ESPN BottomLine

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ESPN BottomLine used from August 19, 2018, to present. ESPN BottomLIne as of August 2018.png
ESPN BottomLine used from August 19, 2018, to present.
ESPN BottomLine used from June 2014 to August 19, 2018. ESPN BottomLine as of July 2018.png
ESPN BottomLine used from June 2014 to August 19, 2018.

BottomLine is ESPN's lower third sports information ticker. It is uniform in design and used on all ESPN networks. It displays current sports scores, stats, and headlines in a 'push-then-scroll' format. It also serves as a display for urgent information, such as breaking sports news, breaking significant national news from ESPN sister networks ABC and FX, updated scores, a rain delay notification, or the move of a game from one ESPN network to another. BottomLine is also used on the TSN channels in Canada and on the Latin American and Brazilean ESPN channels.

Contents

On special occasions, a customized version of the ticker may be used; some examples are Pi day, in which a Pi symbol is placed next to the ESPN logo, and the 4th of July, when an American flag surrounds the ESPN logo.

History

SportsCenter debuted a new graphics package on April 6, 2009, with the "rundown" graphic (shown during the daytime editions) moved to the left side of the screen. A new BottomLine was also released that day on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, and ESPNU but it was quickly removed and reverted to the old BottomLine (which had been used since April 2003) because of major technical difficulties. The new BottomLine was functional during coverage of the 2009 NFL draft and the 2009 NBA Draft, but the issues were fixed and the it eventually returned on July 8 of the same year. Yet another redesigned BottomLine was launched at 11 PM ET on June 22, 2014, to coincide with a dramatic redesign of the SportsCenter studio. [1]

On August 20, 2018, a refreshed BottomLine launched. The BottomLine switched to a "flipper" format, used two lines of text, and no longer showed the logos of teams during score updates (though team abbreviations still appeared in the second line of text). In addition, the rightmost third of the BottomLine now contains a rotating display of promotions for ESPN and ESPN+ programming, which can also be used to display breaking news or program advisories when needed. [2]

Variants

ESPN 2

In 1995, ESPN2 debuted a sports news ticker, dubbed by Production Assistant Onnie Bose as the "BottomLine Update." It is a persistent ticker which stayed at the bottom of the screen at all times during most programming, unlike ESPN, who only showed their own at the :18 (formerly :28) and :58 of each hour (accompanied by an audio cue, which has since been adapted as the alert tone for ESPN's mobile apps) and during select programming. [3] The introductory audio cue was removed when the BottomLine graphics were updated in 2009. ESPN2's sports telecasts were also among the first to regularly use a scoring bug. In later years, ESPN2 would also participate in "Full Circle" telecasts, productions of a single game aired across multiple ESPN services to provide additional features and angles.

ESPNEWS

ESPNEWS's "bottom line" — a small rectangular area at the bottom one-fifth of the screen flashing scores—is more in-depth than the one airing on ESPN's other networks. It contains not only scores but also statistics and brief news alerts about the day's happenings in sports. It also remains on screen during most commercial breaks. This particular BottomLine was re-designed as the network was re-launched on March 30, 2008. [4] The change from a big BottomLine to the ESPN-shaped BottomLine, the decrease of ESPNEWS programming, and SportsCenter being shown on ESPNEWS has had some controversy among longtime ESPNEWS viewers. The network was changed over to a full-screen presentation in June 2010 with the network receiving the BottomLine used on all other ESPN networks in anticipation of the network's primetime programming being rebranded under the SportsCenter branding.

ESPN on ABC

With ABC adopting ESPN production and imaging for sports broadcasts beginning in 2006, ABC has used ESPN's BottomLine during sports broadcasts, with its only differences being its branding, and being formatted to the 4:3 aspect ratio (as with all sports broadcasts on ABC) until ABC migrated to a 16:9 format for network programming for the 2016–17 television season (however BottomLine is not displayed when the network takes commercials, with a notable exception, the NFL draft, NBA draft and NHL games during intermissions).

ESPN on FX

Starting with the 2023 XFL season, the BottomLine ticker is identical to ESPN's design and the broadcast presentation is similar to the ESPN on ABC broadcasts. The only exceptions is that the FX logo is in place of the ABC logo on the BottomLine ticker and the ESPN on FX logo in place of the ESPN on ABC logo on the top right, just like ESPN on ABC, the BottomLine ticker is not displayed when taking commercials, despite it being a cable network like all the other ESPN networks.

ESPN+

For select events either an exclusive bottomline is displayed, if the event is simulcast of something also on the ESPN's cable network. It will use the corresponding network's bottomline, or not at all (like ESPN on ABC, and ESPN on FX, bottomline is not used during commercials unless it is displayed on a network it’s simulcasting it)

TSN

The BottomLine ticker is identical to the ESPN's design. When TSN debuted the new BottomLine ticker as ESPN, differences on the right side include advertising of Bell Media's other properties such as Crave and CTV 2.

