Sportsnet 360 (SN360) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
discretionary specialty channel
A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...
owned by
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...
. The channel was launched in 1994 as the licence-exempt service Sportscope, which featured a display of sports news and scores. In 1997, the network was re-launched under
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) licensing as Headline Sports, adding anchored segments to its rolling sports news programming. In 2000, the network gained the ability to air occasional broadcasts of live sporting events, and was re-launched as The Score. In 2012, the network's parent company
Score Media announced that it would sell the network to Rogers Communications, which owns the competing
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
family of sports television networks; in 2013, the network was re-branded as Sportsnet 360.
The channel primarily broadcasts automated blocks of sports news and highlights, along with live sports coverage as an overflow channel for Sportsnet's national programming. The channel is also the main Canadian broadcaster of
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
programs, airing ''
WWE Raw
''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television show, television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET on the USA Networ ...
,'' ''
SmackDown,'' and
''NXT'', along with other ancillary programs.
As of 2014, Sportsnet 360 is available in 5.8 million Canadian homes.
History
Sportscope, Headline Sports
![headlinesports cdn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Headlinesports_cdn.jpg)
The channel has its origins in Sportscope, a sports news service for
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
providers launched in 1994. Its programming consisted solely of an alphanumeric text rotation of sports scores, news, and sports betting information. As it did not include any video content, it did not require a license from the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) to operate.
On September 4, 1996, Sportscope was granted a licence from the CRTC for "Sportscope Plus", an expansion of the service into a
specialty channel
A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...
capable of carrying video programming. The channel planned to carry anchored blocks of sports news and highlights, accompanied by a
ticker with updated sports scores and headlines. Sportscope disclosed plans for localized tickers and additional streams of alphanumeric data.
The expanded service launched in May 1997 as Headline Sports.
The Score
![Score TV Network logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Score_TV_Network_logo.svg)
In March 2000, the CRTC approved an amendment to Headline Sports' license allowing it to carry limited live programming, provided that it operate in a manner that still
prioritizes its licensed format as a sports news and information service. This included continuing to display the ticker during all programming, and breaking away from live programming at least once every 15 minutes to present video highlights.
To promote the expansion, and due to
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
issues with
Turner Broadcasting
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
over the "Headline Sports" name (as
CNN Headline News
HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming.
The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...
aired sports segments carrying the name), the channel was rebranded as The Score Television Network (or simply The Score) that year.
On June 6, 2006, The Score launched a
high definition
High definition or HD may refer to:
Visual technologies
*HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format
*HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format
*HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape
* HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...
simulcast, available through all major television providers in Canada. On September 3, 2008, the channel began broadcasting from a new studio on the corner of King and Peter in
Downtown Toronto. In the
2007–08 season, The Score acquired the Canadian television rights to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
. The network sub-licensed the majority of the package to long-time rightsholder
Rogers Sportsnet, which carried a weekly match on Saturdays, and all other matches on its newly launched premium service
Setanta Sports Canada. The Score would broadcast a weekly match on Sundays, and launched the bi-weekly studio program ''The Footy Show''.
On September 20, 2011, Score Media announced that it would put The Score Television Network up for sale.
Purchase by Rogers, relaunch as Sportsnet 360
Reports surfaced on August 24, 2012, that
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...
, owners of the competing network
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
, would acquire The Score's parent company.
The following day, Rogers Media announced that it acquired Score Media in a transaction valued at
$167 million. Pending CRTC approval, Rogers acquired Score Media's television business which included the closed captioning service Voice to Visual Inc., mixed martial arts promotion The Score Fighting Series, and The Score Television Network.
[Rogers Media to Acquire theScore Television Network](_blank)
CNW press release 2012-08-25
The acquisition closed on October 19, 2012, at which point Score Media's digital assets (the
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
''theScore.com'' and associated
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
s) were spun off into another company primarily owned by Score Media's previous shareholders,
theScore Inc.
Score Media and Gaming Inc. is a digital media company based in Toronto, Canada, often referred to as theScore. It was founded in 2012 by John S. Levy, the company's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. The company owns and operates digital sp ...
, in which Rogers Media retained a 10% interest. Score Media's television properties were immediately placed into a
blind trust
A blind trust is a trust in which the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust, and no right to intervene in their handling. In a blind trust, the trustees (fiduciaries, or those who have been given power of attorney) h ...
, under trustee
Peter Viner
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
, pending final CRTC approval. The operations of the digital properties and the television channel were separated at this point, with the latter operating a separate website (
theScoreTV.ca- archived'') for the interim period until the Rogers deal was approved. As part of CRTC requirements to spend 10% of the value of an acquisition on initiatives to strengthen the broadcasting industry, Rogers planned to fund the production of the ''Sportsnet Winter Games'' (which would have been an annual
winter sports competition) and provide funding for the production of amateur sports programming.
