Pardon the Interruption (abbreviated PTI) is an American sports talk television show that airs weekdays primarily on ESPN but can air on various TV channels in the event of live sports or breaking news. It has been hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon since the beginning. They discuss and debate the top stories of that particular day in "sports... and other stuff" (as Kornheiser put it in the show's original promo).
Similar in format to Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's At the Movies, PTI is known for its playful banter between the cohosts, humorous and often loud tone, and a "rundown" graphic which lists the topics yet to be discussed on the right-hand side of the screen. The show's popularity has led to the creation of similar shows on ESPN and similar segments on other series, and the rundown graphic has since been implemented on the morning editions of SportsCenter, among many imitators.
History The show began in 2001,Atlantic Video, Inc. Welcomes ESPN's First Washington DC Daily Show: Pardon the Interruption . (2001, November). iCOM Magazine. Retrieved December 16, 2006. and has emanated from Washington, D.C. since its debut, as both Kornheiser and Wilbon were writing for The Washington Post at the time. In addition, both men appeared frequently on ESPN's Sunday-morning discussion program The Sports Reporters. The pair's frequent arguments during their time at the Post are often cited (including by Wilbon himself) as both the antecedent and inspiration for PTI.
The founding production team behind PTI includes Mark Shapiro, Erik Rydholm, Todd Mason, James Cohen, and Joseph Maar. The original deal was for two years with an option for a third. Originally, the show also aired Sunday evening, but this stint was short-lived.
Originally produced at Atlantic Video's facilities in Washington, the show now occupies space at ABC News' Washington bureau. Voice actress Kat Cressida lends her voice to commercial bumpers for the series and has since its premiere. From the premiere of PTI until September 5, 2014, Tony Reali served as the show's statistician (earning him the nickname "Stat Boy") and eventually became a de facto co-host. Reali became the host of Around the Horn in 2004, but remained on PTI until 2014, when he relocated to New York City to work on Good Morning America while continuing as host of ATH.
Kornheiser began exclusively hosting from his home upon the show's return from its 2020 COVID-19 hiatus (during part of which he and Wilbon had short video-call segments that appeared on SportsCenter under the altered title Pardon The Isolation). He made his first in-studio return on December 5, 2023. Despite cautioning viewers "Don't get used to it" at the time, he did make future appearances sporadically, and as of 2026 generally appears in-studio once or twice a week.
The show won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show in 2009, 2016, and 2019.
Broadcast details PTI airs at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN, occasionally moving to ESPN2 in the event of live sports or breaking news coverage airing on the main channel. Replays also appear on ESPN2 or ESPNEWS at various times.
In Canada, TSN airs the show live at 5:30 p.m. ET. In 2011, the SportsCentre edition following PTI now features the final segment, but previously TSN did not air it. Tony acknowledged this frequently at the end of the show, often signing off while waving a Canadian flag.
Since April 17, 2006, ESPN has also offered a free audio podcast which cuts out commercials and includes all segments. The podcast is usually made available two to three hours after its original telecast on ESPN.
Viewers PTI averages a little more than one million viewers daily.
Famous fans include Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, David Letterman, Tom Cotton, Hank Azaria, Chris Christie, Eric Stonestreet, Matthew Morrison, John Heilemann, Penny Marshall, Michael Kelly, Eva Longoria, John McCain, Tim Russert, and Maury Povich.
The October 24, 2011 episode featured a message from then-President Obama commemorating the tenth anniversary of the show. On July 12, 2013, Kornheiser, Wilbon, and Reali were guests at the White House. After lunch, the trio met in the Oval Office with Obama. Obama also provided taped congratulations on the show's 20th anniversary episode on October 22, 2021.
The set
For much of its run PTI had a unique studio layout featuring a "wall" full of cut-out cardboard heads of athletes and celebrities that had been used in the "Role Play" segment, bobblehead dolls of the show's hosts and Reali, Etch-A-Sketch art of Kornheiser and Wilbon, multiple penguins and several other toys and trinkets they have received, such as Kornheiser's beloved "Leg Lamp" from A Christmas Story, Stewie Griffin, and Elmo.
For different American holidays, the set would be decorated with other props to match the theme of the day. For example, on Halloween, carved jack-o'-lanterns of the host's heads are also present. The color of the rundown graphic is also changed to fit with the holiday theme (e.g. red, white, and blue to represent Independence Day, green for St. Patricks Day, red and green for Christmas).
On September 27, 2010, Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn began broadcasting in high definition and moved from the Atlantic Video Washington complex to facilities in the ABC News Washington bureau, where high definition sets were built for both shows.
