Lorimar Sports Network
|
Formerly called
|
Sports Productions, Inc. (1983-1984) |
|---|---|
| Industry |
Sports television Production Sales & Marketing Syndication Distribution |
| Fate | Defunct |
| Founded | September 1983 |
| Defunct | March 1986 |
| Headquarters |
Dallas, Texas Culver City, California |
|
Key people
|
Bill Flaherty Dave Almstead (Director of Syndication) John Humphrey (Director of Promotion and Media) |
| Products |
Southeastern Conference men's basketball (1983-1986) Big 10 men's basketball Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball (1983-1986) Metro Conference men's basketball (1983-1985) Western Athletic Conference men's basketball (1983-1985) Freedom Bowl (1985) Bluebonnet Bowl Holiday Bowl |
| Owner |
Lorimar Productions Lorimar-Telepictures (final) |
The Lorimar Sports Network, or LSN, was an American ad hoc television network providing syndicated college football and basketball. It was based at Lorimar's original headquarters in Culver City, California, with an additional office in Dallas, Texas. It was in operation from 1983 until 1986.
It began in 1983 as a new sports broadcasting division of Lorimar Productions, adopting the branding Sports Productions, Incorporated, or SPI. It then became the Lorimar Sports Network in Summer 1984.
Under both banners, the Lorimar Sports Network had a history of bringing major events in men's college basketball and football. It acquired Southeastern Conference (SEC) basketball from the TVS Television Network in 1983. It also acquired rights to the Big Ten, Metro and WAC. The SEC on SPI/Lorimar ran from January 1984 until the end of the 1985-1986 season.
LSN also broadcast the Freedom Bowl in 1985, along with the Holiday and Bluebonnet Bowls at the end of the 1985-86 football season, as well as Pacific-10 Conference football during those years.
The Lorimar Sports Network dissolved over time when they lost broadcast rights to all the conferences they had rights for, especially after the end of the 1985-1986 sports season. Rights to Metro Conference basketball was the first to be lost by LSN as Raycom Sports won rights to the Metro in 1985, and then the Big 10 conference in 1989, two years after Raycom won rights to basketball games from the Big 8 (now Big 12) conference; both the Big 8 and Big 10 were acquired by Raycom in 1987. The 1986 SEC and Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournaments (except the championships) were LSN's last sports broadcast because Raycom won syndication rights to the Pac-10 starting with the 1986-87 season. As for SEC Basketball, Raycom's Atlantic Coast Conference broadcast partner, Jefferson-Pilot Teleproductions (later Jefferson Pilot Sports, Lincoln Financial Sports, now part of Raycom Sports) won those rights beginning with the 1986-87 basketball season, added SEC football in 1992, and those rights remained with that company (which became Lincoln Financial Sports in 2006, and became part of Raycom Sports on January 1, 2008) until the end of the 2008-2009 season. The Freedom and Bluebonnet Bowls, however, ended up with the Mizlou Television Network for the 1986, 1987, and 1988 installments.
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