THE BEST NETWORK FLIP/CHANGE IN 2010 WAS.......

[gregg75]

What do you think was the best network flip/change in 2010?

Discover Kids became HUB
Gospel Music Channel became GMC
TV GUIDE became the TV GUIDE NETWORK
OR
some other network change

Which is in better shape and most likely to make strides, moving into 2011?

 

[1069_KIFR]

NBC's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to
TBS's Conan!

 

[MarcB]

TV GUIDE became the TV GUIDE NETWORK

I could've sworn they were supposed to drop listings this year. They still have listings. COMCAST and COX. Although they're dyslexic on the COX system having TRU-TV listed as being on 69 instead of 96.

And not that I care, but what happened to ABC Family's switch to ABCF?

 

[gregg75]

Yes TV GUIDE is a network now. Mostly "Entertainment Tonight" type shows on there though.
They also have "Ugly Betty" "Weeds" and "Just Shoot Me". They are on DirecTV and may slowly make
their way back to other cable systems.

I think ABC to ABCF was more of a name change, but not positive.

 

[azumanga]

what happened to ABC Family's switch to ABCF?

Simple -- Pat Robertson wouldn't allow it.

 

[BRNout]

TV GUIDE became the TV GUIDE NETWORK

I could've sworn they were supposed to drop listings this year. They still have listings. COMCAST and COX. Although they're dyslexic on the COX system having TRU-TV listed as being on 69 instead of 96.

And not that I care, but what happened to ABC Family's switch to ABCF?

They really need to dump the listings to be viable! I'll give you an example: the other day, Mrs. BRNout found a movie in our EPG listings that she wanted to watch - on TVGN. So, she tunes in and starts to watch. Then upon seeing the continuing 2-line rolling listings, she proclaims "why doesn't this go away!" Followed by "oh how boring!" And, finally, "I can't watch this - why would this channel have that stupid stuff on the screen all the time?" The channel was switched and that was that.

Honestly, it's 2010 (almost 2011) and high time for TVGN to ditch the listings for good. They are an anachronism that only serve to damage whatever it is that they're trying to program there.

 

[KTU_Fan]

I gotta go with DK to Hub, its a good network. Hope it sticks around

 

[gregg75]

I'm not sure where you are getting the TV Guide listings from. On DirecTV it is straight
network without the listings. Could it be your cable company is doing this "by request"
of viewers who miss the listings?

I think the Discovery Kids to HUB was the best switch also. I'm actually watching it
sometimes.

 

[DToTheJ]

Gospel Music Channel became GMC

Come on, does that really count? That's like Music Television announcing they've become MTV.

 

[BRNout]

I'm not sure where you are getting the TV Guide listings from. On DirecTV it is straight
network without the listings. Could it be your cable company is doing this "by request"
of viewers who miss the listings?

I think the Discovery Kids to HUB was the best switch also. I'm actually watching it
sometimes.

Well, you have to remember that TVGN tailors the listings to each cable system, out of necessity. I don't know if they ever actually provided listings on DirectTV or Dish because there was never any need for that. But their setup is bound to depend on the cable system. We have Comcast, so I am sure that this is a common problem for the network.

 

[ansky212]

On Verizon Fios there are no listings on TV Guide Network.

 

[gregg75]

I didn't think TV GUIDE provided anybody with schedule grids anymore?????

Gospel Music Channel.................changed from music and religious........they have about
7 or 8 regular shows now.

 

[w00t]

Gospel Music Channel became GMC

Come on, does that really count? That's like Music Television announcing they've become MTV.

I switched from Dish to Direct and have been trying to figure out what "GMC" is. A GMC is what I drive, it isn't a network. I'm surprised they were able to use that as a trademark.

 

[nathannah]

Gospel Music Channel became GMC

Come on, does that really count? That's like Music Television announcing they've become MTV.

I switched from Dish to Direct and have been trying to figure out what "GMC" is. A GMC is what I drive, it isn't a network. I'm surprised they were able to use that as a trademark.

The network's logo is rendered in lower-case rather than upper-case...hello trademark loophole ;D!

And as for what GMC is, it was what was Gospel Music Channel which aired nothing but Christian music videos, until they got a whole bunch of sitcoms and old PAX content and had to rebrand (the Christian music is still on Sundays).

