Smith will be joining the First Take crew full time starting June 4 as a part of the show’s new format, focusing more on the debates, aka Stephen A. vs. Skip.
“We tweaked the show format last year to focus more on debate and specifically on presenting and challenging Skip’s opinions and we saw our viewers respond to that change,” said Jamie Horowitz, the Vice President of Original Programming and Production on ESPN.
“Given the response we’ve seen on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, we dug a bit deeper into the ratings data and know that the riveting combination of Stephen A. and Skip debating their views resonates with our viewers,” he continued. “Our plan with this relaunch is to give them even more of the show elements they like best.”
The show will feature Stephen A. and Skip debating sports related topics in the first hour, then taking on guests in the second hour.
Source: vibe.com
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