The Sports Channel
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| The Sports Channel | |
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| Launched | 27 March 1990 |
| Closed | 20 April 1991 (Renamed to Sky Sports), now known as Sky Sports 1 |
| Owned by | BSB (Later BSkyB) |
| Audience share | N/A (Channel, closed) |
| Availability At time of closure |
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| Satellite | |
| Analogue | Marcopolo 1 11.93846 |
| Cable | |
| Available on some services | |
The Sports Channel was a British television channel, operated by British Satellite Broadcasting, that broadcast live and recorded sporting action, plus sports news and interviews. It opened at 6pm on 27 March 1990, although only cable viewers were able to watch the launch, as the service from BSB's Marcopolo satellite did not launch until 29 April 1990.
The opening day's programming included live boxing from the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The first football match covered by the channel was England v Brazil from Wembley on March 28, 1990.
The channel's flagship programme was The Main Event, featuring live or recorded coverage of a major fixture or event in peak viewing time, every evening at 8pm.
The network principally focused on football. In 1988, it had made an ambitious bid for live rights to the Football League, although their tender lost out in favour of one by ITV. BSB did acquire exclusive rights to England's matches at Wembley, as well as secondary live rights to the FA Cup. The Sports Channel was the first broadcaster to cover the first two rounds of the FA Cup live. It also transmitted the 1990 FA Charity Shield match between Liverpool and Manchester United, and featured regular live coverage of Scottish and Italian football.
The channel also featured golf, including The US Masters; tennis, including live coverage of the US Open and highlights from Wimbledon; and cricket, with live coverage of the Benson & Hedges Cup and highlights of England's home Tests and one-day internationals.
Many of the channel's rights packages, such as those for the FA Cup, Wimbledon and Test cricket, were acquired in tandem with the BBC.
Other sports featured on The Sports Channel included rugby league from Britain and Australia, motorcycling, darts, basketball and American football from the NFL.
On 20 April 1991 it was effectively rebranded as Sky Sports following BSB's merger with Sky Television.
[edit] Programmes
The Sports Channel had a regular news service, Sportsdesk, which provided sporting results and updates several times a day, typically at 1.25pm, 6pm, 7.30pm, 10.30pm and midnight. There was also Racing Today, a round-up of the day's horse racing at 1.30pm and 10pm. Tennis commentator Gerald Williams fronted an interview series, GW Talks To, in which he met leading sports figures.
[edit] Broadcasters
BSB's football presentation team included Martin Tyler, Andy Gray and Richard Keys, all of whom joined Sky Sports following BSB's amalgamation with Sky. The channel's Scottish football commentator was Jock Brown. BBC sport presenter and former tennis star Sue Barker began her British broadcasting career on the channel. Other BSB presenters included John Inverdale and Charles Colvile. Sportsdesk's presenters included Jeff Stelling, Garry Richardson and Anna Walker. Head of Sport was initially Andrew Croker, with Vic Wakeling, who became head of Sky Sports eventually, the Head of the Sportsdesk newsroom. Sportsdesk's newsroom also included Alistair Waddington, now running Trans World International in the UK, Gabriel Clarke, now at ITV Sport, Peter Hutton, now at Taj TV in Dubai, Richard Mathews, now at Al Jazeera TV in Qatar as well as Sky Sports reporters/presenters such as Nick Collins, Graham Simmons, Gary Cotterill and Ian Condron.
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