Worst ESPN Show Ideas Of All-Time
Always Late with Katie Nolan is among the worst shows ESPN has aired.
ESPN introduced a new all-women's show this week featuring Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, Monica McNutt, Chiney Ogwumike, and Hannah Storm. What a cast.
No, this isn't satire.
The announcement has people suggesting this might be the worst television show ESPN has ever created. And that got us thinking.
As puzzling as it is to pair five catty mean girls together to wag their fingers at sports fans, the show is hardly ESPN's first questionable programming decision.
Here's a look at some of the other shows in the running for "Worst ESPN show ever created."
"Always Late with Katie Nolan"
Does anyone remember when ESPN paid Katie Nolan $1.5 million a year to host a new late-night show as if she were the Bill Maher of sports?
The show only lasted about a year. The ratings were poor. And, well, Nolan's foray into social justice warrior-ism hindered her ability to be a sports comedian, if you will.
"The Right Time with Bomani Jones"
Sports-talk radio is for dudes, guys who grind it out all day at blue-collar jobs and want to hear a bit about their favorite teams between work and family time.
We can't think of a worse addition to the sports talk radio lineup than Bomani Jones, who is preachy and weirdly attracted to discussions about race.
ESPN quickly canceled the show after losing more than 90 affiliates and drawing the lowest in ESPN Radio history at the time.
"High Noon with Bomani Jones"
After setting record lows on ESPN Radio, Bomani managed to fail-up, this time into ESPN's television lineup. The network gave him a show at noon ET, immediately following Stephen A. Smith.
The logic was that Smith's audience would become fans of Jones' new show, "High Noon." They didn't. Jones lost over 50% of Smith's audience.
ESPN responded by moving "High Noon" to 4 pm, where it also set record lows. The company canceled the show entirely two years later.
(After striking out at ESPN, Bomani landed a show on HBO. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Jones set record lows there too – in two different time slots. HBO canceled the program.)
"Get Up"
No, no. Not the current version of "Get Up." The initial one.
At first, Mike Greenberg shared hosting duties with Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose. Uh, yeah.
The No. 1 objective of morning television is to appear happy to be awake. Beadle didn't. She was miserable. To her, a $5 million per year salary wasn't justification for having to wake up before 10 am.
And viewers saw it.
Viewership was down over 30% after the show's first month on-air. Beadle telling her viewers, most of whom are football fans, that she had boycotted the NFL and that football had "marginalized women" didn't help.
What a spoiled little ghoul she was.
"SC6 with Jemele Hill and Michael Smith"
Some corporate pinhead decided in 2017 to blow up the flagship 6 pm "SportsCenter" and rebrand it as "SC6" with Jemele Hill and Michael Smith.
Instead of presenting viewers highlights, stats, and game previews, Hill and Smith brought fans discussions about race, politics, social issues, and hip-hop.
The show was a disaster.
Take a look:
After its cancellation, the ratings for 6 pm increased by double digits during the first week. Go figure.
The corporate pinhead behind the decision was former ESPN president John Skipper.
Conclusion
ESPN needs some new decision-makers.