TV Land ends (sorta).

[jras20]

I agree TV land has been going south for a very long time. I hardly watch it any more. Good thing I have RTN on Keye-2 its good still.

 

[Al Timiter]

Hi Everybody...It's hard to be unemotional when discussing these old shows. In the 90's it seemed TVLand was on a roll and our memories (and good television) would all be preserved in one place. I especially remember when Andy and Beaver were the two most popular shows on TVLand. At the same time, I was an Oldies radio DJ. It was a match made in heaven. Our radio station even bought local spots on the TVLand channel. Unfortunately, the demos just don't make sense, business wise now. It's true that older adults have more disposable dollars than anyone but Madison Avenue doesn't see it that way. It's a shame but it's true. My Oldies radio station changed formats and now TV Land is showing reality shows. It's really sad but I don't think we can do anything about. But venting here helps. Good luck to all of us finding our old "friends" again. BTW, sorry to be ignorant but what is RTN??? It's not on our system.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

BTW, sorry to be ignorant but what is RTN??? It's not on our system.

http://www.rtnville.com/

It's the "Retro Television Network", a TV Land-like network that mostly runs old TV shows. If you have it locally, it's likely on a digital subchannel of one of your local over-air stations, and perhaps up in the digital cable channels as well.

 

[BRNout]

How reprehensible! TV Land will be producing original programming and employing more people in the industry, instead of running Sanford & Son episodes for the 4,000th time.

Doesn't Viacom own TV Land? They also own Comedy Central. Maybe they'll cancel that tacky Daily Show and ridiculous Colbert Report and start running Sanford & Son there instead. Those two shows are just dead weight, anyway.

Besides, what's more topical that a 30 year old sitcom?

This comment (in its sarcastic way) nicely sums up the mindset that has led to these changes, yet also misses the point entirely. There are LOTS of cable channels out there that offer "reality" programming tailored to the sub-100 IQ crowd aged 25-54. However, TV Land was the go-to channel for classic TV. That was it's purpose. In this age of narrowcasting, that's the point. Serving a specific audience. Hundreds of channels offer the dreck that TVL is set to add. Very, very few offer shows like Sanford, Hogan, etc.

No, Viacom is greedy and has elected to raise its bottom line by 0.025 percent by tossing TVL's audience over the rail in favor of some "better" demographics. Which is fine for general entertainment networks, but leaves a very bad taste when a channel is created to serve a specific niche and then abandons that niche. That's why people are ticked off.

Frankly, Viacom has enough channels in place to cover all the bases from ages 2 to 100. Making all of the channels into basic clones of one another just removes more and more viewing options for an audience that already pays to gain access to these channels. Another reason why people are ticked off. Basically, every channel that Viacom has touched in the last 10 years has sunk to the lowest common denominator of programming quality.

Why should we have expected anything different for TV Land?

 

[MarkLaRoi]

It's a real pet peeve for me when an outlet comes on as [this] advertises as [this] yet changes to [that] along the way. I could see if the owners only had one or two outlets to work with, but that's hardly the case here.

 

[ercjncpr]

Actually there is a whole plethora of old style TV Land programming on the 'net , if you know where to look

 

[LKellerIII]

How reprehensible! TV Land will be producing original programming and employing more people in the industry, instead of running Sanford & Son episodes for the 4,000th time.

Doesn't Viacom own TV Land? They also own Comedy Central. Maybe they'll cancel that tacky Daily Show and ridiculous Colbert Report and start running Sanford & Son there instead. Those two shows are just dead weight, anyway.

Besides, what's more topical that a 30 year old sitcom?

This comment (in its sarcastic way) nicely sums up the mindset that has led to these changes, yet also misses the point entirely. There are LOTS of cable channels out there that offer "reality" programming tailored to the sub-100 IQ crowd aged 25-54. However, TV Land was the go-to channel for classic TV. That was it's purpose. In this age of narrowcasting, that's the point. Serving a specific audience. Hundreds of channels offer the dreck that TVL is set to add. Very, very few offer shows like Sanford, Hogan, etc.

No, Viacom is greedy and has elected to raise its bottom line by 0.025 percent by tossing TVL's audience over the rail in favor of some "better" demographics. Which is fine for general entertainment networks, but leaves a very bad taste when a channel is created to serve a specific niche and then abandons that niche. That's why people are ticked off.

Frankly, Viacom has enough channels in place to cover all the bases from ages 2 to 100. Making all of the channels into basic clones of one another just removes more and more viewing options for an audience that already pays to gain access to these channels. Another reason why people are ticked off. Basically, every channel that Viacom has touched in the last 10 years has sunk to the lowest common denominator of programming quality.

Why should we have expected anything different for TV Land?

