TVS Television Network

Syndicated television production company

For the defunct British ITV franchise, see Television South.

TVS Television NetworkIndustry| Television syndication

|

Founded| December 27, 1968
(56 years ago) (1968-12-27)
Defunct| August 29, 1993
(31 years ago) (1993-08-29)
Fate| Closed
Headquarters| New York City, New York[1]
Owner| Eddie Einhorn (1968-1973)
Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation (1973-1993; becoming a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet in 1969)
Parent| TVS Inc.[2]

The Television Sports Television Network,[3][4][5] or TVS Television Network for short (commonly referred to as just TVS), was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the 1960s to take advantage of the establishment of independent (mostly UHF) television stations and relaxation of the AT&T Long Lines usage rates.

## History

[edit]

Eddie Einhorn had begun broadcasting radio coverage of college basketball and built a network of radio stations that covered the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament games. He later moved into television coverage of college basketball games.

### College basketball

[edit]

Founded by Einhorn on December 27, 1968, and operated through TVS Inc., TVS originally telecast college basketball games to regional networks at a time when the sport was of no interest to the national networks. Taking advantage of intense regional collegiate rivalries, the network blossomed in the 1960s and developed into a full service sports network. Einhorn proceeded to put together a Saturday afternoon TVS "game of the week" concept that often featured some of the major midwestern independent teams such as Marquette, DePaul, and Notre Dame. These games were widely syndicated at least in the east and midwest.

On January 20, 1968, TVS put together the "Game of the Century" (see below) between the UCLA Bruins and Houston Cougars basketball teams at the Houston Astrodome. This was the game that made college basketball a television broadcast commodity. Six years later (January 19, 1974), TVS televised another historic basketball game as the Bruins fell to Notre Dame, 71-70, breaking the Bruins' 88-game winning streak. TVS proceeded to syndicate a few games nationally each year, often involving UCLA in the middle of their run of 10 national championships in a 12-year span. TVS often used late night time slots for its nationally syndicated games which were played on the west coast.

In addition to these individual games, TVS was a pioneer in bringing college basketball to a national scope-first by their own efforts in the early 1970s, primarily with Dick Enberg and Rod Hundley (sometimes Enberg and Hundley would call a Pac-8 game on a Friday night, fly to the midwest for the TVS game of the week on Saturday afternoon, and then head back to the west coast to call a Pac-8 game on Saturday night), then in 1975, teaming with NBC Sports in a cooperative effort to regionalize NBC's coverage on Saturday afternoons (NBC/local talent, TVS production crews).[6] This partnership lasted through 1983, though it was hampered in later years by NBC losing the rights to the NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball Tournament to CBS Sports in 1982. After the NBC partnership ended and college sports telecasts underwent a court-ordered decentralization in 1984, TVS went back to regionalizing games on their own—a forerunner to the regionalization often seen today.

Besides Dick Enberg and Rod Hundley (who worked with Merle Harmon on the January 7, 1973, contest between Kansas and Notre Dame), other broadcast teams for TVS' college basketball coverage included John Ferguson and Joe Dean (who called the February 21, 1970 contest between Kentucky and LSU), Monte Moore and Ed Macauley (who called the January 2, 1971 contest between Dayton and UCLA), Charlie Jones and Elgin Baylor (who called the January 26, 1972 contest between Providence and USC), Ray Scott and Bill O'Donnell (who called the January 14, 1973 contest between SW Louisiana and Oral Roberts), Al Michaels and Tom Hawkins (who called the January 26, 1974, contest between Notre Dame and UCLA), Max Falkenstein and Paul Deweese (Big Eight Conference) and Jay Randolph and Billy Packer (who called the November 17, 1979 contest between Duke and Kentucky, November 22, 1980 contest between DePaul and Louisville) and November 21, 1981 contest between BYU and Virginia).

#### "Game of the Century"

[edit]

See also: Game of the Century (college basketball)

The game that really popularized televised college basketball was a prime time Saturday night broadcast on January 20, 1968 between two powerhouse teams that had met in the 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The undefeated, second-ranked Houston Cougars hosted the equally unbeaten, top-ranked UCLA Bruins at the Houston Astrodome. The Bruins were the defending national champions and riding a 47-game winning streak. Eddie Einhorn paid $27,000 for the broadcast rights on TVS.[7] Altogether, Einhorn signed up 120 stations, many of whom were network affiliates that dropped or time-shifted their regular programming to show the game.[8] Houston won, 71–69, in front of a then-record crowd of 52,693, and the contest was soon dubbed "The Game of the Century".

