SportsCenter
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| SportsCenter | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Sports |
| Starring | Various anchors (see below) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 30,051 thru February 28, 2007 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 min., 60 min., 90 min., or 120 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ESPN (1979-) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
| Original run | September 7, 1979 – Present |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
SportsCenter is a sports news television show shown every day on ESPN since the network was founded on September 7, 1979. Originally a once a day show, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major sporting events. As a result of the regular airing, it has been shown more times than any other show in American television, with over 30,000 unique episodes. It celebrated its 30,000th show on Sunday, February 11, 2007.
George Grande introduced the country to ESPN when he anchored the first ever SportsCenter on September 7, 1979. He was the lone host of the first show, which didn't show a single sports clip. He spent ten more years with ESPN and SportsCenter until 1989.
SportsCenter normally airs at 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM, 5:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 6:00 PM, and 11:00 PM (Eastern Time). The morning shows are generally re-airings of the previous night's 1:00 AM show, except on Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday the 10:00 am to noon is a new show. On Sunday the 9:00 am and the 10:30 am are new shows. The show is taped in ESPN's HDTV studio facilities in Bristol, Connecticut.
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[edit] History
SportsCenter aired its 25,000th episode on August 25, 2002, and its 20,000th coincidentally aired on the same day David Wells pitched his perfect game for the New York Yankees against the Minnesota Twins: May 17, 1998.
The program began broadcasting in high definition on June 7, 2004, and on the same day began broadcasting the show from studios inside the network's brand-new Digital Center, debuting a new set designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and featuring a robust graphics package entitled "Revolution" designed by Troika Design Group.
In 1994 ESPN began the This is SportsCenter ad campaign to promote their show. [1]
During the summer of 2004, ESPN counted down the top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years. Hosted by David Overton Wilson III, ESPN25 consisted of 30-second commercials shown during the 6:00 PM ET SportsCenter each day from May 31 until the #1 moment, the US Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team's victory over the USSR during the 1980 Winter Olympics, was aired on September 7.
In July of 2005, SportsCenter premiered a segment called "50 States in 50 Days", where a different SportsCenter anchor traveled to a different state every day to discover the sports, sports history, and athletes of the state. [2] After ESPN acquired a share of Canadian sports network TSN, that network's news program SportsDesk was re-branded as SportsCentre (using Canadian spelling) in the summer of 2001.
On April 4, 2006, SportsCenter started showing highlights of Major League Baseball games in progress, which were previously an exclusive to another program, Baseball Tonight. This is seen in the Baseball Tonight Extra segment (see "Segments" section below for more). Prior to that date, highlights of the aforementioned Major League Baseball games weren't shown on SportsCenter until the games went final (as shown on the ticker at the bottom of the screen, known as the "BottomLine").
On October 11, 2006, SportsCenter began at 5:00pm ET with its coverage of the plane crash in New York City, which killed 2 people, including New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. The expanded editions of SportsCenter continued until midnight ET (when ESPN aired the usual "Trifecta"). A replay of the 11pm ET SportsCenter, which was anchored by John Buccigross and Stan Verrett, aired at 1am ET.
On November 3, 2006, for the first time on any SportsCenter, the 6pm ET edition was broadcast with a single advertiser. Nike, whose ads come from the Wieden & Kennedy agency in Portland, Oregon, that creates ESPN's ads, was that single advertiser. The idea, Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said, is to exploit the "synergy" with ESPN airing Wednesday night's Washington Wizards-Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game starring top Nike pitchman LeBron James by having the entire show sponsored by The LeBrons, an ad set featuring James playing three different alter egos and himself. A public outcry followed, as viewers commonly called into question the already questionable journalistic integrity of the network when dealing with the biggest stars of professional sports.
Also on November 3, 2006, ESPNEWS started airing SportsCenter on nights ESPN broadcasts The NBA on ESPN doubleheader. This practice was discontinued in February 2007, when ESPN2 cancelled Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith due to very low ratings.
On February 11, 2007, after the NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns, the 30,000th SportsCenter show aired. In that milestone show, Bob Ley recapped the events (and no-so-great moments) during the first 10,000 shows, Chris Berman did the same during the middle 10,000, as did Dan Patrick during the remaining 10,000. Steve Levy and Stuart Scott were the anchors on that 30,000th show.
