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Roone: A Memoir
Roone Arledge's extraordinary career of more than a half century mirrors the history of the television industry he helped create. Roone is the vivid, intimate account of his own rise to fame and power as the head of both ABC Sports and ABC News as well as an up-close-and- personal story of his era, peopled with friends and foes alike.
446 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 31, 2022
ROONE was, for this reader, a wonderful trip down Memory Lane. Sixty years ago, approaching my teenage years, I lived in a divided household. My dad loved watching the evening news, specifically THE HUNTLEY-BRINKLEY REPORT on NBC. He also was a regular viewer of a Sunday evening program called THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, narrated by Walter Cronkite. When Chet Huntley retired, Dad switched his nightly news allegiance to CBS and Cronkite. Meanwhile, I was loyal to the “third” network, ABC, but not without an appreciation for the wit of David Brinkley.
My love for ABC was due to a few programs that appealed to my young mind, but primarily to ABC’s WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS. As ABC SPORTS grew, adding more events to their schedule, I became a fan of the faces and voices that became legendary: Jim McKay, Keith Jackson, Bill Fleming, Dick Button, Howard Cosell, Chris Schenkel. And so often, the last words you heard on an ABC SPORTS telecast were,
"THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF...IS ROONE ARLEDGE."
Reliving those years through his words was special, but it didn't stop with ABC SPORTS. Arledge became the president of ABC NEWS, bringing to the network in his twenty years such luminaries as Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Hughes Rudd, and, for me, most notably, David Brinkley.
This book brings to the reader the ins and outs of television; one might say the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is an honest and candid accounting of Arledge's successes and failures, personal and professional, almost to his death. Well worth reading.
Five stars
My love for ABC was due to a few programs that appealed to my young mind, but primarily to ABC’s WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS. As ABC SPORTS grew, adding more events to their schedule, I became a fan of the faces and voices that became legendary: Jim McKay, Keith Jackson, Bill Fleming, Dick Button, Howard Cosell, Chris Schenkel. And so often, the last words you heard on an ABC SPORTS telecast were,
"THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF...IS ROONE ARLEDGE."
Reliving those years through his words was special, but it didn't stop with ABC SPORTS. Arledge became the president of ABC NEWS, bringing to the network in his twenty years such luminaries as Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Hughes Rudd, and, for me, most notably, David Brinkley.
This book brings to the reader the ins and outs of television; one might say the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is an honest and candid accounting of Arledge's successes and failures, personal and professional, almost to his death. Well worth reading.
Five stars
February 15, 2025
A who's who of broadcasting giants now fading from collective memory, but more interestingly, a view of the major news and sporting events of the second half of the 20th century from the business perspective - the contract negotiations and resource management that ultimately resulted in ratings wins and historic broadcasts. Also, the balance of news and entertainment as required by an FCC license, a tension missing entirely on social media platforms; this founders' era is very different from the one that built network television.
September 9, 2025
Good book. It shows how dealing with big egos results in what we see on television.
Hr was a fixture at abc entertainment then news and was involved in producing some of the most famous events on tv.
Hr was a fixture at abc entertainment then news and was involved in producing some of the most famous events on tv.
July 14, 2017
A fantastic journey through the life of a television pioneer.
July 26, 2011
Anyone who needs to know why ABC became the best source of news and sports during the 70s and 80s can get their answers from this book. Roone Arledge was fighter in his belief that television news and sports at ABC could compete with the NBC and CBS, then produced shows that put ABC at the top of the rankings.
It's also so amazing that Arledge accomplished so much, even with the world of television news changing with the onset of cable news services, media mergers, vanishing dollars and the "dot.com" era. He maintained his steadfast position that in the arena of reporting the news, the emphasis was THE NEWS.
Arledge held little back in this book -- he discussed the conflicts and disagreements with ABC management and the talent that America saw on a daily basis watching the network -- Reynolds, Smith, Cosell, Jennings, Walters and Brinkley. He told us what was bad about ABC and he explained how he and the ABC went about making things better or worse. He talked of successes and he highlighted handicaps that handcuffed his efforts during days of Capital Cities and of the disease that eventually took his life.
Today's news and sports coverage on television would not be same without Roone Arledge, making this book a must read for those in the news media profession.
It's also so amazing that Arledge accomplished so much, even with the world of television news changing with the onset of cable news services, media mergers, vanishing dollars and the "dot.com" era. He maintained his steadfast position that in the arena of reporting the news, the emphasis was THE NEWS.
Arledge held little back in this book -- he discussed the conflicts and disagreements with ABC management and the talent that America saw on a daily basis watching the network -- Reynolds, Smith, Cosell, Jennings, Walters and Brinkley. He told us what was bad about ABC and he explained how he and the ABC went about making things better or worse. He talked of successes and he highlighted handicaps that handcuffed his efforts during days of Capital Cities and of the disease that eventually took his life.
Today's news and sports coverage on television would not be same without Roone Arledge, making this book a must read for those in the news media profession.
February 6, 2017
This is a wonderful book, especially if you grew up in the 1960s and '70s. Every chapter is filled with memories of those of us who lived through that period: the rise of ABC Sports, ABC's Wide World of Sports, the Munich Olympics, Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali, Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters, the creation of ABC's World News Tonight, Nightline, and a host of names you've probably forgotten but will fondly remember. Roone Arledge pioneered a new way of television, especially sports. He believed that sports (or news) need not be boring and set to make it exciting. Great book and well worth reading.
May 20, 2010
Lots of gumption here! A pretty fascinating memoir from one hell of a Type A.
December 21, 2015
A compelling life story from the man who invented ABC News/Sports. Cosell, Jennings, Walters, the typical network pricks - they're all discussed is in this first rate memoir.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews