ESPN From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
ESPN Launched September 7, 1979 Owned by
The Walt Disney Company (80%) Hearst Corporation (20%) Picture format 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) Slogan The Worldwide Leader in Sports Country United States Language English Headquarters Bristol, Connecticut Formerly called Entertainment and Sports Programming Network ESP (never used on air) Website
ESPN.com Availability Satellite DirecTV 206 Dish Network 140 (SD) 9424 (HD) Cable Available on most cable systems Check local listings for channels
ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day. It was founded by Scott Rasmussen and his father Bill Rasmussen and launched on September 7, 1979, under the direction of Chet Simmons, who was the network's first President and CEO (and later became the United States Football League's first commissioner). George Bodenheimer is
ESPN's current president, a position he has held since November 19, 1998; since March 3, 2003, he has been the head of ABC Sports as well, which has since been rebranded as
ESPN on ABC (though ABC Sports still legally has a separate existence).
ESPN's signature telecast,
SportsCenter, debuted with the network and aired its 30,000th episode on February 11, 2007.
ESPN broadcasts primarily out of its studios in Bristol, Connecticut; it also operates offices out of New York City, New York; Seattle, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina and Los Angeles, California; the Los Angeles office is scheduled to open at L.A. Live in 2009. The name of the sport company was lengthened to
"ESPN Inc." in February 1985.
ESPN considers itself "The Worldwide Leader in Sports", a slogan that appears on nearly all company media but whose origin is unknown. Most programming on ESPN and its affiliated networks is composed of live or tape-delayed sporting events and sports-related news programming (such as 'SportsCenter') with the remainder filled by sports-related talk shows (such as 'Around the Horn', 'Jim Rome is Burning','Outside The Lines', and 'PTI') and sports-related documentaries. Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Professional sports arrive 1.3 Expansion 1.4 Controversy 2 Ownership history 3 ESPNHD 4 Executives 5 Advertising on ESPN 6 ESPN significant programming rights 7 ESPN in popular culture 8 ESPN business ventures 8.1 Current 8.2 Former 9 The ESPN family of networks 9.1 Television 9.1.1 ESPN Now 9.2 Internet 9.3 Radio 10 Network-wide preemption 11 See also 12 External links 13 References History Early years The roots of ESPN can be traced to Bill Rasmussen, a television sports reporter for WWLP, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bill was hoping to create the first national sports network.
In the mid-1970s, Rasmussen worked for the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers, selling commercial time for their broadcasts. His son Scott, a former high school goaltender, was the team's public-address announcer. Both were fired in 1977 and Rasmussen sought a new business venture. His original idea was a cable television network (then a fairly new medium) that focused on covering sports events in the state of Connecticut (for example, the Hartford Whalers and the Connecticut Huskies). When Rasmussen was told that buying a continuous 24-hour satellite feed was less expensive than buying several blocks of only a few hours a night, he expanded to a 24-hour nationwide network. The channel's original name was ESP, for Entertainment and Sports Programming, but it was changed prior to launch.[1] ESPN started with the debut of SportsCenter hosted by Lee Leonard and George Grande on September 7, 1979. Afterwards was a pro slow pitch softball game. The first score on SportsCenter was from women's tennis. To help fill 24 hours a day of air time, ESPN aired a wide variety of sports events that broadcast networks did not show on weekends, including Australian Rules Football, Davis Cup tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, and additional college football and basketball games. The U.S. Olympic Festival, the now-defunct competition that was organized as a training tool by the United States Olympic Committee, was also an ESPN staple during this time. Professional sports arrive ESPN (along with the USA Network) was among the earliest cable-based broadcast partners for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lasting from 1982-84, the network's relationship with the association marked its initial foray into the American professional sports sector. After an eighteen-year hiatus, ESPN (by then, under the auspices of the ABC network), secured a $2.4 billion/six-year broadcast contract with the NBA, thereby revitalizing its historic compact with U.S. professional basketball.
