ABC is set for its shortest Christmas Day NBA slate since 2016. Plus: the ESPN debut of The Pat McAfee Show is set for NFL opening day; Shannon Sharpe is joining “First Take.”
ABC set for fewest Christmas games since ’16
ABC is scheduled to carry only two of the five NBA Christmas Day games this season — Warriors-Nuggets at 2:30 PM ET and Celtics-Lakers at 5:00 — marking the first time since 2016 that the network will not carry at least three on the holiday. ABC simulcast all five games last season, but could not have done so this year because it has primetime NFL commitments. (There is no obvious programming conflict that explains why the network passed on the Noon window this year.)
ESPN will have three exclusive Christmas Day windows — Bucks-Knicks at Noon, Heat-Sixers at 8:00 and Mavericks-Suns at 10:30 — and simulcast the two ABC games.
Outside of Christmas, ABC is scheduled to carry 16 windows this season with its usual mix of Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games, up from 15 last year. That does not include any potential In-Season Tournament games.
Overall, ESPN and ABC will combine for 100 total games this season and TNT has 65. As previously noted, the season is scheduled to begin with Lakers-Nuggets and Warriors-Suns on TNT Opening Night. The full schedule can be seen here.
McAfee show to make ESPN debut on opening day of NFL season
ESPN announced Thursday that it will begin airing “The Pat McAfee Show” starting on the opening day of the NFL season September 7. The ESPN flagship network will carry only the first two hours of the show each day from Noon-2 PM ET, leading into an edition of SportsCenter at 2:00. ESPN+ and the ESPN YouTube channel will carry all three hours.
The rest of the ESPN daytime lineup remains unchanged from the current status quo. The only change to the line-up ended up being the cancellation of “This Just In,” which technically could have remained on schedule if not for ESPN laying off host Max Kellerman. (ESPN PR)
Former FS1 pundit Sharpe to appear weekly on “First Take”
Former Fox Sports 1 personality Shannon Sharpe will make twice-weekly appearances on the ESPN morning show “First Take” opposite Stephen A. Smith starting this fall, the New York Post reported Thursday. Sharpe, who spent seven years on FS1 before departing in June, is set to appear on Mondays and Tuesday throughout the NFL season.
Prior to joining FS1 in 2016, Sharpe spent nearly a decade as a traditional TV analyst for “The NFL Today” on CBS. (NYP 8.17)
Longtime Sabres voice Jeanneret passes away
Longtime Buffalo Sabres play-by-play voice Rick Jeanneret has died, the team announced Thursday night. He was 81. Jeanneret, who retired from the Sabres after the 2021-22 season, had spent the past two years dealing with multiple organ failures. In 2018, he lost consciousness while calling a game and had to be hospitalized.
Jeanneret joined the Sabres in 1971 and began calling their games on television in 1995. (Sabres 8.17)
