Early years Bernstein spent three years climbing the local broadcast ladder, launching her career as the news and sports director at WXJN-FM radio in
Lewes, Delaware. She transitioned to television at
WMDT-TV in
Salisbury, Maryland as the
ABC affiliate's weekend news anchor, then became
Reno, Nevada's, first-ever female weekday sports anchor at
NBC affiliate
KRNV-TV.
ESPN Bernstein first joined ESPN in 1995 as its Chicago Bureau Chief, where she covered
Michael Jordan and the
Chicago Bulls' record-setting championship run (1996–98). She also was a correspondent for
Sunday NFL Countdown and
College GameDay and filed reports for
SportsCenter during the
Major League Baseball post-season and the
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship.
CBS Sports Bernstein joined
CBS Sports in 1998 as the lead sideline reporter for the
NCAA Men's Basketball Championships and feature reporter for
The NFL Today. The following year, she transitioned to sideline reporting for the
NFL on CBS. She worked with the
Verne Lundquist/
Dick Enberg and
Dan Dierdorf crew until 2003, when she was promoted to the lead crew of
Jim Nantz and
Phil Simms. Bernstein covered
Super Bowls
XXXV and
XXXVIII for the network and during Super Bowl XXXVIII, became the first correspondent ever to cover the game for both network television and network radio, filing reports for
CBS Sports and
Westwood One Radio. Upon signing with CBS/Westwood One Radio in 2001, Bernstein often pulled "double duty" during the
NFL season, covering a Sunday game for
CBS and
Monday Night Football for radio. In addition to her NFL and college basketball duties, Bernstein hosted the
NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship and CBS' anthology series,
Championships of the NCAA, and was a studio host for
CBS SportsDesk and
At The Half, CBS Sports' college basketball halftime studio show. Bernstein also covered
tennis,
track and field,
horse racing and
figure skating for the network and hosted the
U.S. Open Tennis Championships studio show and the
Hambletonian.
Return to ESPN In July 2006, Bernstein rejoined ESPN as the lead college football reporter for ESPN on ABC and the
field reporter for
Sunday Night Baseball with
Jon Miller and
Joe Morgan. On October 11, 2006, five days after experiencing severe leg pain while covering the Texas-Oklahoma
Red River Rivalry, doctors discovered life-threatening blood clots in both of Bernstein's lungs (
pulmonary emboli) that originated in her left leg (
deep vein thrombosis). She returned to ESPN and ABC several weeks later, but reduced her travel schedule the following season as a precautionary health measure, shifting focus to studio hosting many of ESPN's high-profile shows, including
NFL Live,
Jim Rome Is Burning,
Outside the Lines,
First Take and
College Football Live.
Radio hosting In September 2009, Bernstein was named co-host of
The Michael Kay Show on
1050 ESPN Radio in New York. She also covered the
New York Jets and hosted specialty programming during the
2009–10 NFL playoffs. In July 2010, Bernstein was given her own daily NFL show,
New York Football Live, co-hosted by Jets linebacker
Greg Buttle.
Campus Insiders In April 2013, Bernstein was named vice president of Content and Brand Development for Campus Insiders, a digital partnership between Silver Chalice Ventures, founded by
Chicago Bulls and
White Sox owner
Jerry Reinsdorf, and
IMG College, the nation's largest collegiate sports marketing company. Bernstein was also the on-air "face" of the network, hosting daily studio shows during the college football season and
NCAA Basketball Championship. Her off-air responsibilities included creating original programming for the network, developing and securing new sponsor partnerships, and designing brand extensions that enhanced the reach of CI's digital and social platforms.
Walk Swiftly Productions In January 2017, Bernstein founded Walk Swiftly Productions, where she is CEO. Through WSP and her consultancy, Velvet Hammer Media, Bernstein collaborates with some of sports’ most prominent organizations, including the NCAA and the College Football Playoff (CFP). In 2019, ESPN's docuseries,
GOOD GAME: UC Irvine, produced by WSP and executive produced by Bernstein, received the Tempest Award for "Best Esports-Themed Program;", and CMT's
Country on Campus received nominations for "Best Music Series" and "Best Sports and Recreation" series at the Cynopsis Short Form Video Awards
. Other notable WSP titles include the XFL's signature series, “For the Love of Football" and the Audible Originals audio series,
She Got Game. Other broadcast work Bernstein is the only female ever to solo fill-in host for the syndicated radio and TV program,
The Dan Patrick Show and appears as a guest commentator on several news networks, including
NBC,
MSNBC and
FOX News Channel, to discuss prominent sports stories. ==Notes and references==