After passing along word that media personality Stephen A. Smith would be leaving his FOX Sports Radio daily morning show last month, we’ve received plenty of inquiries about his next step. Stephen A. wrote in December that we’d be hearing from him in a big way very soon. Naturally we figured he had a TV show in the making, so we decided to follow up on the issue.
Smith has been talking with Showtime about a potential late night show, even reportedly filming a pilot for them. When asked if there was any progress with the show, Smith informed LBS that “Showtime is expected to make a decision as to whether they’ll take the talk show to series” and that we would know when they make a decision.
A late night program with Smith as the host would make plenty of sense given Showtime’s new direction. An article in the LA Times Saturday highlighted Showtime’s future plans, saying “David Nevins, the network’s new entertainment president, said he planned to add more original fare and blend in sports and shows with “cool-guy” testosterone appeal to draw more men and younger viewers to the premium channel.” Seems like a Stephen A. Smith show would fit their desires.
As for any plans on a new radio show, Smith told us to “stay tuned.” We have been told that he may explore a show in a genre other than sports, perhaps something in the urban/adult contemporary category similar to Steve Harvey. To use Stephen’s terms, stay tuned.
