Bill Rasmussen Founded ESPN and Left a Year Later. It Was Long Enough to Change TV Forever

Bill Rasmussen, the co-founder of ESPN, has passed away at the age of 93. Although he launched the network in 1979 and fundamentally transformed television, he remained with the company for only one year. Rasmussen and his family were forced out of the organization by Getty Oil, which served as the majority owner at the time. His early vision for sports broadcasting is compared to the impact of Ted Turner on the media landscape.