Skip Bayless was expectedly animated to reveal his new “Dream Team,” and he has a little bit of good news coming out of the first week with his new squad.
FS1's (FOXA) -) “Undisputed” was able to close the gap with ESPN’s “First Take” in terms of ratings during its Sept. 1 show, according to a report by Front Office Sports.
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“Undisputed” had 126,000 viewers during its Sept. 1 show against the 307,000 of “First Take.” The FS1 show had actually struggled in the two prior days, pooling in just 91,000 viewers on Aug. 31, and 78,000 on Aug. 30.
“First Take” has still continued to triple “Undisputed” in the ratings department since the latter’s new additions of Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Rachel Nichols, and Josina Anderson. And these numbers also have yet to include Sharpe’s debut on ESPN, which happened on Sept. 3.
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Front Office Sports reported that the Sept. 1 ratings number is still lower than the average number of viewers that “Undisputed” garnered during the final month that Shannon Sharpe was on the show, which was at 154,000.
But there are several factors that come into play beyond Bayless and Sharpe, including the sports season. Sharpe’s last few shows came during the NBA Finals, while the beginning of Bayless’ new team has started prior to the NFL and NBA seasons.
There isn’t a definitive conclusion that can be drawn from these numbers and time will tell whether Bayless and his new team can make headway against their competition at ESPN.
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