TNN Sports
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

TNN Motor Sports was a sports
programming block Block programming (also known as a strand in British broadcasting) is the arrangement of programs on radio or television so that those of a particular genre, theme, or target audience are united. Overview Block programming involves scheduling a ...
on
The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...
from the network's launch in 1983 to 2000. ''TNN Motor Sports'' specialized in coverage of
motorsports Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the po ...
of various formats, most commonly
auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
. From 2000 to 2003, the network expanded its offerings to include alternative
professional football Professional football may refer to: *Professionalism in association football *Professional gridiron football *National Football League *Canadian Football League *Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-emine ...
and rebranded the block as TNN Sports. The block shut down in TNN's 2003 rebranding as
Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...
.


History

TNN Motor Sports began when the network itself launched in 1983. During that time, TNN started airing a motor sports and auto racing themed program during the racing season known as ''
American Sports Cavalcade ''American Sports Cavalcade'' is an American motorsports television show produced by Diamond P Sports in Hollywood, California that aired on The Nashville Network (TNN) from 1983 to 1995. ''American Sports Cavalcade'' was a winner of the cable te ...
''. ''American Sports Cavalcade'' was produced by a production company called Diamond P Sports. On the very first episode, the sport of
swamp buggy A swamp buggy, also known as a marsh buggy, is a motor vehicle used to traverse boggy swamp terrain. Swamp buggies may be purpose-built buggies or vehicles modified to traverse swamp terrain. Swamp buggies are capable of traveling through or over ...
racing from Naples, Florida, was featured. Diamond P produced all of TNN's motor sports coverage through 1992. Then, in 1993, TNN began working with World Sports Enterprises to produce their
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
coverage, and Group 5 Sports to produce their coverage of the
ASA Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...
. Diamond P would continue to produce most of the rest of their motor sports coverage. TNN had a self-operating and self-promoting sub-division called TNN Motor Sports, and aired races produced by that division from 1991 to 2000. Under the TNN Motor Sports umbrella,
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
series races (including those of the then-
Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...
and
Busch Grand National Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
, as well as the
Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...
) were the most prominently featured, but other racing organizations, such as
IRL IRL may refer to: Arts and media * ''IRL'' (2013 film), a Swedish drama film about a high school student tormented by peers * IRL (2019 film), an American drama film about "the ups and downs of online dating and modern dating" * ''IRL'' (album), ...
,
IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...
and
SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, High Performance Driver Education, HPDE, Time trial, Time Trial, Road racing, Road Racing, Regularity rally, R ...
sports car series,
ASA Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...
stock car series, USAC and
World of Outlaws World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, originally known as the World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American national touring dirt track racing series. It is owned and operated by World Racing Group, and was rebranded when the World of O ...
sprint car series, the
NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...
drag racing series, AMA supercross and superbikes, and monster truck racing and truck and tractor pulling from
TNT Motorsports TNT Motorsports was a popular promoter of monster truck races, tractor pulls, and occasionally mud racing in the 1980s. TNT was an acronym for “Trucks n Tractors” founded by the late Billy Joe Miles of Owensboro, Kentucky. Events were show ...
were also showcased. From 1991–2001, TNN aired the ''RaceDay'' magazine show on Sunday mornings, anchored first by Pat Patterson and later by Rick Benjamin. In 1995, the motorsports operations were moved into the industrial park located at
Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...
in
Concord, North Carolina Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...
, where TNN had purchased a controlling interest in World Sports Enterprises, a motorsports production company, from WSE's founder
Ken Squier Kenley Dean Squier (April 10, 1935 – November 15, 2023) was an American sportscaster and motorsports editor from Waterbury, Vermont. From 1979 to 1997, he served as the lap-by-lap commentator for '' NASCAR on CBS'', and was also a lap-by-l ...
. Also by 1995,
Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...
, who at the time owned the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
networks and had an existing relationship with TNN through its Group W division, purchased TNN and its sister network CMT outright to form CBS Cable, along with a short-lived startup network entitled
Eye On People Discovery People was an American cable television network. The channel was launched on March 31, 1997 by CBS as CBS Eye on People, and featured news and human interest stories from CBS News. The channel suffered significant losses, in part becaus ...
. TNN's ties to CBS allowed it to carry
CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
' run overs, which happened during a NASCAR Busch Series race at
Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...
in
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
; the
1998 Pepsi 400 The 1998 Pepsi 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held on October 17, 1998, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Originally scheduled to be held on the Fourth of July, the race was postponed until the fa ...
was also moved to TNN when the race was postponed from the then-traditional July date to October 17, 1998, as a result of the 1998 Florida wildfires. Other motorsports events during this era were broadcast under the banner of ''
Motor Madness ''Motor Madness'' was a motorsports based television show on The Nashville Network debuted in 1997. It was originally formatted as a live, three-hour show with a studio segment and coverage of a live event. Racing events included USA Motorsport ...
''. Starting in 2000, the name changed from TNN Motor Sports to TNN Sports when the network started airing games from the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
, through a sublicensing agreement with
ESPN Regional Television ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting Promoter (entertainment), event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation or ...
. TNN also aired XFL football games in 2001 as part of a new television deal between the
World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
and TNN's parent company,
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...
.


