About ESPN
A Brief History
ESPN was founded by Father/Son duo Bill and Scott Rasmussen, and officially launched at 7pm on September 7, 1979. Bill Rasmussen, after being fired from his job as a television sports reporter in 1978, conceived of the idea for a cable network that would feature Connecticut sports programming. When he discovered that buying a 24 hr satellite feed would be cheaper than buying blocks for a few hours a night, he rethought his original idea, and expanded to a 24hr nationwide network.[1] Thus, ESPN was born.
The first show to air on ESPN was Sportscenter, which “offers breaking news, highlights, features and in-depth analysis from award-winning journalists” and “averages 100 million viewers a month.” (CITE CORPORATE ESPN). SportsCenter continues to be a gem of ESPN original programming.
ESPN broadcasts primarily from Bristol, Connecticut, but has offices in New York City, Seattle, Charlotte, NC, and Los Angeles. ESPN broadcasts 65 sports, 24 hours a day in 15 languages in more than 150 countries.
- ↑ ESPN Founder