Hughes Television Network

American television network and production company

Television channel

Hughes Television Network

The Hughes Television Network logo in 1979, preceding an NHL Network broadcast.

Type| Occasional broadcast television network
Ownership
Key people| Joseph M. Cohen
History
Founded| December 1955; 69 years ago (December 1955)
Launched| 1956; 69 years ago (1956)
Founder| Dick Bailey
Former names| Sports Network

HTN Communications, better known as Hughes Television Network (HTN) and formerly Sports Network, was an American television network created by Richard Eugene Bailey. The company is now in the business of providing video and audio services to sports networks.

It never lived up to its dream of being the nation's fourth television network, following the demise of the DuMont Television Network. HTN limited itself to broadcasting sports events, including the Stanley Cup Finals, PBA Bowling[citation needed] and special programming, including the Muppets special The Frog Prince,[1] and provided facilities links to a loose network of stations, who were usually independents or affiliates of ABC, CBS, or NBC.

In 2013, HTN Communications merged with The Switch.[2]

## History

[edit]

### Sports Network Incorporated

[edit]

Originally working as chief network coordinator at ABC in 1954, Richard Eugene Bailey conceived of a cost-effective means of broadcasting away Major League Baseball games to their home cities. The idea came from the BBDO advertising agency, who appealed to Bailey on behalf of advertisers, Schaefer Beer and Lucky Strike cigarettes, to save money on their broadcast of Brooklyn Dodgers games; Bailey came up with the concept of "streamlining transmission operations." This innovation for covering away games became the basis for the Sports Network.[3]

Bailey capitalized his company with $1,000.[4] In December 1956, Bailey met with sponsors, ad agencies and the baseball teams' representatives at Chicago's Hotel Knickerbocker to get SNI off the ground. In 1956, the first operational year, the network had 300 television and 1,200 radio broadcasts of major league baseball games.[3]

In the fall 1956, SNI started showing Cleveland Browns football games. In later years, they acquired rights to Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference basketball. SNI's coverage of the 1963 NCAA final, where Loyola University Chicago upset the University of Cincinnati, was a ratings smash, with a larger audience than CBS' hit westerns Have Gun – Will Travel and Gunsmoke.[3]

By the early sixties, the Browns (still on SNI) were the only NFL team not signed to a major TV network. At the insistence of new commissioner Pete Rozelle, the Browns dropped SNI when the entire league signed a collective television contract with CBS in 1962.

### Hughes Television Network

[edit]

After Howard Hughes failed to purchase a controlling interest in ABC in 1968, Hughes' Hughes Tool Company purchased the Sports Network and renamed it the Hughes Television Network, with Dick Bailey continuing as president.[4][5] On a staggered schedule in May 1971, The Frog Prince was shown on HTN with 150 stations including WCBS-TV and sponsored by RJR Foods.[1] During the 1973–74 ABA season, the American Basketball Association had signed a contract with the Hughes Television Network to air games on its network in an attempt to gain financial stability during what became the league's last few years of existence.

Paramount Pictures purchased the Network including its satellite time in planning for the Paramount Programming Service in 1976.[6][7] After the planned network's launch was scuttled in 1978, Paramount sold HTN to Madison Square Garden in 1979. In 1986, Joseph M. Cohen, a Madison Square Garden executive, led an investment group in purchasing HTN from Madison Square Garden. IDB Communications purchased the company in 1989.[8]

In March, 1991, HTN purchased fiber optic transmission services from Vyvx NVN to supplement its existing satellite network.[9] In 1995, HTN was purchased by Globecast.[8]

In 2003, Cohen acquired the Network again.[8]

## Programming

[edit]

As Sports Network, the Network broadcast on a network basis sports programming in the following sports: auto racing, baseball, basketball (pro and college), bowling, boxing, dog shows, football (pro and college), frostbite sailing, golf, gymnastics, horse racing, iceboating, ice hockey, jai alai, lacrosse, polo, skiing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and wrestling.

SNI pick up rights for:

* Cleveland Browns football games (1956–1962)
* Big Ten Conference basketball
* Atlantic Coast Conference basketball
* 1963 Bing Crosby pro-amateur golf tournament
* PGA National Tour program
* 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament[3]
* 1974 ABA All-Star Game

### Monday Night Football

[edit]

According to the book Monday Night Mayhem (Reed Business Information, 1988), the National Football League received a bid from HTN for broadcast rights to Monday Night Football; this, while negotiations with ABC were nearing a standoff. HTN was reportedly offering a significantly higher price than any other network, including ABC. Reportedly, had Hughes made the deal, about half of ABC's affiliates would have carried the HTN football games anyway, including at least one ABC owned-and-operated station. Ultimately, the league agreed that it would be in the NFL's best interests to sign with an established network, eventually striking a deal with ABC for a lower amount than Hughes was offering.