Most cable channels have morphed into something very different than they were originally. USA was primarily a sports network. Bravo and A&E were supposedly dedicated to the "arts," which is laughable in retrospect when you consider the programming they run now. Spike TV started as The Nashville Network dedicated to country music.

Personally, I've found TV Land disappointing from the beginning. My main complaint has been the hideous commerical load and the necessary butchering of old shows to fit in those extra commercials. Then there has been the constant repetition of about a half dozen shows ad nauseum. Over the past few years, I would tune in TV Land frequently to see what was playing, but I rarely stayed to watch anything.

 

[kms575]

How reprehensible! TV Land will be producing original programming and employing more people in the industry, instead of running Sanford & Son episodes for the 4,000th time.

Doesn't Viacom own TV Land? They also own Comedy Central. Maybe they'll cancel that tacky Daily Show and ridiculous Colbert Report and start running Sanford & Son there instead. Those two shows are just dead weight, anyway.

Besides, what's more topical that a 30 year old sitcom?

You're kidding, right? Just wanted to check
Though, I think TVLand's original intent was to air re-runs. Maybe we need a new channel...The Re-Run Channel (Hey, hey, hey!).

 

[LKellerIII]

How reprehensible! TV Land will be producing original programming and employing more people in the industry, instead of running Sanford & Son episodes for the 4,000th time.

Doesn't Viacom own TV Land? They also own Comedy Central. Maybe they'll cancel that tacky Daily Show and ridiculous Colbert Report and start running Sanford & Son there instead. Those two shows are just dead weight, anyway.

Besides, what's more topical that a 30 year old sitcom?

You're kidding, right? Just wanted to check
Though, I think TVLand's original intent was to air re-runs. Maybe we need a new channel...The Re-Run Channel (Hey, hey, hey!).

Yes...I was kidding.

 

[imhomerjay]

Networks aren't bound to do exactly what they did at sign on. They target a demographic group in many cases, and as the people within that demo change, so too does the programming. MTV would be a joke if they tried to do now what worked for teens a generation ago.

What TV Land offered was a type of programming that appealed to a specific age. The original audience is, yes, older, and it's not Viacom's sole responsibility that not as many advertisers want to reach those people now. Instead, they're moving back to the age group they wanted in the first place, which consists of people with different tastes and different experiences, and yes, that can include the dreaded "reality" type show as part of what they like in entertainment (and not all shows that fit in such a large--too large--bucket are created equal, any more than all "comedies" or "dramas" can be categorized so broadly).

 

[anotherguyTN]

I asked this on another thread, but didn't get an answer. With MASH coming to ION, will it still be on either TV Land or Hallmark? Will either of them drop it?

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

balancing act / ALSO: please read part 2:

what about the cosby show...
an excellent amount of episodes that
presents entertainment, for the whole
family, it was *funny* but from the 80s,
not the 50-60's... however, it worked!
(cause the show was successfuL).

-?
should tv Land, add these shows...
full house/roseanne,(etc)...they werent
as 'award-winning' as the cosby show, and yes,
some (ADDs) had very short reRun-schedules,
maybe one or two full showings of all the
episodes, but......i think TV land, will continue
to shine!

they will air scrubs, three times,per episode,
(meaning, three full cycles), and when that
gets 'old' / say around mid-spring(09), it will slowly,
be phased out....from, say twice a nite, to one
scrubs, and one......jefferson's/or cosby show.

then....*bIG* memorial day weekend (announcement)...
that..................................."nothing" is coming...
tease it up, and july 4/weekend "seinfeld" marathon, to have
that run, til christmas, slowly work it out of the schedule, and...
valentines day ( what are we up to here, 2010?) will be the kickoff
for the love-themed show.....what ever that may - be-

tv-Land knows what they are doing...Just like RADIO!!!!
from day 1, of the car giveaway, to the moment you give it away
at the dealer...you live,breathe, eat, the '97 days of summer, and the
key to freedom; you can drive that liberty jeep!" / a week of wow,
that was our best contest.........ever! ooooh no, monday, guess what:

we are doing it over again!!
by adding scrubs, (one show) does not corrupt TvLand...thanks to repeats
i actually got into scrubs(it was not from the first run, on nbc)....

i would be worried, if the announcement was....tvLand, will be Tv_Nation, starting
monday sept. 15,2008 / "sounding the same" but, totally ReVamping every thing...
no quirky jingles, no shows older than, say 1985...but, that wont happen either,
u watch....it may be on at 2am, or sunday-morning-x-press, but tvLand, will
keep the classics, and what ever show they can get, will label them as
"new classics" / lets read this post/thread, in 12 months, and see how much
different, time warner, channel 37 is here in buffalo * HMM*

