ESPN has set its lineup for its live weekday SportsCenter gambit, commencing in August.
Steve Berthiaume, Linda Cohn, Josh Elliott, Robert Flores and Chris McKendry will join Hannah Storm for the nine-hour block of live SportsCenters that debuts Monday Aug. 11.
The live editions will supplant the encored wheel of the total sports network’s signature news show that has run since January 1996.
The new nine-hour block of live SportsCenters will feature three teams of two main show anchors, an update anchor, and production personnel split into three-hour shifts. Shows will generally reset every hour and SportsCenter “Right Now” updates will be presented every 20 minutes throughout the block.
The pairings: Cohn and Berthiaume from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.(ET); Storm and Elliott from 9 a.m. to noon; and McKendrey and Flores from noon to 3 p.m.
During the NFL season, Sage Steele will replace Storm on Fridays as the latter will co-host Sunday morning SportsCenters. Steele, who has been handling update duties on ESPN2 during the Mike in the Morning simulcast and First Take, will function in that capacity on ESPN.
“The depth and talent of our existing SportsCenter anchor team ensures the daily SportsCenters will meet the high standard set by its nightly predecessor,” said Norby Williamson, executive vice president, production, in a statement. “Producing nine additional hours of live SportsCenter illustrates our commitment to satisfying fans’ needs for sports news that is immediate, interactive and entertaining.”