### Cleveland Browns broadcasters

[edit]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

* 1956 Browns – Ken Coleman/Otto Graham
* 1957 Browns – Ken Coleman/Jimmy Dudley
* 1958 Browns – Ken Coleman/Jimmy Dudley
* 1959 Browns – Ken Coleman/Jimmy Dudley
* 1960 Browns – Ken Coleman/Jimmy Dudley
* 1961 Browns – Ken Coleman/Cliff Lewis

## See also

[edit]

* KLAS-TV
* The NHL Network (1975–79)
* Mobil Showcase Network
* Fourth television network

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Esty, William (May 19, 1971). "Television Reviews: The Frog Prince". Variety. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
2. ^ "The Switch and HTN Communications, LLC Join Forces". March 25, 2013. Retrieved 16 Apr 2015.
3. ^ a b c d Brown, Gwilym S. (November 8, 1965). "The Maitre D' Of Sports Tv". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
4. ^ a b "Scorecard". Sports Illustrated. September 16, 1968. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
5. ^ "Hughes buys TV Network". The Milwaukee Journal. UPI. September 7, 1968. p. 18. Retrieved 30 May 2012.[permanent dead link]
6. ^ Nadel, Gerry (1977-05-30). "Who Owns Prime Time? The Threat of the 'Occasional' Networks". New York Magazine. New York: 34–35. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
7. ^ "Hughes TV Network Sold". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 27, 1976. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
8. ^ a b c "Cohen Buys Hughes TV Network for 3rd Time". The Intelligencer. June 9, 2003. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
9. ^ "Hughes Television Network. (contract)". Satellite News. March 11, 1991. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2012.

## External links

[edit]

* HTN Communications Archived 2012-09-24 at the Wayback Machine – official site
* Satellite Channel Chart - textfiles.com

Links to related articles

| Preceded by

NHL Network

|  NHL network broadcast partner in the United States (with CBS)
1980 | Succeeded by

None

|
|

Preceded by

ABC

|  NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship television broadcaster
1963 – 1968 | Succeeded by

NBC

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NHL Network (1975–1979)

Related programs|

* Hockey Night in Canada
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Related articles|

* NHL Network (Canada)
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* Hughes Television Network
* History of the NHL on United States television
* 1970s
* Stanley Cup Final television ratings

| Affiliates|

* KCAL
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|

Commentators|

* All-Star Game
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Key figures|

| Play-by-play announcers|

* Marv Albert
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* Ted Darling
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* Dan Kelly
* Jiggs McDonald
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|

Color commentators|

* Don Awrey
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Studio hosts/analysts|

* Stan Fischler
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CBC playoff feeds|

* Bob Cole
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* Danny Gallivan
* Dave Hodge
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* Jim Robson

Stanley Cup Final|

* 1976
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* 1979

All-Star Game|

* 1976
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* 1978
* 1979

Super Series|

* 1976 (Flyers–Red Army game)

* v
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* e

NBA on SNI

Related articles|

* Hughes Television Network
* NBA on TV in the 1960s

Commentators|

* All-Star Game
* NBA Finals

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* Buddy Blattner
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* Marty Glickman
* Chick Hearn
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| Color commentators|

* Carl Braun
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* Ed Macauley
* Fred Schaus

|

NBA Finals|

* 1963 (Game 6)
* 1964

All-Star Game|

* 1963
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* v
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* e

College basketball on television

Current broadcast partners|

* CBS
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* The CW

Secondary broadcast partners|

* FanDuel Sports Network
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Specialty broadcast partners|

* Big Ten
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Former broadcast partners|

* ASN
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General media|

* Big Monday
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* locations
* Rivalry Week
* Saturday Primetime
* Selection Sunday
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* Wednesday Night Hoops

Commentators by network|

* ABC
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* NBC
* TBS/TNT/truTV

Broadcasters by event|

* Men's Final Four
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Other|

* ESPN Full Court
* "Game of the Century"
* Mega March Madness
* NCAA Productions
* "One Shining Moment"
* "Roundball Rock"

* v
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* e

NFL on Sports Network Incorporated (SNI)

Related programs|

* NFL on CBS (1959)

Related articles|

* Carling Beer
* Hughes Television Network
* NFL on television (history)
* 1950s

Seasons|

* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958 (The Browns' SNI arrangement from 1956 to 1958 was national in scope.)
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961 (For 1960 and 1961 seasons, the Browns-SNI network was reduced to a Midwest regional network.)

Commentators|

* Ken Coleman
* Jimmy Dudley
* Otto Graham
* Cliff Lewis
* Curly Morrison
* Bob Wolff

* v
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UPN

Programs|

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Affiliates|

* BHC Communications/United Television/Chris-Craft Television (part owner; 1995–2000)
* Paramount Stations Group (1995–2006)

Related networks|

* Paramount Television Network
* Paramount Television Service
* Hughes Television Network
* The CW
* MyNetworkTV

Miscellaneous topics|

* History of UPN
* Paramount Television Studios
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* Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
* Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of The WB and UPN

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