ESPNEWS

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ESPNEWS
Launched November 1, 1996
Owned by ESPN, Inc.
(The Walt Disney Company)
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
720p (HDTV)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language American English
Broadcast area Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Canada Canada (SDARS)
Website sports.espn.go.com/espn/espnews
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV 207
Dish Network 142
Cable
Available on most US cable systems Check Local Listings for channels
Satellite Radio
Sirius 121 (part of ESPN All Access)
XM 141 (part of ESPN Xtra)

ESPNEWS (word origin: grammatical blend of ESPN and news, spoken as "ESPN news"), launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel produced by the sports network ESPN. It airs news, highlights, press conferences, and commentary by analysts all in relation to sports.

Contents

[edit] Description and history

ESPNEWS is not offered on most basic cable systems in the United States (one notable exception is DISH Network, which features ESPNEWS on its most basic package), and in some areas it is considered a premium channel. 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 is also simulcast on ESPN during coverage of major breaking sports news during the daytime hours that are not covered by SportsCenter, and a highlights rundown with the network's overnight anchor is one of the segments on ABC's early morning newscast, America This Morning.

It is somewhat known as the "minor leagues" of ESPN, as many current SportsCenter anchors started on the lower-level ESPNEWS.

ESPN's "bottom line"—a small rectangular area at the bottom 1/5th of the screen flashing scores—is more in-depth on ESPNEWS. 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 commercial breaks. On the bottom-right hand corner of the screen (to the right of the BottomLine), there was a small rectangle which is used to post breaking news, a program alert, a scoring update, a time of day in each of the four time zones, or a company logo (such as Nissan). This particular BottomLine was re-designed as the network was re-launched on 2008-03-30. ESPNEWS' re-designed BottomLine (used since 2008-03-30) now posts breaking news, a program alert, the day's sports headlines, and a scoring update at the very bottom of the screen. The time of day in each time zone appears in blue on the far right of the screen.

On 2006-11-01, ESPNEWS' 10-year anniversary included a montage of highlights covered the past 10 years in sports and aired SportsCenter at 11pm-midnight ET the same day. Until February 2007, ESPNEWS aired SportsCenter on nights when the NBA on ESPN doubleheader is broadcast, and, until very recently, used ESPN's standard BottomLine instead of the one described in the paragraph above. Now, the network airs SportsCenter on nights ESPN and ESPN2 are scheduled to overrun their respective programming, mainly past the 11pm-midnight ET timeslot, or during college football season where all three-four ESPN networks (including ESPN Classic and ESPNU) are airing games. During the 2007-09-08 edition of SportsCenter, which was broadcast on ESPNEWS, the full network BottomLine was shown.

XM Radio and Sirius Radio both have a channel which simulcasts the audio of ESPNEWS, with the network's television advertisements replaced with radio ads from each service. Sirius inserts audio from other ESPN television shows on it's channel. On 2008-02-04, XM re-branded it's channel to "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.

[edit] Shows

[edit] Current

[edit] Original

[edit] Re-broadcast

[edit] Former

  • 4 Qtrs (2003-2006; replaced by ESPNEWS Pregame)
  • ESPNEWS Night Cap (2005-2006; used for latenight airings when sponsored by a major brewery; replaced by ESPNEWS Postgame)
  • Mike and Mike in the Morning (2004-2006 - simulcast of ESPN Radio show; moved to ESPN2 in 2006)
  • NFL Monday Quarterback (aired on Mondays from 2001-2005)
  • Coaches' Corner (aired on Tuesdays from 2001-2005)

[edit] 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.

[edit] ESPNEWS HD

Mock-up of ESPNEWS HD
Mock-up of ESPNEWS HD

On March 30, 2008, at 8:00 a.m. EDT, ESPNEWS began broadcasting in high-definition from a new state-of-the-art studio inside ESPN's Building 4 Newsroom. A new control room built in ESPN's Digital Center functions as the nerve center for the new network. [1]. ESPNEWS HD features an HD sideline graphic, a descendant of the "Rundown" used in overnight versions of SportsCenter on ESPN, which wraps around the top left and bottom of the HD screen. The HD Sideline offers the display of textual information, headshots, news, and scores, while still delivering video highlights in the HD format. ESPNEWS is broadcast with a new set. The ESPNEWS theme song was remixed. It also offers additional content not available on the standard definition ESPNEWS feed.[2]

A new show called The Highlight Zone also debuted that night. The program is similar in format and pace to FSN's Final Score.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ PRNewswire via xmradio.com (2008-01-28). "ESPN and XM Satellite Radio to Launch 'ESPN Xtra' Radio Channel". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  2. ^ ESPNEWS HD Takes Graphic Approach. BroadcastingCable.com. Oct. 15, 2007. Retrieved on December 3, 2007.

[edit] External links


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