-PART ii/SIDE TOPIC:

wonders if:

tv Land, can provide, different programming to each of the cable providers,
say....buffalo gets more "i love lucy" (being close to jamestown) and the
west-coast, say LA / would have more "beverly hillbillies"....just wondering?

since it can be MASKED VERY EASILY*****my banner ad, on yahoo games,
is the new york lottery...why would the NY LOTTERY spend all their money
on every yahoo games websites?/they don't - time warner, BUFFALO
intercepts that signal, and places that ad there ...............SO,
tv Land, takes the time, to present the schedule, you are gonna see
on your cable box...to accompany that corresponding schedule!? just a thought

 

[YEKIMI]

Just another reason not to watch cable, which I don't want to anyways, when they let ME pick what channels I want to see and cram crap on that I have NO interest in watching [i.e., infomercial channels, religious stations, shop at home] then maybe I'll pay for it. Last time I checked just for basic cable I could get 12 channels of which 6 of them I have absolutely no interest in watching and would never watch.....but I would have to pay for them. Just another reason for TV Land, and others to do what THEY want without regards to the consumers. If you were able to say to the cable company [or Dish or Direct TV] "I'm not paying for this garbage, cancel TV Land off my bill", how fast do you think they'd take notice and switch back? And to the small time cable channels that cry "Well, we'll go out of business if they force us to be chosen al-la-cart because no one wants to watch us"......tough! It's free market enterprise, come up with a product that people want to watch or start webcasting. When I go to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk the store doesn't tell me that I cannot buy the milk unless I also buy 2 pounds of beef tongue and a bag of okra. Cable TV should be the same way!

 

[Al Timiter]

Another cable channel that had a good thing going but lost it's way a long long time ago is VH1. Music Videos for people over 30. They've "reinvented" themselves a gazillion times and are now unrecognizable from their beginnings. Another cable channel adrift in the water with no mission statement....

 

[BRNout]

Networks aren't bound to do exactly what they did at sign on. They target a demographic group in many cases, and as the people within that demo change, so too does the programming. MTV would be a joke if they tried to do now what worked for teens a generation ago.

What TV Land offered was a type of programming that appealed to a specific age. The original audience is, yes, older, and it's not Viacom's sole responsibility that not as many advertisers want to reach those people now. Instead, they're moving back to the age group they wanted in the first place, which consists of people with different tastes and different experiences, and yes, that can include the dreaded "reality" type show as part of what they like in entertainment (and not all shows that fit in such a large--too large--bucket are created equal, any more than all "comedies" or "dramas" can be categorized so broadly).

The cable landscape was originally supposed to provide a "galaxy" of choices for different tastes. With so many channels, there's supposed to be room for niche programming. This isn't like local radio, where there is a more limited number of slots available. More like satellite radio in a way as we ultimately pay for it.

Here's where Viacom gets my wrath: they have so many channels out there that they can effectively cover every demographic base. However, someone decided to toss older audiences over the rail in an effort to capture razor thin margins of the same younger demos as their other channels also grab - just different subsets of those demos. In doing so, they've done all of us a great disservice. And yes, this is how we've ended up with a lot of homogenized and pretty lousy cable channels. At this point, there isn't a whole lot of difference between A&E, USA, and TNT (yes I know, not all share the same owners). But all share space on my cable system - that we pay for.

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

i agree. vh-1, (video hits one) was reeeely awesome...
the first five years or so...some where along the way,
between sign on and "pop up video" they lost it - now,
i agree, if they just played videos, over and over, even
keeping up w/ current a/c playlists, that would be
REEEELY BORING too - WE SLAMMMM radio stations
for doing just that (ie: jack-FM, jukebox Radio), but
they could do a lot, i mean ALOT better
-
tvLand , well all cable channels, that are
just like USA,TNT,A&E, (etc,etc), here is the problem:

if these stations, take a&E,for example, were to cut out
the 'crap' and amp up the -arts-and, "entertainment" (thats
how they get away with putting any thing on aire), but
if they step it up, and put on PBS-style, higher end programming...
it wouldn't be that 'wonderful' since most viewers think that
this is all we are gonna get any how (what is currently on),
so why should the cable channels 'take a chance' to change?

*i agree, there could be so much more exciting programming on tv...

HOWEVER,
what if u get toooo niche--focused, for a demo...
this (hopefully)will spawn, a side topic, but why is the
NFL network, year 'round???? c'mon, after the draft, and
before pre-season, *EVEN w/ this summer's saga,
As the Favre turns, lol - how many people watch
the NFL network, during the summer?

also: trouble w/ cable, and yes - u can say u watch it,
but reely how many people, tune into a station, like versus(old OLN),
besides to watch hockey....like above w/ A&E, sure you can
branch out and -TRY- be different ( live fishing on vs.),
or...conform like every one else, and play it safe.....

