| Date |
Description |
Video |
1980
March
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ESPN introduces the "electronic cut-in" format during its first coverage of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN was the first to extensively cut away from game action to provide live coverage of other games, giving unprecedented national exposure to the event. The technique is later applied to hockey when ESPN provides extensive coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1986 and to Major League Baseball beginning in 1990. |
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1983
June 20 |
First sports telecast to be presented in stereo (USFL--Oakland vs. Philadelphia). |
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1985
July 26
|
The ESPN Score Update (later called “28/58” for the minutes after the hour at which it is displayed), debuts to provide scores and news every 30 minutes in primetime. Information is presented graphically as the action on the screen is slightly condensed. |
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1989
March 5
|
ESPN debuts the first of many variations of “MiniCams” -- "CrewCam," a miniature camera on the headset of a pit crew member, at a NASCAR Winston Cup race. Later SpeedWorld innovations include telemetry, "CableCam," "FootCam," "RoofCam," "SuspensionCam" and the use of an infrared camera and roving reporters. |
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1995
April
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ESPN debuts in-game box score during Major League Baseball telecasts. Hitting, pitching and fielding statistics from the game are shown along the bottom of the screen three times per game.
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1998
Feb. 27
|
ESPN debuts SkyCam (Florida at Detroit, NHL). The camera follows the action from above the ice surface, and is mounted on two cables and can move up and down, as well as from one end of the rink to the other. It also can pan, tilt and zoom. It later becomes a regular feature on MLB, NFL and NBA telecasts. |
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1998
March 1 |
ESPN becomes the first television network to place a microphone on a referee during an NHL telecast (became first to utilize a linesman on March 8), followed by the first use on a college basketball coach (1999) and a MLB player (2002). |
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1998
Sept. 28 |
ESPN debuts “1st and Ten” on the Cincinnati at Baltimore NFL game. The computer-generated yellow line appears to be painted on the field at the point the offense must reach to achieve a first down. |
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2001
April 15 |
“ESPN Dead Center” debuts on Sunday Night Baseball with Texas at Oakland. This new camera angle, directly behind the pitcher, provides a true depiction of inside-outside pitch location. |
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2001
July 1 |
“K Zone” debuts on Sunday Night Baseball, accurately outlining the strike zone and pitch location and won a Sports Emmy Award in 2002 for Innovative Technical Achievement. In 2006, “K Zone 2.0,” the enhanced version, debuts on Sunday Night Baseball. In addition to identifying the speed and location of a pitch in replays, “K Zone 2.0” also tracks the path of the ball from the pitcher’s hand through the strike zone and numerically sequences each pitch. |
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2001
Oct. 17
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Pardon The Interruption debuts with a revolutionary “run down” of subjects to be addressed presented vertically down the right side of the screen. The concept is later applied to SportsCenter. |
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2002
March
|
ESPN debuts “ShotSpot,” the revolutionary three-dimensional computer-generated technology which allows viewers to determine close line calls and analyze the speed, placement and trajectory of every shot. The technology won a Sports Emmy Award in 2003 for Innovative Technical Achievement. |
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2003
March 30 |
ESPN HD, a high-definition simulcast of ESPN, debuts with Texas/Anaheim. ESPN2 and ESPNEWS later follow with HD services. |
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2006
July 10 |
“Ultra-Mo” debuts on the Home Run Derby and is then used on Sunday Night Baseball, providing replays with 120 frames/second, twice as slow as traditional slo-mo. |
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2007
August |
At X Games 13, Ultra Wide Band transmitters on Skateboards and Bikes transmit data in real time to a 30-foot high LED tower that displays the height of each jump in real time to the live and TV audience. |
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2007
Sept. 10 |
Developed by Sportvision, Player Tracking debuts during the MNF regular- season opener. By attaching a GPS chip in players' shoulder pads, ESPN displays visual trails on replays to demonstrate routes that offensive and defensive players run, including how a wide receiver beats a defensive back on a long touchdown pass. |
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2008
May 4 |
ESPN Major League Baseball telecasts begin to incorporate unique statistical data – including a batter's performance (batting average, home runs, RBI, etc.) when facing specific pitch counts – into the upper third scoreboard graphic. The data is shown before every pitch of the game. |
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2008
July 9 |
ESPN Axis, developed by the Swiss company LiberoVision and ESPN's production team, is used for the first time during studio coverage of the UEFA European Football Championship. It creates "virtual" replays, with video from the live action processed via computers to create virtual freeze frames from multiple angles. Angles of view may be tilted upwards by 90 degrees -- from field level to directly overhead -- creating three-dimensional, bird’s-eye views from multiple vantage points to diagram plays.
ESPN Axis technology is applied to ESPN’s MNF telecasts and NFL studio coverage with the start of the 2008 season. |
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EA SPORTS Virtual Playbook debuts on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, delivering an “augmented reality” that allows analysts to interact with virtual players from EA SPORTS video games. Developed jointly by EA SPORTS Technology Licensing Group and ESPN’s Emerging Technology group, the Virtual Playbook uses feeds from in-studio cameras as well as an in-game camera, creating the appearance of virtual players in the studio alongside the analysts. Both are able to move realistically around the studio set to demonstrate plays and techniques. |
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ESPN adds an unprecedented complement of seven hi-speed cameras for Monday Night Football – three 120-frame per second slow-motion cams, two 180-frame per second super slow-motion cams and two 300-frame per second super slow-motion cams. These give viewers more detailed close-up shots of replays that eliminate motion blur. (Other networks normally reserve this number of hi-speed cameras for NFL playoff and Super Bowl telecasts.) |
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