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ESPNews

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ESPNEWS
CountryUnited States
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerESPN, Inc. (joint venture of The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation)

ESPNEWS (a portmanteau of ESPN and "news", pronounced "ESPN News"), launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel. It airs news, highlights, press conferences, and commentary by analysts all in relation to sports.

Format and programming

ESPNEWS is typically offered on the digital tier on United States cable systems, and in some areas it is considered a premium channel. Satellite carriers offer it on their standard package. Some regional sports networks not connected to Fox Sports Net also air ESPNEWS overnights or in the mornings to provide a pseudo-national sports report to their viewers, and fill time that would otherwise be taken up by paid programming or other low-rated shows. If a national ESPN broadcast is blacked out in a particular market, the ESPN broadcast will usually be replaced by ESPNEWS.

The network was formerly simulcast on ESPN during coverage of major breaking sports news before the expansion of SportsCenter in daytime on ESPN in 2008, and a highlights rundown with the network's overnight anchor is one of the segments on ABC's early morning newscast, America This Morning.

ESPNEWS's "bottom line" – a small rectangular area at the bottom fifth of the screen flashing scores – is more in-depth than the one airing on ESPN's other networks. It contains not only scores but also statistics and brief news alerts about the day's happenings in sports. It also remains on screen during most commercial breaks. This particular BottomLine was re-designed as the network was re-launched on March 30, 2008.

The network was changed over to a full-screen presentation on June 2010 with the network receiving the BottomLine used on all other ESPN networks in anticipation of the network's prime-time programming being rebranded under the SportsCenter branding.

Starting in August 2010, SportsCenter is shown on ESPNEWS when the program is unable to be aired on ESPN or ESPN2 due to programming conflicts, and during the afternoon hours while both networks show sports talk programming. The Beat (a show showing pop culture and sports action to the tune of a beat) was shown while SportsCenter was on ESPN at 6 pm, but it was cancelled in July 2011 and replaced by a re-run of the ESPN2 program SportsNation. Now, the only other program on ESPNEWS is the Highlight Express (a 30-minute program showing highlights from the day before, shown from 10 pm to 3 pm at nights and mornings). The TV show branded as ESPNEWS no longer airs as it has been completely replaced by SportsCenter. The network also airs the original programming College Football Live on Saturday afternoons during college football season, a whip-around program similar to ESPN Goal Line, which gives live look ins to multiple college football games happening at the same time.

On November 11, 2006, ESPNEWS's 10-year anniversary included a montage of highlights covered the past 10 years in sports and aired SportsCenter at 11 pm–midnight ET the same day. The network aired SportsCenter on nights ESPN and ESPN2 are scheduled to overrun their respective programming, such as college football or baseball, until August 2010 (see above).

XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio both have a channel which simulcasts the audio of ESPNews, with the network's television advertisements replaced with radio ads from each service. On February 4, 2008, XM re-branded its channel as "ESPN Xtra"[1] and added radio programs from local ESPN Radio affiliates as well as the audio simulcast of ESPNews.

ESPNews simulcast ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning from 2004–05; the show moved to ESPN2 in 2006, but it still airs on ESPNEWS occasionally when live sports events (such as tennis' French Open or Wimbledon) air on ESPN2. Due to the 2009 U.S. Open airing on ESPN2, SportsNation was shown on ESPNews from August 31 to September 11.

In early 2012, ESPNEWS' graphics scheme was changed to match that of all the other ESPN networks.

Shows

Current

Former

  • ESPN Radio Primetime (2007–2008)
  • ESPNEWS Pregame (2006–2009)
  • ESPNEWS Gametime (2006–2009)
  • ESPNEWS Postgame (2006–2009)
  • Football Friday (2004–2009)
  • The Highlight Zone (2008–2009)
  • The Hot List (2003–2009)
  • The Pulse (2004–2009)
  • 4 Qtrs (2003–2006)
  • Coaches' Corner (aired on Tuesday from 2001–2005)
  • ESPNEWS Night Cap (2005–2006)
  • Mike and Mike in the Morning (2004–2006 – simulcast of ESPN Radio show; moved to ESPN2 in 2006, still shown on ESPNEWS when ESPN2 is scheduled to air live sports events)
  • NFL Monday Quarterback (aired on Mondays from 2001–2005)

ESPN Radio Segment

Starting in 2007, ESPNEWS started to broadcast a half-hour segment of ESPN Radio every Sunday morning. The broadcast includes three commentators (a retired coach, a retired player, and an analyst) to break down the events of the featured sport, while the TV screen shows a list on the upper-left (the list is standings, statistical leaders, etc. of the featured sport), the upper-right of the screen shows highlights of the featured sport (usually of the player or team of discussion), and the bottom of the screen, above the ESPNEWS BottomLine, is a fan board.

ESPNEWS HD

ESPNEWS HD is a 720p high definition simulcast of ESPNEWS that launched on March 30, 2008.[2] Originally, the layout and graphics were reworked specifically for viewing on a HDTV, offering additional content not available on the standard definition ESPNEWS feed.[3] There were reworked HD sideline graphics, a descendant of the "Rundown" used in overnight versions of SportsCenter on ESPN, which wrapped around the top left and bottom of the HD screen. The HD Sideline offered the display of textual information, headshots, news, and scores, while still delivering video highlights in the HD format.

The enhanced format was ended in June 2010 and the channel is now fullscreen 16:9, with regular gray and red graphics similar to the other ESPN channels. The move was made to "accommodate the high number of SportsCenters that moved to the network during the World Cup".

Around May 20, 2012, ESPN discontinued the 4:3 analog version of ESPNEWS and providers must down downscale the HD feed to widescreen for analog viewers, becoming the last ESPN network with a HD companion channel to make the conversion to a full-widescreen presentation.

International versions

While not operating under the ESPN name, CTV Specialty Television (which is partly owned by ESPN) operates RDS Info, a French language sister network to Réseau des sports (RDS) (in turn a sister to the English language TSN), which has a sports news format and ticker similar to ESPNEWS. However unlike ESPNEWS, RDS Info was also used as a secondary outlet for RDS in the event of scheduling conflicts—as RDS did not yet have an equivalent to ESPN2 until October 2011.

See also

References

  • ESPN Mediakit (2006).[4] Retrieved 2006-02-13.
  1. ^ "ESPN and XM Satellite Radio to Launch 'ESPN Xtra' Radio Channel" (Press release). PRNewswire via xmradio.com. January 28, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6424080.html?display=Breaking+News
  3. ^ ESPNEWS HD Takes Graphic Approach BroadcastingCable.com. October 15, 2007. Retrieved on December 3, 2007.
  4. ^ http://mediakit.espn.go.com/index.aspx?id=41
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