First Take will join its ESPN daytime brethren in the network’s New York City studio’s in the Seaport District. Hosts Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman, and Molly Qerim will move to the Big Apple on September 3rd. The show’s production crew will stay in Bristol.
Two shows that ESPN debuted in 2018, Get Up with Mike Greenberg, Michelle Beadle, and Qerim’s new husband Jalen Rose and High Noon with Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre, are already based in the New York studios. Having First Take join them makes sense for a few reasons.
First, it makes Stephen A. Smith’s schedule a little more manageable. Next is the aforementioned marriage of Molly Qerim to the co-host of a show already originating from New York. Finally, there is the fact that First Take is the most established and best performing brand in ESPN’s daytime lineup. That last fact probably is what made it possible for ESPN to even take the first two into consideration.
The move to New York comes with a new look for First Take. ESPN did not clarify if that meant a new set or new graphics package. The company did promise in a press release that more details on the September 3rd move would be coming soon.