The "Game of the Century" showed that regular-season college basketball action was a viable nationwide product; previously, only NCAA post-season games were broadcast on national TV, but only on evidence that broadcasters were going to make a profit from the broadcasts.

### Other sports on TVS

[edit]

While college basketball remained the TVS Television Network's signature series, they also expanded into tennis, college football bowl games, NASL pro soccer, tennis, and golf. They also televised the NBA–ABA All-Star Game between the rival professional basketball leagues.[9]

In 1974, the network became the official telecaster of the World Football League. (TVS dropped its coverage of the WFL prior to 1975, contributing to the league's already imminent demise; the league had no national television contract for their shortened second season.) TVS also aired World Championship Tennis.

### Entertainment programming

[edit]

In the 1970s, TVS began producing entertainment programming, including Sinatra: The Main Event for ABC in 1974. For many years, TVS produced sports and entertainment programming from Las Vegas including the Alan King Tennis Classic at Caesars Palace; Arm Wrestling at the Imperial Palace, Fun Moments in Sports at Bally's; Bowling from Sam's Town and the Showboat; The Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour (LPBT), and One Club Golf from the Desert Inn.

### Transition

[edit]

By 1973, Einhorn sold his interest in the network to the Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation[10] for $5 million[11] and later on became the head of CBS Sports, and later became an owner of the Chicago White Sox with Jerry Reinsdorf; he would also spend time as owner of the USFL's Chicago Blitz. The network stalled in the 1990s, with the trademark status for the network's branding expiring on August 29, 1993.[12] It is presumed that the network itself would cease operations soon after.

According to a search on the website for the New York State Department of State Division of Corporations, TVS, Inc. itself would eventually ceased operations in 1995.

## See also

[edit]

* 1968 in television
* Game of the Century (college basketball)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "World Tennis". CBS Publications. 1982. "TVS Television Network of New York, N.Y."
2. ^ "TVS TELEVISION NETWORK trademark of TVS INC. Serial Number: 72400354 :: Trademarkia Trademarks".
3. ^ "World Games at Moscow a Challenge for Network". Wisconsin State Journal. August 16, 1973. Section 4, p. 19. Retrieved June 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ "Reading Eagle". Reading Eagle.
5. ^ "Boca Raton News". Boca Raton News.
6. ^ "SEC Basketball on TV". Gadsden Times. Gadsden, Alabama. August 9, 1980. p. 8. Retrieved September 27, 2023 – via Google Books.
7. ^ Jerry Wizig - It's been 20 years since they've played The Game of the Century. Houston Chronicle, January 20, 1988
8. ^ Rapoport, Ron (2008-01-20). "Inside And Outsized". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
9. ^ Smith, Seymour S. (May 24, 1982). "Cage game selling TV spots". The Baltimore Sun. p. C4. Retrieved July 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ "NBC AND THE NEW COLLEGE TRY". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com.
11. ^ "Eddie Einhorn, college TV pioneer and White Sox owner, dies". Sports Illustrated.
12. ^ P.C, LegalForce RAPC Worldwide. "TVS TELEVISION NETWORK trademark of TVS INC.{' '}Serial Number: 72400354 :: Trademarkia Trademarks". Trademarkia - America's #1 Trademark Registration, Patent Registration, Copyright & Slogan Registration service. File today!. "EXPIRED on 8/29/1993"

* Einhorn, Eddie; Ron Rapaport (2006). How March Became Madness: How the NCAA Tournament Became the Greatest Sporting Event in America. Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. ISBN 1-57243-809-6.

Preceded by

None

|  Syndication Rights Holder to Southeastern Conference men's basketball
1969-1983  | Succeeded by

Lorimar Sports Network

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* e

Defunct English-language broadcast television networks in the United States

Major commercial|

* DuMont
* UPN
* The WB
* Pax TV
* PTEN
* OPT
* NTA Film Network
* ON/United
* Paramount Television Network

Minor commercial|

* America One
* AIN
* Channel America
* Cheddarci
* Circlei
* Classic Reruns TV
* Digi-TV
* Hughes
* JUCE TV
* Light TV
* Mizlou
* Mutual Television Network
* N1
* NATVi
* NBC LX Home
* Omni
* PBJ
* Plum TV
* qubo
* SFM Holiday
* Star
* Smile
* TrueReal
* Theater TV
* This TV
* Tuff TV
* Twist
* UATV
* VTV
* The Works

