The channel will not operate 24 hours a day, but plans at least 85 live events in its first year.
In an interview, ESPN's vice president for technology, Chuck Pagano, said the network is preparing for a "3-D tsunami" in the TV industry.
Separately, Discovery Communications Inc., which owns Discovery, TLC and other cable channels, says it will partner with Imax Corp. and Sony Corp. to bring out its own full-time 3-D network. The companies did not say which shows it will air on the new channel, but it plans a launch in 2011.
