Screensport was a
pan-European cable and satellite sports television network that was on air from 1984 until 1993 before merging with
Eurosport.
History
1984–1986: Early years
Screensport was founded in 1981 by Bob Kennedy — who had started up
BBC Radio Leicester,
Sky Channel (operators of the UK's first
satellite television network which later became known as
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
) and several independent commercial radio stations, backers included the American networks
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
and
ESPN. A programming deal with
Trans World International allowed access to events taking place around the world.
The channel began broadcasting on 29 March 1984, with Media Communications controlled the studios and transmission facilities in
Knutsford, while its administration office was based in
London. Apart from American sports, the station aired regular and weekly British sports including
speedways and
stock cars. Screensport aired only recorded programming until 31 August of that year,
["RCA buys share in Screen Sport", The Stage and Television Today, 6 September 1984, Issue 5395, p. 13] when they showed live greyhound racing from
Wembley Stadium – including the
St Leger. By late 1984,
WHSmith Television Group had purchased a 15% stake in the company,
RCA also acquired a 10% share in the business, within other investors included
Ladbrokes and the pension fund of the
National Coal Board.
Former
BBC executive
Aubrey Singer was a prominent board member.
On 28 August 1985, the station started to expand its broadcasting area to include the
Netherlands and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, introducing new programmes and sports including ice speedway, Dutch ice hockey and motor sport. Coverage of English football began in the same year, screening the Area and National finals from the
Freight Rover Trophy, a competition for lower division clubs. In addition, the channel both sponsored and broadcast the
Football League Super Cup in the 1985–86 season. The competition was designed to compensate clubs who were banned from European competition due to the
Heysel Stadium disaster, but it was scrapped after the first edition.
1987–1992: WHSmith era
On 1 December 1986, the
WHSmith Television Group took over the operation and management of the network when Bob Kennedy and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
pulled out.
["Shadow cast over cable TV". Jonathan Miller, Media Correspondent. ''The Times'', 1 December 1986; p. 3.] By the end of that year, the station had lost £700,000 and no longer broadcast in Sweden, which resulted in a loss of 100,000 customers.
On 9 April 1987, as the channel had acquired rights to cover some major events, Screensport broadcast live coverage of the
US Masters
The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...
golf from
Augusta, and many other
PGA Tour events.
Grand Slam tennis was also covered in the shape of the
US Open.
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
ice hockey,
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
and
NASCAR racing were common items on the schedule during this period. During the 1987–88 football season, Screensport was the only source of weekly extended English
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
highlights for viewers in the United Kingdom. The channel signed a deal with
Thames Television, who were the Football League's agent for international distribution, to transmit 34 recorded matches via cable and satellite. Thames produced its programme, called the ''Big League Soccer''.
On 7 December 1988,
ESPN increased its stake in the channel from 3.5% to 25.5% after purchasing shares from WHSmith for £4.4 million. By then, Screensport had increased its sports content, allowing the channel to broadcast for 18.5 hours each day within the schedule included
ice hockey,
skiing,
golf,
tennis, and
yachting. By 1989, Screensport adopted the sub-title ''The European Sports Network'', while the WHSmith Television Group later renamed itself as WHSTV.
The channel also began broadcasting on the
Astra 1A satellite in February of that year, following a move of its operations from the
north of England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
to central
London, after taking full control of Molinare later that year on 17 May, which helped to operate as one channel under four different names:
* ''Screensport'' (
English)
* ''TV Sport'' (
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
)
* ''Sportkanal'' (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
)
* ''Sportnet'' (
Dutch)
On 15 May 1991, Screensport filed with the
Commission of the European Communities, alleging that the joint purchasing scheme for sporting events by
Eurosport's former owners,
Sky Television and the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
, violated the competition (
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
) law rules of the
Treaty of Rome
The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...
. After provisions were made for non-member access to the programming, the Commission granted the EBU in a five-year conditional exemption from the requirements of the competition rules. On 28 February 1992, Screensport forged an alliance with
ITV Sport to bid for rights to coverage of the newly formed English
Premier League.
Sky Sports and the
BBC were the eventual winners of the contract.
1993: Demise
On 14 January 1993,
Eurosport and Screensport proposed a merger to provide a single channel as both were operating at a loss, hoping that a merged channel would become financially profitable.
["Satellite channels to merge". ''The Times'' 14 January 1993; p. 40] The merger finally took place on 1 March and that same day, Screensport was shut down permanently.
It ended with a credit screen listing all the network's staff (akin to its sister channel
Lifestyle's close on 24 January of that year), before cutting to Eurosport's feed surrounded by a notice telling viewers to watch any of its frequencies.
Finally on 6 March 1993 at 6.09am, Screensport's signal was shut down permanently as
RTL Zwei was launched in its transponder place.
See also
*
List of European television stations
*
Timeline of cable television in the United Kingdom
This is a timeline of cable television in the United Kingdom.
The first part of the timeline covers the development of cable across the country, including details of the cable-exclusive channels which launched in the 1990s as part of cable tele ...
*
Europa TV
*
Sport1
References
External links
Screensport at TV Ark
{{Television in the Netherlands
History of television in the United Kingdom
Defunct British television channels
Defunct television channels in the Netherlands
Television channels and stations established in 1984
1984 establishments in the United Kingdom
Television channels and stations disestablished in 1993
1993 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Sports television channels in the United Kingdom
1980s in Europe
1980s in British television
1980s in French television
1980s in German television
1980s in Dutch television
1990s in Europe
1990s in British television
1990s in French television
1990s in German television
1990s in Dutch television
Eurosport