ESPN executive Burke Magnus has hinted that Jason Kelce’s late-night talk show could be extended beyond it’s initial five-week trial run.
The show, тιтled ‘They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce’, has endured mixed reviews and viewing figures since beginning its run earlier this month.
Deriving its name from David Letterman’s legendary late-night offering, Kelce’s latest show premiered on January 3 with an underwhelming response from viewers.
The culprit could have been its late start time or the content itself, but in any case, the show garnered only 290,000 viewers on its first episode, according to Puck’s John Ourand. ESPN had 700,000 viewers watching that same time slot two weeks earlier.
In the weeks that have followed, viewers have vented about the show and its quality on social media. One even labeled it ‘the worst in the history of television’ after last week’s third episode.
But, despite the brutal criticism, Magnus has hinted that Kelce’s show does have a future at the network.
ESPN executive Burke Magnus hinted Jason Kelce ‘s late-night talk show could be extended
The show has endured mixed reviews on social media since beginning its run earlier this month
Read More Jason Kelce rapidly backtracks after taunting Washington Commanders over Philadelphia Eagles game 
Speaking to The New York Times, he said: ‘This is not something I think would work with just anyone, but he’s one of those guys that I believe can pull it off.
‘For me, it’s going to be a little bit more art than science
‘Do people think it’s good and funny? Does it have the potential to grow?’
ESPN and Kelce have always maintained they would make a decision on its future once they’ve evaluated the show’s five-week trial period.
Ratings have increased in the following two weeks, too. It’s claimed 881,000 viewers watched episode two, which aired after a college football playoff game, and the third episode brought in 356,000 viewers.
The Super Bowl winner and Philadelphia Eagles legend makes a reported $1.8million a year with ESPN, not including a $1 m signing bonus, according to a May report in the Sun.
That deal encompᴀsses Kelce’s primary duties with Monday Night Countdown as well as the limited, five-episode run of his late-night talk show.
Kelce’s ESPN deal also gave the network the right to buy Jason and his brother Travis’ popular podcast if they chose to sell before 2025, the Sun reported.
The brothers instead signed a reported $100 million podcast deal with Amazon for advertising and distribution rights to their show, New Heights, according to multiple reports.
