007 season, most recently he served as a West Coast for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2010-12. Currently a regular contributor on NFL.com and NFL Mobile, offering an Xs-and-Os look at players, teams and trends, the El Cajon, CA native also plays a vital role on various NFL Network programs such as NFL Total Access and Path to the Draft and is the co-host of the Move the Sticks Podcast with Bucky Brooks.
Solis, who has received numerous accolades for his work, including several local Area Emmys, Golden Mikes and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Sports Reporting, will handle Spanish language play-by-play duties for KFWB AM-980's Chargers game broadcasts. Longtime Chargers Spanish-language broadcaster Jorge Villanueva will return for his 25th season with the team and join Solis in the booth as color analyst. Honored by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for excellence in broadcast journalism, Solis, currently weekend sports anchor and weekday sports reporter at NBC 4 Los Angeles, has more than two decades of sports broadcasting experience. He has covered nearly every major sporting event, including the Olympic Games and the World Cup, and previously served as a sportscaster for the Telemundo Network and its owned Southern California station KVEA 52. In addition to his duties as sports anchor and sports reporter, the Los Angeles native and USC alum has also served as the Spanish-language announcer for HBO's "World Championship Boxing" since 2001.
