ESPN is an American-based global cable and satellite television channel that focuses on sports-related programming.
Origins ESPN was founded by Bill Rasmussen, his son Scott Rasmussen, and 43 year old eye doctor and Aetna insurance agent Ed Eagan.Miller & Shales, pp. 3–4 Bill, who had an affinity with sports for much of his life, was fired from his position as the communications manager for the New England Whalers in 1978. During his tenure with the hockey team, Rasmussen had met Eagan, who displayed an interest in building a career in television. Eagan approached Bill with the idea of creating a monthly cable television program covering Connecticut sports and was curious to see if the Whalers would be interested in being the main feature on the show.
Though discouraged by his firing, Rasmussen and Eagan began to discuss a new course, Bill Rasmussen's original idea was to create a cable television network that focused on covering all sporting events in the state of Connecticut (for example, the Whalers, the Bristol Red Sox and the Connecticut Huskies), rather than just focusing on one team as Eagan had proposed. Rasmussen knew little about cable television at the time and with under 20% of homes receiving cable, the task to create such a network was tedious.Miller & Shales, p. 5
In the summer of 1978, the Rasmussens, with Eagan and his associate Bob Beyus – who owned a video production company – began to seek out support from cable operators and potential investors for the sports channel which they had come to name the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESP). They began to pitch their idea on June 26 of that year, inviting twelve representatives from local cable operators – only five of whom had accepted the offer. The representatives that were present were skeptical of the concept and stated that it would be impractical and too costly to take a risk on something that would seemingly falter. Despite the setback, the team held a press conference to help spread the word. 35 reporters were invited, however only four appeared and were less than enthusiastic about the prospects of the company. Beyus felt the future of ESP was in doubt and departed following the conference.Miller & Shales, p. 6
In spite of these initial difficulties, ESP was incorporated on July 13, 1978, for a fee of $91. The trio still had to find a way to broadcast their new sports channel and began their research at United Cable, where they were told about a new means of television distribution, satellite communication. They were then directed to RCA, which had experience in satellite communication, having launched Satcom into orbit and frequently using the technology in Europe, the concept was still new in the United States (satellite delivery was first used for full-time television broadcasts by HBO in September 1975), and was not immediately embraced. Al Parinello, who was hired by RCA to promote the new technology, received a phone call from Rasmussen and wanted to meet with him in person.Miller & Shales, pp. 7–8 At the meeting, Bill explained they were interested in regional sports broadcasting, however, Parinello explained that with satellite communication, their channel could be broadcast across the country. Furthermore, when they were informed that buying a continuous 24-hour satellite feed was less expensive than sending the signal across Connecticut via landlines, they agreed to buy the transponder for the satellite.
With a wider audience to appeal to, they began to retool their original concept, and on August 16, 1978, both father and son agreed that the channel would show all types of sports 24 hours a day, have a half-hour sports show every night, hire sportscasters and buy a fleet of trucks to travel across the nation covering various sporting events.Miller & Shales, p. 9 Putting together money from various family members and associates, they put down $30,000 for the transponder.Miller & Shales, p. 11 The group then had to search for property to set up their headquarters. They originally began looking for land in Plainville, however, due to an ordinance that prohibited satellite dishes, ESP could not settle there.Miller & Shales, p. 13 Instead, they chose to buy a parcel of land for $18,000 in Bristol that had been built on a dump, the satellite signal was unaffected in the area, making it an ideal location.
Initial financing and development The Rasmussens received financial aid from J. B. Doherty and K. S. Sweet Associates on an interim basis, but they were interested in finding permanent investors. Doherty shared a similar sentiment and after several failed attempts to do so, he approached Stuart Evey, a Getty Oil Company executive who was the vice president of non-oil operations.Miller & Shales, p. 14Miller & Shales, p. 16 Evey was immediately interested in the venture and brought it to the attention of Getty's finance manager, George Conner. Though a bit wary, the company decided to invest in the project by February 1979.Miller & Shales, pp. 19–23
College sports rights With the newly found financial assistance, Bill, aware that ESP would struggle to secure rights to professional sports at the time, felt the company could strike a deal with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the rights to rebroadcast their college sporting events. College basketball at the time was popular, and Rasmussen felt rebroadcasting games such as the fast-paced basketball would attract new viewers. Furthermore, by having a contract with the NCAA, it would legitimize ESP without Rasmussen having to utilize the Getty name to help further his pursuits. Rasmussen organized a meeting with NCAA officials and, following a hastily put together presentation, negotiations began, the parties eventually came to terms. In the agreement, ESP agreed to broadcast eighteen different NCAA sports, including championship games, in their entirety, for two years. The contract was made official on March 14, 1979.