Public|

* NET
* MHz Worldviewi
* ResearchChannel

Specialty|

| News|

* ABC News Nowi
* All News Channel
* DoD News
* Local AccuWeather Channel
* NBC Wx+/NBC+
* Newsmax TVci
* Newsy/Scripps Newsi
* TouchVision

|

Sports|

* American Sports Network
* Stadiumi
* SportsGridi
* Sportsmanc
* TVS
* Universal Sports

Home shopping|

* America's Store
* Gems TV
* Gun TV
* Ion Shop
* Shop at Home
* ValueVision / ShopNBC / evine / ShopHQ

Music|

* Bohemia Visual Musici
* The Box
* MTV2c
* Tr3sc
* Retro Jams
* TheCoolTV
* The Tube

c \- Now cable-only, i \- Now internet-only

* v
* t
* e

National sports broadcasting in the United States

Sports broadcasting contracts in the United States

Broadcast|

| Major Networks|

* CBS Sports
* CW Sports
* ESPN on ABC
* Fox Sports
* NBC Sports

|

Other|

* Scripps Sports
* Telemundo Deportes
* TUDN on Univision

Cable / Linear|

| General|

* CBS Sports Network
* ESPN
* ESPN2
* ESPNews
* ESPN Deportes
* FS1
* FS2
* Fox Deportes
* TUDN (Univision Sports)

|

Pro league affiliated|

* MLB Network
* Extra InningsO
* Strike ZoneP
* NBA TV
* NBA League PassO
* NFL Network
* NFL RedZoneP
* NHL Network
* NHL Center IceO

Occasional|

* AXS TV
* CBS Sports:
* Nickelodeon
* NBC Sports:
* CNBC
* USA Network
* Universo
* TNT Sports:
* TBS
* TNT
* TruTV

College specific|

* ACC Network
* Big Ten Network
* ESPNU
* SEC Network

Niche|

* The Action Channel
* beIN SportsP
* beIN Sports en EspañolP
* The Cowboy Channel
* FanDuel TVP
* FanDuel RacingP
* Fox Soccer PlusP
* Golf Channel
* MAVTV
* Next Level Sports
* Outdoor Channel
* Sportsman Channel
* World Fishing Network
* Pursuit Channel
* Racetrack Television Network
* Tennis Channel
* TyC SportsP
* WillowP

Streaming|

| General|

* CBS Sports HQ
* NBC Sports NOW
* DAZN
* ESPN Flagship/ESPN+
* FloSports
* Red Bull TV
* Stadium

|

Pro league affiliated|

* MLB Network
* MLB.tvO
* MLS Season PassO
* NBA League PassO
* NFL+ (NFL RedZoneP)
* NFL Sunday TicketO
* NHL.TVO

Occasional|

* Apple TV+
* Disney+ (ESPN)
* Max (TNT Sports)
* Netflix
* Paramount+ (CBS Sports)
* Peacock (NBC Sports)
* Prime Video (MGM+)
* The Roku Channel
* Tubi (Fox Sports)

Niche|

* Cowboy Channel+
* FanDuel TV+
* Honor Club
* MyOutdoorTV
* T2
* TrillerNet
* Triller TV+
* TrillerPass
* TNA+
* UFC Fight Pass

* v
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* e

Regional sports broadcasting in the United States

FanDuel Sports Network|

* Current: Detroit
* Miami
* Florida
* Sun
* Midwest
* Indiana
* Kansas City
* North
* Ohio
* Southeast
* South
* Southwest
* Oklahoma
* Los Angeles
* West
* SoCal
* Wisconsin
* YES Network (part-ownership)

* Former: Fox College Sports
* Arizona
* Carolinas
* Chicago
* Great Lakes
* Houston
* New Orleans
* San Diego

Fenway Sports Group|

* NESN
* SportsNet Pittsburgh

MSG Entertainment|

* MSG Network
* MSGSN
* MSG Western NY

NBC Sports Regional Networks|

* Current: Bay Area
* Boston
* California
* Philadelphia
* SportsNet New York (part ownership)

* Former: Chicago
* Northwest

Sinclair Broadcast Group|

* Nevada Sports Net
* Marquee Sports Network (part-ownership)

Spectrum Sports|

* Current: Hawaii
* Kansas City
* Los Angeles
* Spectrum SportsNet
* SportsNet LA
* SportsNet New York (part ownership)

* Former: Carolinas
* Florida
* New York
* Ohio
* Wisconsin
* Texas

Gray Media|

* Arizona's Family Sports
* Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network
* Matrix Midwest
* Palmetto Sports & Entertainment
* Peachtree Sports Network
* Rock Entertainment Sports Network (part ownership)
* Tennessee Valley Sports Entertainment Network
* Silver State Sports & Entertainment Network

