ABC sports to be renamed "ESPN on ABC."

[Jul]

The ESPN look is moving to ABC. ESPN will become the brand for all sports programming carried on ABC, starting with the debut of ABC's college football season on Sept. 2.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060810/ap_on_sp_ot/fbc_espn_abc to read the rest. If someone can post the press release about this, please do so

 

[EnbyCee]

Well, it's pretty much been ESPN on ABC for about 10 years now anyway. Al Michaels and Keith Jackson were about the last on-air links to ABC Sports' pre-Cap Cities halcyon days of the 70's and 80's.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Well, that's pretty craptacular; though the ESPN-ization of ABC sports began many moons ago.

Ahh well, so long to an era of "This has been a presentation of ABC Sports. Recognized around the world as the leader in the sports television."

I know they haven't used that tag-line in years, but it still brings back memories of watching exciting Professional Bowlers Association Tour programming during spring afternoons when ABC didn't have any other sports to carry.

 

[radiolives]

ABC Sports is ESPN just with the ABC logo and graphics. At least now both ABC and ESPN will have the same graphics which they should of had along time ago I think. But that slogan, has ABC Sports really been the leader in sports television on broadcast tv?

ESPN.com Article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2545817

 

[Morgan Wick]

http://media.espn.com/ESPNToday/2006/Aug_06/espnabc.htm

They did share similar graphics in the early days of the NBA contract.

I hope they improve ESPN's graphics with this move. For how spiffy their graphics can be sometimes they are still cable. I wouldn't want ABC to take a step backward with this, after having arguably the spiffiest graphics on television.

I bet come September, ESPN will become the latest sports operation to move away from a scoring "bug" entirely. That'll leave only CBS.

I just realized that in terms of the unique per-sport graphics and theme songs they use, and not the unified elements used on the entire line, ESPN's are consistently better than ABC's. ESPN's newest college football graphics are graceful where ABC's theme song is cross, ESPN's college basketball graphics and theme are the best EVER, and ABC's NBA coverage seemingly doesn't have a consistent theme song or distinctive graphics. And I can't think of any other sport ABC did before and will continue to do.

Why do I think "MNF" had to leave ABC for this to happen?

 

[oldvnewschool]

Here are several reasons as to why I think this happened.

1. The loss of MNF. Lose it and you lost the last pure ABC Sports Link because
everything else was simply had an association with ESPN to it except for
ESPN exclusives.

2. The departure of Roone Arledge and Cap Cities purchase= ESPN expolsion

3. ESPN took off and is defintley the most popular brand in sports today.

4. The loss of Al Michaels and Keith Jackson were definitley the end of that pre
Cap-Cities/Disney Link.

5. Branding on tv is nothing new (Nick Jr. on CBS, Discovery Kids on NBC)

At least we won't have to wonder anymore about who's ABC or who's ESPN

because it's all the same now.

 

[ixnay]

I bet come September, ESPN will become the latest sports operation to move away from a scoring "bug" entirely. That'll leave only CBS.

You mean ES' will no longer continuously show score and time remaining/inning on screen?

ESPN's newest college football graphics are graceful where ABC's theme song is cross,

I can't comment on that, as I don't follow college fb as closely as the NFL.

ESPN's college basketball graphics and theme are the best EVER, and ABC's NBA coverage seemingly doesn't have a consistent theme song or distinctive graphics.

I can't comment on that either (see above). Although I follow and watch March Madness and like CBS' college hoops theme song. I've hardly looked at the NBA on ABC but watched a good bit of that league on the Eye and the Peacock and liked both networks' NBA theme songs, especially NBC's.

Speaking of themes, I like ESPN's MLB theme but not the way they modified it this year. And I wish ESPN hadn't exchanged the erector set light tower graphics for the basepath graphics.

ixnay

 

[DoctorBear]

I bet come September, ESPN will become the latest sports operation to move away from a scoring "bug" entirely. That'll leave only CBS.

You mean ES' will no longer continuously show score and time remaining/inning on screen?

I think what was meant is that ESPN will go to a full-screen line (Fox, NBC, FSN, most cable networks) instead of an in-the-corner box (CBS, TBS, old-style Fox)

 

[jellyeggs]

This is just Disney/ESPN putting the finishing touches on what`s been happening over the past few years. ESPN/ABC Sports (I can call it that until Sept.2 ;D) share the same sales staff, announcers (Brent Musburger, Dickie V., Chris Berman, Dan Patrick, Brad Nessler, Mike Tirico, etc.) & the same corporate parent (obviously!). Also, ESPN's been buying time on ABC for a while now for NBA/NCAA basketball telecasts. The "old" ABC Sports has been drifting away for a while, just think of "ESPN on ABC" as "ABC Sports: The New Generation!".

 

[chuckydoll]

ABC Sports to become "ESPN on ABC"

ABC Sports was folded into ESPN in a Disney corporate move over a year ago.

ESPN had been handling ad sales for ABC Sports in recent years. ESPN took over sports programming for the OTA network in the summer of '05. Changing ABC Sports to "ESPN on ABC" only makes the connection more obvious to the public.

The new name officially debuts with ABC's college football season on September 2.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

But that slogan, has ABC Sports really been the leader in sports television on broadcast tv?

I would say, having brought it up, that it was likely pure hubris on the part of Roone Arledge in making that statement at the end of all ABC Sports telecasts. I don't think they have used the tagline since at least the early-90s, which was not to long after Cap Cities forced Arledge to choose between ABC Sports or ABC News (he was, for most of the late-70s and 80s, president of both divisions). He, of course, chose ABC News in the end.

