This station feels like it has no identity over the past few years. It plays reality shows, comedies, dramatic movies, and old reruns. Last year they aired "lost resort" an mtv-esque reality show, and were planning on airing the drama "snowpiercer" on the station before moving it to tnt. What do you think?
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Does tbs have an identity crisis?
- Thread starter tall_guy1
- Start date
It does seem like an afterthought these days. It definitely had a niche carved out in its "Funny" years, not sure why it couldn't continue as the go-to channel for comedy.
IIRC, though, Turner came up with the "Funny" imaging for TBS well after all those other channels had shed their identities. Why couldn't it have continued. Was it all linked to having "Seinfeld" in the prime time slots every night until everyone had seen every episode at least a dozen times? It sure started to fade when more recent sitcoms were pushed in hopes of having a similar hit with a younger viewership?
I thought it began when they picked up Conan for nights. They had a lot of original programming for a while. Then AT&T cut their development budget and moved the money to their subscription channels like HBO Max.
That may be part of the story. Cable channels have been raped for the subscription channels. Cable has topped out as far as viewers, so media companies are looking for areas of growth.
Impractical jokers station. Seems like it's a "comedy-reality" station. TNT is more of an action station. Tbs doesn't really know what it wants to be.
But AT&T and Warner media are currently in the process of getting more people over to HBO Max. Friends, Conan, Big Bang and the soon to be New Perfect Strangers have been brought up as a destination for HBO Max. I don't know how much a priority TBS and TNT are for now as Warner Media is trying to get a younger median demo for HBO Max.
That will be left to the new CEO once the merger of Warner Media and Discovery Networks is approved. It's possible things will look different after the merger.
I knew Discovery Networks was brought up their Discovery+ app initially to keep up with competitors over their content from Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet. But I would like to see how this will be played after the merger if approved. I knew after Disney bought 20th Century Pictures from the now Fox inc they had all of the 20th Century Studios, ABC Studios, ESPN and Disney Pictures content in three places ESPN, Hulu (Majority Owner) and Disney+.
Didn't TBS originally operate as a general TV Network/Station= No Identity, when they first opened and when they used to owned Superstation WTBS-TV Atlanta. (Now known as WPCH-TV Atlanta and is in the process of being sold to Gray Television along WGCL-TV Atlanta).
But that model worked in the 1980's and 1990's for cable TV under Ted Turners leadership. However that may no longer be true in 2021 given that streaming is where the younger demos are going for.
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Yes, it was originally WTCG, Channel 17, a local Atlanta station that became a "SuperStation" when Turner put its feed on a satellite for distribution to cable TV, which was then in its infancy, in the late 1970s. Most of its entertainment programming was syndicated sitcoms and cartoons, along with a healthy helping of movies all week and typical Southern fare (country music and fishing) on weekends, but it also gave national exposure to the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Flames, as well as the area's wrestling promotion, Georgia Championship Wrestling.
In the WTCG days it was pretty much like any other big city independent station, just distributed nationally. It was amusing at the time to see all the local Atlanta commercials from 1,000+ miles away, and the "Super 17" branding. WGN and WOR were pretty much the same way about that time.
The call letter change to WTBS in late 1979 pretty much coincided with the end of the "local" Atlanta feel, and set it on the path to its national "cable" orientation.
They had to make a deal with the college radio station at MIT that had those call letters. Ted Turner made a nice donation.
IIRC, it was $50,000, which, I guess, was "nice" in those days' dollars. WTBS, the radio station, became WMBR, which it remains today.
I heard of this when TBS was trying to differentiate from TNT in the 2000's. But then again what worked back then no longer works today.
Indeed past strategies don’t work today. Add in the multiple ownership changes and priorities of things like the streaming service. It takes time for everything to shake out.
So ... from "Funny" to "Phony," eh?
Of course, pro wrestling was a big part of TBS's original identity. Ted Turner was a big fan, and GCW turned guys like "Wildfire" Tommy Rich and Mr. Wrestling II from regional favorites into grapplers with a national following. Then came the titanic battle with Vince McMahon's WWF and the eventual sale of GCW to McMahon in 2001. How long has it been since wrestling has aired on TBS?
You mentioned GCW a few times, but I thought WCW (World Championship Wrestling) was Ted Turner's baby? I seem to remember a somewhat infamous phone call when Turner started WCW and he called Vince McMahon and said "Guess what, I'm in the wrastlin' business" and McMahon supposedly replied "That's great, but I'm in the entertainment business".
You are right; WCW was what was sold to McMahon in 2001. WCW was a rebranding of Jim Crockett Promotions, based in North Carolina, which Turner bought controlling interest in and to which he gave a national cable outlet. That was in the late '80s. Georgia Championship Wrestling was a different, earlier promotion -- and was never owned by Turner, despite being shown on WTCG/WTBS -- based in Atlanta.
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