In 1983, The United States Football League (USFL) made its debut on ESPN and ABC. The league (which lasted for three seasons) enjoyed ephemeral success, some portion of which was a byproduct of the exposure afforded through ESPN's coverage. In 1987, ESPN gained partial rights to the National Football League. The league agreed to the deal as long as ESPN agreed to simulcast the games on local television stations in the participating markets ESPN Sunday Night Football would last for 19 years and symbolize ESPN's rise from novelty network to American pop culture institution. In the 2006 NFL season ABC's Monday Night Football, long considered the showcase game of the NFL's week, began to be broadcast on ESPN. This was done to increase viewership of the Sunday night game and make it the "showcase" game. In 1990, ESPN added Major League Baseball to its lineup with a $400 million contract.[2] MLB games are still on ESPN today and are scheduled to continue through 2011. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were named as the broadcasters, and that team also continues to this day. ESPN at one time has broadcast each of the four major professional sports leagues in North America until deciding not to renew the deal with the National Hockey League after the 2004-2005 lockout, citing ratings for original programming were comparable to those of NHL broadcasts.[3] ESPN broadcasts 65 sports, 24 hours a day in 14 languages in more than 150 countries.[4] Expansion The 1990s and early 2000s saw considerable growth within the company. In 1993, ESPN2 was founded, with Keith Olbermann and Suzy Kolber launching the network with SportsNite. Three years later, ESPNEWS was born, with Mike Tirico as the first anchor. In 1997, ESPN purchased Classic Sports Network and renamed it ESPN Classic. The latest ESPN network in the U.S., ESPNU, began on March 4, 2005. ESPN International began in the early 1990s to take advantage of the growing satellite markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In Canada, ESPN, Inc. purchased a minority share of TSN and RDS (in fact, the current corporate logo of both looks similar to that of ESPN). In 2004, ESPN finally entered the European market by launching a version of ESPN Classic, and in December 2006, it agreed to purchase North American Sports Network. SportsCenter's primary three broadcasts each day are at 1 a.m. ET (which re-airs usually until 9 AM ET), 6 p.m. ET, and 11 p.m. ET. In 1994, ESPN set the standard for understanding the role of sports in America with the creation of The ESPN Sports Poll by Dr. Richard Luker. The Sports Poll was the first ongoing national daily study of sports fan activities and interests in the United States. Sporting News acknowledged the accomplishments of The ESPN Sports Poll and Dr. Luker in 1996.
[5] With the increasing costs of live sports entertainment, such as the U.S.$8.8 billion costs for NFL football broadcasts rights for eight years, "scripted entertainment has become a luxury item for ESPN," said David Carter, director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California.[6] From 1996 onward, ESPN was closely integrated with ABC Sports. That year, Steve Bornstein, president of ESPN since 1990, was made president of ABC Sports as well. This integration culminated in the 2006 decision to merge ABC Sports' operations with ESPN. As a result, all of ABC's sports programming now uses ESPN on ABC. However, ABC Sports is still legally separate from ESPN (see below). ESPN is currently building a full-fledged broadcast production facility in downtown Los Angeles, as a part of the L.A. Live complex across from the Staples Center. The five-story facility will house an ESPN Zone restaurant on the first two floors and two television production studios with digital control rooms on upper floors. It is scheduled to open in spring 2009. One of the studios will host late-night editions of SportsCenter.[7] In 2007, ESPN signed an agreement with the Arena Football League to broadcast at least one game every weekend, usually on Monday nights. As of January 15, 2008, ESPN has signed a multi-million dollar contract with professional gaming circuit Major League Gaming or MLG for short. Although some have argued that professional gaming is not a physical sport, ESPN has gone ahead with this collaboration. Controversy See also: Criticism of ESPN Ownership history As mentioned, William Rasmussen founded the network. Just before ESPN launched, Getty Oil Company (later purchased by Texaco, which in turn was acquired by Chevron) agreed to buy a majority stake in the network. In 1984, ABC made a deal with Getty Oil to acquire ESPN. ABC retained an 80% share, and sold 20% to Nabisco. The Nabisco shares were later sold to Hearst Corporation, which still holds a 20% stake today. In 1986, ABC was purchased for $3.5 billion by Capital Cities Communications. In 