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Published on Tuesday, 18 September 2012 11:52
Comcast SportsNet Chicago officially announced the hiring of Susannah Collins to its on-air team. Collins, who has been doing part-time freelance work for CSN Chicago this summer, will now be a full-time anchor/reporter for the local sports station, effective September 20th.
Collin's duties will include being a regular contributor to CSN Chicago's signature nightly sports news program, "SportsNet Central," along with also handling on-site & post-game reporting duties throughout the year at home games for Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs broadcasts.
In addition to her television work for the station, Collins will frequently host interactive segments and a variety of digital initiatives that will be showcased on CSNChicago.com.
Susannah Collins can already be seen on CSN Chicago as the co-host to the station's newest sports-themed trivia show, "
Gas Money." Since July, she has also been doing some post-game reporting on CSN Chicago's White Sox telecasts and on "SportsNet Central."
In her short time on the Chicago airwaves, the lovely 32 year-old Chicagoland native has already developed a large fan following.
Collins was born and raised in west suburban Downers Grove. The daughter of a P.E. teacher, she has always had a deep interest in sports. At Downers Grove North High School, she was a standout volleyball and basketball player (where she was also team captain). Collins went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where she graduated in 2001 with Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism. As an undergraduate, she worked for WPGU-FM, the campus' student-run radio station.
While at U of I, she also starred in many musical theater productions. From there, she completed a post-graduate Musical Theater program at the prestigious Mountview Academy in London, England. For a few years, Collins was seen performing in several stage shows, along with being a model on television commercials and print ads. She even had a cameo role as an alien temptress in The Bravery's music video for their single "
Slow Poison."
Susannah Collins has also been seen regularly over the last two years on Showtime as a reporter and host on Showtime Sports' "Inside the NFL" and "Inside NASCAR." Additionally, Collins was a reporter covering MMA and boxing events for Showtime Sports. Due to her new full-time status with CSN Chicago, she has had to say goodbye to her job with Showtime. Collins told her followers on her
Facebook fan page today: "It's bittersweet but I'm incredibly excited for this new adventure in my hometown and I will always be grateful for the experiences I had with Showtime Sports."
In addition to her work at Showtime, Collins has also worked as a correspondent/reporter for the NFL Network, MLB.com, NBC-TV and CBS-TV over the past two years. In 2011, Collins anchored the weekend sports broadcasts at WCBS-TV in New York. In 2009, she hosted on the Internet show, "Sports Nutz."
Thanks mainly to this new position on CSN Chicago, Susannah Collins can now move from Brooklyn, NY, where she has lived for the last few years, back to her native Chicago. It's never easy for a die-hard Chicago sports fan to live elsewhere.
Charlie Schumacher, Senior News Director for Comcast SportsNet Chicago, issued a statement today, saying: "We are very pleased to bring someone of Susannah's experience and local sports enthusiasm to our network on a full-time basis. Providing the very best live, daily local sports news coverage continues to be our focus and Susannah has certainly done an excellent job for us on a free-lance basis over the past several months and will no doubt be a terrific full-time addition to our already solid on-air team."
For the most part, Collins' hire now fills the vacancy left when Sarah Kustok
exited the station on August 3rd to join New York's YES Network as a reporter. Kustok had been with CSN Chicago as a reporter and anchor since 2009.
As of
last week, CSN Chicago has also been using Nicole Darin as a freelance anchor/reporter to help fill the station's needs.
