Did Disney miss a golden opertunity to ditch the 700 club?

[stdjsb25]

From what I can recall, the CBN association is perpetual, regardless of who owns the network.

Per the original Fox agreement in 97-98, the "Family" name and CBN programming must be aired on that channel, regardless of owner. Any attempts to dump the "Family" name or the CBN programs, kill that contract, and kill the "Family" channel, and ABC/Fox would have been forced to create an entirely new channel to replace it, and no cable company would be obligated to put the "new" channel in the existing "Family" channel slot. (Blame Pat Robertson on that one)

 

[quadraphonic]

Why blame Pat Robertson? If Vince McMahon or Trump or anyone else secular-based could pull that deal off, he would be "the shrewdest businessman ever."

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

I'm not sure what kind of cash flow CBN's got these days, but here's the remedy.

Maybe CBN should either: 1) buy one of the existing smaller Christian cable channels (Daystar, The Word, etc.); or 2) start their own NOT-FOR-PROFIT, Christian television network.

The 700 Club is all over the place on the Christian TV map, so there really is no need for them to continue to rely on a cable channel that they don't even own anymore to be the program's main exhibiting conduit. If they really wanted to remain on the Family Channel then they should have never sold the channel in the first place.

If I'm Disney, I'd take them to court anyway and risk the consequences, then be prepared to convert one of the Lifetime or Disney Channel spinoffs into the replacement for ABC Family should they lose. Contracts can be broken.

 

[azumanga]

Though personally, the reason Disney refused to do anything about it (other than a disclaimer) is that they're afraid that Pat Robertson would nail Disney for "censorship" for being tossed off the channel that he created. Never mind that he's practically seen on almost every Christian network and buys time on many secular stations.

 

[nathannah]

I wonder if a similar agreement that The 700 Club has with ABC Family is in place at WSHM-LP Channel 67 in Springfield, Massachusetts. WSHM-LP was owned by Trinity Broadcast Network until around 2003, when it was purchased by Merideth and relaunched as "CBS TV 3 Springfield". Despite the CBS affiliation they still carry The 700 Club weekday mornings at 10AM. (Up until August it was on at 9AM, but on 8/24/09 WSHM-LP and its parent station WFSB/3 in Hartford picked up Regis & Kelly). Trinity Broadcast Network is another one of the many channels that shows The 700 Club.

That's probably more of a "it's a low-cost show that fills a terminally lousy timeslot" situation; unless you have "Hota and Kathie Lee" or "Regis and Kelly", the programming at 10am on most stations has been more to just maintain the momentum from the morning shows and hope it sticks through to "The View", "TPiR" and afternoon news and soaps. I know a few stations which have either stuck their informercials on there or used it to fulfill their E/I allotments because there are few watching at the time.

 

[imhomerjay]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

I'm not sure what kind of cash flow CBN's got these days, but here's the remedy.

Maybe CBN should either: 1) buy one of the existing smaller Christian cable channels (Daystar, The Word, etc.); or 2) start their own NOT-FOR-PROFIT, Christian television network.

The 700 Club is all over the place on the Christian TV map, so there really is no need for them to continue to rely on a cable channel that they don't even own anymore to be the program's main exhibiting conduit. If they really wanted to remain on the Family Channel then they should have never sold the channel in the first place.

If I'm Disney, I'd take them to court anyway and risk the consequences, then be prepared to convert one of the Lifetime or Disney Channel spinoffs into the replacement for ABC Family should they lose. Contracts can be broken.

A remedy for whom? If their existing deal works, they have no need of a remedy. If I'm Disney, I see no need to worry all that much about what amounts to a small issue. It's not like it hurts their main prime time schedule.

 

[DToTheJ]

WSHM-LP... Despite the CBS affiliation they still carry The 700 Club weekday mornings at 10AM...

...I know a few stations which have either stuck their informercials on there or used it to fulfill their E/I allotments because there are few watching at the time...

I've seen where infomercials aired at that hour on some stations, but I'd like to see the network affiliate that airs E/I programming at that time! (I'm not doubting you; it's just something that's unorthodox to most; but in today's broadcasting climate, anything is possible...)

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

I'm not sure what kind of cash flow CBN's got these days, but here's the remedy.

