The Shannon Sharpe effect is real.
ESPN’s flagship debate show “First Take” has the most viewers for the NFL’s debut month in the show’s history, averaging 505,000 viewers, up 18% from last year. company announced on September 26.
September also marks the 14th consecutive month in which the show has seen a year-over-year increase in viewership.
Related: The rivalry between ‘First Take’ and ‘Undisputed’ takes a drastic turn with the change of Shannon Sharpe
NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe joined Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim on September 4 after leaving FS1’s “Undisputed” in June and made an immediate impact on the show’s ratings and numbers on social networks.
Sharpe joins the show on Mondays and Tuesdays, and his first two shows, on Sept. 4 and 5, averaged 583,000 viewers, up 24% from comparable shows last year, according to ESPN.
A week later, “First Take” had even more viewers with 672,000, likely fueled by the couple’s reaction to the bizarre injury suffered by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on September 11.
“First Take” also had a successful tour in Boulder, Colorado, fueled by the massive appeal of the Colorado Buffaloes football team and its coach Deion Sanders. The program had an average of 611,000 viewers.
Related: Shannon Sharpe admits one of her biggest regrets from recent moments on Fox
ESPN’s social media numbers also increased a lot this month. ESPN says total views for “First Take” on YouTube were 32 million, up 129% from the same period in 2022. Engagements were also up 104% across all “First Take” social media accounts compared with last year.
It remains to be seen how sustainable this will be beyond Sharpe’s first month, but he at least seems confident that his presence will be more than enough to defeated his former partner Skip Bayless on FS1.
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