The end of TNN Sports

In 2000, as a result of a new television deal with
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, and TBS (later moving to
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
) beginning with the 2001 season, TNN (and CBS) lost broadcast rights to
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
after nearly ten years of live coverage; not to mention TNN's tape delay coverage of NASCAR in the 1980s on ''
American Sports Cavalcade ''American Sports Cavalcade'' is an American motorsports television show produced by Diamond P Sports in Hollywood, California that aired on The Nashville Network (TNN) from 1983 to 1995. ''American Sports Cavalcade'' was a winner of the cable te ...
''. Coverage of
NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...
Drag Racing also ended for the network that year (with exclusive coverage of the NHRA going to ESPN/ESPN2); though the network would continue to air other motorsports events until the
2004 Champ Car season The 2004 Champ Car World Series season was the 26th overall season in the CART/Champ Car genealogy, and the first under the ownership of Open-Wheel Racing Series (OWRS) as the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 18, 2004, and ended on Nove ...
. TNN's football coverage also ended when the XFL folded after just one season and
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
games moving to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
beginning with the 2003 season. The loss of Arena Football, the XFL, and motorsports coverage, as well as the network being rebranded to
Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...
, resulted in the end of TNN Sports in 2003. Eventually, CBS and Spike would end up under separately operated companies in 2006, leaving Viacom (the company that ended up with Spike) without a sports unit. However, in late 2019, Viacom and CBS re-merged as
ViacomCBS Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...
(now
Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...
). Spike was rebranded as
Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...
on January 18, 2018. During the eleven-month revival of TNN between November 2012 and October 2013, the revived network did not acquire any sports rights, motorsports or otherwise. That channel has since rebranded as Heartland; the channel's owner,
Luken Communications Get After It Media LLC, formerly known as Luken Communications and Reach High Media Group, is a privately owned American broadcast holding company, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, U ...
, went bankrupt in 2013 due to an unrelated legal settlement and was unable to maintain the licensing fee for the TNN brand. Had the TNN brand survived until 2014, it is possible that
Fall Experimental Football League The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL). The le ...
games could have been aired on the station; Luken was one of several companies to gain the television rights to FXFL games in 2014.


See also

*''
NASCAR on TNN ''NASCAR on TNN'' was the name of a television program that broadcast NASCAR races on The Nashville Network (now Paramount Network). History TNN started showing races live in 1991, but it had aired taped coverage of a few Winston Cup races in t ...
''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:TNN Motor Sports TNN Sports The Nashville Network original programming Sports divisions of TV channels CBS Sports Organizations established in 1983 Organizations disestablished in 2003 Motorsport mass media in the United States