A staple in the world of sports programming will have its last episode this spring, after ESPN made the decision to end "Around the Horn."
The long-running daily panel show hosted by Tony Reali will have its final episode on Friday, May 23, ESPN announced Tuesday.
The show features a rotating panel of local and national reporters joining virtually to debate the top sports stories of the day, with Reali awarding or deducting each contributor points for the quality of their arguments—or simply on a whim.
Each episode ends with one of the four panelists being crowned winner and being awarded a minute of "Face Time" to have the final word of the day to discuss any topic, sports or otherwise.
The show made its premiere in November 2002, then hosted by Max Kellerman, before Reali took the reins in 2004.
Reali, who got his start as "Stat Boy" on the sports debate show "Pardon the Interruption," which follows "Around the Horn" on the programming schedule, will help bid farewell to the show after more than two decades and 4,900 episodes.
The show has helped propel the careers of local beat writers into the national sports consciousness, including Pablo Torre, Mina Kimes, J.A. Adande, Bomani Jones and the inimitable Bob Ryan, among others. Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke is among the panelists with the most appearances.
The show is widely regarded as one of the most groundbreaking sports debate shows ever created, and is credited with reinventing the format and shaping the way sports are covered and dissected on TV.
“'Around the Horn' has had a remarkable run of more than two decades. That kind of longevity in media is incredibly rare, and we look forward to celebrating the show’s many accomplishments before the final sign-off in May,” said ESPN Executive Vice President David Roberts.
Roberts thanked Reali and his rotating panel of on-air contributors, as well as the production team, led by Erik Rydholm and Aaron Solomon, who have been "instrumental in ATH’s consistent success since the very beginning.”
A 30-minute block of ESPN's "SportsCenter" will fill the show's hole in the program schedule through this summer. An updated schedule from the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" will be released at a later date.