Stephen A. Smith Proudly Shares ‘First Take’ Ratings After Skip Bayless’s Show Revamps Cast
ESPN won the first round between the two rival networks.
Fox Sports and Skip Bayless revamped Undisputed, adding three former NFL players to replace Shannon Sharpe, but the show struggled in its first week.
According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, Undisputed drew just 131,000 viewers on day one of the new panel, and the ratings dipped to 120,000 and 78,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. All three of those numbers are below the ratings for Sharpe’s final Undisputed show in June, which sat at 154,000.
Meanwhile, McCarthy reports that Stephen A. Smith and ESPN’s First Take produced 448,000 viewers on Monday this week, with 474,000 on Tuesday and 423,000 on Wednesday. Smith was proud of this accomplishment, evidently, as he shared the news on social media with no caption.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) September 1, 2023
This week was the first time that Undisputed aired new episodes since taking a two-month break while determining who would replace Sharpe. First Take, on the other hand, kept airing new episodes through the summer, whether Smith was on the show or on vacation.
Smith and Bayless have been direct competitors since Bayless left ESPN for Fox Sports in 2016, and that will continue as he tries to find a successful format for Undisputed. Smith, however, is doing well at ESPN and even recruited Sharpe to join First Take twice a week during the NFL season.