Maybe CBN should either: 1) buy one of the existing smaller Christian cable channels (Daystar, The Word, etc.); or 2) start their own NOT-FOR-PROFIT, Christian television network.

The 700 Club is all over the place on the Christian TV map, so there really is no need for them to continue to rely on a cable channel that they don't even own anymore to be the program's main exhibiting conduit. If they really wanted to remain on the Family Channel then they should have never sold the channel in the first place.

If I'm Disney, I'd take them to court anyway and risk the consequences, then be prepared to convert one of the Lifetime or Disney Channel spinoffs into the replacement for ABC Family should they lose. Contracts can be broken.

A remedy for whom? If their existing deal works, they have no need of a remedy. If I'm Disney, I see no need to worry all that much about what amounts to a small issue. It's not like it hurts their main prime time schedule.

Of course it doesn't hurt primetime because the 700 Club doesn't air in primetime. I think it's more about maintaining audience and momentum.

Yes, there may be fewer viewers between 9:30 and 11:00 AM Eastern, but I'm sure ABC Family would rather plug in something for their target audience rather than a octogenarian nutjob and his "Amen chorus" presenting right-wing conspiracy theories, the Prosperity Gospel, and propaganda disguised as balanced news. Same goes for the 11:00 PM hour. Leave Robertson in overnights, where he can do as little harm as possible.

The existing deal, which they inherited from the previous owners, may work for them from a financial standpoint. But maximizing audience whenever possible and keeping them tuned in should be just as important. We all know the 700 Club does not accomplish that.

By the way, I just thought of something: CBN once owned a group of four broadcast stations (Hampton Roads, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Boston) and the group broke up during the 1980s. I don't recall Robertson including a clause that The 700 Club remain on those outlets in perpetuity regardless of ownership. Why force the same restraint on the former CBN Family Channel?

 

[imhomerjay]

Because it's a national platform, perhaps? And again, it was a voluntary conract for both subsequent owners.

Yes, building and maintaining audience is important, but like all things in life, there are trade-offs. They wanted the distribution platform and it came with strings they knew about in lesser-watched time periods. You make that calculation, and "Gee, it just doesn't work for us now, because we'd rather plug in the umpteenth rerun of Full House" isn't generally a legally viable option for breaking a contract, and probably doesn't bring in enough revenue to make the court fight worth it, when you know the burden of proof will be on you...and quite high.

Still amazed that three measly hours of programming can throw people into such a fit. Turn it of...it's really not that hard to do.

 

[quadraphonic]

Though personally, the reason Disney refused to do anything about it (other than a disclaimer) is that they're afraid that Pat Robertson would nail Disney for "censorship" for being tossed off the channel that he created. Never mind that he's practically seen on almost every Christian network and buys time on many secular stations.

Why would he ever cry "censorship?" And why would they "toss him off the channel he created?"
Both are improbable. There's a contract. I doubt Disney or their lawyers would "fear" the improbable.
Since there is a contract, there is a contract. Kudos to Disney for living up to the contract. Kudos to CBN for negotiating it.

 

[formeraa]

I wonder if a similar agreement that The 700 Club has with ABC Family is in place at WSHM-LP Channel 67 in Springfield, Massachusetts. WSHM-LP was owned by Trinity Broadcast Network until around 2003, when it was purchased by Merideth and relaunched as "CBS TV 3 Springfield". Despite the CBS affiliation they still carry The 700 Club weekday mornings at 10AM. (Up until August it was on at 9AM, but on 8/24/09 WSHM-LP and its parent station WFSB/3 in Hartford picked up Regis & Kelly). Trinity Broadcast Network is another one of the many channels that shows The 700 Club.

That's probably more of a "it's a low-cost show that fills a terminally lousy timeslot" situation; unless you have "Hota and Kathie Lee" or "Regis and Kelly", the programming at 10am on most stations has been more to just maintain the momentum from the morning shows and hope it sticks through to "The View", "TPiR" and afternoon news and soaps. I know a few stations which have either stuck their informercials on there or used it to fulfill their E/I allotments because there are few watching at the time.

Not a low cast show! Pat Robertson pays for the time -- which can be relatively expensive due to the explosion of infomercials out there. Let's me tell you that time on TBN or Daystar is NOT cheap for these ministries. That's why the smaller ministries rarely last very long, if they're able to buy time at all.

