ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which controlled an 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which had 20%).
For the Canadian channel of the same name, see ESPN Classic (Canadian TV channel). For the defunct European channel, see ESPN Classic (European TV channel).Country
United States
Nationwide
English
ESPN Inc.
(The Walt Disney Company (80%)
Hearst Communications (20%))
May 6, 1995
December 31, 2021
Classic Sports Network (1995–1997)
The channel was originally launched as the Classic Sports Network in 1995, and was acquired by ESPN in 1997. The network originally focused on carrying classic sporting events, other programs and documentaries, and live specials (such as the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony) focusing on sports history.
By the 2010s, due to the increasing number of sport-, league-, and college conference-specific networks that had assumed rights to the archive and live content that was historically aired by ESPN Classic, a larger amount of programming was devoted to archive content whose rights were owned by ESPN outright, reruns of recent events from ESPN's networks, as well as ESPN original documentaries, and overflow coverage of events from other ESPN networks.
In 2014, ESPN began to phase out ESPN Classic as a linear service, and transition it to a branded video on-demand offering. A number of major providers, such as AT&T, Altice USA, Comcast, and Verizon Fios dropped ESPN Classic in the years that followed. Due to this change in format, ESPNews and ESPN's digital platforms have supplanted its role as an overflow service. In 2021, media reports indicated that the channel would close at the end of the year, and it did so in the late hours of December 31, 2021.
Cessation of original programming[edit]
On January 14, 2007, Deadspin reported that ESPN Classic would no longer develop or air original programming. It was not immediately clear what would replace such programs;[23] however, it was assumed that shows that were already produced, but not yet aired, would be broadcast at least for a few more months.
Over the next few months, new episodes of Missing Link, Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame and Ringside aired as scheduled. However, Missing Link was cancelled in June 2007, at which time production was also halted on the other two programs.
In pop culture[edit]
ESPN Classic was parodied in a recurring series of Saturday Night Live skits. The sketches depicted archived broadcasts of obscure women's sports events from the 1980s such as bowling, weightlifting and curling. The announcers, Pete Twinkle and Greg Stink (played by Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte, respectively), consistently knew nothing about the sports, and instead focused on promoting the absurdly-exaggerated sponsors, which are always women's hygiene products.