ESPN

ESPN, formerly an abbreviation of Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. It was founded by Scott Rasmussen and his father Bill Rasmussen, along with Donny Stanley and his son Cardell, and launched on September 7 1979. Its signature telecast, SportsCenter, debuted with the network and aired its 25,000th episode on August 25 2002. ESPN broadcasts primarily out of its studios in Bristol, Connecticut; it also operates offices out of Charlotte, including its newest network ESPNU. ESPN is available in over 90 million homes in the United States. The name of the company was shortened to "ESPN Inc." in February 1985.

Personalities (past & present)

Shows in which these personalities are best known on in parenthesis

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• J.A. Adande (Around the Horn)
• David Aldridge (NBA 2Night, NBA Shootaround)
• John Anderson (SportsCenter)
• Thea Andrews (Cold Pizza)
• Jill Arrington (SportsCenter, telecasts of NFL games)
• Jack Arute (Auto racing coverage, college football coverage)
• Skip Bayless (SportsCenter, 1st and 10)
• Chris Berman (SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL Primetime)
• Steve Berthiaume (SportsCenter)
• Kevin Blackistone (Around the Horn)
• Michelle Bonner (ESPNEWS and SportsCenter)
• Jeff Brantley (Baseball Tonight)
• Tony Bruno (formerly of ESPNRadio)
• John Buccigross (NHL 2Night)
• Phil "The Showkiller" Ceppaglia (Producer, The Dan Patrick Show on ESPNRadio)
• John Clayton (Sunday NFL Countdown, hosts "Inside the Huddle" segment on SportsCenter)
• Bill Clement (NHL telecasts)
• Linda Cohn (SportsCenter)
• Beano Cook (College Gameday)
• Lee Corso (College Gameday)
• Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd on ESPNRadio)
• Tim Cowlishaw (Around the Horn)
• Jay Crawford
• Jennifer Dempster
• Rob Dibble (Baseball Tonight)
• Rich Eisen (SportsCenter)
• Neil Everett (SportsCenter)
• Chris Fowler (College Gameday)
• Ron Franklin
• Kevin Frazier (SportsCenter)
• Peter Gammons (Baseball Tonight)
• Gayle Gardner (SportsCenter)
• Gary Gerould (Auto racing coverage)
• George Grande (SportsCenter) ESPN's first on-air talent
• Mike Greenberg (With Mike Golic, hosts Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio)
• Mike Golic (Mike and Mike in the Morning)
• Scott Goodyear (Auto racing coverage)
• Mike Gottfried
• Greg Gumbel (SportsCenter)
• Tony Gwynn (Baseball telecasts)
• Mike Hall (Programming on ESPNU) First winner of Dream Job
• Todd Harris (Auto racing coverage)
• Kirk Herbstreit (College Gameday)
• Fred Hickman (SportsCenter)
• Kit Hoover (Cold Pizza)
• Michael Irvin (Sunday NFL Countdown)
• Dana Jacobson (SportsCenter and Cold Pizza)
• Ned Jarrett (Auto racing coverage)
• Bob Jenkins (Auto racing coverage)
• Eric Karros (MLB coverage)
• Adrian Karsten (College football sideline reporter)
• Max Kellerman (Boxing coverage, first host of Around the Horn)
• Brian Kenny (Host of The Hotlist on ESPNEWS)
• Craig Kilborn (SportsCenter)
• Mel Kiper, Jr. (NFL Draft coverage)
• Curry Kirkpatrick
• Suzy Kolber (NFL Draft Day 2 and Sideline Reporter)
• Tony Kornheiser (Pardon the Interruption)
• John Kruk (Baseball Tonight)
• Erik Kuselias (ESPNRadio Host)
• Tim Legler (NBA Shootaround)
• Lou Leonard
• Steve Levy (NHL coverage)
• Rush Limbaugh (Briefly worked on Sunday NFL Countdown, until being fired for comments he made about Eagles QB Donovan McNabb)
• Jamie Little (Auto racing coverage)
• Bob Ley (Outside the Lines)
• Paul Maguire (Analyst on ESPN's Sunday Night Football)
• Jay Mariotti (Around the Horn)
• Buck Martinez (Baseball coverage)
• Kenny Mayne (SportsCenter, horse racing coverage)
• Tom Mees (NHL coverage)
• Barry Melrose (NHL 2Night)
• Al Michaels (Will do Monday Night Football telecasts when it moves from ABC in 2006; Has Done Some Major League Baseball Work for the Network)
• Jon Miller (Sunday Night Baseball)
• Joe Morgan (Sunday Night Baseball)
• Rachel Nichols (SportsCenter)
• Larry Nuber (Auto racing coverage)
• Keith Olbermann (SportsCenter)
• Paul Page (Auto racing coverage)
• Woody Paige (Around the Horn, 1st and 10 (itself an offshoot of Cold Pizza))
• Lou Palmer
• Darren Pang (NHL coverage)
• Benny Parsons (Auto racing coverage)
• Dan Patrick (SportsCenter and Host of The Dan Patrick Show on ESPNRadio)
• Mike Patrick (Sunday Night Football)
• Bill Pidto (NHL coverage)
• Bill Plaschke (Around the Horn)
• Dr. Jerry Punch (Auto racing coverage, college football coverage)
• Tony Reali (Pardon the Interruption, where he is known as "Stat Boy": also current host of Around the Horn)
• Dave Revsine (NHL coverage)
• Harold Reynolds (Baseball Tonight)
• Robin Roberts (College football and basketball coverage)
• Jim Rome (Talk2, Jim Rome Is Burning)
• Karie Ross
• Bob Ryan (Around the Horn, guest host on Pardon the Interruption)
• Sean Salisbury (NFL coverage)
• Lisa Salters (SportsCenter)
• John Saunders (Various)
• Jeremy Schaap (The Sports Reporters; until his death, his father Dick Schaap hosted the show)
• Stuart Scott (SportsCenter)
• Jason Smith (Host of ESPN Radio AllNight)
• Stephen A. Smith (SportsCenter, NBA Shootaround, Quite Frankly)
• Tommy Smyth (Champions League coverage)
• Tom Sneva (Auto racing coverage)
• Melissa Stark (NFL coverage)
• Charley Steiner (MLB coverage)
• Steve Stone (Major League Baseball coverage)
• Michele Tafoya (SportsCenter)
• Joe Theismann (Sunday Night Football)
• Mike Tirico (College football coverage)
• Bobby Unser (Auto racing coverage)
• Scott Van Pelt (SportsCenter)
• Dick Vitale (College basketball coverage)
• Bill Weber (Auto racing coverage)
• Ann Werner (SportsCenter)
• Michael Wilbon (Pardon the Interruption)
• Matt Winer (SportsCenter)
• Trey Wingo (SportsCenter)
• Gene Wojciechowski (Around the Horn)
• Todd Wright (Former host of ESPN Radio AllNight)