Time is officially numbered for ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” which ESPN announced Tuesday will end in little more than two months.
ESPN said Tuesday that “Around the Horn” will air its final episode on May 23, ending a 23-year run that began in October 2002. News of the show’s impending end was first reported last year by Ryan Glasspiegel (then of the New York Post), but had not been officially confirmed by ESPN. Notably, previous reporting by Glasspiegel and Andrew Marchand of The Athletic indicated that “Around the Horn” would end sometime closer to the fall, rather than during the spring.
Hosted originally by Max Kellerman and for most of its run by Tony Reali, “Around the Horn” has for all of its existence been paired with “Pardon the Interruption” in the ESPN “happy hour” of 5 PM ET. ESPN does not have a replacement program lined up and will instead carry “SportsCenter.”
According to Marchand last year, ESPN is considering expanding “PTI” to a full hour as one of several options for a long-term replacement, as well as possible vehicles for Stephen A. Smith or Shannon Sharpe.
The last time ESPN did not have “Around the Horn” as part of its schedule, the network aired “Unscripted with Chris Connelly” in the 5 PM slot.
The now-official cancellation of “Around the Horn” marks just the latest transformation of ESPN’s daytime lineup, which throughout the John Skipper era of the 2010s featured a slew of colorful talk shows from “SportsNation” and “Highly Questionable” to “The Jump” and “Jalen and Jacoby.” The only daytime show left from that period will be “PTI,” with the rest of the daytime lineup now occupied by traditional studio shows and Pat McAfee.
