Prism (TV channel)
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| PRISM | |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 1976 |
| Closed | October 1, 1997 |
| Owned by | Spectacor (1976-1983) Cablevision (1983-1997) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | American English |
| Broadcast area | Philadelphia Metro |
| Replaced by | CSN Philadelphia |
| Sister channel(s) | SportsChannel Philadelphia |
PRISM (Philadelphia Regional In-Home Sports and Movies) was a 24-hour premium cable television channel intended for cable customers in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania metropolitan area. Launched in September 1976, PRISM broadcast both through cable systems and, for a time, through a scrambled over-the-air signal on WWSG-TV, channel 57. This lasted through 1985, when WWSG was sold and converted into conventional independent WGBS-TV (now WPSG).
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[edit] Programming
Based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the channel was launched by Spectacor, owner of the Philadelphia Flyers. Unlike other services, PRISM provided a substantial number of exclusive games for the Flyers, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball which enabled it to last far longer than many other regional premium channels. PRISM also offered a selection of new and old movies, but the main attraction was the sports coverage. PRISM also broadcast many of the World Wrestling Federation events live from The Spectrum with the legendary Philadelphia sports broadcaster, Dick Graham, broadcasting the shows.
PRISM also aired several original shows, many based on sports, such as Broad & Pattison (which is the South Philadelphia intersection of the city's sports complex) and The Great Sports Debate. It also aired some non-sports programming such as Prism Kids and Live At Rafters, created in a 1993 revamp that saw the channel modernize its look and attempt to spice up all non-sports programming.
[edit] Rainbow Media ownership
In 1983, PRISM was sold to Rainbow Media, along with PRISM New England (now CSN New England) which was launched two years earlier. Rainbow later launched a companion basic cable channel. SportsChannel Philadelphia, an affiliate of Rainbow's SportsChannel America network was launched in 1990. The channels, however, had separate graphic and music packages and announcing teams until 1995, when all sports presentation was made uniform.
[edit] Demise
In 1996, Comcast acquired a majority stake in Spectacor (PRISM's former-owner), to form Comcast-Spectacor, which immediately bought the 76ers. It then announced plans for a new all-sports network centered around those teams, effectively driving a stake through the heart of PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia. After a year of uncertainty that included plans for PRISM and SportsChannel to affiliate with Fox Sports Net, Comcast, Liberty Media, and Rainbow came to an agreement. PRISM and SportsChannel closed for good on October 1, 1997, but with a designated successors: PRISM would give way to Liberty's Starz! movie channel, and the new Comcast SportsNet replaced SportsChannel Philadelphia on the area's cable systems.
[edit] Legacy
PRISM's legacy is noteworthy because Comcast SportsNet continues to use PRISM's infrastructure of only broadcasting via microwave and fiber optics. A controversial FCC guideline (known as the "terrestrial exception") implemented to encourage investment in local programming states that a television channel does not have to make its shows available to satellite companies if it does not use satellites to transmit its programs. This guideline has allowed Comcast to block DirecTV providers from carrying Comcast SportsNet in the Philadelphia area. Consequently, satellite penetration in the Philadelphia area is much lower than in other cities.
[edit] See also
- SuperTV A pay-tv service similar to Prism located in Washington, D.C..
- Wometco Home Theater A pay-tv service similar to Prism located in New York, New York.
- Z Channel A pay-tv service similar to Prism located in Los Angeles, California.
- SelecTV A pay-tv service similar to Wometco Home Theater located in Sacramento, California.
- ON-TV A pay-tv service similar to Prism.
- Spectrum A Chicago pay-tv service and direct competitor to ON-TV.
- Phonevision the first pay-tv station, an experimental station from Chicago in the 1950s.
