ESPN

One of the most amazing start-up companies I have ever witnessed is called the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN).   Two brothers named Rasmussen came up with the idea.  The original big money investor behind the project in 1979 was Getty Oil.  The network lost about $20 million a year for the first three years.  It never would have worked unless someone with big bucks shared the vision of what could be. 

Getty sold their ownership rights to ABC in 1984.  All income numbers began climbing and all was golden for most of the following years.

The Disney Corporation purchased controlling interest of ESPN in 1996.  Now they own 80% and Hearst Communications owns the other 20%.  ESPN has been a drag on Disney profits since 2013.  They have lost more than 10 million customers in that period.  Young people, it seems, are dropping out of the cable/satellite TV market in favor of the streaming services.  Also, FOX, NBC, and CBS are each increasing their emphasis on sports broadcasting. 

There was a time when I wouldn't have let a night go by without watching ESPN Sports Center. It was very innovative and set a new course for sports broadcasting.  It would have been a pretty good investment in 1983.