- Get Up, First Take and The Pat McAfee Show achieve their most-watched years ever
- All editions of SportsCenter up year-over-year
- All ESPN daily shows earn year-over-year audience growth
ESPN’s daily sports studio shows enjoyed remarkable viewership success in 2025, with Get Up, First Take and The Pat McAfee Show delivering their most-watched years ever and SportsCenter (6 p.m.) delivering its most watched year in a decade. SportsCenter (7 a.m., 2 p.m., 11 p.m., 1 a.m.), NBA Today, NFL Live all delivered year-over-year increases with multiples achieving multiyear highs.
The studio success helped drive ESPN’s overall success, as 2025 was ESPN’s most-watched year since 2017. A comprehensive look at the weekday studio highlights:
- The 7 a.m. SportsCenter delivered its most-watched year since 2019, up 5% year-over-year (YOY).
- Get Up hosted by Mike Greenberg recorded its most-watched year ever with an average of 424,000 viewers, up 10% YOY. The show has recorded four straight years of YOY growth.
- First Take with featured commentator and executive producer Stephen A. Smith also had a record-setting year with an average of 517,000 viewers, up 6% YOY.
- The Pat McAfee Show posted its most-watched year since the daily show debuted on ESPN in 2023, finishing up 8% YOY (linear and digital).
- The 2–3 p.m. SportsCenter delivered its best performance since it began in 2023, finishing up 20% YOY.
- NBA Today hosted by Malika Andrews delivered the best NBA daily studio performance since 2018, up 16% YOY.
- NFL Live hosted by Laura Rutledge, posted its best year since 2016, up 18% YOY. When accounting for football season only, NFL live also posted 18% YOY growth, including increases in key demos such as youth (P2-17) and amongst females, growing 78% and 48%, respectively.
- The 5 p.m. SportsCenter delivered four straight months of year-over-year growth to close out 2025, up 10% vs. last year.
- PTI, ESPN’s most-viewed weekday studio show, averaged 679,000 viewers – its best year since 2019, up 5% YOY.
- The 6 p.m. SportsCenter delivered its most-watched year since 2015, up 16% YOY.
- The 11 p.m. SportsCenter posted its best year since 2019, up 17% YOY.
- SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt had its best year since 2022.
- The 1 a.m. SportsCenter was up 11% YOY.
December Viewership: Studio Programming Closes Year with Holiday Strength
The final month of the year punctuated the yearlong success of ESPN’s studio lineup. In December, Get Up, The Pat McAfee Show and the 2 p.m. SportsCenter delivered their best December ever while First Take (+4%), PTI (+11%), the 6 p.m. SportsCenter (+21%) and the 11 p.m. SportsCenter (+43%) each delivered audience year-over-year increases for December. Many of those same shows also delivered multiyear highs.
Please Note: All metrics are based on Nielsen Big Data + Panel.
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Media Contacts:
Beatrix.Panitz@espn.com
John.Manzo@espn.com
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