ION Television: how much longer will it last?

[arnoldevns]

You all amuse me with your uninformed speculations. Ion was the subject of another thread on another r-i board last week after a magazine interview with the guy running Ion. The network is in good shape and has improved ratings with this lineup. Now they are looking to beef up the localism of their owned and operated stations. Simply put: it isn't going away.

 

[landtuna]

It's already gone away.....in my house.

 

[azumanga]

The network is in good shape and has improved ratings with this lineup. Now they are looking to beef up the localism of their owned and operated stations. Simply put: it isn't going away.

But there has to be a better way to do it, other, than running the same three dramas day in and day out, and running the same handful of films on weekends.

 

[carolinaradio]

Ion's lineup is alright now, but will not be as good when they lose Family Feud and NCIS. I look for a drop in ratings with them falling back to last place.

 

[gregg75]

I agree with a previous poster. I used to watch them in their Mama's Family,
Wonder Years days, when they made the switch so did I.

 

[sandiegoinexile]

The network is in good shape and has improved ratings with this lineup. Now they are looking to beef up the localism of their owned and operated stations. Simply put: it isn't going away.

But there has to be a better way to do it, other, than running the same three dramas day in and day out, and running the same handful of films on weekends.

Isn't this exactly how countless cable channels program their stations? TNT, Spike, Oxygen, Bravo, and many others are doing the exact same type of "marathon" programming. When I scan listings for lots of cable channels, there will be anywhere from 4-10 episodes back-to-back-to-back. It isn't how I would run a station, nor a viewing pattern that I follow, yet there must be research to show that strategy works. Perhaps the availability of TV on DVD proved that fans will seek out and stay tuned for these marathons. A few months ago, I noticed that CHILLER was showing all 10 consecutive episodes of long-cancelled-ago CBS Wolf Lake. I DVR'd all of them and had a nice stockpile of programming to watch one lazy afternoon/evening......

 

[Robnoxious]

Ion airs M*A*S*H in a large block format on weekend afternoons. I know I've flipped by it as recently as 2 weeks ago. Also My Name Is Earl appears here and there but not in a consistent time slot. I think Ion throws Earl on to fill after weekend movies that end at the bottom of the hour.

 

[arnoldevns]

The network is in good shape and has improved ratings with this lineup. Now they are looking to beef up the localism of their owned and operated stations. Simply put: it isn't going away.

But there has to be a better way to do it, other, than running the same three dramas day in and day out, and running the same handful of films on weekends.

Isn't this exactly how countless cable channels program their stations? TNT, Spike, Oxygen, Bravo, and many others are doing the exact same type of "marathon" programming. When I scan listings for lots of cable channels, there will be anywhere from 4-10 episodes back-to-back-to-back. It isn't how I would run a station, nor a viewing pattern that I follow, yet there must be research to show that strategy works. Perhaps the availability of TV on DVD proved that fans will seek out and stay tuned for these marathons. A few months ago, I noticed that CHILLER was showing all 10 consecutive episodes of long-cancelled-ago CBS Wolf Lake. I DVR'd all of them and had a nice stockpile of programming to watch one lazy afternoon/evening......

yep, Ion is run more like a cable net than a broadcast net. It works. I would imagine they'll eventually shuffle the deck on what they air.

 

[Nate Wesley]

But there has to be a better way to do it, other, than running the same three dramas day in and day out, and running the same handful of films on weekends.

So why isn't anyone wondering when TNT will shut down?

Edit: SanDiegoInExile said it better than I could.

 

[carolinaradio]

The other networks such as USA, TNT, etc that do this have more than 3 shows and develop original programming. Ion shows no intention on developing original series (at least PAX did) or acquiring other series; they apparently plan to rely on the same 3. At least they usually have different shows in mini-marathon form every afternoon.

I think they should give consideration to selling their broadcast assets as well; are they really needed anymore? Don't many of these have poor signals that can be hard to receive OTA? Perhaps this money could be used to help them further develop their programming offerings.

 

[dave73]

The other networks such as USA, TNT, etc that do this have more than 3 shows and develop original programming. Ion shows no intention on developing original series (at least PAX did) or acquiring other series; they apparently plan to rely on the same 3. At least they usually have different shows in mini-marathon form every afternoon.

I think they should give consideration to selling their broadcast assets as well; are they really needed anymore? Don't many of these have poor signals that can be hard to receive OTA? Perhaps this money could be used to help them further develop their programming offerings.

Ion doesn't seem to be needed as there are other options out there. I don't know how of their O&O stations cover the entire market, but Ion Television O&O stations are full power stations. I know their Indianapolis area station doesn't cover the entire market, due to the station being licensed to Bloomington. Subchannel Ion Life relies heavily on Canadian shows, and even those are limited. That channel at least doesn't have 30 minute infomercials, though their commercials are more like 5-10 minute infomercials.

 

[TexasTom]

I think they should give consideration to selling their broadcast assets as well; are they really needed anymore? Don't many of these have poor signals that can be hard to receive OTA? Perhaps this money could be used to help them further develop their programming offerings.

Two words: must carry.

Those broadcast signals help get them onto cable and satellite. Ion is also hoping that sub-channels and (eventually) mobile TV will become viable businesses.

 

[JeeperOne]

You know how CW & MyNetwork can be spared the corporate axe? (Obviously & most sadly, this seems like a novel concept too)

News & Sports.

How? Let's start with The CW.....

