Early years Cohn debuted as a sports anchor for the
Patchogue, New York-based
radio station WALK-AM (also WALK-FM) in 1981 and worked there for four years. After leaving that station in 1984, she worked as a sports anchor for four other New York area radio stations until 1987, including a brief stint as an update person at
WFAN in New York City.
1987–1991 In 1987, Cohn made sportscasting history by becoming the first full-time U.S. female sports anchor on a national radio network when she was hired by
ABC. She anchored WABC TalkRadio from 1987 to 1989. In 1988, Cohn got her first television break, after being hired by what was at the time one of ESPN's top competitors,
SportsChannel America. In 1989, she hosted a call-in radio sports show in New York. She has also been featured in many of the show's
This Is SportsCenter commercials. Despite her success, Cohn was almost fired in 1994 because the network argued that she wasn't showing her love for sports on TV. The company gave her six months to improve and hired a video coach to help her out. In addition to her work as a sports journalist, Cohn made a name for herself as a prognosticator during the 1997 NCAA basketball tournament. Her bracket that year for ESPN accurately predicted 15th-seeded
Coppin State University’s shocking victory over
South Carolina in the first round, to this day one of the greatest upsets in the tournament's history. In 2005, Cohn signed a contract extension with ESPN, which added play-by-play for
WNBA telecasts to her duties. On June 20, 2008, ESPN announced that Cohn would be a regular anchor for the new morning block of
SportsCenter, which launched on August 11 that year. She was to have been the co-anchor, alongside
Steve Berthiaume, of the first three hours of the block, from 6 to 9 a.m.
ET on weekdays. Several weeks later, however, ESPN announced that the new
SportsCenter morning block would be scaled back from nine to six hours. She hosted her 5,000th edition of
SportsCenter on February 21, 2016, a record for
SportsCenter anchors. Cohn continues to regularly anchor
SportsCenter from 1–3 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. She is also the host of the podcast "Listen Closely to Linda Cohn". Cohn has reported, commentated, interviewed, written, and called play-by-play throughout her career at ESPN. In mid-July 2018, ESPN issued a press release announcing that Cohn had "signed a new deal to remain with the company for years to come." The contract included continued anchor duties on
SportsCenter and increased ice hockey coverage
. Executive Vice President
Norby Williamson noted that in her 26 years with the network, Cohn had "hosted more
SportsCenters than anyone else." The deal says she will continue as primary host of
In the Crease on ESPN+ as it expands to five nights a week during the NHL season and will contribute hockey-related interviews and features to
SportsCenter and other ESPN platforms.
Author In 2008, Cohn released her memoir, ''Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys' Club
, in which she recounts her passion for sports and her experiences working on SportsCenter''. == Personal life ==