UNDER/POORLY-PERFORMING CABLE NETS

[visaman]

...with crap such as "Leave it to Niecy", "Long Island Medium" and of course, "Toddlers and Tiaras" filling the schedule.

Don't forget the Extreme Couponning marathons (yes, I watch them). :-[

 

[visaman]

Old games show won't get young viewers

So won't reruns of "Murder, She Wrote" or "Matlock." That's good, if the only type of advertisers you want to see are for Craftmatic beds and that retrofitted bathtub hawked by Pat Boone.

Don't tell the people on The Classic TV Board that. ;D

 

[wdb2003]

I actually like The Hub. They can get rid of the Nick at Nite leftovers for all I care but I think its a good channel. Never watched The Transformers from the 80's but I like it.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I mentioned this on the Hallmark Channel thread, but I've usually watched Hallmark when they've had MASH and Cheers. I'd watch MTM and Bob Newhart if they were on at times when I wasn't working or asleep. I agree that if they could get more MTM shows, especially Newhart (80's) and WKRP it would be good.

If Discovery owns half of Hallmark (Something I didn't know) why couldn't they combine the retro shows that they have on Hallmark and The Hub into a retro TV channel that could take on TV Land or be like a cable version of ME TV? But I'd prefer less of the Waltons and Little House and more sitcoms.

 

[carolinaradio]

Does anybody know what the purpose for Cloo even is anymore? It seems like an expansion of USA more than anything. How does 'Til Death fit? I see that they have Get Smart, Mannix, and Charlie's Angels scheduled for this weekend, but that's the only interesting stuff they have scheduled. I remember when they launched, they had a lot of good classic dramas like Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, MacGyver, Knight Rider, A-Team, Magnum, Rockford Files, etc.

A retro channel from Discovery would probably require The Hub and Hallmark to fold -- something I highly doubt is happening in the immediate future.

 

[jc]

If Discovery owns half of Hallmark (Something I didn't know)

I sure didn't know that either. I'm not finding anything on Discovery owning half of Hallmark

 

[mnradiofan]

I mentioned this on the Hallmark Channel thread, but I've usually watched Hallmark when they've had MASH and Cheers. I'd watch MTM and Bob Newhart if they were on at times when I wasn't working or asleep. I agree that if they could get more MTM shows, especially Newhart (80's) and WKRP it would be good.

If Discovery owns half of Hallmark (Something I didn't know) why couldn't they combine the retro shows that they have on Hallmark and The Hub into a retro TV channel that could take on TV Land or be like a cable version of ME TV? But I'd prefer less of the Waltons and Little House and more sitcoms.

Discovery DOESN'T own half the network. They may own stock in Crown Media Holdings, but CMH controls 100% of the network, and from everything I can find, it looks like Hallmark Cards has a controlling interest in CMH, a publicly traded company.

 

[anotherguyTN]

If Discovery owns half of Hallmark (Something I didn't know)

I sure didn't know that either.  I'm not finding anything on Discovery owning half of Hallmark

I passed that on from another post, but it appears to be wrong. Sorry about that.

 

[carolinaradio]

Actually, that was my mistake in the first place regarding Disc/Hallmark. Sorry about that.

How can I forget this one: Youtoo. GoodLife, American Life, ALN, so many names...they've aired some good shows, but I have never had a cable system that offered it. I wonder how their "Social TV" concept is working for them...

 

[EricStein]

This thread is three pages long and no one has mentioned the TV Guide Network (aka the "We're so desperate for programming we'll even take Veronica's Closet channel")?

 

[Tim L]

Actually, that was my mistake in the first place regarding Disc/Hallmark. Sorry about that.

How can I forget this one: Youtoo. GoodLife, American Life, ALN, so many names...they've aired some good shows, but I have never had a cable system that offered it. I wonder how their "Social TV" concept is working for them...

Doesnt work for me..Too "different"

BTW, it's been announced that "Nashville Network" will return in Summer 2012 as a Luken Communications/RTV digital channel..With programming provided by Jim Owens Entertainment, who did some programs with the original TNN..The plan is to mix in some Classic TNN/Country Music shows with new content..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyHoaou0mEY

 

[LibertyNT]

I'm wondering who actually *has* Military History. I've never had it on cable, known anyone that had it, and it's not available on either of the satellite providers. I really hate that H2 is higher-tier -- I really miss the old History Channel.

What about Discovery Fit & Health? A lot of their programming seems like leftovers from TLC...

I have Military History on DirecTV. Its basically The History Channel when it was The "Hitler" Channel.
IIRC Military is also on Verizon Fios.

Pretty good stuff most of the time.

 

[carolinaradio]

I'm wondering who actually *has* Military History. I've never had it on cable, known anyone that had it, and it's not available on either of the satellite providers. I really hate that H2 is higher-tier -- I really miss the old History Channel.

