During Disney Investor Day, ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro announced that ESPN will create a “new daily morning highlights program exclusively on ESPN+.” Since the event, we’ve learned that the show will actually be a newly reimagined version of SportsNation, which will stream every weekday morning starting in January.
In January, ESPN+ is launching an exclusive new studio show featuring @stephenasmith. pic.twitter.com/cldylHjBrA
— Disney (@Disney) December 10, 2020
Pitaro says the show “will recap the previous night’s action through the lens of opinion, debate and social media. This new series will go deep on news, highlights and trending topics each day with exclusive talent and insightful guests joining every show.”
SportsNation originally debuted in 2009 and was hosted by Colin Cowherd (now at Fox) and Michelle Beadle. Over the course of the nearly ten year run, the show also had hosts Charissa Thompson, Max Kellerman, Marcellus Wiley, and Cari Champion. The show was cancelled in August 2018, when it was replaced by “High Noon” in its normal 4pm time slot.
This wouldn’t be the first time that ESPN+ has brought back a show from the linear network. Last September, ESPN+ reunited Chris Berman and Tom Jackson, to relaunch of NFL PrimeTime for their Sunday Night NFL highlights show.
Yesterday, Disney announced that ESPN+ had 11.5 million subscribers, up from 6.6 million at the end of 2019.
Next year, the service will also be bringing an exclusive studio show featuring Stephen A. Smith, select SEC Football games, and “Man in the Arena”, a 9-part series built around Tom Brady’s 9 Super Bowl appearances.