Cold Pizza

Cold Pizza was notable for having its own version of ESPN's BottomLine, as their ticker not only gave sports scores but also news headlines and weather forecasts from sports cities and is shown in its own color scheme. It also functioned differently: it constantly scrolled, while other ESPN "BottomLines" usually "flip" through the different scores, scrolling only for long statistical lines (until August 20, 2018, when the bottomline was updated to flip even through long statistical lines, as a result of the bottomline now being two lines rather than one). This graphic was discontinued in the summer of 2006 when the "BottomLine" was changed to resemble those of other ESPN programs.

College Football Playoff Megacast

The Playoff Megacasts for 2017 introduced a new statistical ticker, which shows info about the current drive, and stats about plays made. Unlike the others, it just fades out stats, instead of flipping.

For the 2018 semifinals, a newly redesigned version of the statistical ticker was unveiled.

Defunct Windows PC Ticker

From the Windows 98 era to the middle of the Windows XP era, a BottomLine ticker application using Macromedia Shockwave technology was available for personal use on a Windows personal computer (and was embeddedable with credit as a part of personal websites). Its last update (version 2.1) was in August 2004. [5]

Related Research Articles

ESPN is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications (20%) through the joint venture ESPN Inc. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen, Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan.

SportsCenter (SC) is an American daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and often shows highlights of sports from the day. Originally broadcast only once per day, SportsCenter now has up to twelve airings each day, excluding overnight repeats. The show often covers the major sports in the U.S. including basketball, hockey, football, and baseball. SportsCenter is also known for its recaps after sports events and its in-depth analysis.

<i>Monday Night Football</i> Live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games

Monday Night Football is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that primarily broadcast on Monday nights. It was originally broadcast on ABC from 1970 to 2005, before moving exclusively to sister network ESPN in 2006, which remains the main channel for the broadcast. In 2020, MNF returned to ABC in select simulcasts with ESPN, and in 2022, it began featuring select exclusive ABC telecasts. In addition, ESPN2 has aired alternate telecasts of selected games since 2020 as the Manningcast, while ESPN+ has streamed MNF simulcasts in the United States since 2021.

ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

ESPNews is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">News ticker</span> Text strip describing important events

A news ticker is a horizontal or vertical text-based display either in the form of a graphic that typically resides in the lower third of the screen space on a television station or network or as a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the facades of some offices or public buildings dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It is an evolution of the ticker tape, a continuous paper print-out of stock quotes from a printing telegraph which was mainly used in stock exchanges before the advance of technology in the 1960s.

ESPN on ABC is the branding used for sports event and documentary programming televised by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. Officially, the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, in 2006, ABC's sports division was merged into ESPN Inc., which is the parent subsidiary of the cable sports network ESPN that is majority owned by ABC's corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company, in partnership with Hearst Communications.

<i>NFL on Fox</i> Television series

The NFL on Fox is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox NFL Sunday and is followed on weeks when the network airs a Doubleheader by The OT. The latter two shows feature the same studio hosts and analysts for both programs, who also contribute to the former. In weeks when Fox airs a doubleheader, the late broadcast airs under the brand America's Game of the Week.

<i>Cold Pizza</i> American TV sports talk show

Cold Pizza was an American television sports morning talk show that aired weekdays on ESPN2 from 2003 to 2007. The show's style was more akin to Good Morning America than SportsCenter's straight news and highlights format. It included daily sports news, interviews with sports journalists, athletes, and personalities, and an assortment of other sports and non-sports topics.

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<i>NASCAR on ESPN</i> US television program

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ESPN3 is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications, that provides live streams and replays of global sports events to sports fans in the United States.

ESPN Megacast, formerly known as ESPN Full Circle, is a multi-network simulcast of a single sporting event across multiple ESPN networks and services—with each feed providing a different version of the telecast making use of different features, functions or perspectives. These simulcasts typically involve ESPN's linear television channels and internet streaming platforms, and may occasionally incorporate other Walt Disney Television networks at once.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPN Classic</span> American television channel telecasting vintage sporting events (1995-2021)

ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

WatchESPN was a branding of the Internet television website and mobile application operated by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation.

ESPN is an American-based global cable and satellite television channel that focuses on sports-related programming inc

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Digital on-screen graphic by country refers to how use of these logos in television vary in different countries and regions.

References

  1. "ESPN debuts futuristic 'SportsCenter' set and revamped ticker". For The Win. 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  2. "ESPN's BottomLine Will Have New Look Come Monday - ESPN Front Row". ESPN Front Row. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  3. "Dedicated staff keeps close watch on ESPN's Bottom Line - USATODAY.com". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  4. "ESPNews HD Takes Graphic Approach". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  5. "ESPN.com BottomLine FAQ Page". ESPN.com . Retrieved 21 October 2018.