Jason Kelce's late-night ESPN talk show, already plagued by its 1 a.m. EST airtime and low ratings, is now facing a steady stream of negative reviews.
'They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce' is the worst show in the history of television,” wrote one critic on X.
Another went a step further, calling the show “one of the worst ideas ever created.”
The show, which derives its name from David Letterman's legendary late-night show, premiered on January 3 to a disappointing response. The culprit could have been its late start time or the content itself, but in any case, the show garnered only 290,000 viewers for its first episode, according to Puck's John Ourand.
To put it in context, Ourand points out that ESPN had 700,000 viewers watching that same time slot two weeks earlier. However, he adds, “that figure was inflated by the playoff game between Indiana and Notre Dame that same night.”
DailyMail.com has contacted ESPN for confirmation.
Former NFL player and ESPN analyst Jason Kelce, right, performs with Philadelphia Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland during a Jan. 3 taping.
Former NFL player and ESPN analyst Jason Kelce, right, performs a skit with a younger version of himself during taping.
Most importantly, Ourand wrote on Jan. 6, the viewing figures don't truly represent Kelce's value to the network.
The Super Bowl winner and Philadelphia Eagles legend earns $1.8 million a year with ESPN, not including a $1 million signing bonus, according to a May report in the Sun. That deal covers Kelce's main duties with Monday Night Countdown, as well as the limited five-episode run of his late-night talk show.
So while there may be some negative responses to Kelce's Steve Allen impersonation, the network likely cares much more about its Monday Night Football duties.
And that's good for Kelce because social media is a bottomless pit of criticism.
“Late Night with Jason Kelce is one of the lamest shows I've ever seen in my life,” one angry fan wrote on X. “Stop selling out and go back to the roots.”
“Jason Kelce's late night show is unwatchable,” another added.
Former NFL player and ESPN analyst Jason Kelce, right, performs a skit with NFL Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael, left.
Not everyone hates Jason Kelce's new ESPN talk show, which recently aired its third episode.
Fortunately, not everyone hated Kelce. One fan wrote that the second episode was “a substantial improvement.”
And another complained to the live TV streaming service, Sling, that Kelce's show couldn't be recorded.
'Impractical Jokers and Jason Kelce Is it Late Night are not on the menu,' they complained.
What's more, one Philadelphia sports fan declared the third episode a dramatic improvement.
“Jason Kelce's late night show has really found his place,” they wrote in X. “He's finding a fantastic niche here.” I really like it. Much better than where it started. I'm so happy to see it!'
Kelce's deal with ESPN also gave the network the right to buy Jason and his brother Travis' popular podcast if they decided to sell it before 2025, the Sun reported. Instead, the brothers signed a $100 million podcast deal with Amazon for advertising and distribution rights to their show, New Heights, according to multiple reports.