Skip Bayless' Return To 'First Take' Results In TV Ratings Boost

For years the duo of Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless made ESPN's First Take into the must-watch morning sports show on all of television and a ratings juggernaut. After a decade apart, the duo reunited for one show on Friday with predictable results: A massive ratings boost.

According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, Bayless' one-day-only appearance on May 8th's edition of First Take boasted an average of 647,000 viewers. That equated to a 24-percent increase over the show's average viewership from January through May and a 44-percent spike from May 9, 2025.

"First at FOS: The reunion of Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless on ESPN's First Take was a hit, drawing 647,000 viewers. That's up 24% from the weekday show's average viewership for 2026. The episode generated 33.5M social impressions across ESPN social platforms," FOS announced.

The episode itself had all of the predictable conversations you would expect: Skip Bayless ranking LeBron outside his top-eight NBA players, some NBA playoff discourse and, of course, the Dallas Cowboys.

As ESPN probably expected and wanted, they got people talking on social media to the tune of an estimated 33.5 million impressions on their various platforms.

Simply put, when Smith and Bayless butt heads, people will tune in.

The Legacy of First Take

From 2012 to 2016 when Smith and Bayless were the full-time analysts, the two had insane chemistry thanks to their dueling over-the-top personalities. Ever since Bayless left in 2016 to run a similar show on Fox Sports, the show just hasn't had the same energy.

Initial efforts to replace Bayless with Max Kellerman for five years were successful in the short term, but ultimately wasn't good enough for Smith. Since Kellerman's departure in 2021, the show has featured a rotation of hot-take delivering analysts, some of whom believe what they say and some who clearly just want to rage bait.

Bayless' show on Fox Sports ended in 2024 and he's been doing his own show since.

It remains to be seen if ESPN would consider bringing Bayless back on a full-time basis, or if it's even something that Bayless wants at this point in his life.

But the evidence clearly shows that people want to see Smith and Bayless back on the screen together.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 4:16 PM.