“Cable Is Fine, But It’s Never Really Going To Amount To A Hill Of Beans”
Once again covering the US Open for ESPN, Cliff Drysdale recalls dealing with a skeptic about cable sports TV's future nearly 40 years ago
As ESPN provides wall-to-wall 2018 US Open Tennis coverage the next two weeks, Front Row asked veteran ESPN commentator Cliff Drysdale to recall his start with the network. A member of the Tennis Hall Of Fame, Drysdale has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in September 1979. In this video, he recalls joining the fledgling ESPN in the late ’70s and the skepticism he encountered regarding cable television’s future.
ESPN has two weeks of exclusive live coverage from tennis’ fourth and final Major of the year, the 50th Anniversary US Open. The daily action from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will culminate with the Women’s Championship on Saturday, Sept. 8, and the Men’s Championship on Sunday, Sept. 9, both at 4 p.m. ET. For the first time, all 16 courts will be covered, with 130 hours on television and 1,300 more streaming live on the ESPN app via ESPN3 and ESPN+, the new direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN.
Dave Nagle and Shelby L. Lacy produced the video.
