Whether it’s his legendary Super Bowl parade speech in a mummers costume, his beer pong skills, or letting loose on the New Heights podcast with Travis Kelce, fans love Jason Kelce for being unapologetically himself. So, when the former Eagles center joined ESPN for the They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce show, the Super Bowl winner expected his raw energy to work its charm.
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However, as Kelce quickly learned, live TV is a different beast compared to the trenches of an offensive line. Entering the complex world of showbiz was a bit overwhelming for Kelce to start with.
“It’s hard to be off the cuff and loose unless you’re comfortable and don’t feel like you’re trying to be a robot,” he admitted recently on Fitz & Whit. Then host Ryan Fitzpatrick asked Kelce the burning question many fans had in their minds — how much was he spitballing on his late-night show?
The former Eagles center revealed that going off the dome wasn’t his preferred option for a show as structured as this one. While he had a team of writers to help him with the lines that sounded as authentic as possible, Kelce, at times, struggled with timing and delivery. Now, that was a completely new experience for the New Heights host.
“The reality is, doing that show, the timing and the way things need to happen—you have to script it… There were ways to script it that felt more natural to my voice… There were times where we thought, ‘Okay, we can be scripted here, but we can be a little more ad-libby there.’ That was something I just had to get reps at,” said Kelce.
Another struggle that the Super Bowl winner initially faced was getting used to the world of writers, directors, camera angles, and set designs. Before his TV stint, Kelce’s media appearances were through his self-produced podcast, and Monday Night Football. In both the shows, he is expected to be as unfiltered as possible.
While Kelce did see improvement in his delivery as weeks passed, what unfortunately didn’t see an upward trajectory was the show’s ratings.
Kelce’s Late Night Show fails to make a splash
As per reports, They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce could draw only 290,000 viewers for its pilot episode — numbers that industry insiders believed were “not particularly good”.
The reason for this negative review from the trade analysts stems from the fact that the 1 am ET time slot drew 436,000 viewers a month before the ex-Eagles star’s show aired in February. To make matters worse, two weeks before Kelce’s pilot launch, ESPN drew 700,000+ viewers at 1 am ET on Friday night.
The response was polarizing on social media as well. That said, ESPN isn’t worried about Kelce’s show receiving a lukewarm response.
Reportedly, what matters to the network more is their relationship with Kelce than the viewership of his show. As the popular adage goes — bet on the jockey, not the horse!
