Most people can relate to Elle Duncan’s decision to join Netflix.
After nearly 10 years at ESPN, Duncan was looking for a new challenge that would show off her versatility as a broadcaster while also trying to find more of a work-life balance.
Duncan believes that will happen by joining the streaming giant. She makes her Netflix debut on Friday night, hosting Skyscraper Live. The two-hour event, which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern, features free solo climber Alex Honnold attempt to scale Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan, without ropes.
“It was everything I had been asking in the universe to help me be a well-rounded broadcaster and to help me be a well-rounded person. I think I’m going to be able to do both of those things here,” Duncan said before leaving for Taiwan.
Duncan left ESPN in December. She joined the network in 2016 and rose to hosting the 6 p.m. Eastern edition of “SportsCenter,” as well as hosting covering of the women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament and WNBA.
Duncan said that the time at ESPN taught her the value of how to work and collaborate as a group while learning what it took to put on a great program. It also helps that Kate Jackson, Netflix’s director of live sports, was one of Duncan’s producers at ESPN.
“When they came to pitch me, they knew exactly who they were getting, bad dad jokes and all. And that’s exactly who they want me to be at Netflix as well,” Duncan said. “They want me to bring what they bring, which is the sports, the entertainment and storytelling parts. All of it. So they know who I am, they know what they’re getting and they encourage and want that.”
Anchoring coverage of a high-stakes climb up one of the world’s tallest buildings is different compared to previewing this weekend’s NFL conference championship games. But it is something that Duncan welcomes taking on.
Skyscraper Live will also include climbing experts Emily Harrington and Pete Woods, former NASA engineer Mark Rober and WWE superstar Seth Rollins.
“Skyscraper is different because it is based around storytelling. It’s based around watching someone do something that seems, let’s be real to the layman, crazy and trying to contextualize why someone would do this,” Duncan said. “So trying to really build that up, the theater, the drama, the entertainment, while also recognizing the tone, I think that’s what’s going to be interesting.
“Certainly injury is always up for grabs when it comes to sports, but I don’t think anyone goes into a game that they’re about to cover and goes, ‘what really happens if someone dies here?’ This is actual life or death. And so the stakes are much higher, and so while I’m still going to be me, I’m recognizing the room and the tone and the situation that we’re in. It’s going to be definitely a different muscle, but ultimately I’m going to lean into the same things that I did at ESPN that I hope made me a really good host to work with, which is just putting my team exactly where they need to be to make it a success.”
Netflix will have a built-in, 10-second delay on the broadcast in case something happens.
Duncan also has the background to host most things on Netflix, whether it is sports or reality TV shows. Her broadcast career began as an entertainment reporter on a Atlanta sports radio station in 2003 before hosting an afternoon program on an Atlanta hip-hop station for seven years,
After doing sideline TV work for the Atlanta Hawks, SEC and ACC football, Duncan became a sports anchor and reporter at Atlanta’s NBC affiliate in 2012 before joining the NESN regional sports network in Boston in 2014.
Duncan will also be at the forefront as Netflix continues to expand its sports portfolio. Besides the NFL Christmas Day doubleheader, it will begin doing Major League Baseball games this season. The streamer’s first game will be on March 25 when the San Francisco Giants host the New York Yankees in the opening matchup of the season.
Netflix will also have the Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams game.
Duncan also isn’t saying goodbye to the WNBA. USA Network announced on Thursday that Duncan will be the lead studio host.
“I have really worked for 20-plus years to be as versatile as broadcaster as I could be. I want to be the girl that you can put on any desk, on a concert stage doing standup, whatever. But I got to this point in my life where I said, ‘I’m a really versatile broadcaster, but am I a really versatile person?’ Am I the mom and the wife and the friend that I want to be on top of being a really great broadcaster and I wasn’t feeling like I was a well-rounded person. I felt like I was only a well-rounded broadcaster.
“I felt like this was the most unique opportunity of my life to stay involved in major event-based things, to have so much white space ahead of me to really create a role for myself, to have autonomy over my schedule and to also be around right now when my kids (7-year old Eva and 5-year old Xander) still want their mom.”
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