Changes at HLN

[PTBoardOp94]

TMZ is a brand of TimeWarner, so at least any rights fee would still be under the AT&T umbrella.

 

[Kelly A]

This channel has been an afterthought for a long time. It really lost its direction when they added long form talk shows to what was originally CNN Headline News.

Speaking of face lifts related to HLN: I used to regularly watch Mornings with Robin Meade, until after Robin came back from her extended vacation with various tucks and massive Botox treatments. She went from a 'Homespun, Midwestern Gal' reporting the news, to just another frozen-faced anchor. It is painful to watch her try and laugh when her face is stuck in a permanent, now kind of creepy, smile.

 

[bobjim45]

One of the problems HLN has is that it doesn't charge cable companies a carriage fee which for many cable channels is more than half of its revenue. At one time CNN/HLN paid many cable operators to placed on premium channels and may still do that to this day under old contracts. It looks like CNN wants to cut cost, Live news cost a lot of money to produce. I could see them dumping all domestic news bureaus save for New York, DC, LA, and Atlanta next. Especially with CNN's focus on politics and commentators and less on news reporting.

 

[umfan]

Are you sure they still don't get a carriage fee? I think they, with the larger cable companies, sell the CNN and other Turner Channels in a complete package. I know HLN, when it actually was Headline News, generated additional revenue through OTA syndication, but that dried up when they changed formats. I think they could record the 30 minute format and run it for four hours, at least in late evening/overnight and if something breaking happened have the main CNN team cut in a segment to cover it. It was wonderful to be able to tune in at any time and get the full range of news in 30 minutes. Robin Meade proved her worth, but for the rest of the day a return to the old format, even if it aired taped for significant portions would seem to be worth a try.

 

[zeebre12]

Would they not be better converting it to a true crime channel like ID? ID seems to do very well

 

[bobjim45]

Are you sure they still don't get a carriage fee? I think they, with the larger cable companies, sell the CNN and other Turner Channels in a complete package. I know HLN, when it actually was Headline News, generated additional revenue through OTA syndication, but that dried up when they changed formats. I think they could record the 30 minute format and run it for four hours, at least in late evening/overnight and if something breaking happened have the main CNN team cut in a segment to cover it. It was wonderful to be able to tune in at any time and get the full range of news in 30 minutes. Robin Meade proved her worth, but for the rest of the day a return to the old format, even if it aired taped for significant portions would seem to be worth a try.

Yearly SNL Kagan estimates how much each cable network gets in carriage fees. Yes, most companies sell its channels by groups, but SNL Kagan breaks it down by channel and HLN is the only channel that doesn't get a carriage fee. Even a channel like NickMusic gets $.02 per subscriber per month, ESPN just the main channel which is the highest is at almost 7 dollars while all the ESPN networks are over 10 dollars.

 

[TheBigA]

HLN is the only channel that doesn't get a carriage fee.

For good reason...maybe explains more why they dropped a lot of the shows. They'd be better off as a shopping channel.