''SC6'', also known as ''The Six'', was a rebranded hour of the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

program ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

''. The program aired weekdays at 6:00 p.m. ET and was hosted by former '' His & Hers'' duo Michael Smith and

Jemele Hill Jemele Juanita Hill (; born 1975) is an American sports journalist who writes for ''The Atlantic''. She worked nearly 12 years for sports conglomerate ESPN. She wrote a column for ESPN.com's Page 2 and formerly hosted ESPN's '' His and Hers''. ...

. The show featured some elements from ''His & Hers'' and, like ''SportsCenter with SVP'', is more freeform than other editions of ''SportsCenter''. In addition, SC6 focused on the night ahead in sports, as well as breaking sports news as warranted.

History

''SC6'' was created to boost ''SportsCenter''s ratings in the 6 PM hour. On Monday, October 9, 2017, after calling for viewers who disagree with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

' decision not to kneel during the

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to pressure them by boycotting their sponsors, Hill was suspended for two weeks, leaving Smith to host SC6 by himself for the time being. However, he instead opted to sit out the Monday episode, and Matt Barrie ended up hosting. During the NFL season, ''SC6'' is also seen Mondays in the same 6:00 p.m. ET time slot on ESPN2, due to ''

Monday Night Countdown ''ESPN Monday Night Countdown'' (officially ''Monday Night Countdown presented by Subway'') is an American pregame television program that is broadcast on ESPN, preceding ''Monday Night Football''. When it debuted in 1993 as ''NFL Prime Monday'' ...

'' being aired simultaneously on ESPN (in the case of the latter program, it moved to its current 6:00 p.m. ET time slot in 2014, which resulted in the Monday editions of ''SportsCenter'' being moved to ESPN2). On February 2, 2018, Hill announced that she would be leaving the show to work for ESPN owned The Undefeated, citing her desire to return to more "reporting".

Return to Traditional SportsCenter Branding

On February 5, 2018, following Hill's departure, Michael Smith became the solo anchor of the 6:00 p.m. ET edition of ''

'', which itself reverted to that title as the ''SC6'' branding was dropped. On March 8, 2018, Smith announced that he would also be leaving the show effective immediately. As of May 14, 2018, the 6:00 p.m. ET weeknight editions of ''SportsCenter'' are now co-anchored by

Kevin Negandhi Kevin Negandhi (born March 20, 1975) is an American sports anchor for ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' as well as ''ESPN College Football on ABC''. In addition to hosting ''SportsCenter'', he also hosts ''Baseball Tonight'', ''College Football Live'' and ...

and

Sage Steele Sage Marie Steele (born November 28, 1972) is an American television anchor who is the co-host of the 12pm (ET) SportsCenter on ESPN. She also hosts SportsCenter on the Road from various sporting events such as the Super Bowl and The Masters. ...

Reception

Despite initially doing well ratings-wise, ''SC6''s ratings have been lower than the previous incarnation of ''SportsCenter'' since March. The Laughing Place liked the duo's chemistry in the pilot, but hoped future episodes would have more variety.

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said the co-host Michael Smith "represents everything good about ESPN" and applauded both hosts for speaking out on

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...

. Many in social media were upset when the series wasn't cancelled when other

employees were laid off. The series was put in the spotlight after Hill labeled then-current U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

a white supremacist, which led Trump to request an apology for this statement. ESPN supposedly wanted to keep Hill from hosting the following episode on Wednesday, but other hosts refused to anchor in her absence, so she hosted that evening. Amidst the controversy SC6's ratings experienced a significant decline of up to 40%. In May 2018, ESPN announced that ''SportsCenters 6:00 p.m. ratings had increased by 10% in the weeks following Hill and Smith's departure. In December 2018, respected ESPN executive Norby Williamson admitted that the network "miscalculated" in trying to center the show around Smith and Hill.

References

{{Reflist SportsCenter American sports television series