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Antenna TV having trouble getting affiliates?

C

carolinaradio

After being on the air almost 6 months, I still see very few affiliates for Antenna TV outside of the Tribune/Local TV affiliates, which all picked up the network by default since it's a Tribune network. What is their problem? MeTV launched around the same time and they have signed a ton of affiliates that are launching on a regular basis. To add, except for 3? of their affiliates, none are owned by Weigel.

What is the issue with Antenna? MeTV is more appealing, perhaps? It is to me, but there are a few shows on Ant. I would like to see. MeTV's owner, Weigel, does have more experience with digital TV, so maybe they know how to get affiliates better?
 
Me-TV has surely won round one. They actually had another company, MGM helping them though. I guess Antenna is on their own. I thought they would have announced some affiliates by now also.

Perhaps Antenna was overwhelmed with the start-up and is just now able to look for stations, let's
hope that is the case. There are some shows on Antenna that I would like to see which are not on
Me-TV.

Me-TV has some schedule issues. I would think twice about airing Dick Van Dyke in primetime.
They air it twice in primetime! I'd rather see something like Mary Tyler Moore twice instead of Dick.
They have MASH at 7, 7:30 and 10PM. Surely with their large library that is not necessary.
 
gregg75 said:
Me-TV has surely won round one. They actually had another company, MGM helping them though. I guess Antenna is on their own.
Click to expand...
Tribune has Sony helping them. Sony owns the Columbia Pictures Film Library & Columbia Television Library so all tv shows & movies are all Columbia. Me-TV can't show any of those TV Shows just like Antenna TV can't show any of Me-TV shows since they are all MGM owned TV Shows.
 
I know Tribune has Sony, but in the Me-TV case MGM was actually making phone calls and
having meetings with the station groups, etc. Other than using their library, I'm not sure Sony
is doing anything like that for Antenna.
 
They air Dick Van Dyke twice in primetime? According to their site it just airs at 8:30pm. I think the 10pm MASH episode could be done away with.

Sony isn't distributing Antenna TV, though. That's just who they have a library deal with. MGM is helping distribute/shop MeTV around. MeTV's programming comes from CBS and 20th, nobody else. Sister network THIS gets some stuff from MGM, though.

Tribune hasn't done a great job with WGN America or WGN-AM, so I hope they don't mess Antenna TV up.
 
Ok, I see where that is coming from. I think WPCH has the CHEERS rights in Atlanta, so WSB is airing another Dick Van Dyke episode instead. This appears to be the only Me-TV substitute on WSB.

So, it's confusing. MASH can air on multiple channels, but CHEERS can't.
 
gregg75 said:
Ok, I see where that is coming from. I think WPCH has the CHEERS rights in Atlanta, so WSB is airing another Dick Van Dyke episode instead. This appears to be the only Me-TV substitute on WSB.

So, it's confusing. MASH can air on multiple channels, but CHEERS can't.
Click to expand...
For whatever reason, MeTV in Milwaukee pre-empts Petticoat Junction and My Three Sons from 7-8AM CST and airs Roseanne instead. I think if another local channel has rights to a show, they allow pre-emption. I'm guessing in most cases they can pre-empt with just another MeTV show like they are in Atlanta.

I guess it depends on the show's contract
 
There's a question of how much appetite for retro TV there is in the digital space. In all the markets based in Indiana (Indy, South Bend, Ft. Wayne, Evansville, Terre Haute) there are no RTV affiliates, 1 Anntenna (owned by Tribune), 1 Me (owned by Weigel), and 4 This TV affiliates.

And that counts the simulcast of WTTV and WTTK twice.

So what are the chances of Antenna adding affiliates in those five markets?
 
I wonder if these shows have local exclusivity agreements? Most of AntennnaTV also appears on Me-Too, which seems ridiculous to duplicate so much.

Also remember Tribune is in the midst of a vicious bankruptcy. The outcome is far from certain so the "powers that be" are probably much more interested in that, than promoting something that may or may not be with them in a year's time.
 
Mark said:
I wonder if these shows have local exclusivity agreements? Most of AntennnaTV also appears on Me-Too, which seems ridiculous to duplicate so much.

Also remember Tribune is in the midst of a vicious bankruptcy. The outcome is far from certain so the "powers that be" are probably much more interested in that, than promoting something that may or may not be with them in a year's time.
Click to expand...
As great as I thought the Antenna TV concept was, when I first heard about Tribune launching it, I thought that was the last thing they needed to be getting in to given their current situation.
Perhaps if Antenna TV gets in trouble, Weigel would be interested in buying it? Who knows.

I'm not sure about exclusivity - I mean, what local channels are airing Gunsmoke or Dick Van Dyke, so it's hard to really know.

Re: RTV, like I said in another thread, I think they are going to become less and less relevant unless they change their ways. I look for them to eventually be on mostly lower power stations after MeTV and (hopefully) Antenna TV become more relevant.
 
I dont see any Antenna TV here in Tallahassee Florida (north florida area) the only Antenna TV affiliates is in Miami. None in Orlando,Tampa+St.Petersurg and Jacksonville,Tallahassee even the Fla Pandanle.

We do have a Me-TV network here in Tallahassee Florida on FOX 49 WTLH on (49.3)

My best guess is for Antenna TV is on ABC-27 HD WTXL-DT(27.3) but nothing happening to add them here in Tallahassee.
 
How much does it cost a TV station to become an affiliate? In the Cleveland Ohio area we have Antenna TV on the HD2 of the Fox affiliate, and RTN is on an independent low power analog station. Actually, it kind of sucks to have a multitude of "oldies" TV networks because nobody can have a big library of good things as stuff is spread out over the different networks. So, each individual network keeps running the same things over and over.
 
johnbasalla said:
How much does it cost a TV station to become an affiliate?
Click to expand...

Nothing except for equipment cost. In the case of MeTV it runs something like $20,000 for the equipment. I am not sure about Antenna TV.

Another thing to add:

Antenna TV told me they will not affiliate with any LPTVs until October 2011 or later.
 
stationi said:
johnbasalla said:
How much does it cost a TV station to become an affiliate?
Click to expand...

Nothing except for equipment cost. In the case of MeTV it runs something like $20,000 for the equipment. I am not sure about Antenna TV.

Another thing to add:

Antenna TV told me they will not affiliate with any LPTVs until October 2011 or later.
Click to expand...
I thought that Antenna TV's Fresno, California affiliate is a LPTV?
 
gregg75 said:
I know Tribune has Sony, but in the Me-TV case MGM was actually making phone calls and
having meetings with the station groups, etc. Other than using their library, I'm not sure Sony
is doing anything like that for Antenna.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I misunderstood what you wrote. MGM needs to be persistent in finding a stronger affiliate of MeTV for Sacramento, California. Currently it is on a Sacramento LPTV (KCSO-LP 33.2) that is only accessable by OTA only in Sacramento only since the signal isn't strong enough to go out of the City Of Sacramento. I live in nearby Stockton and it is not on my Cable System or Satellite Providers. Same for RTV which is on a Sacramento LPTV. Only Antenna TV is available on a Full Powered Tribune owned KTXL-40.2.
 
I do like Antenna TV's lineup. Keep in mind that most of their shows air on cable over and over again. Maybe adding a few shows like "Benson" (which is not on cable) could help.

In Columbia, SC, WOLO's secondary channel is MeTV. MeTV is a great channel and is better than RTV. I can't compare Antenna TV because I have not seen it.
 
Here are some of the shows Antenna TV has that Me-TV does not (many of these are seen on Me-Too though, which is not a national network).

Benny Hill, Father Knows Best, Dennis The Menace, Flying Nun, Gidget, Hazel, Here Come The
Brides, Maude, Monkees, Partridge Family, Soap, Too Close For Comfort, Burns & Allen, etc.

These shows are seen everywhere ++++ on Antenna: Sanford & Son, Married With Children, Mad About You, Good Times, All In The Family. If I were them, I would ditch these over-played shows SEEN EVERYWHERE and replace them with some rarely seen or not seen often...................................

News Radio, Just Shoot Me, Police Woman, That's My Mama, Designing Women, Larry Sanders Show, Barney Miller, Different Strokes, What's Happening, One Day At A Time, Facts Of Life, Silver Spoons, Who's The Boss, 227, Charlie's Angers, Family, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Television
 
The only place Married With Children is seen is on TBS' very early morning lineup, so I can see them scheduling it, but the rest that you mention are already on TV Land (they had been airing The Nanny on ATV, also). Don't forget Three's Company, also on TV Land.

I feel that MeTV has a stronger line-up, overall, but Antenna TV is good as well. I wish one of them had the Universal library that RTV has (IMO, one of the least impressive libraries there is, but there are some good shows). Some of the shows would fit well for variety purposes, but that is no library to base a network off of.

I was thinking, the only major library left that no one has tapped in to is the Warner library. There are some goodies in there; Mama's Family, Alice, Gilligan's Island, etc. The Warner library would fit well on Antenna TV and the Universal library would fit well on MeTV.
 
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