List of defunct television networks in the United States

This is a list of American defunct television networks.

Educational

Name	Owner	Notes
ExerciseTV		Network and Video on Demand channel closed
Knowledge TV	Jones International	Closed several months after being sold to Discovery Communications.
Research Channel	University of Washington	Shut down on August 31, 2010.
UniversityHouse	Northern Arizona University	Telecourses from Northern Arizona University; was carried on Dish Network's "Public Interest" tier.

Entertainment

Name

Owner

Notes

3net

Discovery Communications / Sony / IMAX

3D television channel launched on February 13, 2011 and shut down on August 12, 2014.

ARTS

Hearst Corporation/ABC

Merged with The Entertainment Channel to form A&E in 1984.

Automotive Television Network

Global Television / Fidelity Capital

Chiller

NBCUniversal

Ceased operations on December 31, 2017

Channel America

Colours Television Network

Black Star Communications

Ceased operations on July 13, 2011 for unknown reasons.

Computer Television Service

Documentary Channel

Participant Media

Merged with Halogen TV and replaced by Pivot on August 1, 2013. Pivot shut down October 31, 2016.

Fearnet

NBCUniversal

Shut down on July 30, 2014.

Fox Reality Channel

News Corporation

Shut down on March 29, 2010, replaced with Nat Geo Wild.

Freeview

DirecTV

Rebranded to The 101 Network on 2005, and then got rebranded to the Audience Network on June 1, 2011.

G4

G4 Media (NBCUniversal)

Shut down on December 31, 2014, replaced with Esquire Network.

Ha!

Viacom Media Networks

Merged with The Comedy Channel to form Comedy Central in 1991.

INHD2

In Demand Networks LLC

iN Demand ceased operation of INHD2, which was a companion network to INHD, on January 1, 2007. INHD would later be relaunched as MOJO HD.

The Interactive Channel

Source Media

Jones Computer Network

Jones Intercable

The Lottery Channel

Broadcasting in early 2000s^[1]

MOJO HD

Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner

Formerly INHD, ceased operations on December 1, 2008.

Movietime

NBCUniversal

Rebranded as E! on 1991.

National Jewish Television Network

Basic cable channel broadcasting from New York City.^[2] Existed in the 1980s until at least some point in the 2000s.

Network 1

Network Telephone Services

Channel allowed viewer participation through 800 and 900 phone numbers.

PlayCable

Interactive format features video games, existed in the early 1980s.

Prevue Channel

Lions Gate Entertainment

Launched as Prevue Guide, then modified slightly into Prevue Channel. Purchased by TV Guide in 1999 and renamed TV Guide Channel and then TV Guide Network, on April 20, 2013 it became TVGN, and now Pop.

Soapnet

Disney/ABC

Soap opera network specializing in showing current and past soap operas ceased operations on December 31, 2013

The Silent Network

Specialized channel aimed at hearing-impaired people; existed in the 1980s.^[3]

SingleVision

GlobalComm 2000

Talk TV

Ed Cooperstein

The WB

Warnermedia

Merged with UPN to form The CW, in September 18, 2006.

TNN

Viacom Media Networks

Originally The Nashville Network later renamed The National Network. Purchased by Viacom and relaunched as Spike TV which then rebranded as Paramount Network.

Trio

NBCUniversal

Relaunched as Sleuth in January 1, 2006, and then relaunched as Cloo on August 15, 2011, shut down on February 1, 2017.

UPN

CBS Corporation

Merged with The WB to form The CW in September 18, 2006 and was replaced by MyNetworkTV in September 5, 2006.

Guide Plus

Existed briefly in the 1990s, airing on some cable systems in lieu of Prevue Channel. TV Guide wanted back in the game, so they purchased Prevue in 1999 and renamed it TV Guide Channel and then TV Guide Network, and now it is TVGN.

Varsity TV

Varsity Media Group, Inc.

High school student-produced programming

WWOR EMI Service

RKO General (1979–1987), MCA (1987–1991), Pinelands, Inc. (1991–1993), Chris-Craft Industries (1993–1997), Eastern Microwave, Incorporated (uplinker, 1979–1996; Superstation programmer, 1990–1996), Advance Entertainment Corporation (uplinker and Superstation programmer, 1996)

National version of New York City's WWOR-TV. Existed c. 1989–1997

Family

Name	Owner	Notes
Nick Gas	Viacom, MTV Networks	On December 31, 2007, The N became its own channel. The Nick Gas channel was shut down when The N became its own channel. It retired on September 28, 2009 to TeenNick. The channel ended on April 23, 2009 on Dish Network for Cartoon Network's west coast feed.
Noggin	Viacom, MTV Networks	Originally broadcasting educational programming from the 1980s to present, the station changed to being half TeenNick and half Nick Jr. The station ultimately became Nick Jr. while TeenNick replaced Nick Gas.
PBJ	Luken Communications	Digital subchannel broadcast network airing programs from the Classic Media library.
Total Communication Network	Total Communication Network	Entertainment and educational programming aimed at hearing-impaired children.

