How FS1's New Daily Lineup Stacks Up Against ESPN's: Who Wins?
FS1 announced a new daily studio lineup this week, one that will debut before the start of the NFL season next month. The new lineup runs from 8 am to 7 pm ET, as follows:
BREAKFAST BALL (8:00 – 10:00 AM ET): Craig Carton, Mark Schlereth and Danny Parkins
THE FACILITY (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET): Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, James Jones and Chase Daniel.
THE HERD WITH COLIN COWHERD (12:00 – 3:00 PM ET): Colin Cowherd.
FIRST THINGS FIRST (3:00 – 5:00 PM ET): Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes.
SPEAK (5:00 – 7:00 PM ET): Joy Taylor, Keyshawn Johnson and Paul Pierce
The lineup change comes amid Skip Bayless' departure from the network last month. Bayless had hosted "Undisputed" from 9:30 to noon since 2016.
FS1 won't challenge ESPN one-to-one. ESPN had a 40-year head start and benefits greatly from airing live sports the night before. For example, ESPN's morning lineup rates better on Tuesdays in the fall than Mondays. The reason: "Monday Night Football" airs the night before.
So, it's more of a question of how much each FS1 show can eat into ESPN's market share and/or provide a better option for sports fans.
Let's see:
The newly-created "Breakfast Ball" has an uphill battle. Mornings on FS1 are challenging as they are sans any lead-in. While Danny Parkins was a successful radio host in Chicago, he has never co-hosted a television show before.
The show will compete head-to-head with Mike Greenberg's "Get Up." Carton, Parkins, and Schlereth are not Greenberg in terms of talent or star-power. And Greenberg's brand will only grow this fall as he takes over hosting duties on "Sunday NFL Countdown" this fall.
That said, the rotation of "Get Up" isn't as strong as it was. Greenberg is great. His cast members are not.
Last football season, analysts like Ryan Clark, Domonique Foxworth, Bart Scott, and Chris Canty often turned the program into a soapbox to shill for their favorite athletes (Lamar Jackson) and tear down their least favorites (Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen).
FS1 has an opportunity to counter the likes of Clark and Foxworth with less preachy commentary.
"The Facility" has little chance of breaking through, by no fault of its own. Competing head-to-head with Stephen A. Smith is just as responsible for the decline of "Undisputed" as Bayless' refusal to be innovative and the loss of Shannon Sharpe were.
Stephen A. is the biggest draw in sports media. At this point, it doesn't seem particularly close. "First Take" is in the midst of 23 straight months of year-over-year gains.
"The Facility" will need to rely heavily on social media promotion to make headlines.
SEATTLE, Wash. - ESPN Gameday host Pat McAfee chuckles was at the University of Washington for the college football game between the University of Washington and the Oregon Ducks on October 14, 2023 at Husky Stadium. (Photo by Jesse Beals/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
At noon, "The Herd" set record ratings last fall. We expect similar results this season.
Now, some of that is due to the "Pat McAfee Show," Cowherd's head-to-head competition, still trying to find its footing on linear television. McAfee's show is a juggernaut on YouTube. The program does just okay on television, often averaging below 300,000 viewers.
Nonetheless, both ESPN and FS1 should be happy with their noon talk-shows. If Stephen A. is the top draw in sports, Cowherd and McAfee are one and two – in some order.
"First Things First" has the advantage of going up against an all-NBA show, "NBA Today," during the football season. We aren't sure there is much of an appetite for Kendrick Perkins complaining about Jokic, Luka, and other white players in April, let alone ahead of a full slate of college and NFL matchups.
However, the second half of "First Things First" competes with "NFL Live."
"NFL Live" had ratings momentum last season and should again. Granted, the show runs into a similar problem as "Get Up." Laura Rutledge is an elite anchor. Dan Orlovsky and Marcus Spears are talented analysts. And yet, ESPN feels obligated to include Ryan Clark in the rotation.
Mina Kimes is also an NFL Live analyst. But at the risk of her accusing us for spreading "horrible lies" about her -- we will leave it at that. (We are still waiting for Kimes to name the lies we supposedly told about her.)
Finally, the revamped "Speak" will face the following competition: "Around the Horn" from 5-5:30, "PTI" from 5:30-6, and "SportsCenter" from 6-7.
"PTI" remains the gold standard of sports-talk and the highest-rated daily talk show at ESPN. Still, the other two shows in the block are less promising.
"Around the Horn" is the worst sports show on television. Hence, there is an ongoing discussion about canceling the entire program in 2025. At this point, "ATH" is an extension of Andscape, ESPN's pro-black and anti-white sports vertical.
"Around the Horn" made several headlines in June for defending the black woman targeting Cailtin Clark on the basketball court. One of the panelists, David Dennis Jr., argued that Clark has a "moral obligation" as a "white woman of privilege" to defend the black players hard-fouling her.
As for "SportsCenter," there's not much demand for highlights and game previews in 2024 – especially with Elle Duncan in the anchor seat.
She's a win for FS1.
Let us know @OutKick which network has the better fall lineup: FS1 or ESPN.