Ben Gilbert

They invented these split screens so you could watch two cameras concurrently cover the game.

They had on-field interviews, shots of cheerleaders to add a little bit of a sex appeal to the game for the first time.

And they also used green screens, which is so funny to watch some of these early... I guess they didn't have room in the booth, according to the Peyton's Places ESPN video that we watched about this, where...

For the three-man booth, they needed more space than they had in the press box.

So they ended up putting them out in the hallway and built a little custom room to do this in, but the background wasn't good.

So they put in a green screen and then they would put another camera in the press box.

And so they would superimpose that the field was right behind them, but it actually wasn't.

And it's so obvious watching it today.

Yes.

And there was one other really, really big innovation.

And this was a thing that would go on to be the predecessor for ESPN as a network, for SportsCenter as a program.

And it would create billions and billions of dollars of enterprise value.

And that is replays.

Right.

This notion you're actually tuning into a program that has an associated pump-up song that is built for that franchise is unique.

Okay, so let's talk about highlights.

So how could you have possibly watched highlights before Monday Night Football?

Well, the games were on Sundays, and that was really the only football that was on all week.

We didn't have the internet.

There wasn't ESPN.