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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📺 A new show? ESPN is reportedly considering a new afternoon program centered around its newest on-air hire, Peter Schrager. Per CNBC, the network might look to place the former Good Morning Football host in the 2 p.m. ET window, replacing SportsCenter. The hypothetical show would cover all sports, not just football.

🦚 NBC’s Jordan plans. Details regarding Michael Jordan’s role on NBC’s NBA coverage are beginning to emerge. The initial plan is for him to “appear in taped segments during the season to provide analysis that will air during pregame shows or halftime shows,” also per CNBC. Chances that we see regular in-studio appearances from Jordan in the studio seem slim.

🏀 WNBA eyes expansion. After this season, the W will need to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with its players. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said on The Bill Simmons Podcast that part of that negotiation might include expanding the season from 44 to 50 games.

️‍🚨 LEADING OFF 🚨

ESPN hits mute on ‘Around the Horn’

Next Friday, Around the Horn will air its final episode.

The show has had a legendary 23-year run that launched the television careers of countless sportswriters across the country. ESPN still hasn’t given a formal reason for getting the hook, but some new reporting paints a pretty clear picture.

On Thursday, CNBC’s Alex Sherman revealed that ESPN’s decision was “largely cost-driven.” Around the Horn, given its format of rotating panelists, had dozens of journalists on its payroll. The network also pays a licensing fee to the show’s creator and executive producer, Erik Rydholm, further driving costs up. For a show that’s simply one host in a studio with four remote guests, that’s a lot of additional expenses.

But beyond the cost of producing Around the Horn, ESPN must’ve considered its ratings. No show, no matter how expensive, would get canceled if the ratings justify the cost.

That, of course, wasn’t the case for Around the Horn.

When talking about the show’s end with my colleagues at Awful Announcing earlier this week, I was struck by the amount of people who simply saw Around the Horn as the program that came on before Pardon the Interruption. I found myself among that group.

Other than catching the odd “Face Time” leading into Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, it didn’t seem like many of us actually watched Around the Horn, even though it’s quite literally our job to watch ESPN.

Surely, we couldn’t be the only ones. And it turns out, we weren’t.

Looking at the ratings data from this past March and April, it became apparent why Around the Horn just wasn’t worth it for ESPN. Across the measured period, Around the Horn averaged just 362,000 viewers, while Pardon the Interruption averaged 574,400 viewers. Over 200,000 more people tuned into the 5:30 p.m. ET half-hour than the 5 p.m. ET half-hour. PTI increased Around the Horn’s audience by 59% on average. That’s a pretty extreme difference for two shows that air within the same hour.

In the age of cord-cutting, it becomes harder and harder to justify paying for expensive studio shows that don’t move the needle. Around the Horn simply didn’t move the needle enough to justify its bloated payroll.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

Tyrrell Hatton lived up to his potty-mouthed reputation during the first round of the PGA Championship.

📣 NOTABLE QUOTABLES 📣

• “ESPN loses baseball, and Jeff Passan is a baseball insider; I’m not sure why you’d need somebody at the salary he’s at. He’s digging for donuts, so, of course, you’re going to be carrying the water for ESPN when you’re trying to figure out when there’s cuts going on everywhere, other than the top, top level, which is not Jeff, obviously. The top, top level is getting the money, and you’re trying to sort of dance for your dinner. I get it. I’m not disparaging him for carrying their water.” - Former Miami Marlins president and current Meadowlark Media host David Samson alleging that ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan is pushing narratives on behalf of his employer.

• “He’s a clown. Jason Whitlock’s a clown. Jason Whitlock is on the record as being, ‘I love Dave Portnoy. Dave Portnoy is the best. He’s this.’ Jason Whitlock is a click-chasing clown.” - Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy discussing right-wing provocateur Jason Whitlock on a recent episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay.

• “There’s so much talk about Rich Eisen, he’s got to be the most boring talk show host in America...Any clip that I see, it feels like they’re doing a remote from a funeral home.“ - WFAN host Gregg Giannotti on Rich Eisen’s return to ESPN.

🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

NFL Schedule: Winners and Losers

The NFL has finally released its full slate of games, which means we at Awful Announcing can name which networks won (and lost) this year’s schedule release.

Winners

NBC/Sunday Night Football

No surprises here, but NBC’s Sunday Night Football has the strongest schedule of all the primetime windows. The network has the Dallas Cowboys three times, the Kansas City Chiefs three times, the Philadelphia Eagles twice, the Buffalo Bills twice, the Detroit Lions twice, the Baltimore Ravens twice, the Washington Commanders twice, and, well, you get the idea.

Of course, NBC also benefits from the NFL’s generous flex scheduling procedures in the event that one of its games becomes a dog later in the season.

It’s good to be the NFL’s premier package.

Fox/America’s Game of the Week

After two straight seasons losing the ratings battle to CBS, something that was unheard of until a bevy of star quarterbacks graced the AFC, Fox should rightfully be pleased with what the schedule-makers have given them. This season, Fox will get its fair share of star AFC quarterbacks, highlighted by a Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs in Week 2.

To go along with Mahomes and Co., Fox will get Josh Allen and the Bills twice, along with two games of Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Then, as expected, the network will get plenty of the NFC’s best draws. Four Cowboys games. Four Lions games. Three Eagles games. And two Commanders games.

That should be just enough to get Fox back over the hump as the most-watched Sunday later-afternoon window this season.

Loser

ESPN/Monday Night Football

Only one loser this year, but it’s pretty clearly ESPN’s Monday Night Football package. While there are some highlights to be sure — Lions-Ravens in Week 3 and Commanders-Chiefs in Week 8 standout — there are also a lot of clunkers, especially down the stretch.

Weeks 11 through 13 can safely be described as “poopfecta” games for listeners of The Bill Simmons Podcast. The Raiders, Panthers, and Giants all play in consecutive weeks, which is pretty tough. Weeks 15 through 17 can probably be described as a “Battle for the 7-seed,” with the Dolphins, Steelers, Colts, 49ers, Rams, and Falcons all making appearances.

The other weakness in ESPN’s schedule is the lack of divisional matchups. Only three Monday Night Football games will feature divisional foes, and not one of those games is scheduled after Week 4. Without that shared history to fall back on when the teams themselves are lackluster, ESPN is a clear loser in this year’s NFL schedule release.