Stephen A. Smith playfully roasts ESPN colleague Kevin Clark on First Take, sparking laughs with a lighthearted joke.

With the door slammed shut on Shannon Sharpe's return to ESPN, the network seems intent on finding a suitable sports figure ...

First Take wouldn’t be the same without their support.” The year-to-year ratings growth streak comes despite ESPN, like most other cable outlets, continuing to lose subscribers.

So far, First Take is down about 5% year-over-year, though that drop pales in comparison to how Get Up is performing versus SportsCenter that aired from 7-10 a.m. ET in 2017 (while Nielsen records ...

“First Take” had the largest Black audience — and the most diverse audience in general — of any ESPN show. “That, to me, said it appealed to a Black audience,” Keegan said.

Shannon Sharpe is ready to give his "First Take." The Pro Football Hall of Famer will be joining the ESPN morning show this fall, squaring off against Stephen A. Smith, the New York Post reported.

But whether it can put a dent in the nearly 500,000 viewers First Take attracts to ESPN during the 10 a.m. – noon hours remains to be seen. [The Facility] ...

An interesting element of “First Take” is that the show is most compelling when Smith and somebody else are wrestling in the mud, appearing to get genuinely offended by each others’ opinions.