ABC Sports

Travis Vogan is Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Department of American Studies at the University of Iowa. He is the author of ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction: ABC Sports and Network Sports Television
1. The “Almost Broadcasting Company” and the Birth of ABC Sports
2. ABC’s Wide World of Sports: “The Seedbed of Modern Sports Television” and the Cold War
3. “Th e Network of the Olympics”: Starring Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell
4. Monday Night Football, Brian’s Song, and the Roots of the Prime-Time TV Event
5. Th e News from Munich on the “Arledge Broadcasting Company”
6. “What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports Is Going On Here?”: Trash Sports and Scandal
7. “No More Sacred Cows”: The End of ABC Sports’ Golden Age
Conclusion: From Wide World of Sports to the Worldwide Leader in Sports

Appendix 1: Wide World of Sports Inaugural Season Schedule, 1961
Appendix 2: ABC’s Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year
Appendix 3: Top Fifteen Television Audiences of All Time as of Roots’ Premiere
Appendix 4: Top Ten Most-Watched Wide World of Sports Episodes
Abbreviations
Notes
Index