Johnny Esaw
Encyclopedia
Johnny Esaw, CM
(born 1925) is a retired Canadian
sports broadcaster and television network executive. He was a pioneer of sports broadcasting in Canada, best known for his involvement with figure skating, football, and international hockey.
, Esaw was unsuccessfully selling insurance in 1947 when Emile Francis
hired him to cover semi-professional baseball games on radio station CJNB in North Battleford. In 1949, he moved to a bigger market in Regina, Saskatchewan
at CKRM, where he worked until 1956. He provided play-by-play coverage of the 1951 Grey Cup
game from Varsity Stadium
in Toronto
—the beginning of what would become a long affiliation with the Canadian Football League
. In 1956, Esaw became sports director of Winnipeg
's CKRC
.
, Toronto
's first privately-owned TV station, as it prepared for launch. Foster Hewitt
was an early investor in the station and helped persuade Esaw to move east. CFTO was part of the CTV Television Network
, and Esaw headed negotiations for the broadcast rights for many prominent sports events. Under Esaw, figure skating
received significant coverage on CFTO and across CTV, making national stars out of Canadian world champions Donald Jackson
and Otto Jelinek
& Maria Jelinek
. Esaw worked with Roone Arledge
, head of ABC
Sports to secure North American rights to the world figure skating championships. CTV and ABC would also partner in bringing Wide World of Sports
to Canada. Esaw also brought the 1964 Winter Olympics
to CTV and bought the rights to the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series
(the broadcasts ended up being shared with CBC Television
). Esaw hosted the English-language telecasts and is best remembered for conducting the famous post-game interview with Phil Esposito
following Game 4 in Vancouver
. He was also the lead play-by-play man for the CFL on CTV
from 1962 until 1973 and then the host from 1974 until 1986.
in Calgary
.
After retiring from CTV, Esaw joined Houston Group as vice-president of broadcasting operations and remained in that role after Houston was acquired by Edelman
, the world's largest public relations
firm. With Edelman, Esaw worked on several sports events, including golf tournaments, tennis, and motor sports. He retired in 1996 at the age of 71.
(1991), the Canadian Amateur Sports Hall of Fame (1991), the North Battleford Sports Hall of Fame (1992), the CAB
Broadcast Hall of Fame (1997), and the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1997). In 2004, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born 1925) is a retired Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
sports broadcaster and television network executive. He was a pioneer of sports broadcasting in Canada, best known for his involvement with figure skating, football, and international hockey.
Early broadcasting career
Born in North Battleford, SaskatchewanSaskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Esaw was unsuccessfully selling insurance in 1947 when Emile Francis
Emile Francis
Emile "The Cat" Francis is a former player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably with the New York Rangers....
hired him to cover semi-professional baseball games on radio station CJNB in North Battleford. In 1949, he moved to a bigger market in Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
at CKRM, where he worked until 1956. He provided play-by-play coverage of the 1951 Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
game from Varsity Stadium
Varsity Stadium
Varsity Stadium is a collegiate football stadium that is home to the Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While the present structure was built in 2007, it is in fact the third major incarnation of the stadium that has occupied the same site...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
—the beginning of what would become a long affiliation with the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. In 1956, Esaw became sports director of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
's CKRC
CFWM-FM
CFWM-FM is a radio station based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The station, broadcasting at 99.9 FM, uses the on-air brand and format Bob FM. Its studios are located at 1445 Pembina Highway, along with sister stations, FAB 94.3 and TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg....
.
