1. Presentation
Television has been an important tenet in all four of the major professional sports in the United States and is a large reason why a fifth, soccer, is gaining headway in the country. Nationwide coverage is a large reason why football is consistently one of the most watched features on television every year. But once again, wrestling paved the way for that as well, with professional wrestling promotions having shows on each of the three major networks in the dawn of the television era. Almost thirty years later when Ted Turner was looking for a weekly stable for his TBS Superstation he found it with Georgia Championship Wrestling and later Jim Crockett Promotions (a precursor to WCW). After the success seen with wrestling on Turner's cable station, USA Network then began airing Prime Time Wrestling, starting a relationship with WWE that continues to this day. When NBC TV executive and icon Dick Ebersol was looking to fill open Saturday night slots in the '80s, he and Vince McMahon created Saturday Night's Main Event. NBC also airs parts or the whole of the WrestleMania broadcast on a somewhat annual basis as well. Other television features, now commonplace in broadcasts were first practiced widely in professional wrestling broadcasts. Picture-in-picture features showing either an interview with a superstar or an instant replay, name tickers, even that annoying little logo bug on the lower corner of the screen, all innovations of the wrestling industry. With the advent of the WWE Network in the coming days chances are people will continue to see the sports entertainment industry change television coverage.