SCORE

SCORE was a sports-oriented television service associated with the Financial News Network (FNN), a U.S. business-news broadcaster. It began in 1985 as FNN expanded from a limited daily schedule into a 24-hour operation. The service helped fill overnight and other newly available programming hours after the collapse of Sports Time, a regional premium sports network whose satellite-transponder arrangement had been connected to FNN's distribution infrastructure. Initially, SCORE combined sports programming with material supplied by outside producer ProServ Television and with studio resources and on-air talent associated with Sports Time. The service developed a mixed format rather than operating solely as a conventional sports network. Its programming included live and recorded sporting events, sports-news features, studio discussion, call-in programs, score and highlight updates, and professional wrestling from several regional promotions. Events and subjects represented on the service included professional wrestling, Major Indoor Soccer League matches, college basketball, Canadian Football League games, boxing, selected NASCAR races, and games from the 1986 National Invitation Tournament. A sports ticker, or crawl, updated scores and highlights at the bottom of the screen, generally on a half-hour cycle. Because the service was connected to FNN, viewers could also see a financial stock ticker, giving the presentation a distinctive combination of sports and business-news graphics. One of SCORE's best-known programs was Time Out for Trivia, a live interactive sports quiz show hosted by Todd Donoho and produced by Eric Corwin. Viewers called in to answer questions for prizes, and the program became a cult favorite for its informal tone, comic multiple-choice questions, and recurring prize gags. Other programming included The Fan Speaks Out, The Final Score, The Sports Collector, Tennis Talk, The Hot Stove League, Who Beat the Spread, and a sports-wagering program hosted by Wayne Root. Hosts and contributors included Bill Brown, Byron Day, John Loesing, Hugh Malay, Dan Walker, George Siegal, Fred Wallin, and Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder. SCORE's schedule changed as FNN prioritized its core business-news service. Weekday SCORE broadcasts ended in September 1988, although the service received additional weekend hours. In 1989, FNN announced a relaunch as a weekend sports-news wheel carrying scores and highlights from the afternoon through overnight hours. When the revised schedule began on September 9, 1989, the service was renamed FNN: Sports, signaling a reduced emphasis on live play-by-play. At that point, the sports service reportedly reached approximately 20 million cable subscribers, while FNN's business programming reached a larger audience. The service ended after CNBC acquired FNN in 1991. CNBC replaced FNN: Sports with its own weekend talk programming, despite the sports service reportedly having been profitable. SCORE therefore survives as an early example of a national cable sports-information format: part event channel, part sports-news wheel, and part interactive call-in service. Its legacy is especially associated with the use of persistent score crawls and with the nationally distributed regional-wrestling and sports-talk programming that preceded the expansion of dedicated 24-hour sports networks.

SCORE emerged in 1985 from the Financial News Network's expansion into 24-hour broadcasting. FNN had previously operated for a limited number of hours per day, but the network gained additional schedule capacity after Sports Time, a regional premium sports service associated with Anheuser-Busch, ceased operations. FNN used the newly available overnight hours for business-program repeats and sports content. One block, initially called Score, aired overnight, while additional hours came from programming produced by ProServ Television. The early service benefited from resources linked to Sports Time. Anheuser-Busch contributed set elements and several studio personalities who had worked on the earlier sports network, including Bill Brown, Byron Day, John Loesing, and Todd Donoho. FNN later replaced the interim material with new live and studio programming. SCORE's identity was built around frequent sports information rather than a single league or competition. A bottom-of-screen sports crawl supplied score and highlight updates, while FNN's own stock ticker could also appear across the screen. This gave SCORE a hybrid presentation that connected sports coverage with the financial-news environment of its parent service. Programming included selected live events and a wide range of studio formats. The sports inventory included professional wrestling from multiple regional territories, Major Indoor Soccer League matches, college basketball, Canadian Football League games, boxing, and selected NASCAR races. SCORE also carried at least two games from the 1986 National Invitation Tournament. Its wrestling coverage exposed a national cable audience to promotions and performers from areas including the Mid-Atlantic, Memphis, Texas, Hawaii, and the Continental Wrestling Federation. The service also developed sports-talk and call-in programs such as The Fan Speaks Out, The Final Score, and The Sports Collector. The most distinctive program was Time Out for Trivia. Hosted by Todd Donoho and produced by Eric Corwin, the live show invited viewers to telephone the program and answer sports questions for prizes. Its humor, deliberately playful answer choices, and recurring prize jokes made it unusually memorable for a small cable service. Donoho and Corwin produced more than 1,000 episodes together during their FNN/SCORE period, including a special episode built around highlights from the first 999 programs. Other sports-news programs covered tennis, baseball, football, and wagering. Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder hosted Who Beat the Spread, while other presenters included George Siegal, Wayne Root, Bill Brown, Byron Day, John Loesing, Hugh Malay, Dan Walker, and Fred Wallin. FNN's scheduling priorities changed in 1988. SCORE stopped broadcasting on weekdays in September, and some weekend capacity previously occupied by the Telshop home-shopping service became available to it. In May 1989, FNN announced a more focused weekend format. Beginning September 9, the service was renamed FNN: Sports and operated as a sports-news wheel running from afternoon into the overnight period. Rather than emphasizing continuous play-by-play, the relaunch centered on scores and highlight updates. At the time, the sports service was reported to reach roughly 20 million cable subscribers, compared with approximately 32 million for FNN's business programming. FNN: Sports ended in 1991 when CNBC acquired FNN. CNBC replaced the service with weekend talk programming. The closure was not presented as the result of financial failure; the sports operation was described as profitable, but the acquiring network chose not to continue it. SCORE's historical importance lies in its transitional format. It combined regional sports rights, sports-news repetition, interactive telephone television, and persistent score graphics at a time when national cable sports outlets were still developing. Its presenters and formats also demonstrated how sports radio-style participation and regional wrestling could be adapted for a broad cable audience.