Independent|

* Altitude Sports
* Buckeye Cable Sports
* BYU TV Sports
* Chicago Sports Network
* Cyclones.tv
* LFSN
* MASN
* MLB Local Media
* Monumental Sports Network
* Rangers Sports Network
* Root Sports Northwest
* Space City Home Network
* Midco Sports
* Scripps Sports (local broadcast)
* SWX Right Now
* Victory+

Defunct|

* AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
* Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast
* Comcast Entertainment Television
* Comcast Network
* Empire Sports Network
* MountainWest Sports Network
* Prime Sports
* La Cadena Deportiva
* Upper Midwest
* PRISM
* Pro-Am Sports System
* Root Sports Utah
* SportsChannel
* Cincinnati
* Los Angeles
* Philadelphia
* Sports Time
* Turner South
* Victory Sports One

* v
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* e

Defunct television sports networks in the United States

National|

* America One
* American Sports Classics
* American Sports Network
* Back9Network
* Baseball Network
* CNN/SI
* ESPN 3D
* ESPN Classic
* ESPN Goal Line & Bases Loaded
* ESPN Events
* Football Network
* Fox Soccer
* Lorimar Sports Network
* Mizlou
* NBCSN
* NHL Network (1975–1979)
* NewSport
* One World Sports
* ONTV
* Olympic Channel
* Speed
* SportsChannel America
* Stadium College Sports
* Sports Network
* Universal Sports Network

Regional|

* 4SD
* ACC RSN
* Arizona Sports Programming Network/Cox Sports
* AT&T SportsNet
* Root Sports Utah
* AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
* Bally Sports
* Arizona
* New Orleans
* San Diego
* Carolinas SE
* Comcast SportsNet
* Southeast
* Southwest
* Cox Sports
* Empire
* Fox Sports Networks
* Carolinas
* Chicago
* Houston
* Tennessee
* GiantsVision
* Hawkvision
* MountainWest
* NBC Sports Chicago
* NBC Sports Northwest
* Oregon Sports Network
* Pac-12 Network
* PASS Sports
* Prime Sports
* Prime Sports Upper Midwest
* PRISM
* Royals Sports
* San Diego Cable Sports Network
* Spectrum
* Spectrum Sports
* Carolinas
* Florida
* New York
* Ohio
* Texas
* Wisconsin
* SportsChannel
* Cincinnati
* Los Angeles
* Philadelphia
* Sports Time
* Sportsvision
* Sportsvue
* Victory Sports One

Syndication|

* Raycom Sports (ACC Network)
* Big 12 Network
* SEC TV
* TVS

Out-of-market|

* ESPN College Extra
* ESPN Full Court
* ESPN GamePlan
* NCAA Mega March Madness
* MLS Direct Kick
* NASCAR Hot Pass

* O. Out-of-market sports packages
* P. Premium channel

* v
* t
* e

College basketball on television

Current broadcast partners|

* CBS
* ESPN/ABC
* Fox/FS1
* NBC/USA
* TNT Sports (TBS/TNT/truTV)
* The CW

Secondary broadcast partners|

* FanDuel Sports Network
* CBS Sports Network
* Next Level Sports
* ESPNU
* Stadium College Sports
* FS2
* Stadium

Specialty broadcast partners|

* Big Ten
* BYUtv
* SEC
* ACC

Former broadcast partners|

* ASN
* beIN Sports
* Buckeye
* Jefferson Pilot
* LHN
* Lincoln Financial
* Lorimar Sports
* Mizlou
* MountainWest
* NBCSN
* Prime
* Pac-12
* SNI
* SportsChannel
* TVS
* ACC (Raycom)

General media|

* Big Monday
* Championship Week
* College GameDay
* locations
* Rivalry Week
* Saturday Primetime
* Selection Sunday
* Super Tuesday
* Thursday Night Showcase
* Wednesday Night Hoops

Commentators by network|

* ABC
* CBS
* ESPN
* NBC
* TBS/TNT/truTV

Broadcasters by event|

* Men's Final Four
* Women's Final Four

Other|

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

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Bowling on television

Broadcast networks|

* ABC
* CBS
* Fox
* Hughes
* Mizlou
* NBC
* TVS

Cable networks|

* CBSSN
* ESPN
* FS1
* HBO
* NBCSN
* Prime
* SportsChannel
* USA

General media|

* Bowling for Dollars
* Bowling Headliners
* Candlepin Bowling
* Celebrity Bowling
* Jackpot Bowling
* Let's Bowl
* Make That Spare
* Bowling Revolution P-League

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