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Up Close is a sports interview
Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee....
 show that aired on ESPN
ESPN

ESPN is a United States cable television Television network dedicated to Broadcasting of sports events and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
 for some 20 years.

program debuted in 1981
1981 in television

The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the United States TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule....
 on USA Network
USA Network

USA Network is an United States cable television channel launched in 1977. The channel shows a variety of original and second-run programming, from syndicated TV series to edited Film....
 and was created by the advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding to advertise one of its clients, Mazda
Mazda

is a Japanese automaker based in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It is part owned by the Ford Motor Company.During 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales....
 cars. Mazda SportsLook moved to ESPN in 1982
1982 in television

The year 1982 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1982.For the American TV schedule, see: 1982-83 American network television schedule....
 and was subsequently rechristened Up Close. This was after it was called SportsLook.

it arrived at ESPN, SportsLook was slotted before SportsCenter
SportsCenter

SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of United States cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979....
.






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Up Close is a sports interview
Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee....
 show that aired on ESPN
ESPN

ESPN is a United States cable television Television network dedicated to Broadcasting of sports events and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
 for some 20 years.

History


Early years

The program debuted in 1981
1981 in television

The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the United States TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule....
 on USA Network
USA Network

USA Network is an United States cable television channel launched in 1977. The channel shows a variety of original and second-run programming, from syndicated TV series to edited Film....
 and was created by the advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding to advertise one of its clients, Mazda
Mazda

is a Japanese automaker based in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It is part owned by the Ford Motor Company.During 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales....
 cars. Mazda SportsLook moved to ESPN in 1982
1982 in television

The year 1982 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1982.For the American TV schedule, see: 1982-83 American network television schedule....
 and was subsequently rechristened Up Close. This was after it was called SportsLook.

Time slots

Once it arrived at ESPN, SportsLook was slotted before SportsCenter
SportsCenter

SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of United States cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979....
. The show aired at 6 p.m. Eastern time
North American Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the Western Hemisphere falls mostly along the east coast of North America and the west coast of South America. Its time offset is -5 hrs GMT or UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight saving time....
, followed by SportsCenter at 6:30. The show remained in that slot until September 1999
1999 in television

The year 1999 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1999.For the American TV schedule, see: 1999-00 United States network television schedule....
, when SportsCenter was expanded to an hour and Up Close, as it was then renamed, moved to 5:30 p.m.

Hosts

The original host of Up Close was Roy Firestone
Roy Firestone

File:RoyFirestoneMay07.jpgRoy "Freakin'" Firestone is a Sportscaster and sports journalist. Firestone is a graduate of Miami Beach High School and the University of Miami....
, who served as host for 13 years. During this time, both Firestone and the show won many CableACE Awards, then the gold standard
Gold standard

The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold....
 for cable television programming. When Firestone left in 1994
1994 in television

The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule....
, Chris Myers
Chris Myers

Christopher Patrick Myers is an American sports Presenter....
 became the new host; he stayed there until 1998
1998 in television

The year 1998 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1998.For the American TV schedule, see: 1998-99 United States network television schedule....
 and enjoyed the highest ratings in the history of the program. Miller was the show's host when Up Close signed off in 2001
2001 in television

The year 2001 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2001....
.

Notable interviews
Myers interviewed O.J. Simpson live in November 1995
1995 in television

The year 1995 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1995.For the American TV schedule, see: 1995-96 United States network television schedule....
; this was Simpson's first full-length interview since he was acquitted in the so-called "trial of the century" a month earlier.

Some interviews, notably those with college basketball
College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ....
 coaches
Head coach

A head coach is a professional at training and developing sports men and women. He is typically paid more than other coach . Other coaches are often subordinate to the head coach, often in offense positions or defense positions, and occasionally proceeding down into individualized position coaches....
 Jim Valvano
Jim Valvano

James Thomas Anthony Valvano , nicknamed Jimmy V, was an United States college basketball coach.While the head coach at North Carolina State University, he won the 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament against high odds....
 and Bob Knight, are still occasionally shown on ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biography of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event....
 under the name Up Close Classics.

Broadcast locations

In 1999
1999 in television

The year 1999 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1999.For the American TV schedule, see: 1999-00 United States network television schedule....
, Up Close broadcasts were moved from studios
Television studio

A television studio is an installation in which television or video productions take place, either for live television, for recording live to tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for postproduction....
 in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
 to the ESPN Zone
ESPN Zone

ESPN Zone is a small chain of very large sports-themed restaurants that include arcades, TV studios, and radio studios. The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 11, 1998 in the Power Plant Live! on the Inner Harbor....
 in Anaheim
Anaheim, California

Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of January 1, 2008, the city population was about 346,823, making it the 10th most-populated city in California and ranked 54th in the United States....
, on Disneyland property.

Cancellation

Eventually, declining ratings
Nielsen Ratings

Nielsen Ratings are audience measurement developed by the AC Nielsen Company, to determine the audience size and composition of broadcast programming....
 and the rise of a confrontational style of talk (on television in general, not just among sports shows) led to the show's demise, which took place on Friday, October 19, 2001. Three days later, Up Close was replaced with Unscripted with Chris Connelly
Unscripted with Chris Connelly

Unscripted with Chris Connelly is a half-hour daily interview program that aired on ESPN from October 22, 2001 until June 25, 2002....
, which updated the Up Close format to be more contemporary. The new program lasted less than a year.

External links