Finebaum Officially Going to ESPN, SECN

It's official: Paul Finebaum is moving to ESPN and will eventually appear on the SEC Network:

Finebaum, the polarizing personality of college football's signature call-in show, is leaving the Birmingham, Ala., market where his contract expired in January, for Charlotte, N.C., and a national forum: ESPN. His multi-tiered platform will include a radio program on ESPN networks, 100 televised appearances annually on ESPN and a TV simulcast of his radio show on the ESPN-owned SEC Network launching in August 2014.

The consensus in the room at the SEC Network reveal was that Finebaum would end up on it in some capacity, and that has turned out to be the case. Simulcasting his radio show on the SECN seems to be a natural fit. He will continue to do his core competency, that being talk radio, and the SECN has a few hours every day that it won't have to worry about.

It will be interesting to see just how many of his regular callers will follow him to the ESPN platforms, given that they were almost as big a draw for his Alabama-based shows as he was. I have a feeling that some will want to, but I wonder if the Disney higher ups will go for shouting matches on the air. In any event, F-baum is coming back soon and will probably end up being the initial face of the SECN.