Major Talk Show Ends Today After Thousands of Episodes

A major talk show has officially ended today after thousands of episodes.

ESPN’s Around the Horn aired its final episode on Friday.

The roundtable discussion show and panel game premiered in November 2002 as a replacement for Unscripted with Chris Connelly on ESPN. Max Kellerman served as the original host until January 2004 and was soon permanently replaced by Tony Reali, who continued to host until the very end. The New York Post reported in November 2024 that Around the Horn would be ending in summer 2025 on ESPN, but at the time, an exact date had not yet been announced.

ESPN announced in March that the final episode would be airing on May 23. “Around the Horn has had a remarkable run of more than two decades. That kind of longevity in media is incredibly rare, and we look forward to celebrating the show’s many accomplishments before the final sign-off in May,” David Roberts, ESPN Executive Vice President, Executive Editor, Sports News and Entertainment, said in a statement. “Beyond Tony and the ensemble of on-air contributors, we are particularly grateful to the production team led by Erik Rydholm and Aaron Solomon, who have been instrumental in ATH’s consistent success since the very beginning.”

Around the Horn included a panel of sports writers led by Reali, discussing current sports news and issues. Reali would assess the panelists’ arguments, awarding them points for strong points of view, style, and information. The top-scoring panelists would go head-to-head in a showdown, with the winner receiving 30 seconds to voice their opinion on any topic of their choice. The series capped out at 4,953 episodes according to ESPN, which is an incredible feat.

As for what will be taking over Around the Horn’s 5 p.m. ET slot on ESPN, a 30-minute edition of SportsCenter will air weekdays during the summer for the time being. What will permanently replace it is unknown, but what is known is that ESPN won’t be the same without Around the Horn. The series comes from ESPN’s Seaport Studios in New York and is produced by Rydholm Projects from the ABC News Bureau in Washington, D.C. Erik Rydholm served as executive producer, with Aaron Solomon as senior coordinating producer. Some memorable media personalities who have appeared on Around the Horn over the years include JA Adande, Kevin Blackistone, Tim Cowlishaw, Jemele Hill, Frank Isola, and Bomani Jones, among others.