ESPN2's quirky afternoon show SportsNation will announce on today's program that it is moving to the west coast and host Charissa Thompson will be joined by new co-host Marcellus Wiley. Wiley replaces Colin Cowherd who will remain in Bristol where he will focus on his nationally syndicated radio show. SportsNation was created in 2009 as a live sports television show born from the Internet, fueled by fan interaction and focused on fun. The show will relocate from ESPN's Bristol campus to a new set at the company's Los Angeles studio at the end of December. Thompson and Wiley will continue the off-beat SportsNation tradition of discussing the day's hottest and weirdest sports topics weekdays at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
"The light-hearted tone of SportsNation has always been focused on the intersection of sports and entertainment, and basing the show in our LA studio will give us additional opportunities to expand the pop culture tie-ins that we know resonate with our audience," said Jamie Horowitz, ESPN's vice president of original programming and production. "We're excited to welcome Marcellus on board as a co-host with Charissa. They both bring a versatile mix of knowledge, fun and snarkiness to the show which creates the perfect on-air chemistry to appeal to our younger viewers."
"The high energy and fun of my guest hosting appearances on SportsNation have always been a highlight for me on my Bristol trips so I'm pumped that the show is moving to my hometown, Los Angeles," said Wiley. "Now that I'll be a full time host alongside Charissa, we're going to team up to get a SportsNation scoreboard directly next to the famous Hollywood sign because our show is going to be where sports meets entertainment!"
SportsNation, with the youngest demographic of all of ESPN's studio shows, is different than most of the network's offerings in that fan engagement and imaginative games and segments are at the heart of the program. On a daily basis, SportsNation engages with hundreds of thousands of sports fans across the country via ESPN.com's SportsNation page.
Charissa Thompson joined ESPN in September of 2011 as host of ESPN2's Numbers Never Lie and had previously appeared as a guest host on SportsNation before joining the show as a full-time co-host this past June. Prior to joining ESPN, Thompson appeared on multiple sports networks including The Big Ten Network, Versus (now NBC Sports), NFL Network, Speed Network and Yahoo! Sport
S. Thompson was also a co-host of Fox Sports Network's The Best Damn Sports Show Period.
After a 10-year NFL career as an All-Pro defensive end, Marcellus Wiley joined ESPN in 2007 primarily as a studio analyst on ESPN2's First Take. He has also served as a host of Winners Bracket on ABC and has appeared regularly on NFL Live, Mike & Mike in the Morning, SportsCenter and ESPNEWS. Additionally, Wiley serves as the co-host of "Max & Marcellus" along with Max Kellerman on 710AM ESPN Radio Los Angeles.
Photo Courtesy of Charissa Thompson's Official Web Site
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