Cold Pizza - Broadcast History

Broadcast History

Cold Pizza initially began as a one hour show at 7 a.m. ET, with the repeat following. Then in 2004 it expanded to a two hour show starting at 8 a.m. ET and a repeat following. In 2006, ESPN2 started airing a simulcast of Mike and Mike in the Morning, the morning program from 6 a.m. ET to 10 a.m. ET on ESPN Radio, which pushed Cold Pizza back to 10 a.m. ET.

Cold Pizza was notable for having its own version of ESPN's BottomLine, as their ticker not only gave sports scores, but also news headlines and weather forecasts from sports cities and is shown in its own color scheme. It also functioned differently: it constantly scrolled, while other ESPN "BottomLines" usually "flip" through the different scores, scrolling only for long statistical lines. This graphic was discontinued in the summer of 2006, when the "BottomLine" was changed to resemble those of other ESPN programs.

The program has gone on site for games and events quite often. On the road shows have included trips to Super Bowls XXXIX and XL and the Caesars Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas. At one point, part of Friday's shows originated from the College Gameday site. They went to New Orleans on September 25, 2006 for the re-opening of the Louisiana Superdome when the New Orleans Saints returned home to play the Atlanta Falcons.

Guests on the show have included Senator John McCain, Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, Dennis Rodman, José Canseco, Senator Tom Davis, Mike Krzyzewski, Nick Lachey and even the man that caught Barry Bonds' 715th home run ball.

On January 25, 2007 MediaWeek reported that ESPN would announce Cold Pizza's move from New York to the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut. In addition to being able to cut costs and produce the program in high definition, the new locale allowed more live appearances by ESPN analysts (as opposed to satellite or telephone interviews). However, the move reduced the amount of live appearances by celebrities and non-sports figures. The official chronology shows that Cold Pizza ended on May 4, and was replaced by a new show, ESPN First Take, on May 7, though nearly all of the former show's features were incorporated into the new show.