1995, The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion and picked up an 80% stake in ESPN at that time. According to an analysis published by Barron's magazine in February 2008, ESPN "is probably worth more than 40% of Disney's entire value... based on prevailing cash-flow multiples in the industry." Although ESPN has been operated as a Disney subsidiary since 1996, it is still technically a joint venture between Disney and Hearst. ESPNHD ESPNHD, launched March 30th, 2003 is a high-definition simulcast of the cable television network ESPN, both owned by Disney that broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ESPNHD along with sister network ABCHD use the 720p HD line standard because the ABC executives proposed a progressive 'p' signal resolves fluid and high speed motion in sports better, particurally during slow motion replays.[8] All Bristol studio shows and most live events on ESPN are produced high definition. ESPN is one of the few networks with an all-digital infrastructure. Shows that are recorded elsewhere − such as Jim Rome Is Burning (Los Angeles);
Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn (Washington, D.C.) are presented in a standard definition, 4:3 format with stylized pillar boxes. ESPN, however maintains a policy that any video that originates in high definition must remain in HD when aired on ESPNHD. Unlike all other sports programming networks, ESPN charges for its HD channel. Recently the network has come under considerable scrutiny from industry technicians and early adopter HD consumers due to a recent noticeable degradation in picture quality, specifically during live events. It is unclear whether this is the result of over-compression, rate shaping or bit starving from cable and satellite providers or something amiss in the ESPN distribution chain.[9] Executives George Bodenheimer: President, ESPN, Inc.[10] Sean Bratches: Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing[11] Christine Driessen: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer[12] Edwin Durso: Executive Vice President, Administration[13] Chuck Pagano: Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer[14] John Skipper: Executive Vice President, Content[15] Norby Williamson: Executive Vice President, Studio and Remote Production[16] Russell Wolff: Executive Vice President and Managing Director, ESPN International[17] Advertising on ESPN Advertising on ESPN is sold out for months in advance. With nearly three-quarters of ESPN's SportsCenter audience being male, ESPN is a great network to catch the male viewer's attention. Major advertisers such as Apple Inc., FedEx, and United Postal Service are continually buying advertisement to reach the 25-54 year old male audience. ESPN's ad revenue averages $441.8 million with an ad rate of $9,446 per 30 second slot.[18] ESPN significant programming rights The NFL on ESPN 1987–1989
(Sunday Night; exclusive cable; second half of season only) 1990–1997 (Sunday Night; second half of season only; TNT carried first half) 1998–2005 (Sunday Night; exclusive cable; entire season, selected Thursday & Saturday night games) 2003–2005 (Pro Bowl, acquired rights from ABC) 2006–2013 (Monday Night Football) FIFA FIFA World Cup: 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2007 UEFA UEFA Champions League: 1994-2009 UEFA European Football Championship: 2008 ESPN Major League Baseball 1990–2013 ESPN Major League Soccer 1996–2014 Major Indoor Soccer League 1985–1987 2005 & 2006 (championship games only) The NBA on ESPN 1982–1984 2002–2016 The Arena Football League on ESPN 1989–2002 2007–2011 Little League World Series 1997[19]-2014 WNBA on ESPN (Originally the WNBA on ESPN2) 1997-2016 PGA Tour on ESPN 1980(?)–2006 (Contracts with individual tournaments) ESPN or ABC continues to broadcast early round or weekend coverage from The Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and Ryder Cup PBA Tour presented by Denny's on ESPN 2000-present LPGA Tour on ESPN 1979-2009 Selected majors through deals with their respective sanctioning bodies NASCAR on ESPN 1981–2000 (Contracts with individual races) 2007–2014 (Contract with NASCAR) The IRL on ESPN 1996–2009 The NHRA on ESPN 1980(?)–2000 (Contracts with individual races) 2001-2013 (Contract with NHRA) Champ Car World Series on ESPN 1992-2001 2007 (series merged with IRL, beginning with the 2008 season) ESPN National Hockey Night 1985–1988 (National television deal, agreements with individual clubs as early as 1979) 1992-2004 ESPN College Football Bowl Games: 1982— (Contracts with individual bowl games) ACC: 1998-2010 Big Ten Conference: 1979-2013 Select Big 12 home games: 2007-(?) Big East: 1991-2013 C-USA: 1995-2010 MAC: 2003-2007 Select Pac 10 Home games: 2007-? SEC: until at least 2023 [20] Sun Belt: (?)-2007 WAC: (?)-2009 NCAA Division I FCS (formerly Division I-AA), Division II, and Division III playoffs (selected games) and championship games.
ESPN College Basketball NCAA Tournament: 1980–1990 (Contract with NCAA) ACC (some telecasts, including games in the conference tournament, are blacked out in ACC markets): Big Ten Conference: 1979-2017 Big 12: 2008-2016, ESPN Plus (ESPN Plus has exclusive rights to some games in Big 12 markets to protect stations purchasing its syndicated package) Big East: 1979-2013, ESPN Plus Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest: 2003-2008 ESPN also broadcasts a range of horse racing and tennis events. It may sometimes acquire the rights to programming in other sports which airs only on ESPN 360, usually because another broadcaster holds the TV rights. ESPN in popular culture ESPN has become a part of popular culture since its inception. Many movies with a general sports theme will include ESPN announcers and programming into their storylines (such as in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, which gently lampoons the channel's multiple outlets by referencing the as-yet-nonexistent ESPN8, "The Ocho"[21]). Also, ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons often jokes that he is looking forward to running a future network in any given column; SportsCenter anchors appeared as themselves in music videos by Brad Paisley ("I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)") and Hootie and the Blowfish ("Only Wanna Be With You"); and the short-lived 1998 TV series Sports Night (by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin) was based around an ESPN-style network and its titular, SportsCenter-analogue flagship sports results program. Many jokes have been made by comedians about fake obscure sports that are shown on ESPN. Dennis Miller mentioned watching "sumo rodeo," while George Carlin stated that ESPN showed "Australian dick wrestling". One of several Saturday Night Live skits poking fun at the network features ESPN2 airing a show called Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly, which includes a fake advertisement for "Senior Women's Beach Lacrosse." In the early years of ESPN, "The Late Show with David Letterman" even featured a "Top Ten List" poking fun at some the obscure sports seen on ESPN at the time. One of the more memorable sports on the list was "Amish Rake Fighting". There are at least 22 children named after the network.[22][23][24] ESPN business ventures Current ESPN.com (1995–present) ESPNSTAR.com (2002–present)
ESPNU.com (2005–present) The ESPN Sports Poll (1994–present) ESPN The Magazine (1998–present) ESPN Deportes La Revista (2005–present) ESPN Original Entertainment (2001–present) ESPN Books (2004–present) ESPN Zone (1998–present) ESPY Awards (1993–present) ESPN Integration (2006–present) ESPN Online Games (2006–present) ESPN Broadband (2002–present) Partial interest in the Arena Football League (2006–present, in exchange for television rights). Former Mobile ESPN (2006) The ESPN family of networks Television ESPN (1979–present) ESPN International (1989–present) ESPN2 (1993–present) ESPN Brasil (1995–present) ESPNEWS (1996–present) ESPNEWSHD (2008–present) ESPN Classic (1997–present) ESPN Classic Canada (2001–present) ESPNHD (2003–present) ESPN Deportes (2004–present) ESPNU (2005–present) ESPN2HD (2005–present) ESPN on ABC (2006–present, replacing ABC Sports) ESPN Plus (–present) ESPN PPV (–present) ESPN Australia HD (2008–present) [edit] ESPN Now ESPN Now Owned by The Walt Disney Company (80%) Hearst Corporation (20%) Picture format 480i (SDTV) Country United States Language American English ESPN Now was a former rolling digital cable barker channel which aired from 2001-2004 and featured a scoring ticker, along with ESPN and Go.com promotional advertising. It mainly was used to promote ESPN's college sports pay per view packages to viewers. The channel was eventually discontinued with the rise of video on demand. Internet ESPN Motion (2003–present) ESPN 360 (2005–present) ESPN.com ESPN.mobi ESPNdeportes.com ESPN.com in Portuguese for Brazil Soccernet Cricinfo.com Scrum.com EXPN.com Radio ESPN Radio (1992–present) ESPN Deportes Radio (2005–present) Rádio Eldorado ESPN (2007–present) Network-wide preemption Several times ESPN programing has been drastically altered because of coverage of world events. Both ESPN and ESPN2 carried ABC News coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The only original program produced after the preemption was a shortened 6pm edition of Sportscenter which focused on covering the cancellations of sporting events in reaction to the terror attacks. ESPN carried the first round of the 2003 NCAA Basketball Tournament due to CBS's coverage of the first few days of the Invasion of Iraq. The games were still produced by CBS. The only identifiers of ESPN was their bottomline graphic. See also List of programs broadcast by ESPN List of ESPN personalities ESPN Australia ESPN Full Circle SportsCenter ESPN Major League Baseball ESPN2 Major League Soccer NASCAR on ESPN WNBA on ESPN The NBA on ESPN ESPN auto racing broadcast teams ESPN College Basketball Broadcast Teams ESPN College Football Broadcast Teams ESPN MLB Broadcast Teams ESPN NBA Broadcast Teams ESPN MLS/Soccer Broadcast Teams (FIFA World Cup Included) List of assets owned by Disney TSN Dish Network Channel Grid List of DirecTV channels Wieden+Kennedy External links ESPN.com Official Site ESPN.mobi Official Mobile Site ESPN Video Archive Official ESPN Video Archive ESPN Argentina ESPN Brasil ESPN STAR Sports (Asia) ESPN Fan Zone (Official ESPN Research via Surveys and Forums) The King of all Sports Media – ESPN Sports Business News December 20, 2006 ESPN Inc.
