Revision 92442 of "SportsChannel" on cbk_zamwiki

{{redirect|Sportschannel|the generic concept|sports channel}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name              = SportsChannel
| logofile          = Early 1980's thru mid 90's now defunct Sports Channel logo.jpg
| logosize          = 
| logocaption       = 
| logoalt           = 1979 thru 1995
| logo2             = 1979 thru 1995 Logo
| established       =
| airdate           =
| launch            = March 1, 1979
| closed date       = January 27, 1998
| picture format    = 
| share             = 
| share as of       = 
| share source      = 
| network           = 
| owner             = [[Cablevision]]<br>[[NBC]]
| parent            = 
| key people        =
| slogan            = 
| motto             =
| country           = [[United States]]
| language          = [[American English]]
| broadcast area    = 
| affiliates        =
| headquarters      = 
| former names      = 
| replaced names    = 
| replaced by names = [[Fox Sports Networks]]<br>[[Comcast SportsNet]]
| sister names      = [[Prime Network]]
| timeshift names   = 
| web               = 
| terr serv 1       = 
| terr chan 1       = 
| sat serv 1        = 
| sat chan 1        = 
| cable serv 1      = 
| cable chan 1      = 3
| sat radio serv 1  = 
| sat radio chan 1  = 
| iptv serv 1       = 
| iptv chan 1       = 
| online serv 1     = 
| online chan 1     = 
| 3gmobile serv 1   =
}}
{{Infobox television channel
| logofile          = Mid 1990's SportsChannel Logo.png
| logoalt           = LogoSportsChannel logo from 1995 to 2000.
| logo2             = 1995 thru 2000 Logo
}}

'''SportsChannel''' was a group of [[regional sports network]]s operated by [[Cablevision]] and [[NBC]].  It was the country's first regional sports network, and thus (along with [[Prime Network]]) an important ancestor to many of the United States' regional sports outlets, especially [[Fox Sports Networks]] and [[Comcast SportsNet]]. [[MSG Plus|SportsChannel New York]] was the first of these networks and was launched as Cablevision Sports 3 in 1976. In March of 1979, it was renamed SportsChannel. New networks were added throughout the 1980s. In 1988, NBC and Cablevision merged their cable networks including SportsChannel.<ref>{{cite news|last=FABRIKANT|first=GERALDINE|title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; NBC and Cablevision Plan Joint Programming Venture|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/23/business/the-media-business-nbc-and-cablevision-plan-joint-programming-venture.html?src=pm|publisher=New York Times}}</ref>  This partnership would lead to the acquisition of rights to the [[National Hockey League]] and the [[1992 Summer Olympics]] (see [[Olympics Triplecast]]). At its peak SportsChannel had nine networks serving some of the nation's largest cities. Cablevision later partnered with Fox and Liberty Media to merge the network into Fox Sports Net in early 1998.

==Former SportsChannel Networks==
*[[MSG Plus|SportsChannel New York]] (1976, now MSG+)
*[[Comcast SportsNet New England|SportsChannel New England]] (acquired as PRISM New England and rebranded in 1983, now CSN New England)
*[[FSN Chicago|SportsChannel Chicago]] (acquired as SportsVision in 1984 and rebranded in 1989, became the now defunct FSN Chicago and later replaced by [[Comcast SportsNet Chicago]])
*[[Fox Sports Florida|SportsChannel Florida]] (1987, now Fox Sports Florida)
*[[SportsChannel Los Angeles]] (1989, now defunct)
*[[Fox Sports Ohio|SportsChannel Ohio]] (1989, now Fox Sports Ohio)
*[[SportsChannel Cincinnati]] (1989, replaced with Fox Sports Ohio subfeed)
*[[Comcast SportsNet Bay Area|SportsChannel Bay Area/Pacific]] (1990, now CSN Bay Area)
*[[SportsChannel Philadelphia]] (1990, defunct, replaced by [[Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia|CSN Philadelphia]])

==SportsChannel America==
SportsChannel America was a national version of SportsChannel as was carried by some cable providers in areas without a regional SportsChannel network. It launched in 1988 and its feature programming was the [[National Hockey League]] (see below). In 1993, SportsChannel America was replaced by [[NewSport]], a 24-hour sports new channel. Finally in 1997, NewSport was replaced American Sports Classics, before the channel was discontinued in 1998.

== Notable SportsChannel programming ==
*[[Canadian Football League]]
*[[ECW Hardcore TV|Extreme Championship Wrestling]]
*[[NHL on SportsChannel America|National Hockey League]]
*''NewSport Talk'' - A two-hour sports talk show produced by the Chicago-based SportsChannel and [[Television syndication|syndicated]] to most of the other ones. It was an original show on NewSport.
*[[World Basketball League]]
*[[NASCAR on SportsChannel America|NASCAR]] [[Busch Grand National]] races

===National Hockey League===
[[Image:SportsChannel.JPG|right|frame|'''SportsChannel America''' was the American rights holder of the National Hockey League from [[1988–89 NHL season|1988]]&ndash;[[1991–92 NHL season|1992]]. Note: The logo is from 1980–1995.]]
The network obtained the [[NHL on SportsChannel America|National Hockey League]] rights from [[ESPN]] in [[1988–89 NHL season|1988]] by offering the NHL almost triple the amount of money that ESPN was offering (a move not unlike the [[2005–06 NHL season|2005]] NHL rights grab by [[Comcast]]/[[NBC Sports Network|OLN]] over ESPN). SportsChannel America was only in a few major markets, and reached only one-third of the households that ESPN did. In smaller markets, especially those with limited system capacity, the channel was only made available on a gametime basis as a [[pay-per-view]]-only option, and often limited to only the NHL playoffs. After 4 seasons, the NHL ended the deal and went back to ESPN, leaving SportsChannel America with little more than outdoors shows and [[Canadian Football League]] games. For SportsChannel, the deal was a disaster. While the cable channel three years later was available in 20 million homes, the broadcaster lost as much as $10 million on the agreement, and soon faded into obscurity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.njdevs.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t20611.html |title=Welcome to the New Jersey Devils forums! |publisher=Njdevs.com |date= |accessdate=2013-03-28}}</ref> Some local SportsChannel stations – which carried NHL games in their local markets – were not affected.

==Prime SportsChannel Networks ==
In 1993, Cablevision and NBC partned with [[Liberty Media]] to form '''Prime SportsChannel Networks''' combining SportsChannel with Liberty's [[Prime Network]]. This partnership would produce [[NewSport]] and [[American Sports Classics]].

==Fox Sports rebranding ==
In 1998, Cablevision partnered with [[Fox Sports (USA)|Fox Sports]] and Liberty Media to rebrand most of the SportsChannel America networks as '''Fox Sports Net''' stations. The first affiliate to rebrand itself was SportsChannel New York (currently MSG+) when it became Fox Sports New York on January 27, 1998. All other SportsChannel networks except SportsChannel Florida were rebranded later that week. The last affiliate to rebrand itself was SportsChannel Florida, which became Fox Sports Net Florida (now [[Fox Sports Florida]]) in March 2000.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Sports television in the United States}}
{{SportsChannel America}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sportschannel America}}
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1979]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 1998]]
[[Category:Defunct American television networks]]
[[Category:Sports television networks in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Canadian Football League on television]]
[[Category:SportsChannel| ]]
[[Category:Prime Sports Network]]
[[Category:Cablevision]]

[[pam:SportsChannel]]