On February 16, 2007, the 11pm ET edition was again broadcast with a single advertiser. Sprint's Nextel brand, which sponsors NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series, was that single advertiser this time around. This was to promote the start of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, featuring various Nextel commercials centering around NASCAR.
On March 12, 2007, a special 6pm ET edition of SportsCenter, which aired for 2 hours, was entirely devoted to "America's Bracket." That 2-hour broadcast, which was anchored by Jay Harris and Linda Cohn, aired 24 hours after the men's NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets were revealed.
[edit] The show that nearly wasn't
On September 11, 2001, ESPN interrupted regular programming at 11:05 AM Eastern Time to cover the immediate aftermath of the attacks on America through a simulcast of ABC News. The network considered not airing SportsCenter that night, and debated the topic for about an hour. Finally, a half-hour version aired which announced the cancellations of major U.S. sporting events that had been announced up to that time.[1]
If the program had been cancelled for the day, it would have been the first (and only) day since the network's launch without at least one SportsCenter.
[edit] Format
The show begins with the "available on ESPN on ESPNHD (or available on ESPN on ESPN2HD)" animation that comes before all high-definition broadcasts of ESPN or ESPN2 and the appearance of the SportsCenter "BottomLine" ticker (if it is not already there). This is followed by a short SportsCenter animation, and then the anchor will begin to speak. Sometimes the anchor is not seen at all, other times, the show begins with a quick shot of the anchor standing in the studio. The anchor for the show will give an introduction, typically going through some of the major highlights to be covered, as a loop of video clips (with a music track) matching the script is played on screen. This is followed by another montage of video clips without commentary but with the SportsCenter theme, and then another SportsCenter animation loop.
Following this, the camera will usually pan down and zoom in on the anchor desk, where the two anchors for the show are sitting. An on-screen graphic lists the names of the anchors. The anchors will usually introduce themselves and one will introduce the top story or recap. In most cases, the broadcast begins with the "hottest" or "biggest" game recap of the day.
Before going to commercial breaks, on-screen graphics and the anchor preview what will come after the break. An animation will end the segment, and will cut to commercial.
When the show returns, sometimes there will be showcase advertisements for specific sponsors. On-screen graphics will feature the advertisement as the camera pans across the studio in the background.
About halfway through a normal one-hour show, the anchors will reprise the day's top stories in a segment titled either "SportsCenter Reset" or "SportsCenter Express." There is no noticeable difference in the format of either of these segments, other than the names and the graphics.
Towards the end of the typical hour-long broadcast, the Top Ten Plays of the Day (Monday through Thursday), Top Ten Plays of the Week (on Sunday), or Hardly the Usual Top Ten (Friday) segment is introduced by an anchor. Each play is separated by an animation graphic of the play's respective number. The anchors will usually alternate between plays, with each anchor calling a short recap of the play. Immediately after this segment, additional recap segments may be shown. Otherwise, the final segment of the show, What 2 Watch 4 (see "segments" section below), will plug broadcasts of games or events either later in the day or in the coming days on the ESPN networks.
The show ends with a final shot of the anchors at the desk, who will typically sign off with one reminding viewers that "ESPNEWS is always on" or some other line to that end. Sometimes, there will be extra time at the end of the show due to a lack of events to report or flukes of programming, so the anchors will fill the time with usually improvised and therefore humorous commentary. This time can range anywhere from about 20 seconds to over a minute.
[edit] Highlights
Sports contest highlights vary in length, although big games like championships receive extra highlight time.
A SportsCenter anchor will do a voice-over summary of the contest. Anchors are given wide latitude in their particular style, and many employ unique terms, jokes, and individual catchphrases. Regardless, all relevant information of the contest is otherwise conveyed in the voice-over.
Full-screen SportsCenter graphics separate the chronological periods of the game. For example, a full screen graphic displaying "4th QUARTER" will segue into the 4th quarter highlight of a football game.
The highlight can also include quotations from relevant athletes or other sports figures.
