"Because I'm not a beat writer anymore in the locker room, folks want to say I'm not a journalist. You don't get the right to say that. Michael Wilbon does because Michael Wilbon has done it."
"Viewers know exactly what they're getting from First Take, just as they know what to expect from Pardon the Interruption. When a formula continues to deliver results and remains central to a show's identity, changing it during growing success rarely makes sense."
"You will not make me hate my experience with ESPN. What I've been able to garner with the face of sports media in Stephen A. Smith is something that I'll take to my grave."
"Proven chemistry is difficult to manufacture. ESPN already knows this pairing works. With another opening on First Take, the easiest decision may also be the smartest one."
Borrell Associates projects that figure will climb considerably over the next four years as the industry undergoes what it describes as a "great reshuffling."