ESPN Type Cable Television Network Country Bristol, Connecticut USA Availability National, through regional affiliates Owner The Walt Disney Company (80%) Hearst Corporation (20%) Launch date September 7, 1979 Past names Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Website espn.go.com ESPN (formerly an initialism for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting 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. The current president, since November 19, 1998, of ESPN is George Bodenheimer. Bodenheimer is also the current head of ESPN on ABC, having been named to that position on March 3, 2003. Its signature telecast, SportsCenter, debuted with the network and aired its 25,000th episode on August 25, 2002. ESPN broadcasts primarily out of its studios in Bristol, Connecticut; it also operates offices out of Charlotte, San Francisco, and Los Angeles which will open in 2009. ESPN is available in over 90 million homes in the United States and over 147 countries and territories via ESPN International. The name of the sport company was lengthened to "ESPN Inc." in February 1985. Contents 1 History 2 Significant programming rights 3 Music 4 ESPN in popular culture 5 ESPN business ventures 6 The ESPN family of networks 6.1 Television 6.2 Internet 6.3 Radio 7 Reference 8 See also 9 External links History ESPN started as an alternative to standard television news broadcasts and the information found in "Sports" sections of newspapers. It began as a fairly small operation and often had to broadcast unorthodox sporting events, such as the World's Strongest Man Competition; international sports relatively unknown in the U.S., such as Australian rules football, as well as the short-lived United States Football League (USFL), to attract viewers. In 1987, ESPN landed a contract to show National Football League games on Sunday evenings, an event which marked as a turning point in its development from a smaller cable TV network to a marketing empire, a cornerstone to the enthusiastic "sports culture" it largely helped to create. ESPN was originally owned by a joint venture between Getty Oil Company (which was purchased by Texaco) and Nabisco. Since 1984, the entire family of ESPN networks and franchises have been owned by ABC (the American Broadcasting Company) (80%) (which became part of The Walt Disney Company in 1996) and the Hearst Corporation (20%). Rece Davis and Linda Cohn on June 7, 2004 during the first ever SportsCenter in High Definition In 2004, ESPN opened its High Definition center in Bristol, Connecticut. Many shows, including Sportscenter, Baseball Tonight, NFL Live, College Gameday and others are broadcast in HD. Also, many of the games that ESPN televises are broadcast in HD. The first program ever broadcast in HD on ESPN was an NCAA basketball game in 2002, at the University of Dayton Arena. The first broadcast from the Digital Center was the 11pm ET edition of SportsCenter with Linda Cohn and Rece Davis on June 7, 2004. Significant programming rights This section does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. The NFL on ESPN 1987–1989 (Exclusive Cable; Sunday Night; 2nd Half of Season Only) 1990–1997 (2nd Half of Season Only; Sunday Night; TNT carries early season) 1998–2005 (Exclusive Cable; Sunday Night) 2006–2013 (Monday Night Football) ESPN Major League Baseball 1990–2013 ESPN Major League Soccer 1996–2014 The NBA on ESPN 1982–1984 2002–2008 The WNBA on ESPN2 2006- PGA Tour on ESPN 1980(?)–2006 (Contracts with invididual tournaments) LPGA Tour on ESPN 1979-2009 NASCAR on ESPN 1981–2000 (Contracts with individual races) 2007–2014 (Contract with NASCAR) The IRL on ESPN 1996–2009 The NHRA on ESPN -2013 The Busch Series on ESPN2 2007-2013 The NHL on ESPN 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 10: 1979-2017 Big East: 1979-2013 C-USA: (?)-2010 MAC: (?)-2007 Pac-10: Selected non-conference games from 2005-2011 SEC: (?)-2009 Sun Belt: (?)-2007 WAC: (?)