Moves to television
Esaw made the transition to television late in 1960, becoming sports director of CFTO-TVCFTO-TV
CFTO-DT, broadcast on channel 9 and cable 8, is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. Currently branded as CTV Toronto, it is the flagship station of the CTV Television Network, and was one of the charter members of the network when it was launched in 1961. It...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's first privately-owned TV station, as it prepared for launch. Foster Hewitt
Foster Hewitt
Foster William Hewitt, OC was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for Hockey Night in Canada. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt.-Early life and career:...
was an early investor in the station and helped persuade Esaw to move east. CFTO was part of the CTV Television Network
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, and Esaw headed negotiations for the broadcast rights for many prominent sports events. Under Esaw, figure skating
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
received significant coverage on CFTO and across CTV, making national stars out of Canadian world champions Donald Jackson
Donald Jackson
Donald George Jackson, CM is a retired Canadian figure skater. He captured four Canadian titles and a bronze medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics...
and Otto Jelinek
Otto Jelinek
Otto John Jelinek, PC is a businessman, former figure skater, and Canadian politician. Jelinek's family fled to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1948 at the beginning of the Cold War.-Figure skating career:...
& Maria Jelinek
Maria Jelinek
Maria Jelinek is a Canadian pair skater. She competed with her brother Otto Jelinek. They are the 1962 World Champions, the 1961 North American national champions, and 1961-1962 Canadian national champions...
. Esaw worked with Roone Arledge
Roone Arledge
Roone Pickney Arledge, Jr. was an American sports broadcasting pioneer who was chairman of ABC News from 1977 until several years before his death, and a key part of the company's rise to competition with the two other main television networks, NBC and CBS, in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.-Early...
, head of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Sports to secure North American rights to the world figure skating championships. CTV and ABC would also partner in bringing Wide World of Sports
Wide World of Sports (US TV series)
ABC's Wide World of Sports is a sports anthology series on American television that ran from 1961 to 1998 and was originally hosted by Jim McKay. The title continued to be used for general sports programs until 2006...
to Canada. Esaw also brought the 1964 Winter Olympics
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...
to CTV and bought the rights to the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series
Summit Series
The Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...
(the broadcasts ended up being shared with CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
). Esaw hosted the English-language telecasts and is best remembered for conducting the famous post-game interview with Phil Esposito
Phil Esposito
Philip Anthony Esposito, OC is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and is considered to be one of the best to have...
following Game 4 in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. He was also the lead play-by-play man for the CFL on CTV
CFL on CTV
CFL on CTV was a presentation of Canadian Football League football aired on the CTV Television Network from 1962 to 1986. CTV dropped coverage of the CFL after the 1986 season...
from 1962 until 1973 and then the host from 1974 until 1986.
A network executive
In 1974, Esaw became vice-president of CTV Sports, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1990. He negotiated the host broadcasting rights to the 1988 Winter Olympics1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
.
After retiring from CTV, Esaw joined Houston Group as vice-president of broadcasting operations and remained in that role after Houston was acquired by Edelman
Edelman (firm)
Edelman is a global public relations firm with consumer, finance, healthcare, technology and industrial practices. It employs over 3,600 people in 53 offices around the globe. Edelman was founded in 1952 by Daniel J. Edelman and is today led by his son President & CEO Richard Edelman...
, the world's largest public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firm. With Edelman, Esaw worked on several sports events, including golf tournaments, tennis, and motor sports. He retired in 1996 at the age of 71.
Honours
Esaw was inducted into the Canadian Football Reporters Hall of Fame (1984), the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1991), Canada's Sports Hall of FameCanada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...
(1991), the Canadian Amateur Sports Hall of Fame (1991), the North Battleford Sports Hall of Fame (1992), the CAB
Canadian Association of Broadcasters
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters was the national voice of Canada's private broadcasters, representing the vast majority of Canadian programming services, including private radio and television stations, specialty, pay and pay-per-view services....
Broadcast Hall of Fame (1997), and the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1997). In 2004, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
Sources
- "Johnny Esaw hangs up his mike after 41 years in broadcasting," Ken McKee, Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, February 19, 1990, p. D7. - Johnny Esaw, Canadian Communications Foundation, retrieved December 15, 2006.
- Johnny Esaw, George Gross, Sports Media Canada, retrieved December 15, 2006.