Success is the best form of revenge. Former Hall of Fame NFL tight end/American television personality Shannon Sharpe is exacting his revenge on his former co-host from FS1’s Undisputed Skip Bayless by helping ESPN’s First Take skyrocket in viewership ratings. Sharpe’s addition to First Take has provided a major boost for the show while simultaneously crushing Undisputed’s ratings.
The duo of Sharpe and ESPN First Take co-host Stephen A. Smith have amassed over 600,000 viewers in consecutive weeks while Bayless’ Undisputed drew 185,000 and 118,000 viewers in each respective week. Viewers of Undisputed were tuning in mainly to see Sharpe and listen to what he had to say on the show.
While Sharpe deserves some of the credit for the ratings influx at ESPN, First Take has been on the rise for quite some time now. Per the ESPN Press Room, First Take’s viewership how grown in each of the past 13 months. However, that doesn’t explain the dip in viewership at Undisputed following Sharpe’s departure.
As a former professional athlete, Sharpe has become known for speaking from the perspective of the player and giving his fans a glimpse at what goes into being a professional athlete. Fans are captivated by his experiences and athletes today respect what Sharpe accomplished during his time in the NFL, making him a likable and approachable media personality.
After seven years of working with Bayless at Undisputed, it seems as though Sharpe is onto bigger and better things and will have the last laugh in this ongoing saga.
