Sports Plus Network
Encyclopedia
Sports Plus Network was a service run by SportsChannel in the late 1980s and early 1990s that filled the airtime when SportsChannel was not on the air. It was an "automated" service that featured sports news and scores displayed using NAPLPS
graphics that made it look like the online service Prodigy
, including a noticeable loading time for pages, which were "drawn" on the screen with primitive shapes.
The service appears to have had some similarity to teletext
, but the major difference was that it was not interactive, stories stay on screen for a few seconds and it moves to the next screen.
Advertisements were placed on screen every few minutes, and were drawn with the same NAPLPS graphics, again looking very much like advertisements on Prodigy.
According to the ticker that scrolled at the bottom of the screen, the service was a joint venture by SportsChannel, Tribune Media Services
, and the Associated Press
.
In early 1991, the graphics used were updated.
on the set of Murphy Brown
.
NAPLPS
NAPLPS is a graphics language for use originally with videotex and teletext services. NAPLPS was developed from the Telidon system developed in Canada, with a small number of additions from AT&T...
graphics that made it look like the online service Prodigy
Prodigy (ISP)
Prodigy Communications Corporation was an online service that offered its subscribers access to a broad range of networked services, including news, weather, shopping, bulletin boards, games, polls, expert columns, banking, stocks, travel, and a variety of other features.Initially subscribers...
, including a noticeable loading time for pages, which were "drawn" on the screen with primitive shapes.
The service appears to have had some similarity to teletext
Teletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
, but the major difference was that it was not interactive, stories stay on screen for a few seconds and it moves to the next screen.
Advertisements were placed on screen every few minutes, and were drawn with the same NAPLPS graphics, again looking very much like advertisements on Prodigy.
According to the ticker that scrolled at the bottom of the screen, the service was a joint venture by SportsChannel, Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
, and the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
.
In early 1991, the graphics used were updated.
In popular culture
The channel could sometimes be seen on a monitor in the newsroomNewsroom
A newsroom is the place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on television, cable or radio...
on the set of Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
.