 

[BRNout]

But TV Land's original programming isn't all that niched (not as the original A&E was). Reruns of classic shows that most people over 35 like. It got a good following in those age groups and still would - if it stuck to its original format.

By the line of reasoning that the likes of NBC-U and Viacom take, there will be 500 channels and not one bit of programming that appeals to the 1/3 of the population that's older than 50 (which I am not, BTW). And there IS something wrong with that.

 

[rch66]

"that 70's show is also in syndication on local tv as well. they run several shows a day in my town on more than one station. Since the same company owns 2 full power and 1 low power in my town they repeat the same shows on different stations. It gets confusining sometimes, especially when they run promo's for things assocated with the other stations.

For classic TV just dump the cable. Cable is nothing but the same old crap over and over. Most everything except for sports is just the same movies and shows that have already been seen for free over the air. CSI, Law and Order, Everybody Loves Raymond. Why pay for that? Plus too many reality shows. Booooring.

They have classic TV for free on the RTN network which can be seen with an antenna on some stations digital sub-channels in many cities. Lots of good stuff.

Agreed. It doesnt make sense to have cable for just classic tv. Probably makes more sense for a combined internet, phone, cable tv deal - and you won't watch most the channels. Mainly the HD channels if you have a HD set. One is prob better off buying and then selling DVD sets used from half.com, or new with a rewards member and discount from Borders or Best Buy for TV shows. The RTN network sounds nice but most markets don't have it. The ion network, Hallmark, WGN, and AmericanLife Television (carried on Fios) are other choices.

With any cable network, it starts off unique, then as more and more cable operators add the channel, the channel then dumps its uniqueness for something else to boost advertising revenues and/or minimize costs. Viacom has an advantage owning dozens of channels so cable operators or providers cant dump the VBiacom programming easily or move it to a higher more expensive tier.

 

[mleach]

"that 70's show is also in syndication on local tv as well. they run several shows a day in my town on more than one station. Since the same company owns 2 full power and 1 low power in my town they repeat the same shows on different stations. It gets confusining sometimes, especially when they run promo's for things assocated with the other stations.

For classic TV just dump the cable. Cable is nothing but the same old crap over and over. Most everything except for sports is just the same movies and shows that have already been seen for free over the air. CSI, Law and Order, Everybody Loves Raymond. Why pay for that? Plus too many reality shows. Booooring.

They have classic TV for free on the RTN network which can be seen with an antenna on some stations digital sub-channels in many cities. Lots of good stuff.

Agreed. It doesnt make sense to have cable for just classic tv. Probably makes more sense for a combined internet, phone, cable tv deal - and you won't watch most the channels. Mainly the HD channels if you have a HD set. One is prob better off buying and then selling DVD sets used from half.com, or new with a rewards member and discount from Borders or Best Buy for TV shows. The RTN network sounds nice but most markets don't have it. The ion network, Hallmark, WGN, and AmericanLife Television (carried on Fios) are other choices.

One thing though, for one reason or another many classic TV shows dont make it to DVD or in some cases just a season or two. Usually its about money, well most of the time it is about the money. Either one season didnt sell very much ( Partridge Family I heard was one ) or some legal issue such as Mama's Family. The first season ( the NBC episodes ) has been out for ahwile but not the syndicated ones. I heard that was due to an issue among the estate of Joe Hamilton.

 

[BrigThomson]

My DishNet subscription choice probably has 200 channels on it. Night after night I page thru the selections and more often than not, just go..UGH!! One of the points of having 200 channel choices is that there should be selections for all age demos and many different choices. The TV Land concept was great. Showcase the programs that the baby boomers enjoyed. I liked the idea. Personally, I find most new programming childish, unintelligent and painful to watch. I cannot tell you the last time I spent any time watching traditional "network" TV. One awful thing that TV Land did over and over was to go thru a huge promotion about some program that would now be "at home" there. There would be a huge build-up, a primetime marathon to introduce whatever show it was, and then it would disappear into the late nite/early,early morning schedule. Or better yet, there would be no real rhyme or reason as to where the show would be placed. 10pm on Monday night, but 3am on Wednesday followed by 2pm on Thursday, etc, etc. Then came the movies to obliterate the nighttime schedule, followed by sophomoric "reality" shows like High School Reunion. Good God!! A channel for strictly boomer programming is perfect. It should be there, and it should be reasonably programmed and it should be left alone. If I wanted to watch brainless reality programs I can turn to any other number of other channels. A pox on Viacom's house for messing with TV Land. Now, I've got one more channel selection to look at and go....UGH!!