Special Events Television Network
defunct syndicated television package
Special Events Television Network (SETN) is the name of a defunct syndicated television package that broadcast tape delayed NASCAR races from 1984 to 1988. SETN aired races (typically from Martinsville and Pocono as well as from Rockingham, Charlotte, Richmond and Daytona for good measure) that didn't have live television deals at the time. The broadcasts were aired on tape delay because certain promoters still feared that live telecasts would hurt their gate. SETN also sold VHS videos of some races it carried, with additional footage not seen on TV. In addition to its stock car racing, the network produced twelve telecasts of International Hot Rod Association events.
SETN was headed by Jim Wiglesworth (father of Survivor: Borneo runner up Kelly Wiglesworth) out of Greensboro, North Carolina. SETN was underfunded, and since profits were slim, so were rights fees. Ultimately, the growing popularity of racing on ESPN as well as the overall lack of cash flow drove them out of the business. SETN ceased operations in June 1988; the first Pocono race that year was seen on the Financial News Network's Score weekend sports service, and Martinsville, the last holdout against live television rights, signed an ESPN deal for its fall race.
After SETN folded, one Pocono race a year was produced by Jim Wiglesworth on pay-per-view for Viewer's Choice (now In Demand) from 1988 to 1990. They were not a huge success, as fans were reluctant to pay for what they could see last week for free.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Special Events Television Network” as defunct syndicated television package. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as defunct syndicated television package. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7574554. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984, 1988 and 1990.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Special Events Television Network” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.