Shorter highlights simply end with a small scoreboard on the bottom of the screen displaying the final score and a small section of notable player stats or other relevant information. This scoreboard appears over a video loop, which is often in slow-motion.
A full-length highlight ends with a full screen scoreboard. The teams and scores of the contest are displayed at the top. Each team has a section where individual player stats are displayed. Notes, future broadcasts times, and other information are displayed in smaller sections.
Longer highlights often continue after the scoreboard with other full-screen boards. The content of these screens vary greatly, but most often are numbers or stats of particular interest, or otherwise help to put the contest in a larger context.
[edit] BottomLine
The BottomLine ticker appears on the bottom of the screen throughout the broadcast and reports scores and news of the day.
At the far left of the ticker is a progress indicator of the ticker. Above it is the category of the score or news item. Categories vary by season: for example, during baseball season there are NL and AL categories, as well as an MLB category for general baseball news and upcoming game broadcasts on the ESPN networks. On the left, scores first display the teams and the score of the game or contest. On the right the progress is displayed; for example, a baseball score will either say "final" (if the game is over), or the current inning of the game will be displayed. Or, if the game has yet to start, the start time is displayed. Similarly, in progress basketball, football, and hockey games will display the period and time left on the game clock. After the initial score is displayed, the score graphic will condense to the left which allows more detailed information, specific to the contest, to be displayed. Other notes are often included as well. On occasion, a "Priority Score Alert" will cut into the ticker's loop, showing a score update in an important game. Sometimes it will visually show a score changing or it will highlight the winning team as it announces that the game has "gone final".
Since June 8, 2006, the categories, seen on the far left, now have a gray background.
Throughout the 2006 MLB season, the order of games presented on the BottomLine had changed, to recognize Barry Bonds' ongoing pursuit of the career home run record. National League games appeared before American League ones, and games of the San Francisco Giants, for whom Bonds plays, appeared before all others. The only time the regular order appeared (AL games before NL games, with game times earliest to latest) was on days when the Giants were not scheduled to play. However, from August 2006 to October 1, 2006 (the end of the 2006 MLB regular season), the regular order of MLB games (AL before NL) appeared on the BottomLine every other week, rotating with the reverse order (NL before AL).
[edit] SportsCenter Sets
 1979–1982 George Grande (left) and Lee Leonard (right) |
 1982-early '80s George Grande (left) and Bob Ley (right) |
 early '80s-mid '80s From left to right: Sharon Smith, Chris Berman, Greg Gumbel and Bob Ley. This was the last with the network's original logo. |
 mid '80s-late '80s Chris Berman (left) and Bob Ley (right). The current ESPN logo was introduced at this point. |
 late '80s-1994 Bob Ley (left) and Dan Patrick (right) |
 1994-Aug. 17, 2000 Stuart Scott (left) and Rich Eisen (right) |
 Aug. 18, 2000–June 6, 2004 Trey Wingo (left) and Linda Cohn (right) |
 June 7, 2004–present Rece Davis (left) and Linda Cohn (right) |
[edit] Facts
- Since June 7, 2004 SportsCenter has been broadcast from their new high definition center at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
- ESPNEWS used ESPN's standard BottomLine for its SportsCenter broadcasts.
[edit] Anchors and Reporters
For the numerous different anchors and reporters that make up SportsCenter, see List of SportsCenter anchors and reporters.
[edit] Segments
For the numerous different segments that make up SportsCenter, see List of SportsCenter segments and specials.
[edit] ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio also has ESPN Radio SportsCenter with radio highlights airing three times an hour on the ESPN Radio network, usually hosted by Bob Picozzi.
[edit] Conditions to showing highlights
Depending on the sport and the network, ESPN may air as long as three minutes of highlights of a game that aired on a network it does not own. It is unclear if limits apply to events shown on ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC.
Some sports leagues and organizations, including the NBA, NHL and college sports conferences, allow for brief highlights to be shown while the game is in progress. Major League Baseball allows them only as part of the Baseball Tonight mini-programs, as mentioned above. The NFL does not allow in-progress highlights at all, although this restriction is more applicable to ESPNEWS because most NFL games are played on Sunday afternoons, long before SportsCenter airs for the first time that day.