ESPN executives
George Bodenheimer · Sean Bratches · Christine Driessen · Edwin Durso · Chuck Pagano · John Skipper · Norby Williamson · Russell Wolff
ESPN family of networks
ESPN · ESPN2 · ESPN on ABC · ESPNEWS · ESPN Classic · ESPNU · ESPN Deportes · ESPNHD · ESPN2HD · ESPNEWSHD · ESPN Plus · ESPN PPV · ESPN360 · ESPN Radio · ESPN Deportes Radio · ESPN Xtra · ESPN All Access ESPN International ESPN Australia · ESPN Brasil · ESPN Latin America · ESPN+ · ESPN Star Sports · NASN Current ESPN business ventures ESPN.com · ESPN Original Entertainment · ESPN The Magazine · ESPN Deportes La Revista · ESPN Books · ESPN Zone · ESPY Awards · ESPN Integration
Defunct ESPN business ventures ESPN Extra · ESPN Mobile · ESPN Now · ESPN West Sports properties Arena Football League · College Football · Major League Baseball · Major League Soccer · ESPNsoccernet · National Football League · NASCAR · National Basketball Association · Women's National Basketball Association · Indy Racing League · List of Programming Rights Canadian ventures with CTVglobemedia Animal Planet Canada · Discovery Channel Canada · Discovery Civilization Channel · Discovery HD Canada · ESPN Classic Canada · NHL Network Canada · RDS · RIS · TSN · WTSN (now defunct) · Viewers Choice Other properties Jayski's Silly Season Site · North American Sports Network · TrueHoop · Cricinfo Key programs Around the Horn · Baseball Tonight · College GameDay (football) · E:60 · ESPN College Football Primetime · ESPN First Take · Friday Night Fights · Jim Rome Is Burning · Mike and Mike in the Morning · Monday Night Countdown · Monday Night Football · NBA Friday · NASCAR Countdown · NASCAR Now · NBA Shootaround · Outside the Lines · Pardon the Interruption · Saturday Primetime · College GameDay (basketball) · SportsCenter · Sunday NFL Countdown · Sunday Night Baseball · MLS Primetime Thursday · The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Notable personalities
John Anderson · Erin Andrews · Skip Bayless · Chris Berman · Bonnie Bernstein · Michelle Bonner · Mike Breen · Hubie Brown · John Buccigross · Jonathan Coachman · Linda Cohn · Chris Connelly · Lee Corso · Colin Cowherd · Jay Crawford · Rece Davis · Chris Fowler · Ron Franklin · Peter Gammons · Mike Greenberg · Mike Golic · Jay Harris · Kirk Herbstreit · Fred Hickman · Lou Holtz · Tom Jackson · Dana Jacobson · Brian Kenny · Suzy Kolber · Tony Kornheiser · Tim Legler · Bob Ley · Steve Levy · Jay Mariotti · Kenny Mayne · Sean McDonough · Chris McKendry · Barry Melrose · Jon Miller · Joe Morgan · Brent Musburger · Brad Nessler · Rachel Nichols · Woody Paige · Jesse Palmer · Mike Patrick · Steve Phillips · Derek Rae · Karl Ravech · Tony Reali · Jim Rome · John Saunders · Mark Schlereth · Stuart Scott · Howie Schwab · Dan Shulman · Michael Smith · Stephen A. Smith · Tommy Smyth · Michele Tafoya · Mike Tirico · Scott Van Pelt · Dick Vitale · Michael Wilbon
Owners: The Walt Disney Company 80% - Hearst Corporation 20% Sports television in the United States Broadcast sports divisions: CBS Sports • ESPN on ABC • Fox Sports • NBC Sports National cable/satellite networks: ESPN • ESPN2 • ESPN Classic • ESPNEWS • Fox Sports Net • Versus Specialty networks: Big Ten Network • CBS College Sports Network • ESPNU • Fox College Sports • Fox Soccer Channel • Fuel TV • GOL TV • Horse Racing TV • MLB Network (launches Jan. 1, 2009) • MountainWest Sports Network • NBA TV • NFL Network • NHL Network • Setanta Sports North America • Speed • Outdoor Channel • The Golf Channel • Tennis Channel • TVG Network Occasional broadcasts: HBO • ION Television • MyNetworkTV • PBS • Sci Fi Channel • Showtime • Spike • TBS • The CW Television Network • Turner Network Television • USA Network • WGN America Regional sports networks: 4SD • Altitude Sports and Entertainment • Buckeye Cable Sports Network • Catch 47 • Columbus Sports Network • Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast • Comcast SportsNet • Cox Sports Television • Fighting Sioux Sports Network • Fox Sports Net • Metro Sports • Mid-Atlantic Sports Network • MSG Network • New England Sports Network • SportsNet New York • SportSouth • SportsTime Ohio • Sun Sports • Time Warner Sports (Upstate NY) • Time Warner Cable Sports 32 • YES Network Syndicators: America One • ESPN Plus • Raycom Sports Spanish language: ESPN Deportes • Fox Sports en Español Broadband services: ESPN360 • Universal Sports
