New Era of ESPN's Iconic Program SC6 with Michael and Jemele Launches 2/6

By: Caryn Robbins Jan. 31, 2017

A new era for ESPN's most iconic program will begin Monday, February 6, with the launch of SC6 with Michael and Jemele, the 6 p.m. ET edition of SPORTSCENTER hosted by popular ESPN commentators Michael Smith and Jemele Hill.

With a format geared to fit Smith and Hill's personalities, along with a specially-designed set and its own music, "The Six" will be different from any other SPORTSCENTER produced since ESPN's first telecast of its signature news and information program in 1979. Debuting on the day after the Super Bowl, the premiere episode of the weekday offering will be hailed with an hour-long simulcast on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS.

Smith and Hill, who previously co-hosted ESPN2's His & Hers and will be the first African-American duo to host SPORTSCENTER on a regular basis, will combine some of the best elements of their previous program with SPORTSCENTER for the new show, including a deliberate and well-paced conversational format in which they discuss sports topics, news, culture and social issues. The program will continue SportsCenter's focus on news of the day and breaking news as warranted.

"This show will be unique because it is an opportunity to look in on a conversation among close friends, colleagues and the people who they bring into their orbit by virtue of the topics they choose and the interests they have," said Rob King, ESPN senior vice president, SPORTSCENTER and News. "Since we launched the midnight SPORTSCENTER with Scott Van Pelt, it's been really clear that SPORTSCENTER can be distinguished when it's built around unique personalities and unique conceits, especially those ideas, personalities and conceits that work for specific audiences."

Friends for many years, Smith and Hill first met when both were print journalists at major metropolitan newspapers. Initially paired on ESPN Radio's His & Hers podcast in 2013, the duo then began hosting together on television later that year, with the program re-launching as His & Hers in November of 2014. Chemistry and smart conversation were apparent from Day One.

"We're being ourselves, we're not being other people," said Hill, in her 11th year with ESPN. "We wanted to do the type of show where we were just unapologetic about how we talk, what we wanted to discuss, our relationship as friends, and I think people connected with that authenticity. We just talk like we would if we were on the telephone."