• 1991

  Service closes after CNBC acquires FNN

  [1]Score (television)en.wikipedia.org

  CNBC removes FNN: Sports from the schedule after acquiring the Financial News Network.

• 1989

  Service becomes FNN: Sports

  [1]Score (television)en.wikipedia.org

  The sports service is relaunched as a weekend score-and-highlights operation with a new name.

• 1988

  Weekday programming is discontinued

  [1]Score (television)en.wikipedia.org

  SCORE ends weekday broadcasts as FNN gives greater priority to its business-news schedule.

• 1986

  SCORE carries National Invitation Tournament games

  [1]Score (television)en.wikipedia.org

  The service broadcasts at least two games from the National Invitation Tournament.

• 1985

  SCORE launches within FNN's 24-hour expansion

  [1]Score (television)en.wikipedia.org

  The Financial News Network introduces SCORE as a sports programming block after moving to a 24-hour schedule.

A nationally distributed cable sports service combining live events, regional wrestling, sports news, score crawls, studio discussion, and interactive viewer call-ins, while retaining visual links to its parent network's business-news identity.

• Sports television service · 1985

  SCORE sports service

  The core SCORE offering was a cable television service built around sports news, live and recorded events, regional professional wrestling, studio discussion, and frequent score and highlight updates. It used a persistent sports crawl and sometimes FNN's financial ticker, distinguishing it from a conventional single-sport channel.

• Interactive sports game show · 1985

  Time Out for Trivia

  A live viewer call-in quiz show hosted by Todd Donoho and produced by Eric Corwin. Participants answered sports questions for prizes, and the program developed a cult following through its informal presentation, comic answer choices, and recurring prize-related humor. George Siegal hosted the program after the 1989 relaunch.

• Weekend sports-news service · 1989

  FNN: Sports

  The renamed and reformatted version of SCORE introduced in 1989. It operated as a weekend news wheel focused on scores and highlights, with less emphasis on live event coverage. The service remained on air until CNBC acquired FNN in 1991.

• 1991

  CNBC acquisition ends the sports serviceM&A

  Background

  CNBC acquired the Financial News Network and reorganized the inherited schedule.

  Action taken

  CNBC dropped FNN: Sports in favor of weekend talk programming.

  Aftermath

  The SCORE/FNN: Sports service ceased broadcasting, although the available reference describes it as having been profitable at closure.

  Source

• 1989

  Reformatting and renaming as FNN: SportsGeneration change

  Background

  FNN was reducing SCORE's weekday presence and sought a weekend format centered on recurring sports-news updates rather than a broad schedule of live events.

  Action taken

  The service was relaunched on September 9, 1989, as FNN: Sports, using a repeating wheel of scores and highlights.

  Aftermath

  The new service continued until CNBC acquired FNN in 1991 and removed it from the schedule.

  Source

1. 1Score (television)en.wikipedia.org