[ While Rogers planned to continue running The Score as a sports news service, it also requested that the CRTC ease some of the restrictions that were placed on the network in order to allow it to be more competitive with other Canadian sports channels. Namely, Rogers requested that it only be required to air one sports news update per-hour during live programming.]
The CRTC approved the acquisition of The Score by Rogers, as well as Rogers' proposal to only require a sports update once per hour during live programming on April 30, 2013 (but rejected its proposal to spend its tangible benefits on the ''Sportsnet Winter Games''). Immediately following the approval, it was announced that The Score would begin airing '' Hockey Central Playoff Extra'' (a spin-off of Sportsnet's NHL news program) nightly during the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 30, 2013, following the conclusion of the 2012–13 NHL regular season. The regular season was shortened to 48 games, and the playoffs pushed to a later date, due ...
, and the network replaced its afternoon programming with a telecast of ''Tim & Sid
''Tim & Friends'' (formerly ''Tim & Sid'') is a sports talk show hosted by Tim Micallef that was produced by the Canadian sports television network Sportsnet where it aired. The program, originally known as ''Tim & Sid'' and hosted by Micallef an ...
'', a radio show on Rogers-owned CJCL
CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toron ...
hosted by former The Score personalities Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro.
On June 4, 2013, Rogers announced that it would relaunch The Score under the Sportsnet brand as Sportsnet 360 on July 1, 2013; it was launched with a simulcast of a Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
baseball game, followed by the premiere of a new post-game show, ''Blue Jays Xpress''.[ Alongside the rebranding, an updated version of The Score's on-screen sports ticker was introduced. Rogers stated that the network would continue to target its programming towards "hardcore" sports fans with "a vast breadth of premium sports content in a fast-paced, energetic and entertaining manner".]
Programming
Sportsnet 360's schedule consists of automated blocks featuring sports news and highlights (primarily during the morning and overnight periods, and on weekend afternoons), alongside other full-length programs, and overflow and simulcasted sports programming from other Sportsnet channels. The network's daytime lineup features television simulcasts of the afternoon lineup of co-owned sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
station CJCL
CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toron ...
, including '' Hockey Central'' and ''Writer's Bloc''.
The network formerly aired a simulcast of CJCL
CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toron ...
's ''Tim & Sid
''Tim & Friends'' (formerly ''Tim & Sid'') is a sports talk show hosted by Tim Micallef that was produced by the Canadian sports television network Sportsnet where it aired. The program, originally known as ''Tim & Sid'' and hosted by Micallef an ...
'' from the acquisition of The Score by Rogers in 2013 until March 27, 2015, when the show relaunched on Sportsnet with a television-oriented format. The network then began simulcasting their replacement ''Brady & Walker'' (which had moved from mornings) until February 2016, after Greg Brady was fired from the station. '' Prime Time Sports'' also aired on Sportsnet 360 until the show's end in October 2019; the station has since joined the main Sportsnet channels in simulcasting ''Tim & Sid'' once again, after the show was given an audio simulcast on CJCL as a replacement for ''Prime Time Sports''.
Sportsnet 360 is the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
programs; the programs have been mainstays of the network since its period as The Score. As of February 2020, weekly WWE programming includes ''Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
'', '' SmackDown'', ''Main Event
In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...
'', ''NXT
NXT may refer to:
Professional wrestling
* '' WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010
** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory
* '' NXT UK'', the British spi ...
'', and ''This Week in WWE
This is a list of broadcasters airing WWE premier weekly television programs (Raw and SmackDown) and Premium Live Events.
United States Broadcasters
International broadcasting rights
Note
See also
*List of professional wrestling televisio ...
''. Rogers' current contract with WWE began in 2014 and runs through 2024; the contract also gave Rogers exclusive Canadian distribution rights to WWE Network.
Sportsnet 360 formerly broadcast regular season events in U Sports
U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
. In August 2014, Sportsnet announced that it would not renew its Ontario University Athletics conference television contracts for the 2014 season because of low viewership and the resulting high cost-per-viewer of producing the game broadcasts. UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
mixed-martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...
, including ''UFC on Fox
''Fox UFC Fight Night '' (previously referred as ''Fox UFC Saturday'' for broadcasts on Fox or ''FS1 UFC Fight Night'' for broadcasts on other Fox-owned properties) was the branding used for telecasts of mixed martial art competitions from the U ...
'' events, preliminary fights, and the reality series ''The Ultimate Fighter
''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...
'', largely moved from the Sportsnet regional networks and Sportsnet One to Sportsnet 360 following its launch. On December 22, 2014, it was announced that TSN
TSN may refer to:
Science and technology
* Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function
* Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System
* The Science Netwo ...
and Fight Network
Fight Network is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. The network broadcasts programming related to combat sports, including mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, and professional wre ...
would take over Canadian rights to UFC programming beginning in 2015.
Personalities
See also
* ESPNews
References
External links
*
{{Sports television in Canada
Television channels and stations established in 1997
Sports television networks in Canada
Sportsnet
Rogers Communications
Analog cable television networks in Canada
English-language television stations in Canada