First Take is in the midst of an all-time hot streak — and it just had its most-watched month ever.
According to a tweet posted by ESPN PR, First Take achieved its most-watched month ever in November 2023 with an average of 614,000 viewers. This marked the 16th consecutive month of growth for one of ESPN’s flagship programs.
Just last month, First Take hit its second-highest viewership numbers at an average of 544,000 viewers, and the entirety of 2023 has been marked by record highs for seemingly every month of the year.
The show has evolved from a debate show with two equal “combatants” into a show starring Stephen A. Smith that features a rotating group of analysts, including Shannon Sharpe, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, Marcus Spears and Pat McAfee, as they debate the day’s most pressing sports topics. Sharpe left Undisputed and joined First Take in August, while “Mad Dog” turned sporadic appearances on the program into a weekly gig starting in March 2022.
Smith and Russo worked together on the latter’s Mad Dog Radio radio station on SiriusXM from 2013-17 and remained close after Smith returned to ESPN.
