ESPN is shaking up SportsCenter again.
ESPN announced Tuesday that ESPN2 His & Hers hosts Michael Smith and Jemele Hill will become the permanent anchor team for the 6 PM ET SportsCenter starting in February. Smith and Hill, both of whom have been signed to multi-year contract extensions, will replace Lindsay Czarniak, who after going on maternity leave in November will return in a new and unspecified role.
The revamped 6 PM SportsCenter will blend traditional aspects of the show, such as setting up the night in sports, with elements of His & Hers. The end result will be a standalone version of SportsCenter similar to that of the Scott Van Pelt-hosted Midnight ET edition.
ESPN has made splashy changes to the 6 PM SportsCenter before, moving Dan Patrick to the timeslot in the early 2000s and at one point having Mike and Mike in the Morning duo Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic co-host on Monday nights. Czarniak has hosted in the timeslot since 2012 and has been the solo anchor since last year.
Smith had hosted His & Hers and predecessor Numbers Never Lie since the show debuted in 2011; Hill had been on the show since 2013.
(News from ESPN Media Zone 10/11)
