The George Michael Sports Machine
Encyclopedia
The George Michael Sports Machine is a syndicated
, sports-related television program which aired from 1984 until 2007. The show was hosted by George Michael
, a former radio disc jockey
-turned television sports anchor, and was produced at WRC-TV
, the NBC
-owned station in Washington, D.C.
, Los Angeles
, Cleveland
, and Chicago
-- added the program to their Sunday late-night schedules, and it was retitled as The George Michael Sports Machine. NBC-affiliated stations began to pick up the show in 1986, and in 1991 Group W Productions
took Sports Machine into wider national syndication. The show moved to other syndicators such as Eyemark Entertainment, King World Productions
, and ITC Entertainment
before NBC Enterprises (now NBC Universal Television Distribution
) began distributing the program in 2001.
As host, George Michael presented clips from the weekend's sporting events from across the United States
and sometimes outside of the U.S. Unlike newer sports-related programming, Sports Machine did not usually present commentary or criticism and focused on the highlights, and, often toward the end of the show, an in-depth story about a particular athlete. The show was also somewhat unique in its occasional coverage of remarkable high school sports footage, and its occasional coverage of sports largely ignored by other sports wrap-up shows, such as ice hockey
, NASCAR
and other auto racing
events, professional wrestling
, rodeo
, and equestrian
events.
and CNN
cable networks, creating an audience niche for Sports Machine to fill. By the later years of Sports Machine, however, the rise of numerous specialty cable sports channels (notably ESPNews
) and the expansion of Sunday evening local newscasts to either air an extended sportscast (an extra in common parlance) or a separate program to recap Sunday football and baseball action caused many stations to either drop the program or air it later in the night.
The show was sometimes derided by critics for the large quantity of fake machinery on its set. Although the set changed throughout the years, the theatrics
basically remained the same: After introducing each of the highlights, Michael then pressed a button which "activated" the "sports machine"—a large computer with several monitors attached to a video reel—to play the clips. Michael and the producers chose the computer motif mainly because high technology was fast coming into the American consciousness at the time of the show's debut.
Another criticism of the show was the poor video quality of the highlights, which were magnified in order to take out the distraction of the digital on-screen graphics added by the networks. However, both ESPN and Fox Sports Net
have also practiced this policy in the past in order to deny other networks de facto free advertising time for their shows.
joined Sports Machine as a contributing correspondent and substitute host, and she became the official co-host of the program in September 2006. However, this arrangement did not last long, as Michael announced on November 16, 2006 that he would retire and Sports Machine would end its 27-year run in March 2007. Michael reasoned that he would not want his contract renewed at the expense of WRC-TV's sports staff, which was slated to be reduced under NBC Universal's network-wide, cost-reduction initiative.
The last episode aired on March 25, 2007. After thanking his co-host, sponsors, syndicators and staff, Michael said this at the end of the show:
Michael then walked off camera, and was heard to say "Last one out, turn out the lights!" as the show closed for the final time.
After Sports Machine ended, Czarniak took over as WRC-TV's lead sportscaster. Michael continued to appear on sports panel shows and Washington Redskins
-related programs for WRC-TV and Washington-area sports talk radio stations until more production and budget cuts forced those shows to be terminated.
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
, sports-related television program which aired from 1984 until 2007. The show was hosted by George Michael
George Michael (sportscaster)
George Michael was an American sportscaster best known nationally for The George Michael Sports Machine, his long-running sports highlights television program. Originally named George Michael's Sports Final when it began as a local show in Washington, D.C...
, a former radio disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
-turned television sports anchor, and was produced at WRC-TV
WRC-TV
WRC-TV, channel 4, is an owned and operated television station of the NBC television network, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
, the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-owned station in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
History
Shortly after Michael joined WRC-TV in 1980, the station launched the program as George Michael's Sports Final, a local sports wrapup show on Sunday evenings, following the late newscast. After a successful four-year run in Washington, NBC's other owned-and-operated stations -- at the time in New York CityWNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
, Los Angeles
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
, Cleveland
WKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....
