Arledge, Roone (1931—)
Visionary producer Roone Arledge was instrumental in transforming network-televised sports and news into profitable ventures. Joining ABC Sports in 1960, he revolutionized broadcasts with his use of instant replay and slow motion, and his humanistic production sense brought the shows Wide World of Sports, Monday Night Football, and announcer Howard Cosell to national consciousness. A widely acclaimed and award winning broadcast of the terrorized 1972 Munich Olympics stirred wider ambitions, and in 1976 Arledge became president of ABC News. He soon pioneered ratings-savvy breakthroughs such as Nightline (1980) and the first television news magazine, 20/20 (1978). News, however, soon moved from being merely profitable to being profit-driven. Arledge was swallowed by the corporate establishment. Ted Turner's 24-hour Cable News Network (CNN) became the standard for network news coverage, and soon ABC was bought by Capital Cities Inc., which also owns the successful 24-hour sports network ESPN. Arledge stepped down in 1998.
Further Reading:
Gunther, Marc. The House That Roone Built. New York, Little, Brown, 1994.
Powers, Ron. Supertube: The Rise Of Television Sports. New York, Coward-McCann, 1984.
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