During the course of executing its campaign focusing on the relaunches of Outside the Lines and E:60, ESPN’s PR team came across some interesting nuggets regarding the two shows and the men who front them, Bob Ley and Jeremy Schaap.
In anticipation of E:60’s inaugural show in its new, weekly time slot (9 a.m. ET, Sundays, ESPN) and the unveiling of Outside the Lines brand new, state-of-the-art studio (Monday, 1 p.m., ESPN), Front Row shares some tidbits and trivia on the shows and hosts.
• E:60 and Outside the Lines have combined for 27 Emmy Awards and 12 Edward R. Murrow Awards.
• The voice over for this E:60 spot (above) was done by veteran screen and stage actor Stacy Keach.
• The music accompanying the spot is British singer Rag’n’Bone Man’s “Human,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Music charts in March.
• Outside the Lines, which began in May of 1990, has aired around 2,500 daily episodes and nearly 900 more on Sundays.
• The Syrian soccer piece in the debut episode of E:60 took producers and reporter Steve Fainaru to six countries over seven months, with stops in nine international cities.
• Where Ley and Schaap stand among journalism giants in terms of years of tenure at their respective networks:
BOB LEY, ESPN – 38
Edward R.Murrow, CBS – 26
JEREMY SCHAAP, ESPN – 23
Tom Brokaw, NBC – 22
Peter Jennings, ABC – 22
Walter Cronkite, CBS – 19
• Ley has interviewed four United States presidents.
• The primary color of the new logo for OTL is “Acid Yellow.”
• Ley sometimes refers to himself as the “OG” – but for him, it has slightly different meaning than the Urban Dictionary’s. “With me,” he says, “it means ‘Original Geriatric.’”
• Ley claims he and Schaap have eaten together on five different continents. Ley jokes, “Jeremy has yet to pay.”
