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ESPN (originally an abbreviation for Entertainment and Sports Programming
Network) is a U.S.-based global cable and satellite television channel, that is
owned as a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the
network, through its 80% ownership interest) and Hearst Corporation (which holds
a 20% interest). The channel focuses on sports-related programming including
live and recorded event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original
programming.
ESPN broadcasts primarily from studios located in Bristol,
Connecticut. The network also operates offices in Miami; New York City; Seattle;
Charlotte; and Los Angeles. John Skipper is ESPN's current president, a position
he has held since January 1, 2012. While ESPN is one of the most successful
sports networks, it has been subject to criticism, which includes accusations of
biased coverage,1 conflict of interest, and controversies with individual
broadcasters and analysts.
ESPN has been a part of popular culture since its
inception. Many movies with a general sports theme will include ESPN announcers
and programming into their storylines such as in Dodgeball: A True Underdog
Story, which gently lampoons the channel's multiple outlets by referencing the
as-yet-nonexistent ESPN8, "The Ocho",14 a reference to a nickname formerly used
for ESPN2, "the Deuce"; the slogan for the network was "If it's almost a sport,
you'll find it here!"; cyclist Lance Armstrong appears in a scene and says he
loves the channel. In the film The Waterboy, Adam Sandler's character Bobby
Boucher has his college football accomplishments tracked through several
fictional "SportsCenter" newscasts including the "Bourbon Bowl".
Many jokes
have been made by comedians about fake obscure sports that are shown on ESPN.
Dennis Miller mentioned watching "sumo rodeo", while George Carlin stated that
ESPN showed "Australian dick wrestling". One of several Saturday Night Live
sketches poking fun at the network features ESPN2 airing a show called Scottish
Soccer Hooligan Weekly, which includes a fake advertisement for "Senior Women's
Beach Lacrosse". SNL also parodies ESPN Classic with fake archived obscure
women's sportscasts from the 1980s such as bowling, weight lifting and curling,
with announcers who know nothing about the sport, and instead focus on the
sponsors which are always women's hygiene products. In the early years of ESPN,
Late Night with David Letterman even featured a "Top Ten List" poking fun at
some of the obscure sports seen on ESPN at the time. One of the more memorable
sports on the list was "Amish Rake Fighting". A recurring skit on Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon named Sports Freak-Out! is a parody of SportsCenter's
overexcited anchors.
An occasional joke in comedic television and film
involves people getting ESP (an abbreviation for Extrasensory Perception, and an
irony considering ESPN was initially supposed to be named "ESP") confused with
ESPN, often including someone saying something along the lines of "I know these
kind of things, I've got ESPN". Electronic Arts in the early 1990s used to have
a faux sports network logo on their sports games called EASN (Electronic Arts
Sports Network), but soon changed to EA Sports after ESPN requested that they
stop using it. There are at least 22 children named after the network.
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