-2009 NCAA D1-AA, II, and III playoffs (selected games) and championship games. ESPN College Basketball NCAA Tournament: 1980–1990 (Contract with NCAA) ACC: Big 10: 1979-2017 Big 12: Big East: 1979-2013 FIFA FIFA World Cup: 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 Music ESPN has had its own theme music for quite a few years, but early on it used source music. An early theme for its flagship "SportsCenter" program was "Pulstar", an energetic electronic instrumental piece by Vangelis from his 1976 album Albedo 0.39. It would play while computer animation of baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, etc., would fly out from the center of the TV screen in all directions. ESPN in popular culture ESPN has become a part of popular culture since its inception. The name is constantly referenced throughout the media in movies and television. While the announcers may be actual personalities, in many films where there is a sporting event, the coverage is by ESPN. People who do not even watch sports are familiar with ESPN. Oftentimes this comes in the form of a lampoon of the number of channels ESPN operates. A few examples: In the movie Zathura, Walter is watching Sportcenter on ESPN while Danny is pestering him, and the TV ends up being destroyed during the first spin of the game by a meteor. In the 2004 movie Fever Pitch, Ben Wrightmen is interviewed by Steve Levy at Boston Red Sox Spring Training. In the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, a major dodgeball tournament is broadcast by ESPN 8 ("The Ocho"): "If it's almost a sport, we've got it!" (There currently is no ESPN 8). In the movie The Waterboy, main character Bobby Boucher is featured on SportsCenter, and some of the SCLSU games are aired by ESPN. In the Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard, ESPN 2 broadcasts the football game between the criminals and the guards. In the Farrelly Brothers comedy There's Something About Mary, the character Mary—played by Cameron Diaz—invites her date inside, saying "You want to watch Sportscenter?". In the DVD special features in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, there is a skit that contains the "interview" of fictional anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) to work at ESPN in 1979; he states that the idea of a twenty-four-hour sports network would be ludicrous. This first appeared on ESPN.com. In one episode of King of the Hill, Hank mentions that the Gay Rodeo is a sport that he has seen on ESPN 3. The short-lived 1998 TV series Sports Night (by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin) was based on an ESPN-style network, with the same witty banter between anchors. ESPN is referenced in a Simpsons' episode: Homer flips through various channels and stops on a channel which clearly lampoons ESPN, except the network's initials are PENS (an anagram of ESPN). In the film Mean Girls, a dumb blonde claims to have ESPN, when she intended to say ESP. (That joke has been used in many different shows and movies.) 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". There are at least four children named after the network. By going to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15168029/?GT1=8618#storyContinued you can see that a recently born child has also been named ESPN.[1] ESPN business ventures ESPN maintains the ESPN forums, message boards which can be located on www.espn.com. It consists of various sports such as baseball, basketball, football, NCAA sports, etc. It also is popular for its fantasy sports forums, which allows people to converse about trade ideas and get feedback on whether or not they should pull the trigger on certain trades in their fantasy leagues. It has individual forums for each team but also contains general forums where fans of all teams can gather and speak with each other. Other ESPN ventures include: ESPN.com (1995–present) ESPNU.com (2006-present) ESPN The Magazine (1998–present) ESPN Deportes La Revista (2005–present) ESPN Books (2004–present) ESPN Zone (1998–present) ESPY Awards (1993–present) Mobile ESPN (2006) ESPN Integration (2006–present) EXPN.com (–present) ESPN Online Games (2006–present) ESPN Broadband (2002–present) The ESPN family of networks Television ESPN (1979–present) ESPN on ABC (2006-present, replacing ABC Sports) ESPN International (1989–present) ESPN2 (1993–present) ESPNEWS (1996–present) ESPN Classic (1997–present) ESPNU (2005–present) ESPN Deportes (2004–present) ESPNHD (2003–present) ESPN2HD (2005–present) ESPN Plus (–present) ESPN PPV (–present) Internet ESPN Motion (2003–present) ESPN 360 (2005–present) Radio ESPN Radio (1992–present) ESPN Deportes Radio (2005–present) Reference ^ "Texas toddler at least third named ESPN", ESPN, June 16, 2006. ESPN Mediakit (2006). [1] Retrieved Feb. 13, 2006. ESPN Classic Canada See also TSN is partially owned by