CW is part owned by Turner is it not? Turner has a sports department. They also own rights to NBA games. Here's what they could do.

Turner Sports could produce sporting events such as NBA games like ESPN does for ABC. Since TNT makes just as much $$$ off its dramas as it does with the NBA (If not more so), they could take their doubleheader nights & split them between The CW & TNT itself. Picture this.....

EAST COAST (Central & Mountain Time Zone CW affiliates would also follow this)

CW

8:00 PM NBA Basketball
10:30 PM Local News and/or other programming (Time approximate of course)

TNT

8:00 PM Dramas
10:00 PM NBA Basketball (Starting with 30 minute pre-game with the game itself being blacked out on TNT on the West Coast in lieu of the aforementioned dramas)

WEST COAST

CW

5:00 PM Local & Syndicated Programming
8:00 PM NBA Basketball (Starting with 30 minute pre-game with the game itself being blacked out on TNT)
10:30 PM Local News and/or other programming (Time approximate of course)

TNT

5:00 PM NBA Basketball
8:00 PM Dramas (Time approximate after post game of course)

MyNetwork could do the same thing. FSN could produce stuff such as College Football & Basketball for MyNetwork instead of confining it just to cable. How do the current News Corp execs besides Rupert Murdoch think Fox survived all these years? Once it had every night programmed, it started working on the weekends. Hence the reason why it snagged the NFL away from CBS (Until they snagged it away from NBC several years later) & snagged MLB away from BOTH NBC & ABC both of whom by then had the now-thankfully short-lived Baseball Network. The rest as they say is history.

As for news, CW would have access to CNN. It could produce programming for that network. MyNetwork has Fox News. It could produce programming for that network. Like NIGHTLY NEWSCASTS *Hint.....Hint* (They only take up 30 minutes).

I dunno. I may be wrong here (But I don't think I am)

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[Dan76]

I think Pat makes some great points. Besides, at this point, what do CW and MY have to lose? 5 viewers each? LOL

 

[1st of 5]

How and why does a garbage channel like ION even get investors and get on the air when they have nothing to show? When FOX finally broke through into the major network club, which had been jealously guarded by the big 3, at least they brought something completely different, like raunchy comedies depicting working class smucks, variety shows with current pop music acts and other stuff that I don't remember. Why couldn't/can't ION do the same? Since our TV programs are dubbed in foreign tongues and sold planetwide, why can't ION do the same with their shows for us? It would be something different, as long as they aren't all "scripted reality shows".

 

[Nate Wesley]

I remember Ion having a deal to air some drama produced for Canadian television. With CBS giving up on The Bridge so quickly (despite having the worst timeslot in the worst season of the year to debut a new show), maybe Ion could be the American home for other original shows from Global, CBC, and CTV.

 

[Markxxx]

Infomericals make money. They are easy money as well. You don't need to hire people to sell time on your station, if the infomercial fails, it gets replaced immediately and in some cases TV stations can even get a percentage.

The corporate world has changed much since FOX came aboard. I used to do a lot of budgeting, and now it simply is not enough to make a profit. You have to make the MOST profit.

And to be fair, look at it from another angle. We're all TV people we care about content, but investors don't.

Say I'm an investor, I want what? Money. You come to me and say ION made a 5% profit last year. Does everyone say "YES!!!!" No, they say this, "Could you have made more"? And heavenforbid if someone else in that room can show if you ran an infomerical you would've made 5.1% profit.

Because now your job is on the line and you have to explain to the investors, why you cost them that 0.1%.

Investors don't care about content, if you were to say "but our programs are better than infomericals," they'd reply, "So, with that extra 0.1% profit you should've made I could've bought DVDs"

FOX is a whole different ballgame as Murdoch was able to strong arm many people and had many friends, to pull strings. Like in the early 90s FOX was in bad shape and Mellon Bank called in their loan.

Murdoch told them if FOX fell so would Mellon Bank (probably not, but who knew) and that instead of calling in a loan he can't pay, they should be extending it, with cheaper terms so he can pay. And Mellon did and everything worked out fine. But it could've gone the other way.

We don't have a William S Paley or to a lesser degree Ted Turner who cared as much about content as profit.

 

[azumanga]

FOX is a whole different ballgame as Murdoch was able to strong arm many people and had many friends, to pull strings. Like in the early 90s FOX was in bad shape and Mellon Bank called in their loan.

Murdoch told them if FOX fell so would Mellon Bank (probably not, but who knew) and that instead of calling in a loan he can't pay, they should be extending it, with cheaper terms so he can pay. And Mellon did and everything worked out fine. But it could've gone the other way.

Of course, it was the early 1990s when "The Simpsons" became a huge hit for Fox, and Fox stolen NFC football from CBS, no doubt making Fox the money that would enable them to pay back the bank.

 

[Joe_Capitano]

CW is part owned by Turner is it not?

It is not. Time Warner holds an interest through its Warner Bros. unit, however.

That stated, if their contracts allow it Turner could enter into a time-buy arrangement with the CW (ala ESPN on ABC). I'm not sure they do right now.

 

[DToTheJ]

When FOX finally broke through into the major network club, which had been jealously guarded by the big 3, at least they brought something completely different, like raunchy comedies depicting working class smucks, variety shows with current pop music acts and other stuff that I don't remember. Why couldn't/can't ION do the same?

$$$.

Specifically, they believe that more $$$ would be made by running the Slap Chop infomercial for the 9,415th time.