ABC's Wide World of Sports is a long-running sports anthology show on American television. As the title suggests, it aired on the ABC television network.
The show debuted April 29, 1961, and was the creation of Roone Arledge, the executive producer of ABC Sports. It was intended to be a "fill-in" show for a single summer season, until the start of fall sports seasons, but became unexpectedly popular. The goal of the show, which ran weekend afternoons, was to showcase sports from around the globe, of the type not normally seen on American television, such as hurling, rodeo, and badminton. The broadcast was hosted for most of its history by Jim McKay.
The show was introduced by a stirring, brassy fanfare over a montage of sports clips and dramatic accompanying narration by McKay:
- Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport! The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition! This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!
The melodramatic introduction became a national catch phrase that is still often heard today, and ski jumper Vinko Bogataj, whose dreadful misjump and crash was always featured under the words "...and the agony of defeat", became a hard-luck hero of sorts, and an affectionate icon for stunning failure.
During the 1970s and 1980s, a Canadian version was aired by the CTV Television Network. Licensed by ABC, the CTV broadcast included a mix of content from the American show, and segments produced by CTV and its affiliates.
Most recently, the "Wide World of Sports" name has been used as an umbrella title for ABC's weekend sports programming.
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