ESPN Inc.

ESPN Inc. is owned by Walt Disney Company.

George W. Bodenheimer is the CEO of ESPN Inc..

ESPN, originally known as 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 Bill Rasmussen and his son Scott Rasmussen, and launched on September 7, 1979. 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 and is available in over 77 million homes in the United States. The name of the company was shortened to "ESPN Inc." in February 1985.

ESPN started as an alternative to the short sports segments in standard television news broadcasts and the information found in sports sections of newspapers. Early on, ESPN often had to broadcast unorthodox sporting events, such as tractor pulls; international sport relatively unknown in the US 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 a turning point in turning ESPN from a small cable TV network into a marketing empire.

ESPN was originally owned by a joint venture between Getty Oil Company (which was purchased by Texaco) and Nabisco. Today the entire family of ESPN networks and franchises is majority owned by the ABC Television Network (80%), which is a part of The Walt Disney Company. Hearst Corporation holds a minority interest (20%).

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Comments about ESPN Inc.

Comments to date: 2. This is page 1 of 1.

Ron Baker   Los Angeles, USA	Posted at 5:12pm on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
I am really enjoying broadcast of UWF classic wrestling on ESPN Classic. Many of us are sick of the acrobatic soap opera that has become pro wrestling today. I imagine you think of the UWF as filler but I hope you will continue to broadcast the old school type work from the 70's, 80's & early 90's. I can only wish it aired a little earlier.
Frank M. Harris, Jr.   3001 N. Declaration Cour	Posted at 8:39am on Monday, June 4th, 2007
Please change my address, effective immediately. OLD ADDRESS: PSC 303 BOX 26, ATTN: PA RSC-K, APO AP 96204; NEW ADDRESS: 3001 N. Declaration Court, Waldorf, MD 20603. Thank you.

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