Dick Ebersol steps down as Chairman of NBC Sports

Dick Ebersol announced yesterday that he would step down as Chairman of NBC Sports -- a title he has held since 1989. In this clip from his Archive of American Television interview, he talks about returning to work in sports television after working on Saturday Night Live and other entertainment shows.

About Dick Ebersol

Dick Ebersol began his career in sports television, working under Roone Arledge at ABC's Wide World of Sports in the early 1960s. He became a producer on the show, and later on the Olympic Games. Ebersol was instrumental in setting up the deal that created Monday Night Football for ABC Sports. He left ABC in 1974 to join NBC as director of weekend late night programming, where he produced The Midnight Special with Richard Pryor. Later, he and Lorne Michaels would create Saturday Night Live ("NBC's Saturday Night"), which debuted in 1975. In the same year he became Vice-President at NBC at the age of 28. In 1979 he was fired by NBC President Fred Silverman, but brought back later by Brandon Tartikoff to help "rescue" SNL during the early 80s. He would go on to produce many shows for NBC including Friday Night Videos, Saturday Night's Main Event and Later with Bob Costas. In 1989 he was named president of NBC Sports, and later would become Chairman of NBC Sports, a title he held until this week.

Dick Ebersol was interviewed for the Archive in 2009. His full interview is not yet online.