Michelle Beadle leaving Get Up! seemed a mere formality, but few could have imagined it happening so quickly.
ESPN announced late Friday that Beadle is leaving her role as co-host of Get Up! effective Wednesday and will focus on her NBA studio host role as part of a new contract extension. Beadle, and NBA Countdown, will relocate from New York City to its previous home of Los Angeles.
The Big Lead reported the news not long before ESPN announced it publicly and The Spun reported that changes were in the works earlier Friday afternoon.
The remaining Get Up! co-hosts, Mike Greenberg and Jalen Rose, will remain on the program alongside a rotating group of hosts — including previous guest hosts Maria Taylor, Laura Rutledge, Dianna Russini and Jen Lada. Rose will continue on NBA Countdown, missing Get Up! on days he has to travel to Los Angeles.
In addition to the personnel changes, Get Up! will be shortened by one hour and begin at 8 AM ET, preceded by a 7 AM edition of SportsCenter. Since Norby Williamson resumed oversight of SportsCenter last year, ESPN has added three traditional hours of the program, 7 AM, Noon and 6 PM (the latter of those replacing SC6).
Friday’s abrupt announcements came less than 48 hours after Beadle said on-air Wednesday that she no longer watches pro and college football because how women are treated in both sports. ESPN under new president Jimmy Pitaro has stressed its desire to repair a strained relationship with the NFL and the network announced last week that it will have at least one football analyst guest host Get Up! each day during the pro and college seasons.
Beyond relocating back to Los Angeles, ESPN’s NBA studio programming will also undergo other changes, most notably the addition of a postgame show featuring the Countdown cast. Titled NBA After the Buzzer, the program is ESPN’s first NBA postgame show in its 16 years carrying the league.
ESPN will also debut a new on-site pregame show called NBA Courtside that will air in a 15-minute window between NBA Countdown and the start of the game.
Beadle’s final day on Get Up! is Wednesday. Get Up! will debut in its new shortened form September 3.
The primary casualty of Beadle’s short-lived stint on Get Up! was SportsNation, which coincidentally aired its final episode earlier in the day Friday.
