First Take has continued to hold a massive lead over Undisputed in terms of TV rankings. According to Front Office Sports, Over the last week of November and the first week of December, the ESPN product averaged more than 5.5 times the viewership of its FS1 rival. Furthermore, November finished with the best monthly viewership figures in the 16-year history of First Take.
The game between the two shows has only continued to grow over the second half of 2023. Despite a complete retooling, Undisputed has been unable to bounce back from losing Shannon Sharpe to ESPN back in June. No matter what Skip Bayless tries, including getting a live college commitment announcement on the show, nothing is helping close the gap with the Stephen A. Smith-led vehicle. Not even adding the likes of Lil Wayne has helped Undisputed catch up.
First Take's Upward Trend Continues
The addition of Shannon Sharpe, even as a part-time contributor, has helped First Take rocket to new heights, well above any of its major competitors. Back in September, First Take was seeing single-episode highs of over 700,000 unique viewers. However, perhaps Bayless is the architect of his own destruction. In September, Smith was making bombshell claims about Sharpe's former employer. Smith claimed that he doesn't view his acquisition of Sharpe as poaching or anything like that because Sharpe "didn't leave of his own volition".
However, it makes sense. It's an open secret at this point that Skip Bayless has been seeking more and more control over his flagship show at FS1. It's likely that Bayless wanted Sharpe out so that he could restructure the show to once again put himself at the top of the pecking order. This is supported by the fact several people were considered and rejected to replace Sharpe and most were rejected on the basis that they would be too much of an equal opponent for Bayless. Instead, Bayless reportedly wants easy wins when it comes to his debate partners.
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