Roone : A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Brought Back Memories
Review: Every once in awhile you find someone who loves their work. They don't mind putting in 18 hours a day on the job, because it's their life and it's what brings them happiness. Such was the case with Roone Arledge. Roone not only brought happiness to his own life but he brought a lot of happiness to viewers too.
His recent death probably wasn't all that surprising because he had come to the end of a very long and productive career. The end of the career in many ways was the end of his life.

His work in building ABC Sports and News will live on for decades. Millions of people tune in every night to watch Peter Jennings' newscasts or to watch Monday Night Football or Nightline. All of it can be traced back to Arledge's innovation and this book details how it all happened.

What I liked best about his book is that he was able to delve into the personal curiosities of many television personalities but he does it without rancor. For example, Howard Cosell and Frank Reynolds were probably not the easiest people in the world to have working for you. This book delves into those challenges but still does it in a positive way and you come away with respect for everyone in the book.

It's a great read and also a great resource regarding the history of television.

Rating:
Summary: Brought Back Memories
Review: Every once in awhile you find someone who loves their work. They don't mind putting in 18 hours a day on the job, because it's their life and it's what brings them happiness. Such was the case with Roone Arledge. Roone not only brought happiness to his own life but he brought a lot of happiness to viewers too.
His recent death probably wasn't all that surprising because he had come to the end of a very long and productive career. The end of the career in many ways was the end of his life.

His work in building ABC Sports and News will live on for decades. Millions of people tune in every night to watch Peter Jennings' newscasts or to watch Monday Night Football or Nightline. All of it can be traced back to Arledge's innovation and this book details how it all happened.

What I liked best about his book is that he was able to delve into the personal curiosities of many television personalities but he does it without rancor. For example, Howard Cosell and Frank Reynolds were probably not the easiest people in the world to have working for you. This book delves into those challenges but still does it in a positive way and you come away with respect for everyone in the book.

It's a great read and also a great resource regarding the history of television.

Rating:
Summary: A great book...too bad he wasn't here to promote it...
Review: Roone Arledge wastes no time sharing the fun of producing sports, first at NBC and then to ABC. He proudly tells how he helped land groundbreaking contracts for NCAA football and then several Olympic games. It's a fun ride that gets faster as he takes on ABC News, known to the competition as "Almost Broadcasting Co."

The book is all about personalities: the executives, the on-air talent, the producers and directors -- Arledge seems to relish in the trials and triumphs of his dealings. Also, Arledge always mentions which restaurants in which negotiations occurred -- the food and the atmosphere rank as importantly as the people. His final scene in the book, a reunion of ABC teammates, is painted with details of a popular New York eatery.

As Arledge tells it, the process of people management and kicking the competition while doing it is the real fun. And when you get to hang out with Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer and even Sam Donaldson, it's always going to be interesting.

The book's second half takes a darker tone as bean-counting executives from Capital Cities buy ABC in the 1980s. The high-rolling days at ABC and other nets came to a close as leveraged buyouts gave investors the chance to own chunks of the Fifth Estate, and the heritage of ABC's Leonard Goldenson and CBS's Bill Paley quickly faded. It wasn't about broadcasting anymore, it was just about money. Having worked in local television during this time, I found much of Arledge's account to be familiar with my own career experiences.

Arledge doesn't spend much time describing the mood after Disney bought ABC in the mid 1990s, but it's clear that Disney was an immediate improvement over the CapCities reign.

Of course, Arledge fought cancer and other ailments late in life, and he died in late 2002 before the book hit shelves. For me, the book lacked much substance about his personal life, his faith or outside interests or accomplishments. True, his work impacted important stories involving U.S. and USSR relations, race relations in South Africa and other milestones. But, if his life was consumed by the TV biz, to the exclusion of family, other causes and loves, this story reads a bit like a tragedy. Broadcasting is a very exciting but always changing product; Arledge's lifelong accomplishments are fading daily into the new visions of management at ABC.

Rating:
Summary: Roone : A Memoir
Review: Sports hounds and news junkies are the obvious target audience for this posthumously published autobiography, but anyone who has watched television for the last 30 or so years will also find it a remarkable memoir. Arledge not only changed the face of television sports but also revamped the TV news business. Readers will be impressed with the shows and events that are associated with his name: Wide World of Sports, Monday Night Football, Olympic coverage (including the deadly Munich Olympics), World News Tonight, 20/20, Nightline, This Week with David Brinkley, and Prime Time Live. And then there are all the familiar names whose careers Arledge helped make: Cosell, Gifford, Jennings, Walters, Sawyer, and more. Arledge either had a remarkable memory or kept copious diaries. He remembers all the inner workings and the details of every argument; perhaps guessing that he'd be gone before the book came out, he also has no problem naming names. (A fellow named Weiswasser, who tried to hijack ABC news from Arledge, comes out looking particularly bad.) Even favorites like Jennings are presented warts and all. Not only is the book full of fascinating information, it's written in an immensely readable style (although a flow chart might have helped to keep track of the players and their switching allegiances). It's impossible not to come away from this memoir impressed with Arledge; no doubt he would have liked that.

Rating:
Summary: A great book...too bad he wasn't here to promote it...
Review: This was a fascinating look at the life and times of one of the most innovative minds in television history. This man originated a lot of the things that modern viewers take for granted. There was also some great background on a lot of the network stars, past and present, that made the book even more interesting. It is very enlightening to look inside some of the ridiculous egos that dominate the profession. If Arledge had been alive to promote the book it would have been a bestseller, no question.
This book was a terrific, highly entertaining read because the reader gets the inside scoop on so many stars and how so many concepts, like instant replay, were invented. Definitely worth the time-highly recommended!