It's time to fire up the old Jerrold cable box for a trip back to the pre-launch and early first on-air days of cable TV's pioneering Entertainment and Sports Programming Network - better known as ESPN - with founding producer and channel memoirist Peter Fox ("The Early Days of ESPN: 300 Daydreams and Nightmares").

From the "Early Days" dustjacket:

"The tales of early ESPN people who gambled their careers while critics carped that “all-sports television will never work” are full of guile, luck, fear, fun, and unbridled optimism. As ESPN’s founding executive producer, Peter Fox was privy to some spectacular professional efforts by a cadre of Connecticut locals who made the dream real. 

"The first 300 days of the fledgling network were filled with mayhem, on-air gaffes, and the slowest instant replay in television. What started as a humble idea in the late spring of 1978 to capitalize on the brand-new mania for UConn men’s basketball soon morphed into ESPN and a plan to begin airing a series of “test broadcasts” in the fall. 

"This is the story of the early days at ESPN, told by one on the network's launching pad, and how a conversation over a couple of martinis in 1978 led to the creation of a broadcast juggernaut.

+ + +   SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• "Good Seats" Show & Defunct Team Merch:  http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY
• Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable

  SPONSOR THANKS:

• Old School Shirts.com (promo code: GOODSEATS) https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats
• Royal Retros (promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2

  BUY/READ EARLY & OFTEN:

• The Early Days of ESPN: 300 Daydreams and Nightmares (2024): https://amzn.to/3xalQdX

  FIND & FOLLOW:

• Website: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/
• X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable