ESPN is a cable television network dedicated to sports programming. The network's flagship show is SportsCenter, which airs multiple times daily and is devoted to reporting sports news with a humorous twist. It is consistently among the top five most watched cable networks in the United States, along with CNN, MTV, TBS, and Fox News, with others peeking in on occasion.
History
The network was the brainchild of Bill Rasmussen, who announced the concept of the network to the public on June 26, 1978. At the time, a cable network was considered to be something of a high risk venture, but a few companies saw a bright future in it (the big reason why virtually every cable provider provides TBS, ESPN, CNN, MTV, etc... they were there first). To gain funding for the project, including the expenses of building the Bristol, Connecticut operations base and paying for their satellite array, Bill Rasmussen sold 85% of the company to Getty Oil on February 22, 1979. With money in hand to finish the headquarters and the satellite array paid for, ESPN made their first major sports television contract on March 1, 1979, gaining from the NCAA exclusive rights to broadcast many college sporting events.
As the network neared its' debut, the first sure sign that it would be a success came on May 30, 1979, when Anheuser-Busch signed the largest advertising contract in the history of cable television to that point with ESPN. The network debuted on September 7, 1979, at 7:00 PM ET with... you guessed it, SportsCenter. The studio quite seriously looked like it was pulled wholesale from a 1970's office furniture warehouse. Fortunately, credibility was just around the horizon.
One week after its debut, prominent sports announcer Jim Simpson left NBC and joined ESPN, giving the network instant credibility both in the eyes of the media and in the eyes of the viewers at home. At this time, the network was only on the air roughly 16 hours a day, with eight hours of downtime a day. Just before the network's one year anniversary, on September 1, 1980, the network switched to an around-the-clock format. With this format, the network went to a limited amount of non-sports programming (the network's name was, after all, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network). Most notably was the morning program Nation's Business Today, a business report.
Some other highlights...
- In 1983, the network became the largest cable network in terms of homes able to receive it, and it has largely held onto that title to today.
- In 1989, the network debuted internationally and is today aired in more than 50 countries.
- In 1991, the network returned to an all-sports format, replacing their long-running morning program, Nation's Business Today, with re-airs of Sportscenter.
- In 1992, the network launched ESPN Radio, a radio offshoot of the network.
- In 1993, ESPN2 launches, an offshoot network to provide an additional 24 hours of daily sports coverage.
- In 1995, ESPN.com launches with coverage of the Final Four.
- In 1996, ESPNEWS launches, an around-the-clock sports news network.
- In 1997, ESPN acquired Classic Sports Network and renamed it ESPN Classic.
Cultural Impact
ESPN has led directly to a massive increased exposure for sports on a national stage. Due to this exposure, professional and collegiate sports in general have had much more revenue than before. One major result of this is the monstrous professional sports contracts that some players receive; another result is the great permeation that sports has in our culture, much more than before.
ESPN's mix of humor and sports coverage have drawn more people to become fans of sports; I can witness this as a fact, having become a college basketball fan due to their solid coverage of the sport, and its coverage of baseball has helped to increase my significant other's interest in that sport. The network provides an availability and accessibility to many sports that never existed before; many had never heard of the America's Cup before ESPN started covering it in great depth in 1983.
Notable ESPN Personalities
ESPN has a large number of sports commentators and broadcasters. Some of those of note include
I don't want this list to become huge, but if you have a particular ESPN employee that you feel belongs here, be sure to let me know ( /msg tes ).
Final Thoughts
The network provides quality sports coverage with a sense of humor and exposes people to sports in a friendly way. The reporting is largely unbiased, the network is widely available, and there is a great deal of variety. After all, any network that airs World's Strongest Man contests on a Saturday afternoon featuring monstrous guys named Oleg pulling semis has to be entertaining, right?