24 Facts About ESPN

ESPN is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc, owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

ESPN was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan.

However, the plan to base ESPN there was put on hold because of a local ordinance prohibiting buildings from bearing rooftop satellite dishes.

ESPN launched on September 7,1979, beginning with the first telecast of what would become the channel's flagship program, SportsCenter.

Also in April 1980, specifically on April 10th, ESPN began broadcasting Top Rank Boxing on ESPN, marking the beginning of professional boxing shows on that channel.

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ESPN took full advantage and began to broadcast a large number of NCAA football games, creating an opportunity for fans to be able to view multiple games each weekend, the same deal that the NCAA had previously negotiated with TBS.

The channel's decision to broadcast NFL games on Sunday evenings actually resulted in a decline in viewership for the daytime games shown on the major broadcast networks, marking the first time that ESPN had been a legitimate competitor to NBC and CBS, which had long dominated the sports television market.

In 1992, ESPN launched ESPN Radio, a national sports talk radio network providing analysis and commentary programs as well as audio play-by-play of sporting events.

Ownership of ABC, and in effect control of ESPN, was acquired by Capital Cities Communications in 1985.

The layoffs came as ESPN continued to shed viewers, more than 10 million over a period of several years, while paying big money for the broadcast rights to such properties as the NFL, NBA and College Football Playoff.

In March 2019, ESPN announced a new betting-themed daily program, Daily Wager, hosted by the network's gambling analyst Doug Kezirian.

In search of a new strategic direction that will reduce the impact of covid on business in 2021 The Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek during Q4 FY21 Earnings Conference with investor told that the company ready to expand gambling meaning ESPN department: "We're moving towards a greater presence in online sports betting, and given our reaching scale, we have the potential to partner with third-parties in this space in a very meaningful way".

ESPN Classic is a subscription television network that launched in 1995 as Classic Sports Network, founded by Brian Bedol and Steve Greenberg.

ESPN Inc purchased Classic Sports Network in 1997 for $175 million, rebranding the channel to its current name the following year.

ESPN is one of the few television networks with an all-digital infrastructure.

WatchESPN was a website for desktop computers, as well as an application for smartphones and tablet computers that allows subscribers of participating pay-TV providers to watch live streams of programming from ESPN and its sister networks, including most sporting events, on computers, mobile devices, Apple TV, Roku and Xbox Live via their TV Everywhere login provided by their cable provider.

Likewise, ESPN+ was launched in April 2018 as an add-on subscription for $4.

On June 1,2019, WatchESPN was discontinued with the service's full merger into the ESPN app.

ESPN owns and operates regional channels in Brazil, Caribbean, Latin America, Netherlands, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa.

In Canada, ESPN is a minority owner of The Sports Network and the French-language Reseau des sports.

ESPN is based in New York and reports directly to Jimmy Pitaro.

ESPN has been a part of popular culture since its inception.

ESPN has been criticized for focusing too much on men's college and professional sports, and very little on women's sports or other extreme sports.

On October 8,2019, Deadspin reported that an internal memo was sent to ESPN employees instructing them to avoid any political discussions regarding the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong in the aftermath of a tweet by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.