In what could be the new incarnation of “The Odd Couple,” ESPN2 is pairing Keith Olbermann and Bob Ley together in the 5 p.m. ET hour starting Monday, September 8. Announced by Keithy this evening, ESPN2’s “Olbermann” will be moving to 5 p.m. ET and be coupled with the critically-acclaimed “Outside the Lines” hosted by Bob Ley at 5:30 p.m.
It helps Olbermann which often ran into overruns due to nightly action and sometimes necessitated the move to the less-watched ESPNews.
Now “Olbermann” will be part of what ESPN is calling a personality-driven lineup on ESPN2.
And not only that, Olbermann/OTL will go up against Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption on ESPN in the same timeslots!! Oh, the humanity!!!
In addition, Olbermann will be free to host an occasional SportsCenter. You know what this means? It means there will be a stunt pairing of Olbermann and Ley sometime in 2015. It has to happen.
Olbermann made the announcement on the one year anniversary of the show’s premiere, yes, on the same date of Keith’s triumphant return to the Mothership. If you had Keith still going at ESPN after a full year, collect $200 and do not pass go.
Here’s the official announcement.
ESPN Shifts Olbermann to Permanent Afternoon Slot in September
Emmy-Nominated Program Will Air Daily on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. ETJUST ANNOUNCED ON OLBERMANN —In a move designed to enhance the current ratings growth of the personality-focused ESPN2 lineup, Keith Olbermann’s Emmy-nominated program Olbermann will be shifting to an afternoon time slot on the network on Monday, Sept. 8. The show will continue to be produced live from ABC’s Times Square studios in New York City and will air daily at 5 p.m. ET followed by Outside the Lines, hosted by Bob Ley.
“Keith has had a fantastic return to ESPN and we’re proud of the quality content featured in the first year of Olbermann, immediately garnering the program its first Emmy nomination,” said Norby Williamson, executive vice president of program scheduling & development. “We feel that strategically shifting the time of this show will not only provide access to a broader audience, but gives us greater flexibility for Keith to do cross-platform opportunities, including hosting key editions of SportsCenter surrounding major news or events throughout the year, while enabling us to secure a more consistent time slot to showcase his distinctive voice.”
The program will continue to feature Olbermann’s signature opening monologues that tackle the day’s most relevant sports topics, along with the popular “World’s Worst” segment. Since highlights are a fan-favorite of Olbermann, Keith will continue with packages driven by his sports knowledge, passion for the games and awareness of pop culture touch points. The revised show format will feature a bevy of new analytical, entertaining and occasionally offbeat highlight treatments. Interviews and contributors will remain part of the content mix of Olbermann.
“Keith delivers a unique mix of humor, intelligence and gravitas while tackling complex topics such as the Washington NFL team name controversy and athlete concussions,” Williamson continued. “The back to back positioning of two powerhouse journalistic voices such as Keith and Bob within our ESPN2 programming is perfect for a network that is enjoying strong ratings growth this year.”
“As I like to say on the air, I’ve done all the damage I can do here in late night,” said Keith Olbermann. “I’m very proud that we’ve accomplished what John Skipper asked me to do more than a year ago: We’ve established a franchise, thwarted what we thought might have developed into an external challenge, and made the world safe for even more and even newer dumb catchphrases. Onwards and upwards to 5:00 PM. Excelsior!”
Olbermann and Outside the Lines complete an ESPN2 lineup that includes diverse and unique voices such as: Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and Cari Champion on First Take; Michael Smith and Jemele Hill on Numbers Never Lie; Colin Cowherd on You Herd Me; Dan LeBatard, Bomani Jones and Gonzalo “Papi” LeBatard on Highly Questionable; and Michelle Beadle, Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley on SportsNation.
Following is the new ESPN2 line-up starting September 8:
10:00 a.m. First Take
12:00 p.m. Numbers Never Lie
1:00 p.m. First Take (reair)
3:00 p.m. SportsNation
4:00 p.m. Highly Questionable
4:30 p.m. You Herd Me with Colin Cowherd
5:00 p.m. Olbermann
5:30 p.m. Outside the Lines
6:00 p.m. Around the Horn (reair)
6:30 p.m. Pardon the Interruption (reair)
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. Here’s Keithy making the announcement on “Olbermann”:
There you have it.