In the Springfield example, I'm sure that Pat Robertson wrote something in the contract. It might be free airing for x years, while it might be an inexpensive airing for y years. Pat is very savvy about these things, as we see from the FOX/ABC Family deal.

 

[YEKIMI]

There's a rumour about that Disney is positioning itself to sell the ABC empire. I wonder if new owners would basically tell Pat Robertson to pack up his bags and get out because THEY never signed a contract with him. Or does the contract say that "it doesn't matter who owns the channel, we're on here for eternity"?

 

[imhomerjay]

It's a prepetual deal--the same reason Disney lives with it, after having bought it from Fox.

 

[TexasTom]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

By the way, I just thought of something: CBN once owned a group of four broadcast stations (Hampton Roads, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Boston) and the group broke up during the 1980s. I don't recall Robertson including a clause that The 700 Club remain on those outlets in perpetuity regardless of ownership. Why force the same restraint on the former CBN Family Channel?

There might be legal issues with including such a clause in the sale agreement for a broadcast station -- or at least, there likely was back then. Contracts that blanket force a station to carry a program in perpetuity would likely be deemed to be in violation of the legal mandate that a broadcast licensee is responsible for everything that airs on their own station.

That consideration does not exist for a cable network, since a cable network is not licensed by the FCC.

 

[TexasTom]

In the Springfield example, I'm sure that Pat Robertson wrote something in the contract. It might be free airing for x years, while it might be an inexpensive airing for y years. Pat is very savvy about these things, as we see from the FOX/ABC Family deal.

That seems unlikely. Aside any legal issues involving control of the station by a broadcast licensee, the simple fact is that CBN did not own -- and never owned -- the Springfield station.

It was owned by TBN, which has it's own flagship program, "Praise the Lord". TBN's lawyers would be writing the sale contract, not anyone associated with CBN. Assuming that TBN could include such a clause in the sale of an LPTV station, why on earth would they use that ability to benefit CBN's "The 700 Club" instead of their own program? On some level, TBN and CBN are competitors, after all.

 

[nathannah]

I wonder if a similar agreement that The 700 Club has with ABC Family is in place at WSHM-LP Channel 67 in Springfield, Massachusetts. WSHM-LP was owned by Trinity Broadcast Network until around 2003, when it was purchased by Merideth and relaunched as "CBS TV 3 Springfield". Despite the CBS affiliation they still carry The 700 Club weekday mornings at 10AM. (Up until August it was on at 9AM, but on 8/24/09 WSHM-LP and its parent station WFSB/3 in Hartford picked up Regis & Kelly). Trinity Broadcast Network is another one of the many channels that shows The 700 Club.

That's probably more of a "it's a low-cost show that fills a terminally lousy timeslot" situation; unless you have "Hota and Kathie Lee" or "Regis and Kelly", the programming at 10am on most stations has been more to just maintain the momentum from the morning shows and hope it sticks through to "The View", "TPiR" and afternoon news and soaps. I know a few stations which have either stuck their informercials on there or used it to fulfill their E/I allotments because there are few watching at the time.

Not a low cast show! Pat Robertson pays for the time -- which can be relatively expensive due to the explosion of infomercials out there. Let's me tell you that time on TBN or Daystar is NOT cheap for these ministries. That's why the smaller ministries rarely last very long, if they're able to buy time at all.

In the Springfield example, I'm sure that Pat Robertson wrote something in the contract. It might be free airing for x years, while it might be an inexpensive airing for y years. Pat is very savvy about these things, as we see from the FOX/ABC Family deal.

In that case then you're right, because several of the stations do run their "The following is a paid program, we're not responsible for the content" disclaimers before the show. But again, it's a 10am timeslot on a lower-tier station in the market (yes, it's CBS but also an LP which got on via cable deals and digital subchannel coverage), so it's probably not all that expensive at all.

WSHM-LP... Despite the CBS affiliation they still carry The 700 Club weekday mornings at 10AM...

...I know a few stations which have either stuck their informercials on there or used it to fulfill their E/I allotments because there are few watching at the time...