Defunct networks: American Sports Classics • Carolinas Sports Entertainment Television • CNN Sports Illustrated • Comcast Local • Empire Sports Network • Football Network • Mizlou Television Network • NewSport • ON-TV • PRISM • SCORE • SportsChannel America • SportsChannel Los Angeles • Sports Time • TVS Television Network • Prime Network • PASS Sports • Royals Sports Television Network • Victory Sports One • World Championship Sports Network The Walt Disney Company Board of directors Susan Arnold · John Bryson · John S. Chen · Judith Estrin · Robert Iger (President, CEO) · Steve Jobs · Fred Langhammer · Aylwin Lewis · Monica Lozano · Robert Matschullat · John E. Pepper, Jr. (Chairman) · Orin C. Smith Walt Disney Studio Entertainment Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group Walt Disney Pictures · Touchstone Pictures · Hollywood Pictures · Pixar Animation Studios · Walt Disney Animation Studios · Miramax Films · Disneynature Disney Music Group Hollywood Records · Walt Disney Records · Lyric Street Records · Mammoth Records · Wonderland Music Company · Walt Disney Music Company Other studio holdings Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures · Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment · Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) · Walt Disney Theatrical Productions Disney-ABC Television Group ABC Network ABC · ABC News · ABC News Now Cable TV Channels ABC Family · Disney Channel · ESPN (80%) (see navpage) · Jetix · Jetix Play · SOAPnet · Playhouse Disney · Toon Disney · Disney XD · Disney Cinemagic · Lifetime Entertainment Services (50%) · A&E Television Networks (37.5%) Radio & TV Distribution ABC News Radio · Radio Disney · Disney-ABC International TV · Disney-ABC Domestic Television TV Production ABC Studios · Greengrass Productions · Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Interactive Media Group
Walt Disney Internet Group Go.com · ABC.com · ABCNews.com · ESPN.com · Disney.com Disney Interactive Studios Disney Interactive Studios · Touchstone Games · Blackrock Studios · Propaganda Games · Avalanche Software · Fall Lines Games · Junction Point Studios · Gamestar ABC-owned TV KABC · KFSN · KGO · KTRK · WABC · WJRT · WLS · WPVI · WTVD · WTVG Radio Stations KDIS-AM · KDIS-FM · KDIZ · KESN · KKDZ · KMIC · KMIK · KMKI · KMKY · KNIT¹ · KSPN · WDDY · WEAE · WEPN · WFDF · WMKI · WMVP · WQEW · WRDZ-AM · WRDZ-FM · WSDZ · WWCS² · WWMK Miscellaneous Assets Golden Oak Ranch · Muppets Holding Company · The Prospect Studios · Reedy Creek Energy · Times Square Studios · Walt Disney Consumer Products (see navpage) · Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (see navpage) ¹ = Disney manages and operates this station owned by James Crystal Radio under an LMA. ² = Operated by Birach Broadcasting, controlled by Disney under an LMA. Annual Revenue: ▲ US $35.5 billion (2007) · Employees: 137,000 (Mar 2008) · Stock Symbol: NYSE: DIS · Website: corporate.disney.go.com Subscription television in Australia AUSTAR · Foxtel · Neighbourhood Cable · Optus Television · SelecTV · TransACT · UBI World TV Channels Entertainment Arena · Bio. · Comedy · E! · Fashion TV · FOX Classics · FOX8 · Hallmark · HOW TO Channel · The LifeStyle Channel · LifeStyle Food · Ovation · Sci Fi · TV1 · UKTV · W. · Wine TV Movies Movie One · Movie Two · Movie Extra · Movie Greats · Showcase ·
