Sports broadcaster.
Born at North Battleford, Saskatchewan on 11 June 1925 to Sapar Esaw (1887-1982) and Miriam Esaw (1885-1959), he grew up in the Assyrian settlement near the city to which his parents had immigrated. He received his elementary education at King Street School, completing high school at the North Battleford Collegiate Institute. To supplement the family’s income, he took odd jobs as a youth, such as chopping wood, doing yard work, and running errands.
Through his connections with a childhood friend, Emile Francis, who managed the Battleford Beavers hockey team and had won broadcast rights with local radio station CJNB, he got his start in radio in 1947 at the age of 22, hired as a sportscaster for the sum of $5 a gig. He also took on every job he could find relating to broadcasting and was able to hone his sports reporting and broadcasting skills, enhancing and tailoring his broadcasts to make them unique. The result was that he created an interest in amateur sports, and due to his colourful and engaging on-air persona developed a following that grew immensely over the years.
In 1949, he moved on to CKRM Regina, where he was a sportscaster until 1956, taking on more responsibilities and continuing to build his reputation. He left CKRM to accept the position of Sports Director with CKRC Winnipeg. There he broadcast sports news five times daily, provided the play-by-play descriptions of local hockey, baseball, and football games, and wrote a weekly sports column for the Winnipeg Free Press. Despite his talent and appeal, he presented some challenges at CKRC. He had a lot to say in his sportscasts and reporting, which sometimes put a strain on the station’s programming. Even so, his colleagues recognized that he was destined for greatness.
In 1960, he made the move from radio to television as Sports Director for CFTO-TV in Toronto. There, he worked closely with the CTV Television Network and with colleagues in the production of the CFL eastern teams’ football broadcasts, as well as the Grey Cup games in 1961 and 1962. He was instrumental 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. He and news anchor Lloyd Robertson teamed up for three Winter Olympics broadcasts in the 1980s—Lake Placid, Sarajevo, and Calgary. When CTV failed to win broadcast rights to the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, he and his colleague Ken Newans set up a mini-Olympic village in a Toronto parking lot and broadcast Olympics reports from there. Sports fans thought CTV was covering the games directly from Los Angeles. Ralph Mellanby, an Emmy Award winning director, described Esaw as “a genius.”
A defining moment in his career occurred during Canada’s Summit Series with the Soviet Union in 1972. The fans at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum booed Team Canada for a poor showing during Game Four. The Canadians were demoralized. Esaw gave Esposito an opportunity to speak uninterrupted following the game, despite pressure from the network to cut the interview short. It is widely believed that the team’s win in Game Five was due to a renewed spirit inspired by Esposito’s honest and emotional outpouring. Montreal broadcaster Red Fisher later said, “It stands out as the greatest interview I’ve ever heard.”
Esaw’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. Within a few weeks, he signed a contract with the Houston Group as Vice-President of Broadcast Operations, where he involved himself in events that included motor racing, tennis, golf, and the Du Maurier International equestrian events at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. He was also an on-camera spokesman for the Royal Bank at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
He retired for good in 1996 after a half-century career that involved every Canadian sport. He was able to forge a special camaraderie with athletes and coaches, and despite a hard and resolute side to his character, was appreciated for being a team player and loyal to his friends. He would go to great lengths to help colleagues succeed in the business. CTV executive Ken Newans credited him with building his career.
He was recognized by seven Canadian Hall of Fame organizations: 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, he was inducted into the Order of Canada.
In 1953, he married schoolteacher June Lorraine Docken (1927-2016) from Liberty, Saskatchewan, with whom he had two children.
He died at Toronto, Ontario on 6 April 2013 and was buried in the St. James Cemetery there.
“Johnny Esaw Reports,” CBC Times, 24 December 1959.
“Johnny Esaw: North Battleford's sports icon,” SaskToday, 26 November 2013.
Obituary [June Esaw], Toronto Star, 10 June 2016.
“Donald Edward ‘Johnny’ Esaw,” Cove Family Tree, Ancestry.
Johnny Esaw, FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 11 November 2026
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