ESPN has announced a totally new look for its premier SportsCenter show, which will be dubbed SC6, and will showcase two of ESPN's premier journalists and broadcasters, Michael Smith and Jemele Hill. The all new SC6 will premier at 6PM Eastern on February 6.
Rob King, the Senior Vice President For SportsCenter and News at ESPN, said that, “This show will be unique because it is an opportunity to look in on a conversation among close friends, colleagues and the people who they bring into their orbit by virtue of the topics they choose and the interests they have. Since we launched the midnight SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, it’s been really clear that SportsCenter can be distinguished when it’s built around unique personalities and unique conceits, especially those ideas, personalities and conceits that work for specific audiences.”
Smith and Hill have been partnered before on ESPN 2's highly rated, and immensely successful show, called His and Hers. The duo hopes to replicate their style and substance from that show and incorporate it into a new presentation at SportsCenter to go along with the regular sports news broadcast. The format of the show has been designed to take full advantage of Smith and Hill's talents and will be a first real departure from their standard news format standard since the show debuted at ESPN in 1979. The debut show will be one hour long, the day after the Super Bowl, and will also be shown at all of ESPN's channels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcntoMA1fNc
Both Hill and Smith have known each other for years coming out of some of journalism's toughest venues and cities. The studio will be representative of their tastes and will have a sleek urban feel to it. Lots of blacks and blues and whites with plenty of lightboxes and backdrops. It will be broadcast from ESPN 10,000 square foot Studio X.
Smith, who came to ESPN in 2004, said that, “I’m most excited for the viewers to see how much freedom we are going to have,” said Smith, who’s been with ESPN since 2004. “I know there is a perception that now that we are doing SportsCenter, that we are going to be limited in what we can do; that we aren’t going to have the creative, or editorial freedom even, that we enjoyed on His & Hers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now, not only are we going to be able to have the conversations that we were already having on the podcast and the TV show, but we are going to be able to have them in different spaces and locations with different looks,” he said. “The show is just going to look so much more dynamic; it’s just going to look amazing.”
The show will also feature a heavy dose of fan involvement via the social media platforms. Hill, who arrived at ESPN in 2006, echoes Smith's enthusiasm as she said that, “We’re being ourselves, we’re not being other people. We wanted to do the type of show where we were just unapologetic about how we talk, what we wanted to discuss, our relationship as friends, and I think people connected with that authenticity. We just talk like we would if we were on the telephone.”
BROADCAST BEAT is the Official Producer of NAB Show LIVE for the 2017 NAB Show in Las Vegas. In 2016, our broadcast had 1.3 million viewers! For the most in-depth coverage of the show as well as insightful and exclusive interviews... Be sure to tune in at broadcastbeat.comLIVE PRODUCTION3 min read
ESPN Rolls Out All New "SportsCenter" Featuring Michael Smith And Jemele Hill
Broadcast Beat
Contributor
ESPN has announced a totally new look for its premier SportsCenter show, which will be dubbed SC6, and will showcase two of ESPN's premier journalists and broadcasters, Michael Smith and Jemele Hill. The all new SC6 will premier at 6PM Eastern on February 6.
Rob King, the Senior Vice President For SportsCenter and News at ESPN, said that, “This show will be unique because it is an opportunity to look in on a conversation among close friends, colleagues and the people who they bring into their orbit by virtue of the topics they choose and the interests they have. Since we launched the midnight SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, it’s been really clear that SportsCenter can be distinguished when it’s built around unique personalities and unique conceits, especially those ideas, personalities and conceits that work for specific audiences.”
Smith and Hill have been partnered before on ESPN 2's highly rated, and immensely successful show, called His and Hers. The duo hopes to replicate their style and substance from that show and incorporate it into a new presentation at SportsCenter to go along with the regular sports news broadcast. The format of the show has been designed to take full advantage of Smith and Hill's talents and will be a first real departure from their standard news format standard since the show debuted at ESPN in 1979. The debut show will be one hour long, the day after the Super Bowl, and will also be shown at all of ESPN's channels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcntoMA1fNc
Both Hill and Smith have known each other for years coming out of some of journalism's toughest venues and cities. The studio will be representative of their tastes and will have a sleek urban feel to it. Lots of blacks and blues and whites with plenty of lightboxes and backdrops. It will be broadcast from ESPN 10,000 square foot Studio X.
Smith, who came to ESPN in 2004, said that, “I’m most excited for the viewers to see how much freedom we are going to have,” said Smith, who’s been with ESPN since 2004. “I know there is a perception that now that we are doing SportsCenter, that we are going to be limited in what we can do; that we aren’t going to have the creative, or editorial freedom even, that we enjoyed on His & Hers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now, not only are we going to be able to have the conversations that we were already having on the podcast and the TV show, but we are going to be able to have them in different spaces and locations with different looks,” he said. “The show is just going to look so much more dynamic; it’s just going to look amazing.”
The show will also feature a heavy dose of fan involvement via the social media platforms. Hill, who arrived at ESPN in 2006, echoes Smith's enthusiasm as she said that, “We’re being ourselves, we’re not being other people. We wanted to do the type of show where we were just unapologetic about how we talk, what we wanted to discuss, our relationship as friends, and I think people connected with that authenticity. We just talk like we would if we were on the telephone.”
BROADCAST BEAT is the Official Producer of NAB Show LIVE for the 2017 NAB Show in Las Vegas. In 2016, our broadcast had 1.3 million viewers! For the most in-depth coverage of the show as well as insightful and exclusive interviews... Be sure to tune in at broadcastbeat.comFound this article useful?