, and Chicago
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
-- added the program to their Sunday late-night schedules, and it was retitled as The George Michael Sports Machine. NBC-affiliated stations began to pick up the show in 1986, and in 1991 Group W Productions
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
took Sports Machine into wider national syndication. The show moved to other syndicators such as Eyemark Entertainment, King World Productions
King World Productions
King World Productions, Inc. was a production company and a syndicator of television programming in the United States until its eventual 2007 incorporation into CBS Television Distribution...
, and ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
before NBC Enterprises (now NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBCUniversal Television Distribution is the television distribution arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group in the United States, and is a subsidiary of General Electric...
) began distributing the program in 2001.
As host, George Michael presented clips from the weekend's sporting events from across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and sometimes outside of the U.S. Unlike newer sports-related programming, Sports Machine did not usually present commentary or criticism and focused on the highlights, and, often toward the end of the show, an in-depth story about a particular athlete. The show was also somewhat unique in its occasional coverage of remarkable high school sports footage, and its occasional coverage of sports largely ignored by other sports wrap-up shows, such as ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
and other auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
events, professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
, and equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
events.
Influence and criticism
When the show premiered nationally in the mid-1980s, the only highlights available to sports fans on Sunday nights were those on late local newscasts and the ESPNESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
cable networks, creating an audience niche for Sports Machine to fill. By the later years of Sports Machine, however, the rise of numerous specialty cable sports channels (notably ESPNews
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
) and the expansion of Sunday evening local newscasts to either air an extended sportscast (an extra in common parlance) or a separate program to recap Sunday football and baseball action caused many stations to either drop the program or air it later in the night.
The show was sometimes derided by critics for the large quantity of fake machinery on its set. Although the set changed throughout the years, the theatrics
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
basically remained the same: After introducing each of the highlights, Michael then pressed a button which "activated" the "sports machine"—a large computer with several monitors attached to a video reel—to play the clips. Michael and the producers chose the computer motif mainly because high technology was fast coming into the American consciousness at the time of the show's debut.
Another criticism of the show was the poor video quality of the highlights, which were magnified in order to take out the distraction of the digital on-screen graphics added by the networks. However, both ESPN and Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
have also practiced this policy in the past in order to deny other networks de facto free advertising time for their shows.
The Machine shuts down
Beginning in 2004, fellow WRC-TV sports anchor Lindsay CzarniakLindsay Czarniak
Lindsay Ann Czarniak , is an American sports anchor and reporter. After spending 6 years with WRC-TV , the local NBC television affiliate in Washington, D.C., Czarniak joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor in August 2011.She has also been a pit reporter for TNT's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series coverage...
joined Sports Machine as a contributing correspondent and substitute host, and she became the official co-host of the program in September 2006. However, this arrangement did not last long, as Michael announced on November 16, 2006 that he would retire and Sports Machine would end its 27-year run in March 2007. Michael reasoned that he would not want his contract renewed at the expense of WRC-TV's sports staff, which was slated to be reduced under NBC Universal's network-wide, cost-reduction initiative.
The last episode aired on March 25, 2007. After thanking his co-host, sponsors, syndicators and staff, Michael said this at the end of the show:
"I close every show every Sunday by saying 'Thank you for letting us be a part of your weekend.' Well tonight, for the final time, we say, 'Thank you. Thank you for letting us be a part of your life'. From everyone at the Sports Machine, have a great weekend everybody. We hope to see you somewhere down the road of life. Thank you."
Michael then walked off camera, and was heard to say "Last one out, turn out the lights!" as the show closed for the final time.
After Sports Machine ended, Czarniak took over as WRC-TV's lead sportscaster. Michael continued to appear on sports panel shows and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
-related programs for WRC-TV and Washington-area sports talk radio stations until more production and budget cuts forced those shows to be terminated.