<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>The premier of ESPN's Sports Center was preserved on...</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://espnfrontrow.espn.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ROOM11.jpg">http://espnfrontrow.espn.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ROOM11.jpg</a></div><div><br></div><div>and is one of the early entries in the ESPN archive catalog. According to ESPN's </div><div><a href="http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2013/08/the-lineup-a-dozen-espn-artifacts-you-wish-you-had-in-your-man-cave/">http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2013/08/the-lineup-a-dozen-espn-artifacts-you-wish-you-had-in-your-man-cave/</a></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"><div><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This card catalog (inset) was once the filing system used to organize tapes by sport and year. The tape library has now expanded to a 62,000-square foot facility that holds more than 2,000,000 film and tape assets – and is now cataloged digitally!</span></div></blockquote><div><a href="http://espnfrontrow.espn.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Catalog.jpg">http://espnfrontrow.espn.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Catalog.jpg</a></div><div><br></div><div>Looks to me like there is videotape stored vertically on the left-hand shelves, and film stored flat on the right hand shelves.</div><div><br></div><div>ESPN reports:</div><div><ul style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: disc outside; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">The tape archives has approximately 300,000 feet of shelving in its three archive locations</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">ESPN’s North Campus Library warehouse is approximately 70,000 square feet. (For comparison: Josten’s Arena at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando is also 70,000 sq. ft.)</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">The ESPN warehouse team recycles on average about 5,000 tapes monthly</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 5px 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are approximately 25 different types of media in the archive.</li></ul></div><div>ESPN has a lot of film, according to Ken Boudreau, ESPN's Senior Director of Media technology, who is heavily involved in the archive and visited us at NAB.</div><div><br></div><div>Here's some of the photographic and magnetic sound film, (likely from ABC or other collections acquired over the years) in a Facebook post noting that there are <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; ">2,244,976 tapes in the archive:</span></div><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=692152870826729&set=a.194030000639021.38023.192692764106078&type=1&theater">https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=692152870826729&set=a.194030000639021.38023.192692764106078&type=1&theater</a></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>If you scroll down the post, you'll find a link to the Quad tape of Sports Center's first show and photos of an Ampex AVR-2. It's AVR-2 serial #197, I just acquired. </div><div></div></body></html>