The Lorimar Sports Network, or LSN, was an American ''

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...

providing syndicated

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. It was based at Lorimar's original headquarters in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

, with an additional office in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. It was in operation from 1983 until 1986.

History

Beginning

It began in 1983 as a new sports broadcasting division of

Lorimar Productions Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...

, adopting the branding Sports Productions, Incorporated, or SPI. It was then renamef the Lorimar Sports Network in Summer 1984.

Sports programming

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 The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) basketball from the TVS Television Network in 1983. It also acquired rights to the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, 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 The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, from 1984 to 1994. The bowl frequently invited a team from the Western Athletic Conference to compete against an at-large o ...

in 1985, along with the Holiday and

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 19 ...

s at the end of the 1985-86 football season, as well as Pacific-10 Conference football during those years.

Demise

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 were the first to be lost by LSN as

Raycom Sports Raycom Sports is an American producer of sports television programs. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and owned and operated by Gray Television. It was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Rick and Dee Ray. In the 1980s, Raycom ...

won rights to the Metro in 1985, and then the Big Ten conference in 1989, two years after Raycom won rights to basketball games from the Big 8 (now

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

) conference; both the Big 8 and Big Ten 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 The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

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.Company History , Raycom Sports
The Freedom and Bluebonnet Bowls, however, ended up with the

Mizlou Television Network Mizlou Television Network, Inc. or Mizlou Communications, Inc., is a former sports broadcast television network. It was active from 1962 to 1991, and in 1992 it was re-established as Mizlou Television Network, Inc., which is now based in Tampa, ...

for the 1986, 1987, and 1988 installments. Just before the end of the 1985-1986 season, Lorimar completed a merger with

Telepictures Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television S ...

, to form

Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios) ...

. After the Lorimar Sports Network was dissolved in summer 1986, the Lorimar studio itself, including its extensive library of produced and/or distributed programming, was bought out in its entirety by the

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

-based Warner Bros. studio in 1993. Telepictures, on the other hand, once again became a separate production and syndication company under

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

ownership.

Notable on-air personalities

This is a partial list. *

Tom Hammond Thomas Taylor Hammond (born May 10, 1944) is an American sportscaster. Hammond is primarily known for his work with NBC Sports from 1984 to the present. Hammond is one of the network's staple on-air presenters, along with Bob Costas and Dan Hic ...

, play-by-play commentator (SEC basketball, 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl, 1985 Holiday Bowl) * Joe Dean, color analyst (SEC basketball) * Tim Brando, play-by-play commentator (Metro Conference basketball) * John Rooney, play-by-play commentator (Metro Conference basketball) * Bob Carpenter, play-by-play commentator (Big Ten basketball) *

Irv Brown Irv Brown (March 30, 1935 – February 3, 2019) was an American sportscaster, and basketball and baseball player, coach, executive, and official. Early life Brown earned seven letters at North High School in Denver, where he starred in footbal ...

, Color analyst (WAC basketball) *

Barry Tompkins Barry David Tompkins (born May 2, 1940) is an American sportscaster. He is better known for his work as a boxing commentator, but he has covered football and other sports. Early life Tompkins was born and raised in San Francisco. Career KCBS, K ...

, play-by-play commentator (1985 Freedom Bowl, PAC-10 Conference Football) *Steve Grote, color analyst (Metro Conference Basketball) *

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New Yo ...

, color analyst (1985 Freedom Bowl) *

Gifford Nielsen Stanley Gifford "Giff" Nielsen (born October 25, 1954) is a former American football quarterback who played professionally for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL). He was the sports director of KHOU in Houston from 1984 until ...

, color analyst (1984 Texas AAAAA State Football Championship and 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl) *

John Laskowski John Laskowski (born June 7, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career A 6'6" guard born in South Bend, Indiana, Laskowski played basketball ...

, color analyst (Big Ten Basketball) * Terry Donahue, color analyst (1985 Holiday Bowl) *

Verne Lundquist Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American sportscaster. Biography Early life and career Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before attending Texas Lutheran U ...

, Play by Play (1983 Texas AAAAA State Football Championship) * Roger Staubach, color analyst (1983 Texas AAAAA State Football Championship) *

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an All-American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Mississippi State University (1954–1955), the University of Washington (1956), and the University of Texas (1957� ...

, color analyst (1983 Texas AAAAA State Football Championship) *

Brad Sham Brad Michael Sham (born August 16, 1949) is an American sportscaster who is known as the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys". Sham is currently the play-by-play announcer on the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. Biography Sham has been with the Cowboys sin ...

, Play by Play (1984 Texas AAAAA State Football Championship)

References