The History of Sportscasting
Sportscasters cover the world of sports and involve a mix of personalities in TV, radio and new media. In its early days, sportscasting followed principles of classic journalism. By the 1980s, personality and commentary had become a big part of sportscasting. Some of the greatest sportscasters of all time include Howard Cosell, Brent Musberger, John Madden, Pat Summerall and Bob Costas.
Other People Are Reading
-
Early Radio
-
Sportscasting developed with the beginning of the commercial radio industry in 1920. WWJ in Detroit was one of the earliest known stations to give sports reports in 1920. In those days, no live sportscasting existed as reports had to be phoned in to the station. Early pioneers of sportscasting included Graham McNamee, Ted Husing and Tommy Cowan.
Early TV
-
NBC aired the first televised pro football game in 1939. Sports programming made up nearly a third of all TV programming in the late 1940s, as TV became more widespread. Dennis James was one of the first sportscasters to bypass radio and become known through announcing wrestling matches on TV.
-
Instant Replay
-
Instant replay was introduced during an Army-Navy football game in December 1963. This technique helped sportscasters develop as analysts and was an important catalyst that sparked interest in televised football.
NFL
-
Football began its ascent as a popular TV sport in the 1960s. CBS established a contract to air NFL games in 1964. ABC executive Roone Arledge, who developed ABC's Wide World of Sports with host Jim McKay in the 1960s, introduced Monday Night Football in 1970 with hosts Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell.
Modern Sportscasting
-
Phyllis George became the first regular female TV sportscaster with CBS in 1975. By the 1980s, football had become the most popular sport on American TV. Throughout the '70s and '80s, modern sportscasting began to take shape as the content began to focus more on the personalities of sports players than just the game itself.
ESPN
-
ESPN was launched as an all-sports cable TV channel in 1979 and became a leading cable channel in a short time. ESPN also became a radio network. The show SportsCenter has been giving daily sports reports since the network's inception. Sister channel ESPN2 began in 1993.
AM Radio
-
Sports as a full-time radio format began developing in 1987 with WFAN in New York. Jim Rome became a popular radio sports commentator in the 1990s, paving the way for subjective, emotionally-charged sportscasting.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit artwork by Alex Cosper
