One Less Shopping Network

[Markxxx]

The infomercials and shopping networks are very profitable simply because they are martketing gone to the extreme. As soon as an infomerical airs the marketing company can tell by the number of phone calls DURING not after but DURING the show if the product is worth hawking.

There is no loss if the product doesn't go it's pulled. Since marketing is done by the people backing the inventions there is little cost to stations or the networks. Depending on the agreement the stations may even get percentage of the sales.

And a lot of this is marketing. For instance the lady who invented the self wringing mop said she tried to sell it on one of the shopping networks twice and failed. Then she hit the right pitch and boom, she's now loded.

So informercials are like winning a lot of small lotteries. Instead of winning the MegaMillions the consistantly win small lotteries that add up fast.

 

[byron]

They should all merge and die. End of story. Satellite radio wants to merge. Cable television companies merged. Telephone companies got split up, reformed as new smaller megababybells, and now slowly come back together and masquerade around under the same named they originally broke away from. (B-ongggg!) So in the midst of all these examples, why can't home shopping companies just try this once all over themselves and just all fail out into one? They all sell the same crap anyway. And if they don't ... whoever ends up actually putting out the quality merchandise should just buy out all of the shady bastards that don't. Then put them all on some 24-hr low-budget home shopping channel in Albuquerque, NM (sorry you guys) or somewhere else. Did I mention I hate home shopping channels? It seems like 5 or 6 of them buffer your cable or satellite bill's rising cost-ridden Standard tv service plan each month. D-I-E.

 

[jc]

Time Warner here switches off Animal Planet from 2AM-8AM and replaces it with a feed of an infomercial network. They used to do the same with BET.

Cable One here usually does the same thing with Spike TV during that time period as well.

 

[MarcB]

Cable One here usually does the same thing with Spike TV during that time period as well.

No big loss. Reruns of The Shield or Movies air 2AM-4AM. Then 4AM-9AM Spike runs infomercials including for those Porno Videos and Jimmy Swaggart Ministires and Peter Popoff Minsitries.

 

[FightingIrish]

You really have to wonder how much these networks actually make.

I worked for a shopping channel back in the late 80s. One of the biggies. I took phone orders.

Believe it or not, home shopping does very well. Phone banks were constantly overloaded (and there were a lot of people taking orders). The fastest-moving the stuff was the crappy costume jewelry, ugly doll collections, and the stuff you'd least expect. The uglier the stuff was, the faster it moved. I couldn't believe it.

I learned a lot about people working there.

 

[Gatorman]

No-one mentioned this yet, but would anyone like to speculate what programming could replace AS on former PBS station WQEX in Pittsburgh?

 

[PaulKTF]

No-one mentioned this yet, but would anyone like to speculate what programming could replace AS on former PBS station WQEX in Pittsburgh?

Or on the (very low power) WTAS Channel 43 in Waukesha? Hmmm...

 

[MarcB]

No-one mentioned this yet, but would anyone like to speculate what programming could replace AS on former PBS station WQEX in Pittsburgh?

Depends on a number of things. My understanding is that HSN is LMAing the station to run AS on it. If they're still under an LMA contract they could very well switch over to the main HSN Network.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

Does anyone know when this LMA began? I cna't find it in the FCC"s CDBS Database....

 

[RFLA]

I find most LMA agreements are not sent to the FCC as it's a sales agreement technically if I remeber

But unless the station is in a sale, I haven't seen LMAs come up usually...

Unless Paul can tell me how... as the searching I've done there doesn't usually turn stuff up like that...

RFLA

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

If the FCC should make anything illegal, they should make it illegal for the cable companies to cut off networks and replace them with infomercial networks overnight.

Time Warner here switches off Animal Planet from 2AM-8AM and replaces it with a feed of an infomercial network. They used to do the same with BET.

Strangely enough...Here in Denver, Comcast cuts off Comedy Central on Channel 61 at a certain hour too, but instead of going to an informercial network (Why should they when they have that joke of a "network" called CET to run infomercials on?), they instead simulcast Bravo, which can also be seen on Digital Channel 180.

And the weird part is those are THE ONLY two channels they do that with.

Really strange...

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

The shop-at-home thing has gotten so bad that even NBC does it very early in the morning, after they finish their Tonight Show repeat at 3:30pm. I think it comes on at about 4:30am eastern til 5:30am. Sad, really.

Well since they can't compete with ABC & CBS, both of which I believe are live as well as the cable nets in rerun mode, why not simulcast ShopNBC on the main network?

Think of all those affiliates who can't afford to run syndicated programming (Much less infomercials) at hours in which people aren't likely to be up watching TV.

Sure beats airing so called "religion" or going off the air for the rest of the night.

Just something to think about.

Cheers

 

[jc]

No big loss. Reruns of The Shield or Movies air 2AM-4AM. Then 4AM-9AM Spike runs infomercials including for those Porno Videos and Jimmy Swaggart Ministires and Peter Popoff Minsitries.

I agree with that to a certain extent except for the fact that Spike sometimes runs the Three Stooges at 3 AM (2 AM my time) on Sunday nights.