"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" became one of the most familiar slogans on television for the American Broadcast Company (ABC) sports show that lived up to its title. Beginning as a summer replacement in 1961, Wide World of Sports endured into the 1990s, making a household name of original host Jim McKay and launching the domination of ABC in sports and the rise of future ABC Sports and News president Roone Arledge.

Arledge came up with the concept of packaging various sports under this umbrella title and sent Jim McKay to anchor live coverage of two venerable track meets—the Drake Relays from Des Moines, Iowa, and the Penn Relays from Philadelphia—for the inaugural broadcast of the program, on April 29, 1961. Wide World of Sports survived its initial 13 weeks and returned every year as a 90-minute program on Saturday afternoons beginning...