This month presents a passing of the torch at ESPN on Sunday mornings. After almost 30 years on air, the Sports Reporters will air its final episode on Sunday May 7th. It has long been a showcase for sports reporters and writers from around the nation and was most notably hosted by Dick Schaap and John Saunders for long runs. The final Sports Reporters episode will feature Mike Lupica, Bob Ryan, Mitch Albom, and William C. Rhoden.
ESPN isn’t wasting any time to write a new chapter on Sunday mornings though with arguably its two most prominent journalistic figures.
On Sunday May 14th, ESPN will debut an hour long morning edition of E:60, the award-winning story-telling series. And in a sign of ESPN’s intent for the program, it’ll be hosted by Jeremy Schaap and Bob Ley.
E:60, ESPN’s award-winning newsmagazine program, will begin a new era on Sunday, May 14, at 9 a.m. ET with the launch of its weekly Sunday morning edition. The new program will mark the first time E:60 will air live and on a year-round basis in a regular timeslot.
With hosts Jeremy Schaap and Bob Ley from a dedicated new studio in ESPN’s state-of-the-art Digital Center DC-2, the program continues E:60’s signature storytelling – delivering viewers the biggest names and the best stories in sports. On Sunday mornings, the new E:60 will also introduce a new and diverse team of journalists and feature stories from ESPN’s award-winning Outside the Lines team. The show, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October, has received 11 Emmy Awards, 60 Sports Emmy nominations, seven Edward R. Murrow awards and the RFK Journalism Award, among many other honors for its incisive storytelling and groundbreaking journalism.
As part of the transition, Schaap wrote this about the Sports Reporters, a program synonymous with his father’s long career at ESPN.
It’s encouraging to see ESPN give E:60, Ley, and Schaap, and the network’s journalists this kind of platform. It has all the makings of must-see television on Sunday morning and it shows in spite of some concerns about ESPN’s future with layoffs, the network still has some commitment to telling the best stories possible and going further and deeper than any of their competitors can. Most importantly, ESPN says E:60 will be given a consistent, year-round timeslot on Sunday mornings which will allow it to build an audience and not be moved around the schedule once football season begins. Judging from ESPN’s release about the show, there should also be a good variety and mix of content including reporting, storytelling, and commentary.
The live show format will allow E:60 the opportunity to react to breaking news and shows will include a mix of profiles, investigations, interviews, global issues, stories that show why sports matter and quirky tales from off the beaten path. The show’s hosts will lead to features and then extend the conversation with correspondents and the production team.
Regular features will include:
The Take: Schaap and Ley commentary, storytelling and perspective.ICYMI: The most bizarre/unusual piece of sports video from the week.The sports fact or statistic of the week.
The Calendar: Looking ahead to the week’s key, interesting and obscure sports events.
\The Social Story: Best fan-generated video of the week from the E:60 Social Team
Ley and Schaap are the network’s go-to team for major breaking news events (think back to their outstanding coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings) and to see them have a weekly show together will surely be a program ESPN can quickly hang their hat on.
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