Rise & Shine: ESPN2's Weekday Morning Programming On Recent Viewership Hot Streak

ESPN2’s weekday morning programs have been on a hot streak the last few months. “First Take,” which airs in the 10:00am-12:00pm ET window, just wrapped up its best February viewership on record, averaging 413,000 viewers for the show. That figure was up 18% from the same period in ’15. The record for February comes after “First Take” had its five most-viewed months on record from September-January. The show set a new record in December with 497,000 viewers. While there was a slight decline to 456,000 viewers the following month, it was still the show’s most-watched January on record (+5% from same month in ’15). Meanwhile, “Mike & Mike” in the 6:00-10:00am window has had equally strong success in the last few months. The show started ’16 with a new studio and added Molly Qerim as a contributor, helping lead to its second-best January and February viewership on record, behind only figures from ’11. The show also had its third-best monthly viewership in October ’15, while November was the fifth-best monthly audience on record. “Mike & Mike” has been simulcast on ESPN2 since ’06, while “First Take” began in ’07.