Hughes Television Network HTN Communications , better known as Hughes Television Network ( HTN ) and formerly Sports Network , was an American television network created by Richard Eugene Bailey . The company is now in the business of providing video and audio services to sports networks . It never lived up to its dream of being the nation ' s fourth television network , following the demise of the DuMont Television Network . HTN limited itself to broadcasting sports events , including the Stanley Cup Finals , PBA Bowling and special programming , including the Muppets special " The Frog Prince " , and provided facilities links to a loose network of stations , who were usually independent s or affiliates of ABC , CBS , or NBC . History . Sports Network Incorporated . Originally working as chief network coordinator at ABC in 1954 , Richard Eugene Bailey conceived of a cost - effective means of broadcasting away Major League Baseball games to their home cities . The idea came from the BBDO advertising agency , who appealed to Bailey on behalf of advertisers , Schaefer beer and Lucky Strike cigarettes , to save money on their broadcast of Brooklyn Dodgers games ; Bailey came up with the concept of " streamlining transmission operations . " This innovation for covering away games became the basis for the Sports Network . Bailey capitalized his company with $ 1 , 000 . In December 1956 , Bailey met with sponsors , ad agencies and the baseball teams ' representatives at Chicago ' s Hotel Knickerbocker to get SNI off the ground . In 1956 , the first operational year , the Network had 300 television and 1 , 200 radio broadcasts of major league baseball games . In the fall 1956 , SNI started showing Cleveland Browns football games . In later years , they acquired rights to Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference basketball . SNI ' s coverage of the 1963 NCAA final , where Loyola University Chicago upset the University of Cincinnati , was a ratings smash , with a larger audience than CBS ' hit westerns Have Gun - Will Travel and Gunsmoke . By the early sixties , the Browns ( still on SNI ) were the only NFL team not signed to a major TV network . At the insistence of new commissioner Pete Rozelle , the Browns dropped SNI when the entire league signed a collective television contract with CBS in 1962 . Hughes Television Network . After Howard Hughes failed to purchase a controlling interest in ABC in 1968 , Hughes ' Hughes Tool Company purchased the Sports Network and was renamed the Hughes Television Network , with Dick Bailey continuing as president . On a staggered schedule in May 1971 , " The Frog Prince " was show on HTN with 150 stations including WCBS - TV and sponsored by RJR Foods . Paramount Pictures purchased the Network including its satellite time in planning for Paramount Programming Service in 1976 . Paramount sold HTN to Madison Square Garden in 1979 . In 1986 , Joseph M . Cohen , a Madison executive , led an investment group in purchasing HTN from Madison . IDB Communications purchased the company in 1989 . HTN in March 1991 purchased fiber optic transmission services from Vyvx NVN to supplement its existing satellite network . In 1995 , HTN was purchased by French Telecom ' s Globecast subsidiary . In 2003 , Cohen acquired the Network again . Programmming . As Sports Network , the Network broadcasted on a network basis sports programming in the following sports : auto racing , baseball , basketball ( pro and college ) , bowling , boxing , dog shows , football ( pro and college ) , frostbite sailing , golf , gymnastics , horse racing , iceboating , ice hockey , jai alai , lacrosse , polo , skiing , soccer , swimming , tennis , track and wrestling . SNI pick up rights for : " Monday Night Football " . According to the book " Monday Night Mayhem " ( Reed Business Information , 1988 ) , the National Football League received a bid from HTN for broadcast rights to " Monday Night Football " ; this , while negotiations with ABC were nearing a standoff . HTN was reportedly offering a significantly higher price than any other network , including ABC . Reportedly , had Hughes made the deal , half of ABC ' s affiliates would have carried the HTN football games anyway , including at least one ABC owned - and - operated station . Ultimately , the league agreed that it would be in the NFL ' s best interests to sign with an established network , eventually striking a deal with ABC for a lower amount than Hughes was offering .