ESPN announces new shows and an overhauled lineup in the wake of its recent layoffs
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Some of ESPN's recent, highly publicized layoffs — about 100 employees, including dozens of on-air personalities — were part of an effort to reshuffle its daytime TV lineup and save its flagship program, "SportsCenter."
We now know more about what the new daytime ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Radio schedules will look like, and they include a pair of new shows.
On Tuesday, ESPN announced several changes to its lineups, the most notable being the end of ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike," which has been on the air for 17 years and is often cited as the show that laid the groundwork for the national sports radio we hear today.
Mike Greenberg will move to a long-rumored new show on ESPN airing weekdays from 7 to 10 a.m. While we don't know the name of that show or many details, it's expected to be something more like "Good Morning America" or "Live with Kelly" — a traditional morning talk show, with some traditional "SportsCenter" elements sprinkled in.
According to ESPN, the new show will have "several full-time cohosts and a rotation of various guests and expert contributors."
Meanwhile, Mike Golic will continue the ESPN Radio show with a new cohost, Trey Wingo. Both of them received multiyear extensions in the deal. That show will initially be simulcast on ESPN2, as "Mike & Mike" is now, before eventually moving to ESPNU. Mike Golic Jr. will also be a regular cohost for the first hour of the show.
The other new show is an unnamed, hour-long talk show hosted by Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre airing at noon on ESPN. Jones is a cohost of "Highly Questionable," which is expected to announce a new cohost. Torre is a regular guest on "Around the Horn" and a columnist for ESPN the Magazine.
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Here's what the new early-day ESPN lineup will look like:
- 7 a.m.: New Mike Greenberg show
- 10 a.m.: "First Take"
- Noon: New Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre show
Sage Steele has also signed an extension and will host "SportsCenter" from 7 to 10 a.m. on ESPN2.
ESPN says it will air "SportsCenter Right Now" segments — brief, "up-to-the-minute" updates — "multiple times per hour," similar to the "SportsCenter" updates on ESPN Radio.