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ESPN2 debuted on
October 1,
1993, as a sister station of
ESPN. Nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was to be branded as a network for a younger generation of
sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like
motocross,
snowboarding, and
BMX racing.
The original ESPN2 graphics featured the letters "ESPN" in several fonts, one of which was its traditional script, with the only consistency being the '2' that looked like spray painted graffiti. On-screen graphics used a odd font with random capital letters, as "tHis iS aN ExAMplE". No announcers wore ties and traditional sports had "deuce names", NASCAR was "Hell on Wheels", the NHL was "Fire on Ice", and so on.
The first program on ESPN2 was SportsNight, a sports news hybrid featuring Keith Olbermann and Suzy Kolber. The debut was noted by Olbermann's statement at the beginning of transmission: "Good evening, and welcome to the end of our careers." Several notable ESPN personalities debuted on ESPN2's SportsNight, among them Stuart Scott and Kenny Mayne.
Missing imageEspn2_logo.gif One of several logos from ESPN2's early days
This format was not successful. The so-called
MTV Generation was not interested in sports, and traditional sports fans were turned off by the youth gimmick. The channel was then reformatted. ESPN2 now offers much of the same programming as ESPN, often airing spill over programs from "The Mothership". Graphics and announcer dress are nearly the same as ESPN, only using blue where ESPN uses red, plus the addition of the "2" at the end of the logo. The "2" does not feature the signature stripe through the font like the other letters in the logo. ESPN's sports ticker, the "BottomLine", runs at the bottom of the screen and is featured on all ESPN2 programs, whereas ESPN only features the ticker during its highlights programs and at :18 and :58 on the hour during live game coverage. ESPN2 now appears in 65
million homes in the
United States.
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