I've seen where infomercials aired at that hour on some stations, but I'd like to see the network affiliate that airs E/I programming at that time! (I'm not doubting you; it's just something that's unorthodox to most; but in today's broadcasting climate, anything is possible...)

WLUK in Green Bay for the longest time plugged in either "The Magic School Bus" from the Fox Kids lineup or "Little House" (which they counted as E/I) for many years at least until 2003. There's also the case of KITV in Honolulu, which airs ABC Kids on weekdays for an hour Monday-Wednesday at 11am instead of Saturdays due to sports overruns. And I know before Weigel bought WJJA in Racine-Milwaukee to turn it into WBME they put their E/I content on from 10am-11am daily.

 

[Irishfl]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

A remedy for whom? If their existing deal works, they have no need of a remedy. If I'm Disney, I see no need to worry all that much about what amounts to a small issue. It's not like it hurts their main prime time schedule.

It does hurt them however. 3 times they have to air the 700 club, and while yes none are in the prime time, the first 2 interupt any flow the network might be trying to build. Remember the whole Conan argument that he got no lead in because of leno's awful prime time ratings? Same goes here. ABC family, and fox before them have never been able to build any form of late night programing inpart because of the 11:00PM airing of the 700 club. Its has always been after 11:00 they're done for the day. On weekends when there's no 700 club, I believe abc family has programing until 2:00, before going to paid advertisements.

Then we have the telethons. CBN just had one of its all weekend long hijacking telethons a few weeks ago. Its kindof hard to compete with other networks when you have to tag out so often.

Anyway, I agree with ABC knew what it was getting when they bought the network. Thats why I was just wondering if they had the chance to bail on such an agreement when they launched ABC family HD.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

It does hurt them however. 3 times they have to air the 700 club, and while yes none are in the prime time, the first 2 interrupt any flow the network might be trying to build. Remember the whole Conan argument that he got no lead in because of Leno's awful prime time ratings? Same goes here. ABC family, and fox before them have never been able to build any form of late night programing in part because of the 11:00PM airing of the 700 club. Its has always been after 11:00 they're done for the day. On weekends when there's no 700 club, I believe abc family has programing until 2:00, before going to paid advertisements.

Then we have the telethons. CBN just had one of its all weekend long hijacking telethons a few weeks ago. Its kind of hard to compete with other networks when you have to tag out so often.

My points exactly.

 

[cowboybud]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

3 times they have to air the 700 club, and while yes none are in the prime time, the first 2 interupt any flow the network might be trying to build. Remember the whole Conan argument that he got no lead in because of leno's awful prime time ratings? Same goes here. ABC family, and fox before them have never been able to build any form of late night programing inpart because of the 11:00PM airing of the 700 club. Its has always been after 11:00 they're done for the day.

And since they're (in theory) a "family" channel, that's how it should be.

 

[ding12]

Re: Did Disney miss a golden opportunity to ditch the 700 club?

It does hurt them however. 3 times they have to air the 700 club, and while yes none are in the prime time, the first 2 interupt any flow the network might be trying to build.

I believe DirecTV and Dish Network customers in Mountain and Pacific Time zones get The 700 Club at prime time on ABC Family.

If Disney/ABC launched a XYZ HD channel with 95% identical programming to ABC Family SD, minus the 700 Club, but with additional runs of America's Funniest Videos, it still wouldn't fix the situation. They'd still have a B rate channel.

If they invested in the channel to put better programming, they'd have to put it on the ABC Family SD channel, as it has the primary exposure. It's like HBO wouldn't run entirely new original expensive programming on HBO HD, but not run it on HBO SD.

With ABC Family SD, they're back at ground zero. The 700 Club interrupts flow as you mentioned.

I don't think there is a win win situation now. Maybe Disney/ABC can purchase another channel, like TV Land (a channel Viacom doesn't know what to do with as it seems), or acquire AMC, or some weak channel in the cable universe, and revamp it to be the better ABC on cable network (to compete against TBS TNT USA FX Spike etc.), while dumping random stuff like Andy Griffith, Roseanne, America's Funniest Home Video, AMC commercial ridden movies, with The 700 Club, on ABC Family.

However it doesn't seem Disney is all that into acquisition at this point. They likely see the success of CBS and Viacom splitting ways as more optimal.