ESPN will reportedly look to cancel High Noon hosted by Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre in March. The sports network reportedly broke the news to staff earlier today.
Sports Business Journal cites “poor viewership” as the leading reason for the cancellation. The show averaged 330,000 viewers during the first quarter of 2020, which is a minor 3% drop from last year. Comparatively, Highly Questionable and Get Up! have averaged 404,000 and 380,000 viewers respectively.
ESPN is canceling "High Noon." Show will run through the end of March. ESPN executives told staff this afternoon. SBJ Media is live.?https://t.co/8XVlI41ERo? pic.twitter.com/EkvyMQ3fx8
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) February 25, 2020
In a statement emailed to Sports Business Journal, ESPN wrote, “Co-hosts Pablo Torre and Bomani Jones are extremely talented, and they helmed what we believed was a smart and nuanced show. Unfortunately, not enough people agreed with us. We look to best utilize their talents across a variety of ESPN platforms.”
“From conversations I’ve had with execs (relatively recently), I do think ESPN plans to find spots for Pablo Torre. He has been on HQ quite a bit lately and could return to former niche as an ATH guy/PTI fill in. He also has been a writer,” New York Post’s Andrew Marchand writes.
“I’m not as positive where Bomani Jones fits with ESPN, but he too could revert back to his former panelist role, I presume,” Marchand adds.
Jalen & Jacoby will take High Noon‘s spot at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2.
