"ABC's Silver Anniversary" - Wide World of Sports (1978)

[altfactor]

The "25th anniversary" refers to United Paramount Theatres' purchase of ABC in 1953.

ABC was actually born ten years before that, when NBC was forced to spin-off one of it's two radio networks (either the "Red" or "Blue") to comply with an antitrust ruling.

NBC sold-off the "Blue", the weaker of the two, and it was renamed the American Broadcasting Company.

[altfactor]

I believe Jim McKay's original opening narration for "Wide World" lasted only a few weeks.

McKay and producer Roone Arledge came up with a new narration some weeks into the show's run.

If "Wide World" were still on today, the ski jumper for the "agony of defeat" may have just been replaced by the crash that cost J.R. Hildebrand a victory in the 2011 Indianapolis 500.

[TheDarkwingj]

At Midnight Before the Royal Wedding ESPN Classic Is Going to broadcast the first wide world of sports from 1961 on friday

[notredamehesamighty]

As a kid, Wide World of Sports opened my eyes to the fact that sports wasn't just Little League Baseball and the NFL. There were other countries, other cultures and sometimes what they did was kind of interesting. Many foreign sports were odd and weird, but I came to know some of the Russian weightlifters by name (can't remember 'em now), I began to appreciate more obscure sports like barrel jumping from Europe and home-grown USA sports such as log rolling. As a kid, WWoS opened my eyes.

[dimmerm]

testing

[midnightcaller200]

This is /was much better than ESPN

[Stratman78]

Starting at 6:25, can anybody tell me the music that is played at the end of this clip?

[Aspergian]

@Stratman78 An instrumental version of "The Way We Were."

[ltlieu61]

1961- 1978 17yrs.......silver anniversery ??

[dcbandnerd]

@ltlieu61 For ABC as a network.

[5kdamian]

@ltlieu61 it was ABC's Silver Anniversary, not Wide World of Sports. ABC began as a network in 1953.

[Aggedor1959]

Shame we couldn't see the whole intro that I remember with the ski jumper but this was good, too. ABC went from, "We'll try anything" to, "We got GAME" with Wide World of Sports.

They were the pioneers, the giant shoulders that ESPN and the other sports networks stand on.

[harveybullocks1281]

ESPN would not exist if it wasn't for wide world of sports.

[MovieAndSports2012]

@harveybullocks1281 then espn on abc whould not be real

[sportshistorian]

The music used in the Muhammad Ali piece was the first theme for ABC's Monday Night Baseball in 1976. Would love to find that music with no voice or even an game opening from 1976 and the other theme used in 1977.

[deloysterns]

The song is Symphonic Soul by Henry Mancini

[joebradio]

Anybody have an idea on the music bed used starting at 1:33. It was also used as a newscast open about the same time in the market where I grew up (Greenville-Spartanburg)

[joebradio]

Whoa Nelly !!!