Loss of Michael Is a Truly Deep Cut

Clearly, thousands of viewers also like the way Michael does his job. One of them e-mailed last week when he read about Michael being taken off the air.

"I am one of the people who actually makes it a point to watch these shows, not because I'm such a fan of George Michael but because the content of his broadcasts was interesting and informative," a reader wrote. "Since Michael left Channel 4, I have switched my evening news viewing to another channel because I have been disappointed in WRC's sports coverage. It is vapid; fey even. No punch, no fun and no controversy.

"Now I have no reason to bother with Channel 4 sports coverage at all (unless the Redskins are on Sunday night). It seems to me that they have done themselves a disservice by taking Sonny and Riggins off the air ... For the first time, I find myself wishing Dan Snyder would syndicate a TV program."

Will Michael try to get his show on another outlet in the Washington market?

He said he told Jurgensen, Riggins and Wilbon to give him a month to see if he could make a deal to air "Redskins Report" on another local station or regional cable operation. Several industry sources said yesterday that Channel 7 already has shown some interest in the show, but Michael insisted that "right now I have no idea" if he can get it back on the air.

Michael, 69, also indicated he had no desire to go back to the daily grind of doing a nightly sportscast but would love to keep doing the Redskins show, and its winter spin-off, "Full Court Press" that replaces "Redskins Report" after the football season.

"You can't be bitter about it," he said. "The thing that drives you is to be successful, and if you're successful, you'd like to think you'd also have some security. But in these economic times, some people react differently, so you accept that and move on. I've got some time to work things out. Sonny and John and Mike have been great. They all said 'I'm in, count me in.'

"Do I know if something will happen? I don't know ... Will we do the show again? I certainly hope so."

He is not alone.

Leonard Shapiro can be reached at Len.Shapiro@washingtonpost.com.