As a younger generation of sports fans increasingly turned to YouTube and other online sources for game highlights, ESPN’s “SportsCenter” appeared to be on borrowed time in 2015. It’s why the Walt Disney Co. unit turned to Scott Van Pelt to put a new spin on the late-night edition of its flagship program.
The veteran ESPN radio host and golf reporter provided a dry wit and a conversational vibe that in short order soon attracted more younger viewers than the traditional desk and sofa shows on the broadcast networks. The competitive landscape has become only more challenging as pay-TV cord-cutting and streaming take their toll on legacy media. But Van Pelt, who entered his 10th season this month, is still thriving as ESPN has turned his “SportsCenter” into a postgame show for its biggest events, including “Monday Night Football.
” Van Pelt, who lives in the area, often gets tuned in the old fashioned way, with massive audience lead-ins from the live events that have become even more vital to ESPN as the network competes with streamers and prepares for a post-cable world where it will be available as a direct-to-consumer offering. Van Pelt’s “SportsCenter” averaged 6.3 million viewers on April 5 when it followed the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four game between University of Connecticut and Iowa, the most-viewed episode in the show’s history according to Nielsen data.
The program scored 3.4 million viewers when it aired after the College Football Play.