They're pretty much stuck in the 'religion' and 'faith and values' tiers so they figure by taking Hallmark Channel's strategy to get out of that niche in the 90's when they were Faith & Values/Odyssey, they can get a much better channel position; basically they want to distance themselves from their channel neighbors (usually TBN and Daystar) as much as they can.

 

[cowboybud]

Discover Kids became HUB

So that's where HUB came from. I enjoy the nightly Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley/Batman (Adam West) block.

 

[BRNout]

I didn't think TV GUIDE provided anybody with schedule grids anymore?????

They still do - in many places. On our Comcast system, they've squished the listings scroll down to 2 channels at a time. I've been in hotels served by other (non-Comcast) cable systems where the listings still took up more of the screen.

 

[gregg75]

Are you sure it's not the cable company doing it? I can't understand why TV GUIDE would
quit doing this for the rest of the country but keep it up for Dothan, Alabama?????

 

[BRNout]

Are you sure it's not the cable company doing it? I can't understand why TV GUIDE would
quit doing this for the rest of the country but keep it up for Dothan, Alabama?????

No........TV Guide network is providing the service, not the cable company. And yes, they're still doing it in Chicago, among many other markets (not sure why you mentioned Dothan, AL - but I'd believe it).

TVG provides the listings to the cable company - they are tailored for each system. TVG does the work. Think about it: what good would it do for them to feed the schedules via satellite? How would local channels be accounted for? Makes perfect sense that the raw feed wouldn't have the listings, just as the dish feed of the Weather Channel doesn't have "your local forecast".

I'm surprised that so many of you here that haven't managed to connect those dots.

It's my opinion that they should just drop all the listings, but perhaps there are contractual obligations that get in the way of that. The entire concept is redundant for a growing majority of cable subscribers because they have instant programming schedules at their fingertips thanks to their digital box. And, satellite subs NEVER needed the service for the same reason.

 

[mnradiofan]

Are you sure it's not the cable company doing it? I can't understand why TV GUIDE would
quit doing this for the rest of the country but keep it up for Dothan, Alabama?????

No........TV Guide network is providing the service, not the cable company. And yes, they're still doing it in Chicago, among many other markets (not sure why you mentioned Dothan, AL - but I'd believe it).

TVG provides the listings to the cable company - they are tailored for each system. TVG does the work. Think about it: what good would it do for them to feed the schedules via satellite? How would local channels be accounted for? Makes perfect sense that the raw feed wouldn't have the listings, just as the dish feed of the Weather Channel doesn't have "your local forecast".

I'm surprised that so many of you here that haven't managed to connect those dots.

It's my opinion that they should just drop all the listings, but perhaps there are contractual obligations that get in the way of that. The entire concept is redundant for a growing majority of cable subscribers because they have instant programming schedules at their fingertips thanks to their digital box. And, satellite subs NEVER needed the service for the same reason.

TV Guide channel is run on a modified Windows 2000 box (at least as of last check). I've never played with one myself, but basically BOTH people are right. TV Guide sends the data (either over sat or internet, not sure these days), and it's left up to the local cable company to assign that data to channel numbers (hence them being so wrong in so many places). So, for example, they only send out one set of listings for TBS Eastern feed, and then locally the cable companies assign that "feed" to a channel number. Once the channel number is assigned, the listings continue forever.

I had thought that TVGN actually controlled how many lines of listings were on screen at once, but maybe I'm wrong. I remember the width used to be changed depending on what programming was being aired at the time, but that was a while ago. Also, since the feed no longer is windowed (to show previews of upcoming shows) presumably most cable companies could just pull the box out and plug the feed in directly to get rid of the listings. I'm not sure though, since 3 months ago I moved to a system that no longer carries TVGN.

Also, the original plan for the network when Lionsgate took over was to get rid of the listings entirely, not really sure what the holdup is to making this a reality. I know Time Warner and Mediacom both threatened to drop them if they got rid of the listings, but I'm not sure if that is the reason they didn't or whether it's a contractual thing.

The sat providers (Dish and Direct TV) didn't carry TVGN at first, because there was no purpose. It wasn't until later that TVGN agreed to provide them a full screen feed that the network was added.

 

[Robnoxious]

The best network flip "off" was in Direct TV telling G4 to take a hike.

Absolutely nothing of value was lost.