In The Beginning…ESPN The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network
On February 6, 2013
- TV History
In The Beginning…ESPN
The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, had a very interesting beginning in Bristol, Connecticut, and believe it or not, came to be with the help of Getty Oil. The whole story is at the bottom link. The photo is from Day 1 and shows their first cameras, the Norelco PC70s on the Sports Center set.
That book left out a lot of ESPN’s studio and remote engineering pioneers, IMO, at least in my check of the index for their names. ESPN is now owned by Disney.
Getty oil? Isn’t that one those big bad corporations that are keeping everyone poor?
Sorry, http://www.amazon.com/Those-Guys-Have-All-Fun/dp/031604301X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360250818&sr=8-1&keywords=these+guys+have+all+the+fun
For a great look at ESPN from the begining to a couple of years ago read “These Guys Have All the Fun”. The history is a series of interviews with ESPN people. Great read.
I think they were pretty bare bones in those early weeks. They started broadcasting in early September. I didn’t come on board until December. The building had just gotten indoor restrooms right before I started. Also, the network hadn’t gone to 24 hours yet. By the time I arrived, most of the equipment looked new and they were adding on more rooms. My guess is they started on a shoestring and then raised capital along the way.
Interesting. Pretty simple stuff back then! 🙂
Serge Bordeleau, my bet is a lot of the early equipment was second hand. If you look at the camera on the left, there is a 12 on it. Probably from a nearby channel 12 local broadcaster.
Those Getty oil colors and the “racetrack logo” … 🙂 About three months later, I started working there running Chyron and Vidifont in a little booth the size of a veal pen. 🙂