Tonight’s 10:00pm ET edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” will give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create the program. Anchored by Steve Levy and Michael Eaves, the special edition is provided with limited commercial interruption and will air directly after the net’s broadcast of Yankees-Red Sox. Roving reporters Elle Duncan and Marty Smith will bring fans to seldom-seen places around the Bristol campus. Planned access includes a live look inside the show’s home, Studio X, and the SC control room; entry into the screening room, where highlights are created; a visit to the SC Top 10 laboratory; a stop in the SC Green Room and other unseen work spaces within Digital Center 2, where the show originates from. Viewers will get a regular “SportsCenter” viewing experience amplified by integrated cut-ins depicting how the show is assembled and presented. For instance, after airing a particular game highlight, viewers might get a live report from screening explaining how that highlight was assembled. ESPN Exec VP & Exec Editor/Studio Production Norby Williamson said, “We’re going to basically take the commercial pod and add content to the commercial pod. The content in the commercial pod will be the actual behind-the-scenes on how things are unfolding.”
INSIDE THE LINES: Also slated for the show are Mel Kiper, Jr. and Stephen A. Smith, while Michael Wilbon will appear live from the Celtics-Wizards game in DC. Williamson: “Before we go to Wilbon in the commercial break we’ll be seeing the conversation and the prep for Wilbon before he executes what he executes on air and the subsequent segment.” Williamson said, “We want to give the sports fan everything they need to get following a big event but at the same point we want to give them a different view and an educational view of what goes on behind the scenes. But that will not come at the expense of any of the content that would be in the show.” Williamson: “If you’re coming for 'SportsCenter' to understand what’s going on with sports, you’re going to get served, and if you’re coming (tonight), we’re going to give you sort of an added value serve and pull the curtain back a little bit."
