During last week’s debut episode of Wake Up Barstool, Dave Portnoy took a jab at the ratings of the FS1 morning show’s predecessor.
“When we come back from the break, let’s see what the people are saying,” the Barstool Sports founder said as he threw it to a commercial. “They’re usually pretty mean. Like, ‘this show stinks, I’m never going to watch it.’ I’ll tell you this: it didn’t have the greatest ratings before we got on. So you can’t go from zero to negative zero. So we can only go up.”
Dave Portnoy on the debut episode of ‘Wake Up Barstool’: “When we come back from the break, let’s see what the people are saying. They’re usually pretty mean. Like, ‘this show stinks, I’m never going to watch it.’ I’ll tell you this: it didn’t have the greatest ratings before we… pic.twitter.com/FCIzEW3xAk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2025
As it turns out, an upward trajectory on traditional television wasn’t as guaranteed as Portnoy had believed it would be.
According to Manny, the founder of the TV Media Blog Substack that tracks sports viewership, none of the first four episodes of Wake Up Barstool eclipsed the 20,000 viewer threshold during the show’s first week on FS1. Altogether, Wake Up Barstool averaged just 16,500 viewers per episode through its first week. For comparison’s sake, its premiere averaged 20,000 viewers, a sizable year-over-year drop from the two shows (Breakfast Ball and The Facility) that it replaced.
While these aren’t necessarily 1:1 comparisons — such is life when it comes to TV ratings in 2025 — this much is clear: Wake Up Barstool has yet to prove it can be a ratings draw. But that’s not necessarily a referendum on the show’s quality, but rather the reality that it may not be a fit for linear television.
After all, it’s not like people aren’t watching — they’re just doing so on digital platforms. The first four full episodes posted to YouTube averaged 56,750 views, significantly more than one might expect for a show that is rating so poorly on traditional television.
Measuring TV ratings against YouTube views isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, but it’s also not a surprise that viewers appear to primarily be watching the show in the places they have been most accustomed to finding Barstool content. Why watch a show during a defined timeslot when you know you can just do it at your convenience, just as the Barstool audience has been trained to do?
Even taking into account the YouTube viewership, it’s also fair to wonder just how much appeal Wake Up Barstool even has to the traditional Stoolie. Again, that’s not a slight on the show itself. But if you’re a fan of Portnoy, Brandon Walker, the Pardon My Take guys or any of its other cast of characters, there is already a plethora of Barstool content that’s available to consume that likely takes precedent ahead of a cable TV show that doesn’t appear to be anyone’s top priority.
That may also include FS1, which assuredly knew it wasn’t going to close the gap on ESPN with its latest morning show lineup. Sure, the lackluster ratings are undoubtedly disappointing. But as long as Wake Up Barstool is eating some innings and helping cut costs while bridging the gap to Fox’s real moneymakers, that may ultimately be enough for it to be considered a success — or at least not a disaster — internally.
Still, even just one week in, it’s been fascinating to see how a digital brand like Barstool translates — or doesn’t translate — to the confines of traditional television. And whether that says more about the show itself or the audience it’s trying to reach is a question that executives at Fox and elsewhere will have evaluate as the industry continues to evolve.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.