The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first major business to earn huge profits by combining two beloved American pastimes, shopping and watching television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3). Followed by many imitators, the network has expanded from small beginnings on a Florida radio (see entry under 1920s—TV and Radio in volume 2) station to become a multibillion-dollar corporation with over five million customers.

The Home Shopping Network got its start in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the company is still headquartered. In 1977, realestate developer Roy Speer (1932–) and radio broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson (1935–) started a radio call-in shopping club called Suncoast Bargaineers. The club was so successful that by 1982, Speer and Paxson moved it to a local cable-TV (see entry under 1970s—TV and Radio in volume 4) channel, renaming it Home Shopping Network. The concept of HSN was that while items...