World of Sport

World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme launched on ITV on January 2,1965 in response to Grandstand. Like Grandstand, the programme ran for several hours every Saturday afternoon.

Related Topics:
British - Television - Sport - ITV - January 2 - 1965 - Grandstand - Saturday

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Eamonn Andrews was the first host but he was replaced by Dickie Davies in 1968. The show included not only popular segments such as On The Ball, The ITV Seven and wrestling, but also in its later years, minor sports such as women's hockey, netball and lacrosse. It often showed show jumping and other equestrian events, especially in its earlier years, and towards the end of its life it showed snooker extensively.

Related Topics:
Eamonn Andrews - Dickie Davies - On The Ball - The ITV Seven - Wrestling - Hockey - Netball - Lacrosse - Show jumping - Equestrian - Snooker

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The programme also occasionally acquired genuinely major sporting events, such as the Ryder Cup golf tournament in 1977 (admittedly this was when it was still the United States versus the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland rather than Europe as a whole, and was therefore regarded as something of a mismatch).

Related Topics:
Ryder Cup - Golf - 1977 - United States - United Kingdom - Republic of Ireland - Europe

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The programme was "compiled for Independent Television" until the summer of 1968 by ABC, and subsequently by London Weekend Television - under the ITV Sport banner, with the other ITV stations supplying footage of events in their regions. Bank Holiday Monday editions were "compiled for Independent Television" by Thames Television after 1968, and probably by Rediffusion London before that.

Related Topics:
1968 - ABC - London Weekend Television - Thames Television - Rediffusion London

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It became the first sports programme to gain cult status, running for twenty years, but was cancelled in 1985. However, its wrestling programming has recently been re-run on The Wrestling Channel since March, 2004. ITV is paying tribute to World of Sport as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations in September 2005.

Related Topics:
Cult status - 1985 - The Wrestling Channel - September 2005

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The programme's title is similar to Wide World of Sports, but it is not clear if the American show inspired the title.

Related Topics:
Wide World of Sports - American

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