It's hard to believe that someone actually invented the slow-motion replay—it's as if someone had invented butter—but this was just one of many techniques by which the television producer Roone Arledge revolutionized sports coverage, from the nineteen-sixties onward. Having brought the imperatives of show business to sports, he moved on to news, creating several landmark shows, such as "20/20" and "Nightline." Arledge, who died last December, seems to have had little interest in his personal life (one wife divorced him after he bagged a Hawaiian vacation to orchestrate coverage of a college football game), and most of his memoir is an insider's account of ABC's ramshackle beginnings, its innovations as an up-and-coming network, and the difficulties brought on by corporate ownership. Not above a little score-settling but full of love for his work, Arledge is an infectious raconteur, capable of narrating even the most labyrinthine boardroom maneuvering as if it were as exciting as a sports event.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker Sports hounds and news junkies are the obvious target audience for this posthumously published autobiography, but anyone who has watched television for the last 30 or so years will also find it a remarkable memoir. Arledge not only changed the face of television sports but also revamped the TV news business. Readers will be impressed with the shows and events that are associated with his name: Wide World of Sports, Monday Night Football, Olympic coverage (including the deadly Munich Olympics), World News Tonight, 20/20, Nightline, This Week with David Brinkley, and Prime Time Live. And then there are all the familiar names whose careers Arledge helped make: Cosell, Gifford, Jennings, Walters, Sawyer, and more. Arledge either had a remarkable memory or kept copious diaries. He remembers all the inner workings and the details of every argument; perhaps guessing that he'd be gone before the book came out, he also has no problem naming names. (A fellow named Weiswasser, who tried to hijack ABC news from Arledge, comes out looking particularly bad.) Even favorites like Jennings are presented warts and all. Not only is the book full of fascinating information, it's written in an immensely readable style (although a flow chart might have helped to keep track of the players and their switching allegiances). It's impossible not to come away from this memoir impressed with Arledge; no doubt he would have liked that. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“When I was just a little pup at NBC, Roone Arledge was a news and sports god.”
About the Author
Roone Arledge began his career at WRCA in New York City, an NBC affiliate, and rose to become head of ABC News and one of the shining lights in television programming. He lived in New York City. He died on December 5, 2002 at the age of 71.