Though ESP would not launch for some six months, the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament had garnered considerable attention, as it was watched by 24.1 million viewers, due to the matchup between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson – the tournament is regarded as having an instrumental part in ESP's eventual success due to the fact many viewers called their cable providers asking that they wanted "that channel that has all the basketball."
In May 1979, Getty provided $15 million to the company and Anheuser-Busch came to an agreement with ESP for the largest advertising contract in cable television history at the time, valued at $1.38 million.Miller & Shales, p. 25–26
Leadership and personnel Rasmussen, realizing that ESP needed additional sponsors and advertising, decided to distinguish the network from the "Big Three three-letter networks," ABC, NBC, and CBS, and renamed ESP as ESPN-TV. The name was shortened to just ESPN prior to the channel's launch. Evey, who had essentially gained control of the company, sought out ESPN's first president. Rasmussen wanted to hire Dick Ebersol, who had been fired from NBC in January 1979, but Evey had little interest in doing so. Ebersol suggested Chet Simmons, who at the time was running NBC Sports but had become increasingly frustrated with NBC chairman Jane Cahill Pfeiffer, whose visions conflicted with those of Simmons.Miller & Shales, pp. 27–29 Evey promised Simmons that he would face little interference from Rasmussen, without Bill's knowledge, and Simmons agreed to become the network's first president – an appointment that was officially announced on July 18, 1979.Miller & Shales, p. 31
With the Rasmussens gradually being pushed out of the company, Evey and Simmons continued to move forward, hiring a broadcasting team that included Jim Simpson, George Grande, Bob Ley, Lee Leonard, Greg Gumbel, Chris Berman and Dick Vitale. As ESPN's launch date approached, the building that would house the new network had yet to be completed – the cable which was connected to the satellite was only plugged in about five minutes prior to the launch of the network.Miller & Shales, pp. 40–44
Debut
On September 7, 1979, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, an estimated 30,000 viewers tuned in to witness the launch of ESPN.Miller & Shales, pp. 44–45 Simultaneously, ESPN debuted its first SportsCenter telecast with anchors Lee Leonard and George Grande. About 1.4 million homes tuned in to the launch of this new channel. The first words spoken were from Leonard who informed viewers: "If you're a fan, if you're a fan, what you'll see in the next minutes, hours, and days to follow may convince you you've gone to sports heaven." The first score Grande announced was Chris Evert's victory over Billie Jean King at the US Open. SportsCenter lasted a half-hour, consisting mainly of videotaped highlights. Following the conclusion of the telecast, the network aired a men's professional slow-pitch softball game from Lannon, Wisconsin with Joe Boyle working play-by-play, former Yankees player Johnny Blanchard offering color commentary and former Detroit Tigers catcher Jim Price as field reporter. It was the first game of a best-of-nine World Series between the Milwaukee Schlitz and the Kentucky Bourbons.
Early programming also included boxing, wrestling and college soccer. The initial music package in 1979 was composed by veteran production music composer Dave Shields with Mel Hall at Cinira Corp in San Diego using studio musicians from Hollywood and San Diego. He wrote a logo melody and expanded it for various purposes, and composed themes for all the programs at that time, including a reggae-rock style promotional song. They also used Vangelis's "Pulstar" as the theme to SportsCenter early on.
SportsCenter, the channel's flagship program, would grow in popularity throughout its history and became known for the six-note theme (colloquially referred to as "DaDaDa, DaDaDa") that was written by John Colby, who served as ESPN's music director, producer and composer from 1984 to 1992 (who has also served as the music director and bandleader for the ESPY Awards since the show's inception in 1993, and has composed themes for other ESPN programs and sports telecasts including college sports, NBA and NFL broadcasts, Outside the Lines and ESPNews).
Two days after their first broadcast, Evey issued an ultimatum to Bill, in which he stated that Rasmussen should remain out of the way as he had little command within the company anymore. Scott was fired by Evey as there were growing conflicts between Evey, Simmons and Rasmussen.Miller & Shales, pp. 52–53
ESPN struggled financially during its early years. In 1980, Anheuser-Busch Vice President and Director of Marketing Michael Roarty persuaded his company to invest $1million in ESPN. Anheuser-Busch gave an additional $5million to the network in 1981. Roarty saw these investments as a smart business decision, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1994, "We gave them $1million that first year. And if we hadn't, they'd have gone under... I believed the beer drinker was a sports lover... The next year we gave them $5million. I think it turned out to be the best investment we've ever made." In 1993, Sporting News named Roarty the sixth most powerful figure in American sports, citing his early commitment to ESPN.
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 to 1984, ESPN's relationship with the NBA marked its initial foray into American professional sports. After an 18-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.