In June 1998, the TV Guide brand and magazine were acquired by United Video Satellite Group, the parent company of the Prevue Channel – a channel created in 1988 (although its history dates back to 1981 as the Electronic Program Guide network) that was carried by cable and some satellite television providers and was originally formatted to feature a scrolling program guide, short segments featuring previews of upcoming programs, and promos and short-form film trailers for programs airing on various channels. Its new owners promptly rebranded Prevue as the TV Guide Channel on February 1, 1999. With the rebranding, some of the hourly segments featured on the channel at that point were renamed after features in the magazine, including TV Guide Close-Up, TV Guide Sportsview (which was formatted more similarly to the listings section's sports guide than the color column of that name) and TV Guide Insider. After Gemstar's acquisition of TV Guide, the channel began to shift towards airing full-length programs featuring celebrity gossip and movie talk shows alongside the program listings; the channel was rebranded as the TV Guide Network in 2007.
