'First Take' breaks records in first month with Shannon Sharpe

The Shannon Sharpe effect is real.

ESPN's flagship debate show "First Take" has its most amount of viewers for the NFL's debut month in the history of the show, averaging 505,000 viewers, which is up 18% from last year, the company announced on Sept. 26.

September also marks the 14th consecutive month that the show has a seen a year-over-year increase in viewership.

Related: ‘First Take’ and ‘Undisputed’ rivalry takes drastic turn with Shannon Sharpe switch

NFL Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe joined Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim on Sept. 4 after leaving FS1's "Undisputed" in June and made an immediate impact on the ratings and social media numbers of the show.

Sharpe joins the program on Mondays and Tuesdays, and his first two shows on Sept. 4 and 5 averaged 583,000 viewers, which is up 24% versus comparable shows from last year, according to ESPN. 

A week later, "First Take" had even more viewers at 672,000, likely driven by the pairing's reaction to the freak injury suffered by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sept. 11.

"First Take" also had a successful road show in Boulder, Colo. driven by the massive draw of the Colorado Buffaloes football team and their coach Deion Sanders. The show averaged 611,000 viewers.

Related: Shannon Sharpe admits one of his biggest regrets from last moments at Fox

ESPN's social media numbers were also way up during this month. ESPN says that the total YouTube views for "First Take" were at 32 million — up 129% from the same timeframe in 2022. Engagements were also up 104% across all of "First Take's" social media accounts versus last year.

It remains to be seen how sustainable this will be beyond Sharpe's first month, but he seems to at least be confident that his presence will be more than enough to beat out his former partner Skip Bayless at FS1. 

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