Showtime · Showtime 2 · Showtime Greats · Turner Classic Movies · World Movies Sports ESPN · Eurosport Asia Pacific · Eurosport News · FOX Sports · FoxSportsNews · Fuel TV · Main Event · National Geographic Adventure · Setanta Sports · Sky Racing · TVN News Sky News Australia · Sky News Business Channel · Al Jazeera English · BBC World News · Bloomberg Television · Channel NewsAsia · CNBC Australia · CNN International · EuroNews · Fox News Channel · Headline News · NDTV 24x7 · The Weather Channel · Weatherzone Documentary Animal Planet · Crime & Investigation Network · Discovery Channel · Discovery Home & Health · Discovery Real Time · Discovery Science · Discovery Travel & Living · The History Channel · National Geographic Kids & Family Boomerang · Cartoon Network · Disney Channel · Nick Jr. · Nickelodeon · Playhouse Disney Channel Music Channel [V] · Channel [V]² · Country Music Channel · MAX · MTV · VH1 · TMF · MCM Specialty Al Jazeera · Antenna · ART · Aurora Community Television · Australian Christian Channel · The Filipino Channel · LBC · MAD World · RAI International · Expo · TVSN Future BBC HD · ESPN HD · Fox Sports HD Defunct Asia Business News · C7 Sport · CNNfn · Fox Footy Channel · Odyssey · Oh! · Horizon Learning Channel Additional resources Articles Subscription television in Australia · Television in Australia · Television broadcasting in Australia · Regional television in Australia Lists Timeline of Australian television · List of Australian television series (long running) · List of Australian television presenters Free-to-air television in Australia · Television in Canada · Television in New Zealand · Television in the United Kingdom · Television in the United States Webby Awards Award Nominee, 1998 award in the category Sports Awards Ceremonies 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001
References ESPN: An Uncensored History, by Michael Freeman. Published in 2000 ESPN, Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002482/ESPN "ESPN decides not to match Comcast's offer", ESPN (2005-08-18). ESPN, Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002482/ESPN The Sporting News 12/30/96 "ESPN calls time out on scripted fare", Variety, vol. 407, No. 1, May 21-27, 2007, p. 22 Greg Johnson, ESPN is on schedule to land in L.A. in 2009, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2007. chosen_direction_covers.qxd What's Up With ESPN HD? "The Walt Disney Company - George W. Bodenheimer Executive Biography". The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "SEAN R. H. BRATCHES Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing". media.espn.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "CHRISTINE F. DRIESSEN Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer". media.espn.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "EDWIN M. DURSO Executive Vice President, Administration". media.espn.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "CHUCK PAGANO Executive Vice President, Technology". media.espn.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "JOHN SKIPPER Executive Vice President, Content". media.espn.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "NORBY WILLIAMSON Executive Vice President, Studio and Remote Production". media.espn.com.
Retrieved on 2007-04-07. "RUSSELL WOLFF Executive Vice President and Managing Director, ESPN International". media.espn.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. ESPN, Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002482/ESPN "Little League Chronology". Little League Online. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. ESPN2 broadcasts started in 1997. ESPN scores 15 year SEC rights deal "Movie Preview: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story". Entertainment Weekly (2004-04-21). Retrieved on 2008-07-30. NBC Sports, http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/15168029/, retrieved 4-8-2008 "Texas toddler at least third named ESPN", ESPN (2006-06-16). Hiestand, Michael (2006-02-07). "Lampley nearing most-called Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-05-09. “ESPN says it's heard of at least 22 babies named ESPN.” Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN" Categories: Australian television channels | Webby Award Nominees | ESPN | Companies established in 1979 | ESPN media outlets | Walt Disney Company subsidiaries | Orphan initialisms | Television channels and stations established in 1979 | Companies based in Hartford County, Connecticut | Sports television | Cable TV of Hong Kong
Source: Freebase – The World's Database
"[ESPN]" Freely licensed under CC-BY.