ESPN. The appearance of the "BottomLine" ticker and logo are identical on both networks. List of programs broadcast by ESPN List of ESPN personalities Annual sporting events broadcast on ESPN ESPN Full Circle ESPN Major League Baseball The WNBA on ESPN2 The NBA on ESPN ESPN College Basketball Broadcast Teams ESPN College Football Broadcast Teams ESPN MLB Broadcast Teams ESPN NBA Broadcast Teams ESPN NFL Broadcast Teams ESPN MLS/Soccer Broadcast Teams (FIFA World Cup Included) ESPN2 WNBA Broadcast Teams List of assets owned by Disney TSN Dish Network Channel Grid List of DirecTV channels External links Official Site ESPN HD ESPN TV ESPN International ESPN/Star Sports(Asia) ESPN Forums ESPN Inc. ESPN Network Family: ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPN on ABC | ESPNEWS | ESPN Classic | ESPNU | ESPN Deportes | ESPN HD | ESPN2 HD | ESPN Now | ESPN Plus | ESPN PPV | ESPN360 | ESPN Radio | ESPN Deportes Radio -List of ESPN family of networks ESPN Business Ventures: ESPN.com | ESPNU.com | ESPN The Magazine | ESPN Deportes La Revista | ESPN Books | ESPN Zone | ESPY Awards | Mobile ESPN | ESPN Integration -List of ESPN business ventures Key Programs: Around the Horn | Baseball Tonight | Cold Pizza | College GameDay | Mike and Mike in the Morning | Monday Night Football | NBA Shootaround | Outside the Lines | Pardon the Interruption | Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith | SportsCenter | Sunday NFL Countdown | Sunday Night Baseball -List of programs broadcast by ESPN Top Personalities: John Anderson | Chris Berman | Linda Cohn | Lee Corso | Rece Davis | Chris Fowler | Suzy Kolber | Tony Kornheiser | Bob Ley | Steve Levy | Kenny Mayne | Dan Patrick | Karl Ravech | Stuart Scott | Mike Tirico | Michael Wilbon -List of ESPN personalities The Walt Disney Company Board of directors: John Bryson | John S. Chen | Judith Estrin | Robert Iger (President, CEO) | Steve Jobs | Fred Langhammer | Aylwin Lewis | Monica Lozano | Robert Matschullat | George J. Mitchell (Chairman) | Leo O'Donovan | John E. Pepper, Jr. | Orin C. Smith Publishing Assets: Disney Adventures | ESPN The Magazine | Hyperion Interactive Assets: Disney.com | ABC.com | ABCNews.com | ESPN.com | Buena Vista Games | Go.com | Movies.com Buena Vista Music Group: Walt Disney Records | Lyric Street Records | Hollywood Records | Mammoth Records Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group: Buena Vista Distribution | The Walt Disney Studios | Walt Disney Pictures | Walt Disney Feature Animation | Touchstone Pictures | Pixar Animation Studios | Miramax Films | Miramax Family Films | Hollywood Pictures ABC owned Television Stations: KABC | KFSN | KGO | KTRK | WABC | WJRT | WLS | WPVI | WTVD | WTVG American Broadcasting Company: ABC1 | ABC Family | ABC News | ABC News Now | ESPN on ABC ESPN Networks (80% owned): ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPNEWS | ESPN Classic | ESPNU | ESPN Deportes | ESPN HD | ESPN2 HD | ESPN Now | ESPN Plus | ESPN PPV | ESPN360 Other Cable Television Networks: Disney Channel | Jetix | SOAPnet | Toon Disney Television Production and Distribution: Buena Vista Television | Touchstone Television | Walt Disney Television | Walt Disney Television Animation Radio Stations: KABC | KDIS | KDIS | KDIZ | KESN | KGO | KKDZ | KLOS | KMKI | KMKY | KQRS | KSCS | KSFO | KSPN | KSPN | KTYS | KXXR | WABC | WBAP | WDRQ | WDVD | WEAE | WEPN | WFDF | WGVX | WGVY | WGVZ | WJR | WJZW | WKHX | WLS | WMAL | WMKI | WMVP | WPLJ | WRQX | WWMK | WYAY | WZZN Radio Networks: ABC News & Talk | ABC News Radio | ABC Radio (sale to Citadel Broadcasting pending) | ESPN Radio | ESPN Deportes Radio | Radio Disney Walt Disney Parks and Resorts: Disneyland Resort | Walt Disney World Resort | Tokyo Disney Resort¹| Disneyland Resort Paris | Hong Kong Disneyland Resort | Disney Cruise Line | Disney Regional Entertainment | Walt Disney Imagineering ¹Licensed and designed by Disney, owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company Miscellaneous Assets: Reedy Creek Energy Services | Muppets Holding Company Annual Revenue: $30.8 billion USD (2004) | Employees: 129,000 | Stock Symbol: NYSE: DIS | Website: disney.go.com Search Term: "ESPN" Categories: Articles lacking sources | Companies established in 1979 | ESPN media outlets | Walt Disney Company subsidiaries | Companies without an unabbreviated name

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