Score (television)

Last updated
Score/FNN Sports
Network Financial News Network
LaunchedApril 1, 1985 (1985-04-01)
ClosedMay 19, 1991 (1991-05-19)
Country of originUnited States
Key peopleArnie Rosenthal, executive vice president and general manager [1]
Format Sports television
Running timeWeekdays 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. (1985–1988)
Weekends 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. (1988–1991)
Original language(s)English

Score was the weekend sports service of the Financial News Network which aired sports-themed programming starting in 1985. It was renamed FNN Sports in 1989 after FNN decided to go with a 24-hour feed on weekdays a year earlier. Score was closed when CNBC bought out FNN in 1991.

Contents

Score used a sports ticker or crawl to update scores at the bottom of the screen. As it was partly owned by FNN, a stock ticker was often shown across the bottom of the screen. SCORE provided scores and highlight updates every half-hour.

History

The Financial News Network (FNN) broadcast for 13 hours a day until April 1, 1985, when it became a 24-hour operation following the demise of Sports Time, a premium regional sports network owned by Anheuser-Busch which broadcast mostly in Midwestern states. Anheuser-Busch owned the satellite transponder which FNN leased for its broadcasts. To fill the expanded programming day, FNN turned to rebroadcasts of its business programming and sports, including a block named Score which originally aired from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Eastern as well as three hours from program producer ProServ Television. [2] The interim programming was replaced in May with new live and studio programming. [3] A-B contributed to Score sets used on Sports Time programming and four on-air personalities that had hosted its studio programming: Bill Brown, Byron Day, John Loesing and Todd Donoho. [4]

Score ceased broadcasting on weekdays in September 1988 to allow FNN to broadcast during prime time; it gained some weekend hours that had been occupied by home shopping service Telshop. [5] In May 1989, FNN announced it would relaunch Score as a sports news service broadcasting on weekends from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m. with a news wheel of scores and highlights. [6] By this time, Score was provided to 20 million cable subscribers while FNN's business programming was available to 32 million subscribers. [7] When the revamp took effect on September 9, the name was changed to FNN: Sports to reflect a decreased emphasis on sports play-by-play. [1]

When CNBC acquired FNN in 1991, FNN: Sports was dropped in favor of the weekend talk programming on CNBC. [8] FNN: Sports had been turning a profit, unlike its parent. [9]

Programming

Score had several shows that were televised versions of what sports talk radio is today. Score featured some professional sporting events, live call-in shows, and sports news shows. Live sporting events included professional wrestling, MISL soccer, college basketball, the CFL [10] and boxing. It also broadcast a couple NASCAR races in 1988 that were originally slated for Special Events Television Network before it folded. [11]

It also showed at least two games of the 1986 National Invitation Tournament.

Call-in shows, including Time Out for Trivia

Its most popular show was Time Out for Trivia, hosted by Todd Donoho and produced by Eric Corwin. Time Out For Trivia was the first national live interactive game show in which viewers phoned in and if they correctly answered a question, they'd win a prize. One of the most popular prizes on the show was the Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner which often included a funny sound effect like an "ooooh" or an "oooooh.... aaaaaah." Humor was almost always an ingredient, particularly in the multiple-choice questions, which often included an obvious nonsports figure as one of the possible answers.

Time Out For Trivia became a cult hit on cable TV, receiving many glowing reviews in newspapers and magazines. Gary Nuhn, a columnist for the Dayton Daily News , has called TOFT "cable TV at its best," and Wendell Barnhouse, radio/TV columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram , says it is "one of life's joys." Sports Illustrated did a feature about TOFT in its famous swimsuit issue. Donoho and Corwin did over 1,000 shows together, including a 1,000th show "special edition", a one-hour program which featured highlights from the first 999 shows. Donoho and Corwin worked together on TOFT and other shows at FNN/SCORE from 1985 through 1989 before joining the sports department at KABC. Much of this show was incorporated into a show on KABC called Monday Night Live, which aired after Monday Night Football from 1990 to 1999, when Donoho's contract was not renewed by KABC. The show was then renamed Sports Zone with host Rob Fukuzaki and it remained an MNF postgame show until the package left ABC after the 2005 season. Sports Zone remains on KABC, following many events televised by the network.

When the channel was relaunched as FNN: Sports, Time Out for Trivia received a new host, George Siegal. [1]

Other call-in shows included The Fan Speaks Out, The Final Score, and The Sports Collector.

News programs

News shows featured included Tennis Talk; a baseball program called The Hot Stove League; and a sports wagering program with Wayne Root. Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder hosted a football program, Who Beat the Spread. Other hosts included Bill Brown, Byron Day, John Loesing, Hugh Malay, Dan Walker, George Siegal, [1] and Fred Wallin.

Professional wrestling

The professional wrestling programming exposed fans throughout the country to regional territory wrestling promotions. These territories included the Mid-Atlantic with Ric Flair and Chief Wahoo McDaniel, Memphis with Jerry 'the King' Lawler, Texas with the Von Erichs and the Maivia family's Hawaii promotion with Rocky Johnson, King Curtis, Don Muraco, Lars Anderson, Superfly Snuka, Bruiser Brody and many Japanese wrestlers. It also prominently featured wrestling from the Continental Wrestling Federation including matches featuring Eddie Gilbert, Tom Prichard, and The Dirty White Boy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Rich (August 31, 1989). "FNN kicking off new sports format". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 3, 25. ProQuest   2826317799.
  2. ↑ Schneider, Wolf (April 3, 1985). "FNN on 7-day, 24-hour sched". The Hollywood Reporter . pp. 1, 4. ProQuest   2587906607.
  3. ↑ "FNN instituting its TV 'Sports Watch'". The Hollywood Reporter. May 21, 1985. p. 28. ProQuest   2594647870.
  4. ↑ "What's the SCORE" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 2, 1985. p. 8. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  5. ↑ "FNN beefs up coverage" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 12, 1988. p. 78. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  6. ↑ "FNN drops Telshop, converts Score". Broadcasting. pp. 41–42. ProQuest   1016924266.
  7. ↑ Huff, Richard (March 29, 1989). "FNN: a network on the block: Recent efforts to boost quality appreciated by MSOs but may be too late". Variety. pp. 36, 38. ProQuest   1438523072.
  8. ↑ "FNN changes its mind, selling to CNBC: Cable network backs out of plan to sell to Dow Jones-Group W, opts for higher bid". Broadcasting. March 4, 1991. pp. 30–31. ProQuest   1014746596.
  9. ↑ Herbert, Steven (March 2, 1991). "Sports Service May Be Victim of FNN Sale". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. F18. Retrieved September 22, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Jennings, Cec (September 28, 1985). "All the sports news that's fit to broadcast". The Globe and Mail . p. P14. ProQuest   386274128.
  11. ↑ Higgins, Tom (June 18, 1988). "Kulwicki Takes Pocono Pole With Record Effort". Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 5B . Retrieved September 24, 2020.
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