Lifestyle

Name	Owner	Notes
Applause	Parasol Media
Arts & Antiques Network	CYMA Productions	Launched first quarter 1996^[4]
Discovery Health Channel	Discovery Communications	Merged with FitTV to create Discovery Fit & Health on February 1, 2011, then Discovery Life on January 15, 2015. It got replaced with Oprah Winfrey Network on January 1, 2011.
Fashion and Design Television	Anthony Guccione
Fine Living Network	E.W. Scripps Company	Shut down on May 31, 2010, replaced with Cooking Channel.
i-Life TV	The Inspiration Networks	Opened Halogen TV on October 24, 2009, merged with the Documentary Channel and replaced by Pivot on August 1, 2013. Pivot shut down on October 31, 2016.
Kaleidoscope		Channel for the disabled. Launched 1990.^[5]
Lime		Went online-only February 25, 2007. Formerly Wisdom Network.
Style Network	NBCUniversal, Hearst Communications	rebranded Esquire Network on September 23, 2013, then ceased operations on June 28, 2017.
Wedding Central	Rainbow Media	Ceased operations July 1, 2011.
Wine TV		Ceased operations in 2009.

Music

Name	Owner	Notes
Americana Television Network	Americana Television Network Inc.	Country, blues, bluegrass, jazz and gospel music videos. Founded by Stanley Hitchcock in 1992; sold to TCI after 2 years, which shut it down.^[6]
The Box		Music channel that originated in 1982 and ceased operations in 2001 when replaced by MTV2.
Cable Music Channel	Turner Broadcasting	Started in the 1980s by Ted Turner to compete with MTV. Unlike MTV, it had no VJs. It was short lived.
Classic Music Channel	Classical Broadcasting Company
The Gospel Network
Hit Video USA		1980s video channel based out of Texas, aired on some broadcast channels during overnight periods.
International Music Feed	Universal Music Group	Aired music videos from various artists from around the world, purchased by Hubbard Broadcasting in 2008 and subsequently shut down on March 31, 2008 in order to expand distribution for Hubbard channel Ovation TV.
m Channel		Aired syndicated music videos, TV shows, movies and news. Was folded under decision of the owner/creator of the network.
MOR Music TV		Channel which aired music videos and performances in conjunction with selling albums.
NOYZ	Bullfrog Media	Ceased operations in early January 2008 after parent company's bankruptcy.
The Tube Music Network		Ceased operations October 1, 2007.
Z Music Television		Contemporary Christian Music video channel; not to be confused with movie service Z Channel; shared channel space with BET in some areas.

News and information

Name	Owner	Notes
ABC News Now	Disney/ABC	Lacked significant distribution with low cable and satellite carrier pick up. Was closed in favor of using the channel's few carriage deals to support Fusion a new Hispanic focused news channel geared towards a younger audience.
America's Talking	NBCUniversal	Relaunched as MSNBC.
All News Channel	CONUS Communications	Aired on USSB and later DirecTV; its programming was carried by many over-the-air television stations during the late night hours.
American Political Channel
America's Voice		aka National Empowerment Television, or NET
CBS TeleNoticias
DoD News Channel	Defense Media Activity (US Government)	Formerly Pentagon Channel, turned off on April 17, 2015.
CNNfn	Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner)	1995–2004; a few cable systems switched the channel space to CNN International after discontinuation.
NBC Weather Plus	NBC	Distributed via the digital subchannels of NBC affiliates and digital cable. Ceased operations in 2008 due to purchase of an interest in The Weather Channel.^[7]
NewsTalk Television	Multimedia, Inc.	Existed from 1994 to 1995; formerly known as the Talk Channel.
Newsworld International	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/USA Broadcasting	Replaced by Current TV in August 1, 2005, and then Al Jazeera America on August 20, 2013. Ceased operations on April 12, 2016.
The 90's Channel	Public Communicators, Inc.	Relaunched to become Free Speech TV in 1995
Satellite News Channel	a joint venture between ABC and Group W	News
Tempo Television		Formerly Satellite Program Network and then opened CNBC on April 17, 1989.

