ESPN, which stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American multinational basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications. Since its inception, ESPN has become the largest multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company in the world.
ESPN was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Egan. The channel officially launched on September 7, 1979, initially available only to 1.4 million cable subscribers. Here are key milestones in its history:
ESPN provides a variety of sports-related programming:
Over the years, ESPN has expanded into:
ESPN has faced several challenges including: