Sportsvision was a subscription TV service founded by Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

 owners Jerry Reinsdorf

Jerry Reinsdorf

Jerry M. Reinsdorf is a CPA, lawyer and an owner of the MLB's Chicago White Sox and the NBA's Chicago Bulls. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the head of the White Sox and Bulls for over 20 years.He made his initial fortune in real...

 and Eddie Einhorn

Eddie Einhorn

Eddie Einhorn is minority owner and Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.Einhorn produced the nationally syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1958...

, and media mogul Fred Eychaner. The service broadcast live sporting events.

In April 1982, WPWR-TV

WPWR-TV

WPWR-TV, channel 50, is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Gary, Indiana, and serving the Chicago, Illinois area. WPWR-TV is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network outlet WFLD-TV...

, then on Channel 60, dedicated a large percentage of its broadcast schedule to Sportsvision. To access the service, viewers had to buy a TV set-top converter and pay monthly subscription fees to watch a number of sports broadcasts. Ultimately, as cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 gained a foothold in the Chicago area, the pay-TV business model dissolved and, in January 1984, Sportsvision moved to cable. In 1989, it was unscrambled and renamed SportsChannel. In 1997, SportsChannel was purchased by Fox Sports Net

Fox Sports Net

The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...

.