Pappas broadcasting to drop Azteca on all stations that carry the programming citing no growth in ratings. They are currently looking to program the stations with something else. They say that in Houston and in San Francisco, they are actively looking for another station to carry Azteca, (ch. 51 or 61?)......Meanwhile ch. 57 is looking for programming on 6/1,.....RTN (Retro Television Network) is looking to add stations for a national rollout. RTN is a "better" version of TV Land in the making...They rollout 6/4, I think.
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KAZH (Channel 57) Houston to drop Azteca America on 6/1/2007
- Thread starter hifidistortion
- Start date
Well, I guess its a good thing Pappas backed away from their original stated position of moving all of their operated stations to Azteca America - including all of their US network affiliates. I imagine none of their stations - the biggest of which KDBC-4-El Paso was planning on dumping CBS - would have had an easy time regaining their network affiliations if they had.
KAZH could turn into a duopoly partner, either through a sale or LMA/LSA. KPRC/KHOU/KTRK have yet to acquire a sister operation; rather odd these days for a market the size of Houston.
Azteca never really got much traction here, and the transmitter upgrade a few years ago didn't seem to have much impact.
Azteca never really got much traction here, and the transmitter upgrade a few years ago didn't seem to have much impact.
hifidistortion said:
Press release about RTN is here: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070320/cltu183.html?.v=7
Googling RTN also brings up this Buffalo station's site: http://rtn11.com/
Apparently RTN's business/programming model allows stations to customize their show lineup. I'm curious as to how many stations will run this as their primary programming, or place it on a digital subchannel.
Mediafrog+ said:
The way I read it, RTN looks like it's trying to pry affiliates away from MyNetwork TV due to the poor ratings it's been getting. As I understand it, Equity is dropping My from several of its stations due to its poor performance and will be replacing it with RTN.
However, I could see someone like Pappas picking it up for some of its struggling stations. After all, not everyone will end up dropping My.
RTN is clearly targeted for digital multicast channels -- but that's not to say that it won't end up on primary channels in some markets.
As for the "customized" schedule for each station, I have a suspicion about that. The majority of the programming that has been mentioned as coming from CBS Paramount for this network is stuff that they are already offering in syndication. That means that some of it has already been sold in various markets. Notably, Perry Mason is already running in several markets, including Portland, OR, Spokane, and (until recently) here in Dallas/Fort Worth. Another show mentioned in that article is Hawaii Five-O, which is now running in Dallas/Fort Worth on KFWD. Which means that if RTN were to pick up an affiliate here, that affiliate would not be able to clear Hawaii Five-O as part of the RTN package locally. Similarly, RTN affiliates in Spokane and Portland wouldn't be able to run Perry Mason as part of the network package.
In other words, the RTN feed will be customized by market to reflect the fact that not all of their programs are available in all of the markets that the network will run in. It may even be the case that the RTN affiliate could lose a program that it is running from the network if another station in the same market is willing to make a cash purchase of the local syndication rights for the same program.
It's not a bad deal for anyone involved. For CBS, it means the opportunity to get some revenue from these programs through RTN without losing the option of making more money through cash syndication. For RTN, it means the opportunity to carry some pretty good programs in many markets. For RTN affiliates, it means a full schedule of classic TV programs for now out-of-pocket cash. And for us as viewers, it means more opportunities to see something other than the same old "Senifeld/Friends/Raymond" reruns that are on in every market.
As for the "customized" schedule for each station, I have a suspicion about that. The majority of the programming that has been mentioned as coming from CBS Paramount for this network is stuff that they are already offering in syndication. That means that some of it has already been sold in various markets. Notably, Perry Mason is already running in several markets, including Portland, OR, Spokane, and (until recently) here in Dallas/Fort Worth. Another show mentioned in that article is Hawaii Five-O, which is now running in Dallas/Fort Worth on KFWD. Which means that if RTN were to pick up an affiliate here, that affiliate would not be able to clear Hawaii Five-O as part of the RTN package locally. Similarly, RTN affiliates in Spokane and Portland wouldn't be able to run Perry Mason as part of the network package.
In other words, the RTN feed will be customized by market to reflect the fact that not all of their programs are available in all of the markets that the network will run in. It may even be the case that the RTN affiliate could lose a program that it is running from the network if another station in the same market is willing to make a cash purchase of the local syndication rights for the same program.
It's not a bad deal for anyone involved. For CBS, it means the opportunity to get some revenue from these programs through RTN without losing the option of making more money through cash syndication. For RTN, it means the opportunity to carry some pretty good programs in many markets. For RTN affiliates, it means a full schedule of classic TV programs for now out-of-pocket cash. And for us as viewers, it means more opportunities to see something other than the same old "Senifeld/Friends/Raymond" reruns that are on in every market.
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