Emmanuel Acho might be Stephen A. Smith’s competition, but in his mind, he’s not competing against Stephen A. Smith.
Set to debut Monday Sept. 3, Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, Chase Daniel and James Jones will fill the void left by the departure of Skip Bayless and Undisputed on FS1. Titled The Facility, FS1’s new late morning show will air from 10 a.m. – noon ET.
Bigger than the pressure of replacing Bayless, however, might be the pressure of going up against First Take. But that’s not how Acho views it.
My response to my new show, @TheFacilityFS1, going head to head with the goliath that is @FirstTake starting, September 3rd: pic.twitter.com/yK3VvetREk
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) August 23, 2024
“The question I keep getting over and over is, ‘Acho, but you going head to head vs First Take and Stephen A. Smith,’” Acho said in a recent social media video. “Let me make one thing abundantly clear. The objective is not to beat First Take, Stephen A. Smith is the best in the game. First Take is the highest-rated sports show on daily television. The objective is to offer you a beautiful alternative.”
Tempering expectations is a shrewd move by Acho because Bayless didn’t leave FS1 with much of an audience in its late morning timeslot. Undisputed was garnering around 45,000 viewers to First Take’s audience of nearly 500,000 at times earlier this year. The Facility will now be tasked with building a beautiful alternative on FS1, essentially from the ground up.
Acho might recognize The Facility can’t beat First Take, at least not any time soon, but that won’t stop others from comparing the ratings of both shows. Smith repeatedly touts being “number one.” And every time he boasts about First Take outrating his competition, he’s considering FS1 as part of that group. The Facility will air on a competing network at the same time as Smith and First Take are airing on ESPN, it’s only natural to pit the two against each other.
