Donald Edward "Johnny" Esaw was born on June 11, 1925, one of four children, to Sam and Miriam Esaw at North Battleford. His parents had immigrated to an established Assyrian settlement near the city. Johnny received his elementary education at King Street School and completed his high school at the North Battleford Collegiate Institute.
If you spent your Saturdays during the 1970s watching the ABC's Wide World of Sports on CTV, you may not have known Johnny Esaw, who grew up in North Battleford, was responsible for this slickly produced broadcast with U.S. sports content. It's generally well known now that Johnny Esaw built the CTV Sports franchise. Many middle-aged citizens will remember the North Battleford-born sports broadcaster for his colourful and engaging on-air persona, but few would know he was also a prominent, visionary television executive.
Considering Johnny's success and fame, it is difficult to reconcile that he came from humble beginnings. His family had little money. To supplement their income, Johnny's father sold popcorn on King Street near the post office. As a young boy, Johnny helped out by chopping wood, doing yard work and running errands.
Johnny got his start on radio in 1947 at the age of 22. His boyhood friend, Emile Francis, who was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the same year, earned money in the summers by managing the North Battleford Beavers, a semi-professional team in the Western Canada Baseball League. In the same year, Emile Francis negotiated broadcast rights with CJNB. Johnny was hired as sportscaster for the princely sum of $5 a gig. Emile later said of his friend, "He was a good, hard-working guy, that Johnny." But Johnny was more than a sports announcer. He took on every job he could find. He even hauled his own equipment for remote broadcasts. More importantly, Johnny developed and honed his sports reporting and broadcasting skills at CJNB. He didn't just read off the wires, he enhanced and tailored his broadcasts, making them uniquely his. The result was that he created an interest in amateur sports, and a personal following that grew exponentially over the years.
In 1949, Johnny took the opportunity to move to CKRM Regina where he was a sportscaster until 1956. Johnny steadily climbed the ladder of success, taking on more responsibility and building his reputation. He left CKRM to accept the position of sports director with CKRC Winnipeg. Despite his talent and appeal, he presented some challenges at the radio station. He had a lot to say and was very connected in the sports world. Even so, his colleagues could see that he was destined for greatness. In 1960, Johnny made the move from radio to television as sports director for CFTO-TV in Toronto and was suddenly thrust into management, and into the big leagues.
As with his radio career, Johnny took to television with the same work ethic, enthusiasm and analytic approach. As sports director, he worked closely with the CTV Television Network and with a team in the production of the CFL eastern teams' football broadcasts, and the Grey Cup games in 1961 and '62. Johnny was also a key person in securing broadcasting rights for high profile venues including CFL football, Wide World of Sports, Sports Hotseat, international hockey and figure skating, as well as CTV's first Winter Olympics broadcast in 1964. He also negotiated the rights to the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Johnny and Lloyd Robertson teamed up for three Winter Olympics broadcasts in the 1980s - Lake Placid, Sarajevo and Calgary. The 1984 Sarajevo Games were logistically challenging because they were the first winter games to be hosted by a communist state. But Johnny took all of this in stride. According to Lloyd Robertson, he said, "OK boys, let's barrel through this. We've got to get it done. No excuses."
Robertson remembers Johnny as aggressive, bold and tough, a front-line executive with the intensity and focus of an athlete. But despite this hard and resolute side of his character, he was a team player and intensely loyal to his friends. Johnny would go to great lengths to help colleagues succeed in the business. CTV executive, Ken Newans, credited Johnny with building his career.
Johnny was renowned for his resilience. CTV failed to win broadcast rights to the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, but that did not deter Johnny. He and his colleague Ken Newans set up a mini Olympic village in a Toronto parking lot and broadcast from there. Sports fans thought CTV was covering the games direct from Los Angeles. With good reason, Ralph Mellanby, an Emmy Award winning director, described Johnny as "a genius."
The transition from radio to television fostered a different way of broadcasting, one that encouraged opinions in reporting sports. This style was tailor-made for Johnny. Importantly, during this time, Johnny forged a special camaraderie with athletes and coaches.
Perhaps the defining moment of Johnny's career occurred during Canada's Summit Series with the Soviet Union in 1972. Johnny earned a cult following owing to his savvy interview with a dispirited Phil Esposito. The fans at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum booed Team Canada for a poor showing during game four. The Canadians were demoralized. Johnny gave Esposito an opportunity to speak - to vent his frustrations - uninterrupted. Montreal broadcaster Red Fisher said, "It stands out as the greatest interview I've ever heard." Paul Henderson is revered to this day for scoring the winning goal in the last minute of game eight. Johnny's remarkable interview with Phil Esposito did much to set up "the goal." Indeed, the goal of all time.
Johnny's strong relationship with CTV led to the creation of the CTV Sports Department. He continued as sports director at CFTO and worked with the CTV Network until 1974 when he became vice-president of CTV Sports. Johnny held this position until he retired from the network in 1990. But the commonly accepted definition of "retirement" did not apply to Johnny. Within a few weeks of leaving CTV, he signed a contract with the Houston Group as vice-president, Broadcast Operations. He continued in this position after Edelman World Wide bought the Houston Group. Johnny involved himself in events including motor racing, tennis, golf and the du Maurier International at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. He was also an on-camera spokesman for the Royal Bank at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Johnny finally retired for good in 1996. His phenomenal half-century career involved virtually every Canadian sport. Jane Shury, CEO for the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, noted, "He has been almost everywhere with almost every sport. The Battlefords are proud of him. He's a home grown boy."
To catalogue every award that Johnny received over the years is beyond the scope of this article. To properly recognize and honour Johnny for his outstanding achievements, it is noted that he was recognized by seven Canadian Hall of Fame organizations. These include the Football Reporters of Canada Hall of Fame (1984), the Canadian 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), the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (1997) and the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1997). In 2004, Johnny was awarded the Order of Canada, the greatest and most important honour that can be bestowed on a Canadian citizen. He was immensely proud of this award.
It would be difficult to document Johnny's many extraordinary achievements. After a life of great success, with his wife, June, and children, Patrick and Wendy, by his side, Johnny died on April 6, 2013 in Toronto. Johnny Esaw, a native son, was one of our city's most illustrious citizens. He was brilliant, professional, confident, opinionated, a man of integrity, loyalty and compassion. On the occasion of North Battleford's centennial, we say with consummate gratitude that Johnny Esaw brought honour and pride to our city.
(Sources: News-Optimist; biographies: Pip Wedge, Canadian Communications Foundation; Toronto Star; Patricia Dawn Robertson, The Globe and Mail)
