TCM-TCT- Turner Classic Television Why not?

[Don62]

Posts: 20




Re: Is It Just Me Or Does TV Land Suck Now?
I posted this at the end of the "TV Land sucks" ( it does ) thread, but want it to gain a little wider exposure in its own thread.


I think it would be great if Turner started TCT- Turner Classic Television.

Kind of similar to TCM- but all TV from a wide variety of decades. There wouldn't have to be hosts introducing every show. Perhaps a host appears here and there to introduce a fairly obscure show that many wouldn't recall today (early 50s B&W show) but you generally wouldn't need a live announcer in the way TCM has.

I would personally have it run earl- to mid-50s to mid- to late-70s with only a sprinkling of shows earlier or later. This channel should focus on classic TV - not the junk NON and TVL now consider "classic." I wouldn't mind a bit if zero 80s shows were included.

Surely there's room for such a network.

How does TCM survive if the movies it shows appeal to older people?
I see silent films and other very old films.

With all the channels out there, and the burgeoning Baby Boomer generation, why not have such a channel?

Are TV PDs so blind they can't see the audience that's ready to view these shows?

 

[ercjncpr]

It wouldn't work because of rights issues, lack of programming from the 50s and 60s (a lot of those shows probably do not exist in enough episodes to fill a schedule 24/7) and small audience numbers. There is a reason TV Land is no longer programming the wide variety of shows that they used to, so if it isn't working for them, why would it work for AOL Time Warner? I personally would be very happy to see it work though!

 

[Radiofreewill]

Plus there's already a TCT - Tri-State Christain Television, a small network of stations stretching from Illinois to Buffalo. And who's to say they wouldn't want to wring a little money out of TimeWarner in the name of the Lord?

 

[Al Timiter]

I would love to see TCT or something similar work. ALN, which used to be called Good Life TV, is showing some of those hour long dramas from the late 50's and 60's. Warner Bros. did a ton of westerns and detective shows. A ton. There's not a lack of programming, only a lack of a business model. Sure, it wouldn't have as many viewers as Nick or TVLand but you could put the channel on a premium basis. I would gladly pay 10.00 per month, like one does to get HBO, for TCT. BTW, other than their night programming ALN is pretty dreadful. They are the logical choice but they seem content to run infommercials and Graham Kerr's cooking show.

 

[MBird]

At least you can see ALN where you live.

Our cable lineup is OK, but we seem to have every urban music channel available and no outlets for any worthwhile classic TV -- except occasionally TVLand. What Nick at Nite is showing these days, to me, is NOT CLASSIC.

What justifies Fresh Prince a classic? Nick at Nite resembles a low-power UHF with its current programming sensibilities, not the hip, cocky N@N we knew in the 1980s. Remember those spots...

Your boss is a butthead.
Your dry cleaning didn't come back.
Donna Reed is there.
[some stupid non-sequitur clip from the show]
Nick At Nite.

 

[Tim L]

I had an idea awhile back..There is a channel called Classic Arts on Dish Network..(Because it's on a different Satellite than most Dish Channels, I am not seeing it currently), It shows nothing but opera, music and drama clips from shows like the old Voice Of Firestone, etc. This channel is offered free as time filler for any station, or in full for any cable provider that wants it. If someone had the money and wasnt worried about making a profit, I can see a possilbility for something called say, "Classic Television Network"..Someone, or a group of people, buys the rights to say 1947-1975 TV shows..Mostly obscure but maybe some known ones. But run it the same as Classic Arts-Non commercial (at first) Offer the programming free to whoever wants it..Ratings would not be a factor since You wouldnt be making a profit anyway..And there are literally hundreds of episodes of shows out there that havent been seen anywhere since the 1950's including shows never in syndication..

 

[chuckydoll]

A non-starter for all the wrong reasons

It wouldn't work because of rights issues, lack of programming from the 50s and 60s (a lot of those shows probably do not exist in enough episodes to fill a schedule 24/7) and small audience numbers.

There's also channel space to deal with on cable systems, DirecTV and Dish Network.

 

[sack]

I just can't understand why it wouldn't be possible to have enough shows for this kind of network. Theres 50 years of television history, it can't be all bad.

My idea is, why not program the channel as if it was a traditional network station. Do I have to see 2 episodes of anything back to back,, and does it have to be on every night? Arent there enough shows available to run a typical network evening schedual with different shows every night? Maybe even duplicate old network scheduals likie the CBS Monday lineup from the 60s, the ABC Thursday lineup from the 70s (just examples). Yes, its very nostalgic, but isnt that what this kind of network would be about?

I don't know much about clearance and royalties and all that for TV, so my comments may be a little uneducated, but I would like to hear comments from those in the know. Could this work?

 

[ixnay]

Plus there's already a TCT - Tri-State Christain Television, a small network of stations stretching from Illinois to Buffalo. And who's to say they wouldn't want to wring a little money out of TimeWarner in the name of the Lord?

Didn't Ted Turner, when he relettered WTCG, buy "WTBS" from a station in Boston or someplace?

ixnay

 

[CrankyYankee]

Didn't Ted Turner, when he relettered WTCG, buy "WTBS" from a station in Boston or someplace?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Correct. He made a substantial donation to MIT in exchange for the calls which belonged to it's campus-run radio station.