What about Discovery Fit & Health? A lot of their programming seems like leftovers from TLC...

I have Military History on DirecTV. Its basically The History Channel when it was The "Hitler" Channel.
IIRC Military is also on Verizon Fios.

Pretty good stuff most of the time.

Oh, OK. I didn't remember Military History ever on DirecTV -- they did have The Military Channel (Discovery's version of it, which is more popular)

TV Guide Network hasn't been relevant in my household in years. Seems like they're always showing Designing Women reruns when I scan by there...

 

[JeeperOne]

I would consider HLN to be a struggling net before I put G4 on that list because with the addition of softcore adult programming tailored toward the adult entertainment crowd, G4 has practically reinvented itself

In fact, I think they should move In Session over to HLN, rebrand the net as the new Court TV & add more "Actuality" programming (Like for example old reruns of Operation Repo which have long outlived their useful life in primetime) in its place on TruTV IMO.....

Current news personalities & other talent on HLN can be reassigned to CNN

JMO.....

Cheers ;D

 

[JeeperOne]

Current? Even with their behind-the-curtains drama, they're still only seen in about 40 million homes and ratings are bad.

Current is still reinventing itself as an alternative news channel. As long as they stay away from launching newscasts (You can't launch one without reporting anything political. Even NewsNation with Tamron Hall on MSNBC spends roughly 70% of its time covering politics), they'll be OK

Cheers ;D

 

[JeeperOne]

A couple other networks I know are having a difficult time are ESPN Classic and CBS Sports Network. The Mouse doesn't like to close down networks completely, so I wonder how long it will take for ESPN Classic to become ESPN Radio on TV? As for CBSSN, they seem to be ramping up their programming lineup (the addition of Jim Rome's daily TV show), but I doubt that is enough to even turn it into a second-tier sports network along the lines of NBC Sports Network.

What CBS Sports needs to do is.....

1) Get out of the Digital Sports package (Comcast has it on Channel 412 here in Denver). This is where the league/conference owned networks should be - NOT A NETWORK TRYING TO COVER MULTIPLE SPORTS (ESPN also has this problem with ESPNU though since it's the sibling of well-established parents in ESPN & later ESPN2, they have FAR more flexibility than CBS Sports Network does)

2) Start going after stuff that NBC & NFL Network are picking up (CBS Sports Network could air Arena Football on Sunday Afternoons on a GOTW basis if it wanted to. Instead they only air NLL Lacrosse. Lacrosse - Really? Is that THE best they can do to look like a non-collegiate network? Surely they jest : )

As far as collegiate athletics go, CBS Sports Network seems to LOVE cherry-picking from TheMtn (Mountain West Conference Network) & Conference USA (Especially during Football season). In fact, I'm surprised (No make that SHOCKED !!) to see they haven't utilized the services of ex-Raider TODD CHRISTENSEN in the booth. He's one of the best football color guys in the biz IMO, yet he only does games on/for TheMtn

I wonder what CBS Sports will do now that the MWC & C-USA have merged & Fox Sports is in its 2nd year of covering C-USA Football on FSN (Even NBC Sports Network only got a handful of MWC games last year. The rest were split between TheMtn & CBS Sports Network)

Cheers ;D

 

[PTBoardOp94]

The MTN goes away this summer. I don't know where the new CUSA games will end up.

 

[carolinaradio]

I would consider HLN to be a struggling net before I put G4 on that list because with the addition of softcore adult programming tailored toward the adult entertainment crowd, G4 has practically reinvented itself

In fact, I think they should move In Session over to HLN, rebrand the net as the new Court TV & add more "Actuality" programming (Like for example old reruns of Operation Repo which have long outlived their useful life in primetime) in its place on TruTV IMO.....

Current news personalities & other talent on HLN can be reassigned to CNN

JMO.....

Cheers ;D

I've mentioned that on here several times. I think combining In Session during the day with the crime-based/opinion/"views" reporting at night would be a good combination. If there's a big criminal trial, HLN always covers it a ton during the day anyway.

What about FamilyNet? I don't know if they're "struggling", but they've never gained significant coverage. I'd like to have them on Dish Network. I think they used to be in with AmericanLife/ALN/Youtoo. Do many here have it?

 

[Nate Wesley]

The MTN goes away this summer. I don't know where the new CUSA games will end up.

The Mtn. had odd origins as a partnership between the Mountain West, CSTV (today's CBS Sports Network) and Comcast (before they revamped their sports media properties into the NBC Sports Group). So for 2012 and beyond, certain Mountain West games that would have been on The mtn might end up on CBS Sports Network, NBC Sports Network, or west coast Comcast SportsNet regionals--if not necessarily sold to ESPN or Fox.

As for C-USA , I believe their current deals with Fox Sports and CBS Sports Network are still intact for the rest of 2012.