U of A and KATV Reach Agreement on the Next Voice of the Razorbacks

The Morning News reports the University of Arkansas and KATV have come to an agreement in which Chuck Barrett will become The Voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Below is an excerpt from the article:

Chuck Barrett's job description is about to get more extensive.

Multiple sources close to the situation said Thursday that the University of Arkansas and KATV have agreed in principle that Barrett will become the school's football play-by-play announcer.

One source familiar with the negotiations said that both parties spoke several times by phone this week and came to an agreement satisfactory to the UA and KATV. The source said the details of the contract for Barrett, already the play-by-play voice of Arkansas baseball, would be finalized soon.

A formal announcement of the next "Voice of the Razorbacks" could come as early as today, but is expected by early next week. Barrett, under the tentative agreement, would replace Mike Nail, who filled in on an interim basis last season after longtime announcer Paul Eells' unexpected death last summer.

KATV had backed Scott Inman, one of the station's main news anchors, for the position. But Arkansas raised what it considered reasonable objections to Inman and threw its support behind Barrett, who also hosts the daily Northwest Arkansas radio show Sports Rap. Mainly, Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles voiced concern about Inman's inability to spend enough time around the team because he anchors nightly newscasts in Little Rock.

KATV General Manager Dale Nicholson apparently signed on to Barrett after the parties' phone communications, one source said. Previously, the parties had communicated through four letters and a May 22 phone conversation between Broyles and Nicholson.