 

[bpatrick]

I'm not sure a TCT could get the Paramount/Viacom
library (I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, Gunsmoke, etc.),
but as part of Time Warner I would think they could
get the Warner Brothers shows playing on American
Life TV; among others, shows like Maverick, Cheyenne,
77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, to name a
few. Then there are shows I'm not sure who owns:
the original Dragnet (with Ben Alexander as Jack Webb's
partner), the Ziv shows like Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt,
The Millionaire, You Bet Your Life, The Life Of Riley (both
with Gleason and with William Bendix), etc. And I agree
that there's no reason to play back-to-back episodes;
it would be better--and make the shows go farther--if
they didn't. BTW, if they could reach over to Comedy
Central and pick up some of the old Steve Allen, Ernie
Kovacs, and Spike Jones shows (Jack Benny, too), it
would be a real treat for comedy lovers.

 

[Braves2005]

I'm not sure a TCT could get the Paramount/Viacom
library (I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, Gunsmoke, etc.),
but as part of Time Warner I would think they could
get the Warner Brothers shows playing on American
Life TV; among others, shows like Maverick, Cheyenne,
77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, to name a
few. Then there are shows I'm not sure who owns:
the original Dragnet (with Ben Alexander as Jack Webb's
partner), the Ziv shows like Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt,
The Millionaire, You Bet Your Life, The Life Of Riley (both
with Gleason and with William Bendix), etc. And I agree
that there's no reason to play back-to-back episodes;
it would be better--and make the shows go farther--if
they didn't. BTW, if they could reach over to Comedy
Central and pick up some of the old Steve Allen, Ernie
Kovacs, and Spike Jones shows (Jack Benny, too), it
would be a real treat for comedy lovers.

The 50's version of Dragnet seems to have fallen into public domain despite being owned by the estate of Jack Webb, and so have You Bet Your Life and Life of Riley. They have both fallen into the public domain as well. Don't know the status of The Millionaire or Sea Hunt, but I know the last time I saw Sea Hunt was when WGN aired it during the mid 80's. You can bet that a lot of shows that you see for sale at stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree, etc. have fallen into the public domain.

I found some VHS tapes at a garage sale which feature Highway Patrol, one episode from the 1956-1957 season of The Danny Thomas Show where Danny was a widower after Jean Hagen left the show, Mr. and Mrs. North, and a bunch of old shows.

As for the Life of Riley and the Jackie Gleason episodes from 1949-1950, I have heard a long time ago that these belonged to Jackie Gleason's estate as well.

 

[Kurt Toy]

I'm pretty sure MGM-Sony owns most, if not all, of the Ziv library.

 

[ultravox]

There already is a network with clasics its callec RTN (Retro Television Network) and they have several affiliets acrros the USA. I watch the one in St Louis. But if you have a Satalight dish (Free To Air) you can recieve all of them

 

[ercjncpr]

There already is a network with clasics its callec RTN (Retro Television Network) and they have several affiliets acrros the USA. I watch the one in St Louis. But if you have a Satalight dish (Free To Air) you can recieve all of them

All RTN is doing is what TV Land and N@N are already doing (also see http://www.kdoctv.net/). What many of us are talking about here are the rarer obscure shows that haven't been shown in at least a decade or more, if at all.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Also, I think Trinity Broadcasting Network should launch a new channel similar to TV Land called TBN Classic or something. TBN has produced more original programs than any other Christian network in their 34 years, and I'm sure they have maintained a vast library of their stuff including "Praise The Lord."

Besides, TBN did run old "PTL" shows (all in their entirety; no edits) in honor of their 30th anniversary in 2003.

Jonathan Allen

 

[Radiofreewill]

Also, I think Trinity Broadcasting Network should launch a new channel similar to TV Land called TBN Classic or something. TBN has produced more original programs than any other Christian network in their 34 years, and I'm sure they have maintained a vast library of their stuff including "Praise The Lord."

No offense, but ewwwww! The current stuff is bad enough. And I'm not just talking about TBN here...

 

[ercjncpr]

Also, I think Trinity Broadcasting Network should launch a new channel similar to TV Land called TBN Classic or something. TBN has produced more original programs than any other Christian network in their 34 years, and I'm sure they have maintained a vast library of their stuff including "Praise The Lord."

Besides, TBN did run old "PTL" shows (all in their entirety; no edits) in honor of their 30th anniversary in 2003.

Jonathan Allen

Oh golly, gee whiz, retro Jim Bakker shows! (Excuse me while I go and throw up)

 

[johnnya2k6]

Also, I think Trinity Broadcasting Network should launch a new channel similar to TV Land called TBN Classic or something. TBN has produced more original programs than any other Christian network in their 34 years, and I'm sure they have maintained a vast library of their stuff including "Praise The Lord."

Besides, TBN did run old "PTL" shows (all in their entirety; no edits) in honor of their 30th anniversary in 2003.

Jonathan Allen

Oh golly, gee whiz, retro Jim Bakker shows! (Excuse me while I go and throw up)

No, no; I'm talking about "Praise The Lord", TBN's flagship show (not the PTL Club)!

Jonathan Allen

 

[ercjncpr]

Also, I think Trinity Broadcasting Network should launch a new channel similar to TV Land called TBN Classic or something. TBN has produced more original programs than any other Christian network in their 34 years, and I'm sure they have maintained a vast library of their stuff including "Praise The Lord."

Besides, TBN did run old "PTL" shows (all in their entirety; no edits) in honor of their 30th anniversary in 2003.

Jonathan Allen

Oh golly, gee whiz, retro Jim Bakker shows! (Excuse me while I go and throw up)

No, no; I'm talking about "Praise The Lord", TBN's flagship show (not the PTL Club)!

Jonathan Allen

Did you know, btw, that Jim Bakker was Paul Crouch's original partner in TBN in 1973? I live in TBN's home area (The OC as TV viewers would know it) and I actually recall their early broadcasts.