 

[radiolives]

I bet come September, ESPN will become the latest sports operation to move away from a scoring "bug" entirely. That'll leave only CBS.

You mean ES' will no longer continuously show score and time remaining/inning on screen?

I think what was meant is that ESPN will go to a full-screen line (Fox, NBC, FSN, most cable networks) instead of an in-the-corner box (CBS, TBS, old-style Fox)

Everyone doesn't need to go and copy FOX. I still like the small box CBS uses for NFL and NCAA Basketball as well as the score box ESPN has. It different why go and be like FOX with the top line score. NBA on ABC had a bottom line score as did soccer on ABC and ESPN. Now we see NBC is going to have a bottom score for Sunday Night Football. Just what I am trying to say I don't see the box going away what for. Tonight on CBS preseason football they have their score box and all. Nice to see CBS doesn't have to change graphics every season like FOX does, FOX always has to add something different to the current look. ESPN also sticks to the same graphics.

 

[Morgan Wick]

This is just Disney/ESPN putting the finishing touches on what`s been happening over the past few years. ESPN/ABC Sports (I can call it that until Sept.2 ;D) share the same sales staff, announcers (Brent Musburger, Dickie V., Chris Berman, Dan Patrick, Brad Nessler, Mike Tirico, etc.) & the same corporate parent (obviously!). Also, ESPN's been buying time on ABC for a while now for NBA/NCAA basketball telecasts. The "old" ABC Sports has been drifting away for a while, just think of "ESPN on ABC" as "ABC Sports: The New Generation!".

I haven't seen Dickie V on ABC broadcasts, but then I haven't seen much ABC college basketball, but then there ISN'T much ABC college basketball...

 

[MarkL]

I bet come September, ESPN will become the latest sports operation to move away from a scoring "bug" entirely. That'll leave only CBS.

You mean ES' will no longer continuously show score and time remaining/inning on screen?

I think what was meant is that ESPN will go to a full-screen line (Fox, NBC, FSN, most cable networks) instead of an in-the-corner box (CBS, TBS, old-style Fox)

Everyone doesn't need to go and copy FOX. I still like the small box CBS uses for NFL and NCAA Basketball as well as the score box ESPN has. It different why go and be like FOX with the top line score. NBA on ABC had a bottom line score as did soccer on ABC and ESPN. Now we see NBC is going to have a bottom score for Sunday Night Football. Just what I am trying to say I don't see the box going away what for. Tonight on CBS preseason football they have their score box and all. Nice to see CBS doesn't have to change graphics every season like FOX does, FOX always has to add something different to the current look. ESPN also sticks to the same graphics.

I agree. I think ESPN will keep the box, because that's what differentiates them from Fox.

 

[bhayes1016]

Everyone doesn't need to go and copy FOX. I still like the small box CBS uses for NFL and NCAA Basketball as well as the score box ESPN has. It different why go and be like FOX with the top line score. NBA on ABC had a bottom line score as did soccer on ABC and ESPN. Now we see NBC is going to have a bottom score for Sunday Night Football. Just what I am trying to say I don't see the box going away what for. Tonight on CBS preseason football they have their score box and all. Nice to see CBS doesn't have to change graphics every season like FOX does, FOX always has to add something different to the current look. ESPN also sticks to the same graphics.

Along those same lines, FOX's new NFL graphics package is atrocious. The font is so small you almost have to be watching in HD to read the score.

 

[arnoldevns]

"ESPN on ABC" is a bad idea. It's a branding nightmare and I'm sure the ABC affiliates aren't happy that their airwaves are being used to so directly promote a cable network that draws an increasingly large audience away from them.

 

[Braves2005]

Since ESPN has nearly everything that ABC used to have such as the Pro Bowlers Tour,Monday Night Football,figure skating,etc.,what more is there to show on ESPN on ABC except golf,horse races,college basketball,and the NBA?

ESPN has started to show some lame stuff as well such as hot dog eating contests,pulling 18 wheelers with your body,among other boring stuff. Show more baseball and basketball and I'll be happy for that.

Besides that,is Wide World Of Sports still on the air? The only things that are showing where that show is/was are informercials.

 

[lugnuts6]

Golf????
ESPN and ABC (with maybe one exception the British open)golf coverage are gone after this year and so to is NBCs and USAs golf coverage , its all going to cable's THE GOLF CHANNEL if memory serves me correctly

 

[ixnay]

Golf????
ESPN and ABC (with maybe one exception the British open)golf coverage are gone after this year and so to is NBCs and USAs golf coverage , its all going to cable's THE GOLF CHANNEL if memory serves me correctly

And TGC is a premium channel, at least on DirecTV.

John

 

[Vince2003]

To answer your questions.

1.Wide World of Sports is still on the air but as an umbrella title for most of abc sports'programming but Im assuming with the renaming of abc sports to espn on abc that title will soon be gone.

2 ABC Sports carries these events:effective now and in 2007

college football(acc/big 12/pac 10-big 10/big east and wac regular season games-and the Capital One and Rose Bowls-this is probably abc's biggest production now that it doesnt have the NFL)

NBA

college basketball(espn produced games)

Indianapolis 500

British Open

NASCAR

Little League World Series

PGA Golf(coverage will end after this season and ABC will only have the british open/skins game and a couple of other golf events)

US Figure Skating Champs

X games

MLS

World Cup Soccer in 2010 and 2014

IRL

once the leader of sports tv now swallowed up by a cable giant