Richard Deitsch of The Athletic reports that ESPN is canceling all of its D.C.-based shows “for the moment,” which includes Pardon the Interruption. Deitsch adds that the early-morning edition of SportsCenter will also be shut down amid coronavirus concerns.
ESPN is canceling all of its DC-based shows for the moment. (PTI etc..). It will also be putting its early morning SportsCenter on hiatus. Expect that network's programming to remain fluid as this pandemic continues,
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) March 15, 2020
This news is not at all surprising with the way things are going right now. And even if we put aside the health/safety precautions, it’s not like there are sports being played to talk about on these shows anyway. FS1 already suspended the production on all of their studio shows on Friday.
But being without live sports, PTI (and the rest of the D.C.-based programming), and the early-morning SportsCenter will make the programming even more of a challenge for ESPN during this pandemic.
With that in mind, many people have suggested that ESPN moves up the release date of the The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. And ESPN is now advertising the The Last Dance as “Coming Soon,” rather than “Coming in June” as it was previously shown in promos (you can read much more about about that here).
[Photo Credit: Sports Video Group]