Eagle-eyed viewers to SportsCenter may notice that some highlights carry on-screen graphic "labels" that appear on the screen through their entire lengths. Such events include the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and the U.S. Open tennis tournament, both shown on CBS, and the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and Notre Dame football games, both on NBC. (Highlights of National Hockey League games on NBC were also tagged with continuous labels at one time, but no longer are.) During the first two rounds of the 2007 Masters golf tournament, the continuous label was the letters "UTN." The significance of these letters is unknown, but it may have something to do with NBC Universal. It is the parent company of USA Network, which showed the rounds live.
These events are shown on channels that do not have SportsCenter-style newscasts on any of their own affiliated cable/satellite networks. Therefore, the labels appear to be a form of advertising, or even blackmail. However, this apparent form of visual pollution is legal, because these networks have the exclusive rights to broadcast these events and, as stated in the legal statement that includes "this copyrighted broadcast," it is clearly implied that ESPN has "advance written consent" to air the highlights. Of course, it is up to the rights-holders (league and/or network) to dictate the terms. In contrast, Fox Sports does not engage in this tactic; its Fox Sports Net division has both national and regional sportscasts.
It appears that another major factor in highlight restrictions is the desire to retain viewers, even if the event is tape-delayed. So, not surprisingly, the most restrictive package of all involves the Olympics. ESPN began to show more highlights on-air and online beginning with the 2006 Winter Olympics; this was part of the release of Al Michaels's contract so he could join John Madden and key production personnel for the new NBC Sunday Night Football. However, SportsCenter is still restricted to five minutes per day—spread over three different shows—and cannot show that day's events in highlight form until the following day.
It should also be added that ESPN is not above using the same tactics on occasion. For the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, Fox Soccer Channel aired a World Cup recap show from British News Corporation sister channel Sky News, since its highlight programs (like Fox Soccer Report, which is produced by Canadian sister Fox Sports World Canada), were locked out of ESPN highlights of the games. FSC could retransmit Sky News' highlights, which came from British television, but even then, they had to brand the highlights "COURTESY ESPN" for their entire lengths. Also, FSN Final Score had to keep the letters "ESPN" on the screen for the entire length of soundbites from post-game press conferences at the 2006 Major League Baseball Division Series; ESPN televised most of the games that season. (ESPN will not show postseason baseball games again until at least 2014; it has lost the Division Series to TBS.)
A new kind of highlight restriction emerged in SportsCenter's NASCAR coverage effective with the 2007 season. On March 18, highlights of the Kobalt Tools 500 aired on the program without mentioning the race's official name. Instead, highlights on that show and on its sister program, NASCAR Now, referred to the race only as "NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series at Atlanta" (referring to the speedway, not the city; the speedway is 25 miles from downtown, in Hampton, Georgia). The "Bottom Line" used the same phrase. Before 2007, all races were referred to by name on SportsCenter. In contrast, a competing show, FSN Final Score, has used the correct race names in all highlights throughout the season so far. This indicates that SportsCenter (and NASCAR Now) may be bundled with the new TV contract signed between NASCAR and ESPN, in which the name or logo of a race cannot be displayed unless the sponsor pays the TV network an additional fee for promotional consideration. (The race's name is mentioned on-air at least twice.) Given that SportsCenter is effectively the network's premier newscast, this arrangement, if true, is at least a prima facie breach of journalistic ethics. By the way, all names of Craftsman Truck Series events are still displayed on the Bottom Line; the entire schedule airs on FOX and SPEED Channel.
For more information on related highlight controversies involving ESPN, see the following pages:
- NFL Primetime
- RPM 2Night
- College GameDay
- ESPN25/Who's No. 1?
- Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame
- Missing Link
[edit] Spin offs
- BassCenter (2003–2006)
- SportsCenterU (2006–present)
- X Center (2005–present)
[edit] See also
- 50 States in 50 Days
- This is SportsCenter
- List of SportsCenter anchors and reporters
- List of SportsCenter segments and specials
[edit] References
- ^ Sports Illustrated, Sep. 24, 2001
[edit] External links
- Official SportsCenter show page
- Official ESPN site
- SportsCenter Altar — a comprehensive fan site
