said daily studio viewership rose 14% in the first quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, a gain driven by a lineup that continued to dominate the morning and daytime windows. First Take led the network with 448,000 average panel viewers, while the show averaged 524,000 viewers in the quarter when Big Data was included.
The numbers gave a clear lead over its rivals. Get Up averaged 392,000 viewers the week of March 30 on a panel-only basis, and The Pat McAfee Show drew 355,000 panel viewers. On FS1, The Herd averaged 101,000 viewers that same week, while Breakfast Ball was averaging 32,000 viewers in June 2025. Manny Soloway put the gap bluntly, saying continues to trounce its competition in the dayparts and that ’s biggest competition in the morning window is itself.
The comparison matters because the morning and daytime studio business has become one of the few dependable audience battles in sports television. ’s first-quarter 2026 results came after a period in which FS1’s morning window had been moving lower for some time, and the network’s own data shows how wide the gap has become. First Things First averaged 61,000 viewers in May 2019 when that slot belonged to the show, far above the recent figures posted by FS1’s newer offerings.
Across the broader field, the rest of the competition remained far behind. Wake Up Barstool on FS1 averaged 18,000 viewers the week of March 30, the Leadoff Spot on MLB Network averaged 19,000, Good Morning Football on NFL Network averaged 41,000 and SportsCenter on ESPN2 averaged 75,000. Those numbers show that ’s depth matters as much as any single hit show, and that its lead extends beyond just the flagship slot.
The wrinkle is that ’s first-quarter gain may owe something to Nielsen’s introduction of Big Data measurements, which can lift reported audiences without changing what viewers actually chose to watch. ’s studio shows have also long been criticized for leaning heavily on the NFL and NBA, yet digital challengers such as Foul Territory on YouTube have not made a meaningful dent in the network’s audience. For now, the math says is still setting the pace, and Fs1 is still trying to find a morning answer.
