Wake Up and Smell the Sports With ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ Morning Show

ESPN

On April 2, ESPN debuts Get Up, a weekday morning sports news, opinion and analysis show originating from New York City and hosted by longtime ESPN personalities Mike Greenberg, Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose. Get Up goes beyond the scores, news and highlights offered on SportsCenter to give morning viewers an entertaining and informative take on the day’s hot topics in sports.

“You got to give people what they want,” says Rose, a former NBA star who’s been an NBA studio analyst for ESPN since 2007. “I think we really take pride in not forcing topics. So if there is something in any genre of sports, politics, entertainment, pop culture, I think if we’re enthusiastic about it and we think the fans want to hear about it, we will discuss it.”

https://twitter.com/Get_Up/status/980753242694078470

“We have to be literally all things to all sports fans,” says Greenberg, who was cohost of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike morning show from 2000-2017. “When the day calls for opinion and analysis, then that’s what we have to give. When the day calls for coverage of significant sports news, that’s what we have to give. When the day calls for a lighthearted and fun approach, that’s what we have to give. And we have to do all of those things better than anyone else is doing.”

Toward that goal, Get Up is driven by the authoritative perspectives and magnetic personalities of its three hosts. Viewers can expect to see them authentic and unfiltered. “Working for the company 10 years, I’ve never felt muzzled. I’ve never been told how to wear my hair, how to dress, what to say, what not to say,” Rose says. “I’m really passionate about giving back to my community, and being a leader in my community, and being outspoken about the injustices I see in our country and throughout the world. So there is a fine balance to that level of discipline and being able to articulate yourself, but I don’t feel any constraints at all.”

Greenberg hopes the show will be a fun way for fans to enjoy the escapism of sports. “The reason that sports are so great is because there’s nothing in the world better than investing everything into something that means absolutely nothing,” he says. “That’s what we do. We invest everything in something that means absolutely nothing, and I don’t think that there’s ever been a better time to be doing that.”

Get Up airs weekdays live at 7am ET on ESPN beginning April 2. ESPN2 airs an encore presentation at 10am ET, and the show also streams on WatchESPN.

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.