''ESPN Sports Saturday'' was an American sports

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television program that was broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Produced by sister cable sports network ESPN, it premiered on April 3, 2010. The two-hour program regularly aired on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time between mid-January and late August (due to the network's college football coverage during the fall) to fill time on weeks when ABC did not air any afternoon sports programming. However, it has since become the ABC simulcast of the ESPN ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' specials that now air during the Saturday afternoon timeslot on ABC thus officially ending the anthology show. The program featured a hosting segment, originally by

Hannah Storm Hannah Lynn Storen Hicks (born June 13, 1962), known professionally as Hannah Storm, is an American television sports journalist, serving as the anchor of ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' Face to Face. She was also host of the ''NBA Countdown'' pregame s ...

and later various anchors featured on ESPN's flagship program, ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

''. It was ultimately dropped in August 2015 due to a change in format thus officially making ''ESPN Sports Saturday'' obsolete (sans for its ''30 for 30'' airings). ESPN, which like ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company, has handled ABC's sports coverage since 2006 under the ESPN on ABC umbrella, and ''ESPN Sports Saturday'' could be considered a descendant of ''

ABC's Wide World of Sports ''ABC's Wide World of Sports'' is an American sports anthology television program that aired on ABC from April 29, 1961 to January 3, 1998, primarily on Saturday afternoons. Hosted by Jim McKay, with a succession of co-hosts beginning in 198 ...

''. Content on the series initially included "Winners Bracket", a segment consisting of highlights, as well as specials sourced from other ESPN documentary programs, including '' Homecoming with Rick Reilly'', ''

'' and '' E:60''. Upon the show's return after the 2010 college football season, the "Winners Bracket" hour of the block was later replaced by a new weekly discussion series that showcased the best of the ESPN sports discussion shows including new exclusive content on the upcoming week's major sporting events. The program was eventually cancelled after 5 seasons in August 2015. This was because ABC gave back the Sunday afternoon schedule to its affiliates 4 months later. Also, with the rise of the Internet and 24/7 mobile applications and streaming services specializing in sports news have completely eliminated the need for a traditional anthology sports program airing on broadcast television (including ABC) during weekend afternoons. It also eliminated the need for a separate Sunday afternoon block on ABC which had seen a long decline until January 2016. It is now simply a simulcast of the ''30 for 30'' documentary series sourced from ESPN.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espn Sports Saturday American Broadcasting Company original programming ABC Sports 2010s American anthology television series Sports telecast series 2010 American television series debuts

See also

References