ESPN Is Bringing ‘Desus And Mero’ On As Contributors To NBA Coverage


ESPN is, like every major television outlet, in the business of figuring out how to attract an audience that consumes information in a very different way than they did a decade ago. This led to a massive round of layoffs back in April that saw 100 writers, editors, and on-air personalities get left go, including some very prominent figures that were mainstays of the company.

After the layoffs, ESPN has continued making hires and restructuring their TV lineup, with some of those hires indicating a distinct shift in the company’s efforts to appeal to younger viewers and create content that can easily be packaged across multiple platforms. Katie Nolan recently left FS1 for ESPN and the most recent TV show to debut on ESPN’s airwaves was Barstool Van Talk featuring PFT Commenter and Barstool Big Cat from the popular Pardon My Take podcast.

On Wednesday, ESPN announced another partnership with a popular duo that got their start in the podcast realm and have since turned that into a popular late night talk show, bringing Desus Nice and The Kid Mero from Desus & Mero on Viceland on as NBA contributors.

The highly entertaining duo will produce short videos for ESPN’s NBA coverage that will go across multiple platforms and be a very different look at the NBA than we’re used to seeing from ESPN.

From the ESPN press release (via Awful Announcing):

ESPN is collaborating with comedy duo Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, “Desus & Mero” from Viceland, to create short videos featuring their commentary about on the biggest NBA storylines on and off the court — from blockbuster trades to evolving hairlines, notable hirings to questionable fashion choices, as well as their bold predictions for the upcoming year. The shorts will be incorporated across ESPN’s NBA coverage on digital, social and TV platforms.

After years of ignoring the growing trends of media consumption, it’s clear that ESPN is fully aware of the need to change and are willing to take big swings to try and bring in a new and different audience. Desus & Mero certainly aren’t traditional ESPN personality types, but that’s the point. They’re entertaining, appeal to a different audience, and, as their Viceland show has proven, are adept at creating short video segments that translate extremely well onto social and other platforms.

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