TVS Television Network
The Television Sports Television Network, or TVS Television Network for short, was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the 1960s to take advantage of the establishment of independent television stations and relaxation of the AT&T Long Lines usage rates.
History
had begun broadcasting radio coverage of college basketball and built a network of radio stations that covered the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament games. He later moved into television coverage of college basketball games.College basketball
Founded by Einhorn on December 27, 1968, and operated through TVS Inc., TVS originally telecast college basketball games to regional networks at a time when the sport was of no interest to the national networks. Taking advantage of intense regional collegiate rivalries, the network blossomed in the 1960s and developed into a full service sports network. Einhorn proceeded to put together a Saturday afternoon TVS "game of the week" concept that often featured some of the major midwestern independent schools|independent] teams such as Marquette, DePaul, and Notre Dame. These games were widely syndicated at least in the east and midwest.On January 20, 1968, TVS put together the "Game of the Century" between the UCLA Bruins and Houston Cougars basketball teams at the Houston Astrodome. This was the game that made college basketball a television broadcast commodity. Six years later, TVS televised another historic basketball game as the Bruins fell to Notre Dame, 71-70, breaking the Bruins' 88-game winning streak. TVS proceeded to syndicate a few games nationally each year, often involving UCLA in the middle of their run of 10 national championships in a 12-year span. TVS often used late night time slots for its nationally syndicated games which were played on the west coast.
In addition to these individual games, TVS was a pioneer in bringing college basketball to a national scope-first by their own efforts in the early 1970s, primarily with Dick Enberg and Rod Hundley, then in 1975, teaming with NBC Sports in a cooperative effort to regionalize NBC's coverage on Saturday afternoons. This partnership lasted through 1983, though it was hampered in later years by NBC losing the rights to the NCAA Division I [Men's College Basketball Tournament] to CBS Sports in 1982. After the NBC partnership ended and college sports telecasts underwent a NCAA v. [Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma|court-ordered decentralization] in 1984, TVS went back to regionalizing games on their own—a forerunner to the regionalization often seen today.
Besides Dick Enberg and Rod Hundley, other broadcast teams for TVS' college basketball coverage included John Ferguson and Joe Dean, Monte Moore and Ed Macauley, Charlie Jones and Elgin Baylor, Ray Scott and Bill O'Donnell, Al Michaels and Tom Hawkins, Max Falkenstein and Paul Deweese and Jay Randolph and Billy Packer.
"Game of the Century"
The game that really popularized televised college basketball was a prime time Saturday night broadcast on January 20, 1968 between two powerhouse teams that had met in the 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The undefeated, second-ranked Houston Cougars hosted the equally unbeaten, top-ranked UCLA Bruins at the Houston Astrodome. The Bruins were the defending national champions and riding a 47-game winning streak. Eddie Einhorn paid $27,000 for the broadcast rights on TVS. Altogether, Einhorn signed up 120 stations, many of whom were network affiliates that dropped or time-shifted their regular programming to show the game. Houston won, 71–69, in front of a then-record crowd of 52,693, and the contest was soon dubbed "The Game of the Century".The "Game of the Century" showed that regular-season college basketball action was a viable nationwide product; previously, only NCAA post-season games were broadcast on national TV, but only on evidence that broadcasters were going to make a profit from the broadcasts.
Other sports on TVS
While college basketball remained the TVS Television Network's signature series, they also expanded into tennis, college football bowl games, North [American Soccer League (1968–1984)|NASL pro soccer], tennis, and golf. They also televised the NBA–ABA All-Star Game between the rival professional basketball leagues.In 1974, the network became the official telecaster of the World Football League. TVS also aired World Championship Tennis.
Entertainment programming
In the 1970s, TVS began producing entertainment programming, including Sinatra – [The Main Event (TV program)|Sinatra: The Main Event] for ABC in 1974. For many years, TVS produced sports and entertainment programming from Las Vegas including the Alan King Tennis Classic at Caesars Palace; Arm Wrestling at the Imperial Palace, Fun Moments in Sports at Bally's; Bowling from Sam's Town Hotel and [Gambling Hall, Las Vegas|Sam's Town and the Showboat]; The Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour, and One Club Golf from the Desert Inn.Transition
By 1973, Einhorn sold his interest in the network to the Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation for $5 million and later on became the head of CBS Sports, and later became an owner of the Chicago White Sox with Jerry Reinsdorf; he would also spend time as owner of the USFL's Chicago Blitz. The network stalled in the 1990s, with the trademark status for the network's branding expiring on August 29, 1993. It is presumed that the network itself would cease operations soon after.According to a search on the website for the New York State Department of State Division of Corporations, TVS, Inc. itself would eventually ceased operations in 1995.