NEW HOME
First Take in major broadcasting change with Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith’s show bumped from ESPN again
More on what Molly and Stephen A. have been up to this summer
ESPN's flagship morning show is on the move again.
First Take will switch channels this week as a summer of disruptive schedule changes continues.
4
4
4
The popular sports debate show features lead analyst Stephen A. Smith going head-to-head with a host of guests.
It broadcasts each weekday on ESPN from 10 am Eastern, sandwiched between Get Up and The Pat McAfee Show.
First Take will be moving to a new home for Thursday, July 25, and Friday, July 26.
The show has been bumped to ESPN 2 for live coverage of Little League Softball.
READ MORE ON FIRST TAKE
ESPN will show blanket coverage of the latter stages of the tournament from Greenville, North Carolina.
All of the competition's semi-finals will be broadcast to the nation on ESPN.
The championship games from all seven regions will also be shown live and in full on Friday.
First Take's move continues a trend that has continued throughout a disruptive summer.
Most read in American Football
The show was moved to ESPN 2 for a fortnight to make way for the Wimbledon tennis championships from London.
Both Smith and host Molly Qerim have enjoyed several weeks of vacation, leaving a host of guest stars to keep things ticking over.
First Take hit by chaotic CrowdStrike outage as star sitting in for Stephen A. Smith admits ‘we’ve got no prompter’
Frustrated fans have begged for Stephen A. to return, missing his fiery on-air exchanges.
The 56-year-old confirmed last Thursday he will be back on the show on July 22 after more than three weeks away.
"See y’all next week - in studio. Buckle up, peeps! Just for the week, though," Smith wrote on X.
Smith is currently in the process of negotiating a new deal with ESPN ahead of his contract expiring next year.
The sportscaster is looking for a $25 million annual salary, per Puck.news.
Stephen A. Smith's journey through media
STEPHEN A. Smith is now the face of ESPN and an executive producer on First Take having initially started working for the company back in 2003.
Smith has held various roles with the network, including hosting radio shows, SportsCenter contributions, and appearing on NBA Countdown.
He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1994 to 2010.
His began as an NBA writer before becoming a general sports columnist.
Before that, Smith worked as a reporter with Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News, and the New York Daily News.
Friday's broadcast was left in shambles as CrowdStrike's global tech outage left First Take with no ticker or graphics.
Stand-in host Christine Williamson had to use a whiteboard live on air to keep track of debate topics.
There was chaos across ESPN programming throughout the morning as the worldwide computer issues hit hard.
Read More on The US Sun
SportsCenter had to be pulled from the schedule and was replaced by ESPN Radio's Unsportsmanlike.
While First Take's sister show Get Up! also suffered issues, with no banners, graphics, or videos featured on the broadcast.
4