He provided play-by-play coverage of the 1951 Grey Cup game from Varsity Stadium in Toronto—the beginning of what became a long affiliation with the Canadian Football League.
Esaw made the transition to television late in 1960, becoming sports director of CFTO-TV, Toronto's first privately owned TV station, as it prepared for launch.
Esaw worked with Roone Arledge, head of ABC Sports to secure North American rights to the world figure skating championships.
[3] Esaw also brought the 1964 Winter Olympics to CTV and bought the rights to the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series (the broadcasts ended up being shared with CBC Television).
Esaw hosted the English-language telecasts and is best remembered for conducting the famous post-game interview with Phil Esposito following Game 4 in Vancouver, British Columbia.