Regional news networks

Name	Location	Owner	Notes
Local News on Cable	Norfolk, Virginia	Belo Corporation	Also called LNC5
Southern Arizona News Network	Tucson, Arizona	KVOA Communications, Inc.
NWCN	Pacific Northwest	KING 5 and other regional networks	Northwest Cable News Network - closed Jan. 6 2017
TXCN	Texas	Gannett Company	Also called Texas Cable News

Pay-per-view

Name	Owner	Notes
Action Pay-Per-View	BET network, and later TVN Entertainment	Di-function channel.
Adam & Eve Channel	Adam & Eve Communications Inc.	Adult pay-per-view and home shopping
AdultVision	Playboy Enterprises	Adult pay-per-view
American Exxxtasy	Home Dish Satellite Network Inc.	Adult pay-per-view
Cable Video Store	General Instrument (Original), Graff Pay-Per-View (second)
Guest Cinema		Adult pay-per-view
People's Choice		Pay-per-view
Star Channel	Showtime Networks. (CBS Corporation)	Relaunched to become The Movie Channel in 1979.
Request TV	Liberty Media and 20th Century Fox	Also operated a Spanish-language pay-per-view channel, Request En Español.
Rendezvous		Adult pay-per-view
Spectradyne		Adult pay-per-view
StarDust Theatre	Home Dish Satellite Network Inc.
Tuxxedo Network	Home Dish Satellite Network Inc.	Adult pay-per-view
Wometco Home Theater	Wometco Enterprises

Premium movies

Name	Owner	Notes
The B-Movie Channel
Cable Theater		Existed from late 1970s–early 1980s.
Festival	HBO	1980s premium channel from HBO.
INTRO Television	Liberty Starz	Originally called TV!; renamed INTRO Television, carrying the same programming format. Replaced by Encore PLEX (eventually changed to MoviePlex) in 1997.
Home Theater Network		Premium movies
Movie Mania		Formerly B-Mania!, B-Movie channel, no longer broadcasting as of October 2006.
MovieVision		Premium movies
ONTV		Also had sports and events.
Preview
PRISM	Spectacor	24-hour premium cable television channel intended for cable customers in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania metropolitan area. Channel infrastructure is still used for Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia.
SelecTV	Starion Entertainment
Spectrum
Spotlight	Times Mirror	Premium movies
Starcase
Super Time/Star TV		San Francisco over the air channel like ONTV via KTSF-TV. Named Super Time during the late 1970s and Star TV in the early 1980s.
SuperTV
Z Channel		Movie channel

Public Interest

Name	Owner	Notes
PBS YOU	PBS	Service ended in January 2006; most stations replaced service with American Public Television's Create network.
ThinkBright	WNED-TV	Ceased in 2011.

Religion

Name	Owner	Notes
PTL Satellite Network	Evangelical Christian network known for broadcasting The PTL Club hosted by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.	Collapsed in the wake of a sex and embezzlement scandal that resulted in Jim Bakker being sentenced to prison. On the air from 1977 to 1987.

Shopping

Name	Owner	Notes
America's Collectibles Network	Multimedia Commerce Group Inc.	Closed on October 15, 1993 with Jewelry Television.
America's Store	IAC/InterActiveCorp	Ceased broadcasting on April 3, 2007.
Advertising Television	Web Broadcasting Systems Inc.
BET-Home Shopping Network	BET Holdings, Inc. / Home Shopping Network
Black Shopping Network
Cable Value Network	Tele-Communications Inc.	Merged with QVC in 1989.
Consumer Resource Network	Seventh Medium
Cupid Network Television	Capital Distribution	Adult home shopping
Global Shopping Network
Q2		Home shopping. Spinoff of QVC, existed briefly in the mid 1990s.
Resort & Residence TV		Aired on DirecTV; ceased operations on March 28, 2011.
Shop at Home Network	Jewelry Television	Ceased broadcasting on March 7, 2008.
Shop Television Network	J. C. Penney and Shop Television Network, Ltd.	Was also known as JCPenney Television Shopping Channel until closure in 1991.
TV Car Showroom	Hachette Filipacchi Magazines
ViaTV Network	RSTV Inc.

