Brett Haber ready for WUSA

Brett Haber is the first to admit it: He has made his share of mistakes in life.

“There are times I could have made better choices. You learn from those moments,” the TV sportscaster said earlier this week from Las Vegas, where he is covering the Professional Bull Riders World Finals for the Outdoor Life Network, a cable channel.

Mr. Haber — who joins the local CBS affiliate, WUSA-TV (Channel 9), as sports director next week — has always been passionate about his work. Sometimes, his drive for perfection has rubbed co-workers the wrong way.

In 1995, when Mr. Haber was an anchor and reporter for ESPN’s “Sports Center,” he riled up his bosses for dressing down a cameraman he felt wasn’t up to snuff.

His reputation for being demanding continued at Fox station WTTG-TV (Channel 5), where he ran the sports department in the late 1990s, and at adult pop music station WWZZ-FM (104.1), where he hosted the morning-drive show from March 2003 until last month.

But the Brett Haber who shows up for work at WUSA’s Broadcast House studios Monday promises to be more relaxed.

“I still have high standards, but I have learned how to better channel my desire for perfection,” he said.

Mr. Haber may have softened behind the scenes — he and his wife recently had their first child, a son named Taylor — but he promises his on-air persona will be as sharp as ever.

At WTTG, Mr. Haber was the best sportscaster in town. Each night, he delivered a smart, ESPN-style sportscast, and was frequently credited with breaking big stories.

“I never wanted to be one of those sportscasters who screamed at the camera. I always wanted to treat the audience with some smarts. With me, it’s never been, ’Dumb it down. Appeal to the lowest common denominator. Don’t aim too high.’”

This philosophy has served Mr. Haber well throughout his career.

In 1986, at 16, the native New Yorker reported for NBC’s “Main Street,” a newsmagazine geared toward teens.

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1991 and soon landed the ESPN and WTTG stints.

In 2000, Mr. Haber joined New York’s CBS station, where he replaced Warner Wolf on its 11 p.m. newscast.

When the station cut him loose three years later, he took the WWZZ job and the part-time gig at the Outdoor Life Network.

At WUSA, Mr. Haber will replace Frank Herzog, one of several Channel 9 veterans who have been fired or demoted in recent months.

Mr. Haber will appear on the station’s weekday 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts; he will probably debut Nov. 3.

The job will be Mr. Haber’s toughest yet.

He will be WUSA’s sixth sports chief since Glenn Brenner died in 1992.

The station’s sports department has been beset by budget cuts and low morale, but Mr. Haber said he will work to rebuild it. His top goals: emphasizing good storytelling and local scores in his sportscasts.

Taking the seat once occupied by Mr. Herzog and Mr. Brenner, whose memory still looms large at Broadcast House, isn’t something Mr. Haber takes lightly.

“To be honest, I’m humbled by it,” he said.

Clash of the titans

Maybe this is the October surprise everyone’s been waiting for.

Howard Stern confronted his arch-nemesis, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell, during a radio call-in show in San Francisco yesterday.

Mr. Powell was the guest on Ronn Owens’s KGO-AM (810) talk show when the host took a call from Mr. Stern, who argued with Mr. Powell for roughly 20 minutes about the FCC’s crackdown on material it deems indecent.

“I’ve lived through your fines, Michael,” said Mr. Stern, who announced this month plans to move his syndicated show — which has generated multiple FCC sanctions for stations across the nation — to subscription-based satellite radio in 2006.

The debate was fairly low-key, although Mr. Stern did accuse Mr. Powell of getting his job only because he is the son of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

“I think it’s a little unfair that because I happen to have a famous father and other public officials don’t that you make an assumption that that’s the only basis on which I serve in my position,” Mr. Powell said.

• Call Chris Baker at 202/636-3139 or send e-mail to cbaker@washingtontimes.com.