Johnny Esaw,CM (June 11, 1925 – April 6, 2013) was aCanadian ofAssyrian[1] descent, a sports broadcaster and television network executive.[2] He was a pioneer of sports broadcasting in Canada, best known for his involvement with figure skating, football, and international hockey.
Born inNorth Battleford,Saskatchewan, Esaw was unsuccessfully selling insurance in 1947 whenEmile Francis hired him to cover semi-professional baseball games on radio stationCJNB in North Battleford. In 1949, he moved to a bigger market inRegina, Saskatchewan atCKRM, where he worked until 1956. He provided play-by-play coverage of the 1951Grey Cup game fromVarsity Stadium inToronto—the beginning of what became a long affiliation with theCanadian Football League. In 1956, Esaw became sports director ofWinnipeg'sCKRC.
Esaw made the transition to television late in 1960, becoming sports director ofCFTO-TV,Toronto's first privately owned TV station, as it prepared for launch.Foster Hewitt was an early investor in the station and helped persuade Esaw to move east. CFTO was part of theCTV Television Network, and Esaw headed negotiations for the broadcast rights for many prominent sports events. Under Esaw,figure skating received significant coverage on CFTO and across CTV, making national stars out of Canadian world championsDonald Jackson andOtto Jelinek &Maria Jelinek. Esaw worked withRoone Arledge, head ofABC Sports to secure North American rights to the world figure skating championships. CTV and ABC also partnered in bringingWide World of Sports to Canada.[3] Esaw also brought the1964 Winter Olympics to CTV and bought the rights to the 1972 Canada-RussiaSummit Series (the broadcasts ended up being shared withCBC Television). Esaw hosted the English-language telecasts and is best remembered for conducting the famous post-game interview withPhil Esposito following Game 4 inVancouver, British Columbia. He was also the lead play-by-play man for theCFL on CTV from 1962 until 1973 and then the host from 1974 until 1986.
In 1974, Esaw became vice-president of CTV Sports, a position he held until his retirement in 1990. He negotiated the host broadcasting rights to the1988 Winter Olympics inCalgary.
After retiring from CTV, Esaw joined Houston Group as vice-president of broadcasting operations and remained in that role after Houston was acquired byEdelman, the world's largestpublic relations firm. With Edelman, Esaw worked on several sports events, including golf tournaments, tennis, and motor sports. He retired in 1996 at the age of 71. Esaw died in Toronto at age 87 on April 6, 2013, of respiratory problems.
Esaw was inducted into theCanadian Football Reporters Hall of Fame (1984), theCanadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1991),Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1991), the Canadian Amateur Sports Hall of Fame (1991), the North Battleford Sports Hall of Fame (1992), theCAB Broadcast Hall of Fame (1997), and the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1997). In 2004, he was made a Member of theOrder of Canada.