Show Description:

Pardon the Interruption (abbreviated PTI) is a sports television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels, TSN, NASN, XM, and Sirius satellite radio services, and as a downloadable podcast. It is hosted by Washington Post columnists and longtime friends Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top stories of the day in "sports... and other stuff" (as Kornheiser put it in the show's original promo). Either Tony Reali (host of ESPN's Around the Horn) or the uncredited "producer over the loudspeaker" serve as moderator for parts of the show, which is filmed in Washington, D.C. Similar in format to CNN's Crossfire, PTI is known for its humorous and often loud tone, as well as the "rundown" graphic listing the topics yet to be discussed down 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 that are repeated from the previous night's last live broadcast, among many imitators.