Michelle Beadle’s second stint with ESPN has been a successful one so far on multiple levels, and it looks like the brass in Bristol agree. ESPN announced Thursday that Beadle has signed a new multi-year contract to stay with the company, and she’ll have some expanded responsibilities under this new deal. Beadle will continue to host SportsNation alongside with Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley, and that show is shifting to a 30-minute format and moving to ESPN proper on February 8, taking over the 4 p.m. Eastern timeslot. Beyond that, Beadle is also going to be co-hosting a new national radio show with ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne, which will premiere Feb. 14 and air from noon until 2 Eastern. That’s a pretty good collection of gigs for Beadle, who’s done very well since returning to ESPN from NBC in March 2014. Here’s what ESPN brass had to say about her in their release Thursday:
“Michelle is truly one of the most authentic voices in sports and the connection fans have with her is something she has earned through the enthusiasm and insight she brings to her job every day,” said Connor Schell, senior vice president, ESPN Original Content. “Michelle is a tremendous talent within the ESPN family and will play an important role in the evolution of SportsNation going forward.”
It’s going to be interesting to see how SportsNation works as a 30-minute show on ESPN, as it tends to be a more quirky- and highlight-focused show than, say, PTI. According to the release, though, it sounds like the plan’s mostly to stick with what’s worked for it so far.
In its new slot, SportsNation will evolve into a 30-minute format and will continue to be produced by senior coordinating producer Kevin Wildes and coordinating producer Richelle Markazene.
“SportsNation has always had the youngest daily-show audience on ESPN2 and one of the most engaged with social media brands at ESPN,” said Wildes. “That’s largely because the show and the brand are a reflection of the talent’s intelligence, editorial sensibilities and wit. As SportsNation moves to ESPN, we look forward to continuing the show’s evolution and growth.”
The Beadle-Shelburne radio show is also notable, as that’s continuing a recent trend for ESPN and other networks of giving their female talent more opinion-based opportunities. ESPN’s done a lot of this on the radio side, first with Spain and Prim (Sarah Spain and Prim Siripipat) at the start of 2015, then The Trifecta (Spain, Jane McManus and Kate Fagan) and Will and Kate (Fagan and Will Cain) this year. ESPN senior vice president (espnW and Women’s Initiatives) Laura Gentile said around the Trifecta launch that radio is a key platform to feature ESPN’s strong female voices:
“Yes, as you can see from the multitude of appearances espnW personalities have made across ESPN shows, 180+ in 2015,” Gentile said. “Sarah, Jane and Kate have been featured prominently, as have growing influential voices in Julie Foudy, Cari Champion, Jemele Hill and Ramona Shelburne. Radio is the ultimate “opinion-driven” platform, and we’re primed to introduce new W voices there and challenge the status quo.”
It looks like Beadle will be part of that movement as well. We’ll see how the new SportsNation format and the new radio gig work out for her, but her return to ESPN has certainly paid off so far.
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