ESPN's revamped 6:00pm ET "SportsCenter" starring Michael Smith and Jemele Hill is the net's "latest and most extreme experiment yet in personality-driven 'SC' interpretations," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. Best: "If you like them, you probably will like the show. If you don’t, you certainly won’t." Hill and Smith are "sharp and likable," but if "you do not enjoy their company, forget it." The duo, which previously hosted the afternoon "His & Hers" program, "offer something a little different, which is what ESPN needs now, more than ever" (NEWSDAY.com, 2/7). Smith: "We’re doing the same (His & Hers) show -- it’s just going to look different. And by that I mean it will look better: better facilities, better design, better presentation and better execution. ... It’s going to be an adjustment for some hardcore viewers of 'SportsCenter' who strictly just want the news and what happened during the day while they were at work." Hill: "We’ve seen previous 'SportsCenters' where if some breaking news happens, then the next pivot is to an expert or to someone closely associated with that story. ... We can immediately pivot into the mode of being analysts. So it’s like you’re reducing a layer that used to be there on 'SportsCenter.' We’re not going to deviate from giving you news" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 2/6 issue). Awful Announcing called the new format the "most unique SportsCenter yet." SI.com's Richard Deitsch tweeted, "When ESPN gets behind talent -- as they have done with Hill & Smith's 6PM launch -- you get a true sense of the company's marketing mite." Detroit-based WXYT-FM's Brian Chapman: "Seems more like a talk show than SportsCenter. smh." College basketball reporter Tony Patelis: "Only ESPN could think the solution for its decline is needing more entertainment & social agenda talk."
WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME: In Philadelphia, Ron Tornoe profiles ESPN "SportsCenter" Producer Jasmine Alexander, who knows "there’s a lot riding on the success of the show." Alexander "got her big break at ESPN" in early '15, when she was "hired as a segment producer." It "wasn’t long before higher-ups moved her" to the 6:00pm hour of "SportsCenter," where "she’s now responsible for reimagining a classic brand she grew up with" (PHILLY.com, 2/8).
