Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade " Thom " Brennaman ( born September 12 , 1963 ) is an American sportscaster and the son of current Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman . Biography . Broadcasting career . After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati ' s Anderson High School Thom attended Ohio University , where he was president of the Beta Kappa Chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity . He entered college uncertain of whether to follow in his father ' s footsteps and become a broadcaster . While at Ohio U he joined station WATH , developing his own love for radio . After graduating in 1986 , Brennaman worked as a sports reporter / anchor for WLWT - TV , the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati . During this same period , he worked as the television play - by - play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds along side Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench . In the early 1990s he did Chicago Cubs broadcasts , sometimes with Hall of Fame broadcaster , Harry Caray . In 1994 he was hired by Fox Sports to call the network ' s National Football League and Major League Baseball telecasts . He served as the first television voice for the Arizona Diamondbacks , and left after the 2006 season to join his father Marty in Cincinnati . In 2006 , Brennaman was named as Fox ' s lead play - by - play announcer for the Bowl Championship Series . In addition to calling the BCS National Championship Game , Brennaman called the 2007 Fiesta Bowl . On both broadcasts , Brennaman worked with former University of Wisconsin – Madison head coach Barry Alvarez ( only in 2007 ) , and former University of Tennessee defensive back and current broadcaster Charles Davis . Brennaman also called the 2008 Sugar Bowl and the 2009 Orange Bowl . Additionally , the Big Ten Network named Brennaman as their lead play - by - play announcer for college football games for two seasons beginning in September 2007 . He would return to calling NFL games for Fox in 2009 , working primarily with Brian Billick but also filling in as lead announcer while Joe Buck did the MLB playoffs . Prior to that , Brennaman had been the voice of the Cotton Bowl Classic on Fox from 2000 to 2006 . Brennaman , along with Brian Billick , Laura Okmin , and Chris Myers called the 2012 NFC Divisional Playoff matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons instead of Kenny Albert , Daryl Johnston , and Tony Siragusa . This was Brennaman ' s first time calling an NFL playoff game , although Brennaman and Billick called the 2011 Pro Bowl along with Terry Bradshaw and sideline reporters Tony Siragusa and Jay Glazer . Move to the Cincinnati Reds . On October 3 , 2006 , Cincinnati Reds owner Robert Castellini hired Brennaman through the 2010 season to announce 45 Reds games on FS Ohio television and 45 games on the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network , flagship station being 700 WLW . His father ' s contract with the Reds was set to expire after the 2010 season . Currently , both Thom and Marty continue to broadcast for the Cincinnati Reds . Other ventures . Brennaman has also contributed voice - over work for several video games , including " Microsoft Baseball 2001 " , " All - Star Baseball 2002 " , and " All - Star Baseball 2003 - 2005 " for Gamecube , PlayStation 2 and Xbox . He has also done college basketball announcing for CBS Radio and Fox Sports Net cable . He is also a spokesman for CBTS , a Cincinnati Bell company , in television commercials . He also called basketball games for the Cincinnati Bearcats .