ESPN is an American basic cable sports network, the name being an initialism of its original title, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Bill Rasmussen conceived it in 1978 after losing his job with the New England Whalers hockey team, and it began broadcasting on 7 September 1979 from purpose-built studios in Bristol, Connecticut with the first edition of SportsCenter. Getty Oil bought 85 percent of the company in February 1979 to fund the venture. Today it is the flagship property of ESPN, LLC, a joint venture owned mainly by the Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications and the National Football League as minority partners. It holds long-term rights to the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NHL and the NBA and runs regional channels abroad, and about 70 million American pay-TV households received it in December 2023, down from a 2011 peak near 100 million.
Facts
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Owned By
Also in Business Atlas: the company that owns this subject.
Source ESPN (Wikipedia)Lead, ownershipQuote, Lead, ownership
the flagship property of ESPN, LLC, a joint venture of the Walt Disney Company (72% and operational control via indirect subsidiary ABC Inc.)
Located In
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Source ESPN (Wikipedia)History, background and launchQuote, History, background and launch
Bristol, Connecticut (where the channel remains headquartered)
Sources
1. ESPN (Wikipedia)
Lead, founding date
Founded on September 7, 1979
Lead, kind of organization
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network until 1985) is an American basic cable sports broadcasting network
Lead, current reach
As of December 2023, ESPN is available to approximately 70 million pay television households in the United States
History, background and launch
Bristol, Connecticut (where the channel remains headquartered)
Lead, ownership
the flagship property of ESPN, LLC, a joint venture of the Walt Disney Company (72% and operational control via indirect subsidiary ABC Inc.)
In Medium: Television, Lead, television channel
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network until 1985) is an American basic cable sports broadcasting network
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