On January 20, 2020, the current set for PTI debuted. This was the first major upgrade to the PTI set in nearly a decade.
Segments PTI is divided into three segments. The first involves the hosts discussing and debating sports news Headlines (generally, three topics are covered, each receiving 2–4 minutes, in earlier days, more topics were covered with less time assigned to each). The second segment will either consist of a themed game segment that allows for discussion for further topics, or 5 Good Minutes, an interview with a guest. The third segment consists of Happy Time, an acknowledgment of any "errors & omissions" from earlier segments, and finally the Big Finish, a high-speed, back-and-forth rundown of more sports topics of note.
For much of its history, the show aired in four shorter segments, allowing for the inclusion of both a game and an interview, or occasionally, a second segment of "Headlines" replacing one of the two. A wider variety of games were played during the time Reali was present on the show, as he would frequently serve as in-studio host/moderator/judge.
In the show's earliest days, it was not unusual for the last point or topic in each section to be about a non-sports-related pop-culture event, but those have been eliminated.
On rare occasions, the show will stray from its basic format, such as on August 9, 2005, when baseball commissioner Bud Selig was the guest at the very top of the show for an extended interview.
Introduction/Headlines Kornheiser and Wilbon welcome viewers to the show with opening banter. Wilbon usually opens the show with the line, "Pardon the Interruption... but I'm Mike Wilbon," and then put a question to Kornheiser concerning one of the day's sports or pop culture issues (which he answers sarcastically). The two will then continue a conversation while the opening title card is shown. The theme song (as well as the commercial outro music) thematically references the song "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement. On rare occasions when more serious news will lead the discussion, such as the death of Junior Seau, the hosts will omit their typical intro banter.
Kornheiser then says "Welcome to 'PTI', boys and girls." Kornheiser then gives a brief introduction before moving on to the first topic. During the course of this segment, Wilbon and Kornheiser will alternate topic introductions up for debate. Each topic is listed in chronological order on the right side of the screen, and a countdown timer is shown indicating how much time is allotted to discuss a particular topic, the hosts can, and usually do, briefly go over the time limit in order to make a final point about any particular topic.
Five Good Minutes Kornheiser and Wilbon interview a sports figure, writer, or analyst typically for a period of time from three to six minutes. The interview itself is actually recorded prior to the rest of the show and then trimmed down for broadcast. According to PTIs remote producer, with some exceptions, guests are booked the day of the show as they try to obtain the most relevant news of the day.Wright, B. An insider's look at PTI . (2006, December 1). Collegiate Times. Retrieved December 16, 2006. Other times, there are two "Five Good Minutes" segments with two different guests, there are also shows where two related guests appear during one segment, such as Joe Buck and Tim McCarver of Major League Baseball on Fox broadcasts (Another example of this was Al Michaels and Doc Rivers, when they appeared together while covering the 2004 NBA Finals for ABC Sports). There have also been occasions where Kornheiser or Wilbon, while on vacation or in another city to cover an event and not hosting the show, have been the subject of "Five Good Minutes" themselves.
Guests almost always appear from a separate location, usually the site of an upcoming game or their home city, appearing with the hosts via split screen. On a few occasions, the guest has appeared in studio with Kornheiser and Wilbon. This may be the case if the guest is an athlete or coach in Washington to play a game that night, such as when Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups appeared on February 6, 2009, prior to a game against the Washington Wizards. When this happens, the guest will sit on Wilbon's side of the table, sitting diagonally from Kornheiser.
ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski, a former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback (a.k.a. "Jaws" and "the Polish Rifle" - the latter usually rendered in a Howard Cosell-like voice), had a long stint as a regular 5GQ guest - originally on Mondays, later on Thursdays), until his departure from ESPN.
On rare occasions, "Five Good Minutes" runs especially long, such as on June 8, 2005, when NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus's interview ran 11 minutes, forcing the cancellation of the following segment (Role Play), on March 23, 2007, when USC basketball coach Tim Floyd's interview ran 9 minutes as he talked about O. J. Mayo, and on October 22, 2009, as reporter Jackie MacMullan discussed the Magic Johnson/Isiah Thomas controversy, forcing the cancellation of the segment Report Card.
As of 2026, frequently recurring guests include Troy Aikman, Jay Bilas, Kendrick Perkins, P.K. Subban, and Steve Young.
On occasions during the show's three-segment format, a separate game is played in lieu of an interview segment.
"Game" segments