FS1’s ‘The Facility’ isn’t trying to be ‘First Take’ or ‘Undisputed’

FS1’s The Facility has no interest in participating in the debate culture spawned by its predecessor, Skip Bayless, or its competition, Stephen A. Smith.

With FS1 moving on from Bayless and Undisputed , it also seems to have moved on from attempting to mirror what ESPN is doing on morning television. ESPN had success with First Take , FS1 launched Undisputed . Stephen A. Smith had success with a rotating cast of debate partners on First Take , Bayless, and Undisputed moved on from Shannon Sharpe in favor of a carousel of analysts last year.

But Monday began a new era of morning television for FS1, with The Facility replacing Undisputed from 10 a.m. to noon ET. In its debut, it became very clear that The Facility has no interest in being what Undisputed was, or First Take is. It’s its own show hosted by Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, James Jones and Chase Daniel.

The Facility enters the medium with an advantage over other newly created sports shows because Acho, McCoy and Jones worked together on FS1’s Speak . Daniel is the newcomer and the wildcard in their prebuilt chemistry, but he fits in rather seamlessly on day one.

Acho recently teased The Facility by pitching it as a “ beautiful alternative” to Stephen A. Smith and First Take , but a ‘refreshing alternative’ might be the better describer. During the show’s opening Monday morning, Acho described The Facility as “Less debate. More discussion.” And that’s exactly what they proceeded to be, further separating themselves from hot take shows that have been dominating daytime sports television for years.

The best way to prove The Facility isn’t trying to be First Take or Undisputed is by the fact that Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys waited about an hour and 45 minutes to get their first mention during the two-hour show.

Pick a random day in March or June, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an episode of First Take and Undisputed that didn’t feature the Cowboys in the first hour. Here we are two days before the NFL season kicks off, and a new show looking to gain traction successfully avoided the temptation of fishing for engagement with Cowboys takes.

Last month, Dan Le Batard accused Acho of being “calculated for attention” in his attempt to be aggregated. And that might be true at times, but it definitely wasn’t the case Monday morning. If the goal was going viral or being aggregated, they wouldn’t be breaking down Xs and Os in a manner you would never see on First Take or Undisputed .

With four former NFL players on set, however, it will be interesting to see if and when they opt to dive into other sports.

The Facility has already succeeded in proving it’s an alternative to debate television, but ratings will still determine its potential for long-term success. And FS1’s new late morning show is tasked with rebuilding an audience Bayless lost during his last year at the network.

Acho might not be trying to compete with First Take , but they are competing for the same audience, at the same time. Because it’s so heavily focused on the NFL, it’s hard to imagine the Acho-led show won’t do significantly better than the approximately 50,000 viewers Undisputed was regularly pulling in during its demise. But whether it can put a dent in the nearly 500,000 viewers First Take attracts to ESPN during the 10 a.m. – noon hours remains to be seen.

[ The Facility ]

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