Sports

Name	Owner	Notes
Classic Sports Network	ESPN Inc.	Purchased by ESPN and renamed ESPN Classic.
CNN Sports Illustrated	Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner)	Existed from 1996–2002.
CSS	NBCUniversal and Charter Communications	Existed from 1999–2014.
CET	NBCUniversal	Existed from 2004–2018.
Empire Sports Network	Adelphia Cable	Existed from 1990–2005.
ESPN 3D	ESPN Inc.	Turned off on September 30, 2013.
Fight Now TV	Channel Zero	Existed from May 2011 to June 2014.
Football Network		Existed briefly in 2003.
Fox Sports World	21st Century Fox	Formerly Fox Soccer, Replaced by FXX on September 2, 2013.
FSN Chicago	Became Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Men's Outdoor and Recreation		Ceased operations.
MountainWest Sports Network	Mountain West Conference (MWC), CBS Corporation, Comcast	Mountain West Conference sports; existed from September 2006–June 2012.
NASCAR Hot Pass	NASCAR / DirecTV	Exclusive to DirecTV existed from 2007 to 2012.
Prime Network	Liberty Media	Existed from 1983–1996.
SpeedVision	SPEED Channel Inc. (21st Century Fox)	Renamed Speed, replaced by Fox Sports 1 on August 17, 2013.
Sports Time	Anheuser-Busch	St. Louis and Midwest Cable Sports station; existed from April 1984–March 1985.
SportsChannel	became Fox Sports Net
Sports News Network	Mizlou Communications	Existed from February–December 1990.
Trax	Networks Development Corporation
Turner South	Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner)	Purchased by Fox Cable Networks and renamed SportSouth.
TVS Television Network		Now part of Margate Entertainment.
Universal Sports Network	NBCUniversal	Ceased operations November 16, 2015
University of North Dakota Sports Network	University of North Dakota, WDAZ-TV, Midcontinent Communications	Formerly known as Fighting Sioux Sports Network (FSSN) Ceased on March, 2012.
Victory Sports One		Minnesota Twins Baseball Network/Minnesota Gophers Sports
Water Channel	MCE Television Networks Inc.
Web Sports Net	Web Broadcasting Systems Inc.	Text-based sports news service.
World Championship Sports Network		Existed from 2005–2008.

Spanish

Name	Owner	Notes
La Familia Cosmovision	The Inspiration Networks	Ceased operations on January 9, 2015.
MundoMax	RCN Televisión	Was originally MundoFox as a joint venture with Fox International Channels. Shut down on November 30, 2016.

Ethnic

African-American

Name	Owner	Notes
Black Family Channel		Ceased operations April 30, 2007. To launch as broadband network, subscriber base sold to Gospel Music Channel. Formerly MBC Network.
Bridges TV	Muslim	Ceased operations on March 15, 2012.
Caribbean Satellite Network
New Urban Entertainment Television (NUE-TV)	Space Station TeleVision, co-owned by Dennis Brownlee and Robert Townsend. Investors included Quincy Jones, Leo J. Hindery Jr., David Falk, and Alfred Liggins III.	Ceased operations in May 2001; formally shutdown in October 2002. Senior Council Pat Irvin, Human Resources Director Renee Barfield, Cindy Mahmoud, Senior Vice President Gordon Boelter, Executive Vice President of Programming, Donovan Myrie, News Director, Craig Henry, Director of Music, Monte Powell, Director of Programming, Rick Porterfield, Production Director.
The MBC Movie Network	Minority Broadcasting Corp.
World African Network

Asian

Name	Owner	Notes
AZN Television	Comcast	Formerly International Channel; First nationwide television cable channel dedicated to Asian Americans. Ceased operations on April 9, 2008.
MTV Chi	Viacom Media Networks	An MTV World network dedicated to Chinese American audiences; launched on December 6, 2005, and shut down on April 30, 2007.
MTV Desi		An MTV World network dedicated to South Asian American audiences; launched on July 12, 2005, and shut down on April 30, 2007.
MTV K		An MTV World network dedicated to Korean American audiences; launched on June 27, 2006, and shut down on April 30, 2007.

German

Name	Owner	Notes
ChannelD		First German private television satellite channel in North America 2001–2002.
Dolphin-TV	Dolphin-TV German Television Inc.	German private television satellite channel 2006–2007.
GermanTV	Deutsche Welle TV, ARD & ZDF (German Public Broadcasters)	Satellite channel 2001–2005.

Irish

Name	Owner	Notes
CelticVision

High definition

Name	Owner	Notes
Voom HD Networks	Rainbow Media (Cablevision)	15 All-HD networks, ceased broadcasting on January 20, 2009.

References

↑ Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences By David Croteau, William Hoynes, p75
↑ The Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video. By R.M. Reed, M.K. Reed
↑ "Deaf History - Silent Network - A Deaf Cable Channel". verywell.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
↑ "Channel-surfing cable's new nets", Broadcasting & Cable, November 27, 1995, McConville, Jim (via Highbeam)
↑ Kaleidoscope TV on Shopping Kick, Ad Age, 1995
↑ "Crawford makes major investment in Americana music". Billboard. 22 Sep 2001.
↑ http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/10/nbc_shutting_down_weather_plus.php

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[1] Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences By David Croteau, William Hoynes, p75

[2] The Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video. By R.M. Reed, M.K. Reed

[3] "Deaf History - Silent Network - A Deaf Cable Channel". verywell.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017.

[4] "Channel-surfing cable's new nets", Broadcasting & Cable, November 27, 1995, McConville, Jim (via Highbeam)

[5] Kaleidoscope TV on Shopping Kick, Ad Age, 1995

[6] "Crawford makes major investment in Americana music". Billboard. 22 Sep 2001.

[7] ttp://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/10/nbc_shutting_down_weather_plus.php