Between Broken Up Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless are 500,000 viewers.

According to Front Office Sports, ESPN’s First Take continues to lead Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed in the ratings. Stephen A. Smith attracted over five times as many viewers on average during the first three months of the redesigned shows. Amazing, isn’t that right?

Promotion

After well-known analyst Shannon Sharpe left Undisputed, the show took a long break. returning in late August with a reorganized roster that included Skip Bayless and former NFL players Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, and Richard Sherman. Their attempt was to bridge Sharpe’s gap. First Take, meanwhile, kept up its winning streak with ease. Some of First Take’s most popular episodes to date were produced when Sharpe joined the cast.

Fox Sports found it difficult to recreate the magic of Skip and Shannon’s time, and the ambition now seems unattainable. The once-dominant Fox Sports is further distanced by the public, which is more drawn to the tried-and-true discussion show concept developed by Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe.

First Take averaged 554,000 viewers from September to November, the first three full months with Shannon Sharpe in the lineups; Undisputed, at only 120,000, trailed far behind. With an average of 614,000 viewers, November also became the most watched month in First Take’s history.

Supporters Say Skip Bayless Won’t Be Returning
The redesigned version of Undisputed had its highlights, including a viral segment in which Bayless’s new colleagues got into a heated argument about cornerbacks and wide receivers during the first week of the show. Fans think it falls short of unseating First Take as Fox Sports 1’s best sports talk show on TV, despite these highlights. While some fans think Skip Bayless is deserved of the viewership results, others feel sad for him.