Skip Bayless “Undisputed” has been reported to currently averaging the smallest audience, but the new-look panel show seems to struggling to keep pace and plummeting.
Skip Bayless's Undisputed show is currently averaging the smallest audience since it returned from hiatus last September, per Sports Media Watch
The show averaged fewer than 50,000 viewers leading into the NCAA Sweet 16s 🫣 pic.twitter.com/f5TADWK4y8
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 1, 2024
Possibly after the departure of NFL Hall of Famer and current ESPN “First Take” analyst, Shannon Sharpe, the show hasn’t been able to captivate the nation.
On Thursday, Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported, that Undisputed averaged just 48,000 viewers during its mid-morning slot.
Heading into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournaments and toward the NBA playoffs and NFL Draft, the views equal the smallest audience of any Undisputed broadcast since it returned from hiatus last September.
While the rest of Fox Sports 1’s midday lineup seems to rise in views, Bayless struggled to seek a permanent cohost to replace Sharpe, as viewership lagged throughout the NFL season.
The newly added panelists, Richard Sherman, Michael Irvin, and Keyshawn Johnson, have yet to establish themselves as a clear replacement for Sharpe.
Bayless is considered one of the network’s highest-paid talents, and Undisputed now includes several panelists and rotating voices looking bleak.
Undisputed attracted an average of just 50,000 viewers on Feb. 27 which was lower than the re-air of ESPN’s “Get Up” on ESPN 2 the same day. The ratings continue to dip while FS1 just sits back and watches.
Bayless had signed a four-year, $32M deal with Fox Sports in 2021. Brendon Kleen of Awful Announcing’s wrote,
“Bayless in the home stretch of his Fox contract and the rest of the FS1 lineup giving executives numerous solid options to pull from to rejigger the morning show, it hardly makes sense to keep giving ‘Undisputed’ a lifeline.”
