The Big Lead

ESPN announces air date for final 'Around the Horn' episode

By J.P. Hoornstra

Jan. 4, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; ESPN logo prior to the 2011 Sugar Bowl between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Louisiana Superdome.
Jan. 4, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; ESPN logo prior to the 2011 Sugar Bowl between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Louisiana Superdome. / Andrew Weber-Imagn Images
facebooktwitter

ESPN's Around the Horn debuted on Nov. 4, 2002, making it one of the most durable shows on television amid massive changes to the cable industry. Now it has an official end date: May 23.

ESPN announced Tuesday that the debate show will be replaced by a 30-minute edition of SportsCenter that will air weekdays at 5 p.m.

“Around the Horn has had a remarkable run of more than two decades. That kind of longevity in media is incredibly rare, and we look forward to celebrating the show’s many accomplishments before the final sign-off in May,” David Roberts, ESPN's Executive Vice President, Executive Editor, Sports News and Entertainment, said in a press release. “Beyond Tony (Reali) and the ensemble of on-air contributors, we are particularly grateful to the production team led by Erik Rydholm and Aaron Solomon, who have been instrumental in ATH’s consistent success since the very beginning.”

Over its 22-year run, "Around the Horn" turned talented regional sports columnists like Woody Paige, Bill Plaschke and Tim Cowlishaw into household names, setting the tone for the sort of conversations that were once exclusively the domain of sports-talk radio.

In Nov. 2024, the New York Post reported the show would end sometime this summer. "Around the Horn" had been a part of ESPN's hour-long block with “Pardon the Interruption” from 5-6 p.m. ET daily since its inception, with Max Kellerman as the host. Reali took over for Kellerman two years later and has moderated spirited sports debates ever since.

Writing in 2018, former ESPN public editor Jim Brady said of the format that "these shows, despite the enmity some have for them, aren’t going anywhere. They attract viewers. The simple solution for those who detest ESPN’s talk shows is not to watch them. But clearly millions do, and so the roots these shows have are only growing stronger."

Seven years of accelerated cord-cutting have been tough on many cable networks. "Around the Horn" is the latest victim.

MORE TOP STORIES from The Big Lead
NFL: Best landing spots for Darius Slay
NFL: Post-Combine Consensus Mock Draft 
NBA: Wilt’s 100-point game remains too wild for some
MLB/SPORTS MEDIA: O’s, Nats finally resolve cable dispute

Home/Sports Media