ESPN
American television and radio sports network / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ESPN (an abbreviation of its original name, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network[2]) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by The Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Communications (20%) through the joint venture ESPN Inc. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen, Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan.[2]
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Country | United States |
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Headquarters | Bristol, Connecticut |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 2160p 4K UHD (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | The Walt Disney Company (80%) Hearst Communications (20%) |
Parent | ESPN Inc. |
Sister channels | |
History | |
Launched | September 7, 1979; 44 years ago (1979-09-07)[1] |
Links | |
Website | www![]() |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
ESPN+ | espn.com/espnplus (U.S. pay-TV subscribers only) |
Service(s) | DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, YouTube TV |
ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices and auxiliary studios in Miami, Orlando, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. James Pitaro has been chairman since March 5, 2018, following the resignation of John Skipper on December 18, 2017.[3]
As of December 2023[update], ESPN is available to approximately 70,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2011 peak of 100,000,000 households.[4] It operates regional channels in Africa, Australia, Latin America, and the Netherlands. In Canada, it owns a 20% interest in The Sports Network (TSN) and its five sister networks. Despite the network's success, criticism of ESPN includes accusations of biased coverage,[5] conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts.[citation needed]