Acolor commentator orexpert commentator is asports commentator who assists themain (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as asummarizer (outside North America) oranalyst (a term used throughout the English-speaking world).[1] The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the main commentator is not describing the action.[2] The color commentator provides expertanalysis and background information, such asstatistics, strategy, and injury reports on theteams andathletes, and occasionallyanecdotes or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes,coaches, orexperts of the sport being broadcast.[3]
The termcolor[a] refers to levity and insight provided by a secondary announcer. A sports color commentator customarily works alongside the play-by-play broadcaster.[4][5][6]
Commentary teams typically feature one professionalcommentator describing the passage of play, and another, usually a former player,coach, orexpert, providing supplementary input as the sports event progresses. Color commentators usually restrict their input to times that the ball or the puck is out of play, or there is no significant action on the field or the court. They usually defer to the main commentator when a shot on goal or another significant event occurs. That sometimes results in them being talked over or cut short by the primary commentator. Former players and managers also appear aspundits and carry out a similar role to that of the co-commentator during thepre-game show before a given contest and thepost-game show after it.
In American motorsports coverage, there may be as many as two color commentators in thebooth for a given broadcast.[7]
In the 2010s, some sports broadcasters began to employrules analysts, a contributor—typically a formerreferee—who provides analysis and opinions of calls made by referees officiating the sports event. The practice was first popularized in the NFL, with Fox hiring formerofficialsMike Pereira andDean Blandino.[8][9][10] The practice has since been extended to other sports, with officials such asSteve Javie (basketball),Dave Jackson (hockey), andJoe Machnik (soccer) having taken on similar roles for ESPN/ABC and Fox respectively.[11][12][13] CBS similarly hiredGene Steratore in 2018; consistent with his background, he has been employed for both NFL and college basketball coverage.[14]
The term "color commentator" is largely unknown outside American sports. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent role is usually called "summarizer" but other terms used are "analyst", "pundit" or simply "co-commentator". Cricket coverage onESPNcricinfo uses similar terminology.
The term is not used in Australia or New Zealand. Those giving the analysis alongside the main commentator are sometimes said to be giving additional or expert analysis, or "special comments", or they may be referred to as "expert commentators".
ForAssociation football broadcasts on Latin Americansports television channels, such a commentator is called acomentarista in both Spanish and Portuguese and contrasts with thenarrador,locutor (Spanish and Portuguese) orrelator (Spanish - Argentina and Uruguay) who leads the transmission. The term "color" is not used or translated.