Live Well Network being Canceled

[BehindNYNews 143]

The network will be discontinued in Mid-January.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/abc-pulling-the-plug-on-live-well-network_b122423

[wabceyewitness 767]

I wonder if this means that air space will be freed up for the O&O stations to launch local digital channels with actual content that isn't like Live Well or the old Accuweather loops? I find this quote from Rebecca Campbell interesting:

 

"Despite Live Well’s tremendous accomplishments in distribution and original programming, we made a strategic decision that our priority must be local content, and we want to maximize our investment in our core local news brands in the digital space."

[TexasTVNews 1366]

WFAA carries the accuweather channel on 8.2 and LWN on 8.3, the question is which subchannel will replace LWN on WFAA 8.3?

[rkolsen 1675]

In an article that was posted by TVNewsCheck today some commenter mentioned that it was not effectively promoted. WMAR my local LiveWell affiliate barely made any mention of it when it was launched and I can't recall a single promo airing from my sporadic viewing in the past year. I honestly don't know why ABC didn't market it nationally intertwined during primetime given that it airs mainly on ABC stations and even if it wasn't they still could say check your local listening for times the way other channels advertise on sister networks.

 

Where as WBAL when they launched MeTV in October 2012, branded as MeTV Maryland, they aired countless promotions regarding the launch with several archived clips of the stars of the shows at are broadcast saying Me and finally TV intertwined with Maryland. In addition WBAL airs several promos each for their 7AM and 10 PM newscasts that air on MeTV complete with the channel number. At the end of the 6AM news and 6PM they do a tease reminding viewers that there's more news, weather and sports coming up on WBAL+ (which is what they refer to their during newscasts) on MeTV Maryland. It's cheap and effective way to remind viewers that they offer a whole different set of shows and it doesn't take up any ad space just five seconds at the end of a newscast.

 

A second commenter stated that a lot of the lifestyle shows are only beneficial to the rich because a lot of the improvements or recipes required expensive ingredients and parts. This reminds me of an article I read about Gwyneth Paltrow's relatively new lifestyle advice book, where the wants to be the next Martha Stewart, except if you were to follow her recommended recipes it would cost about $300 a day on food and a list of her wardrobe essentials added up to $450,000. http://www.eatyourbooks.com/blog/2013/4/9/gwyneth-paltrow's-new-cookbook-raises-controversy

 

I wonder what they are planning to do with that extra bandwidth, I few months ago I was on RabbitEars.info and was shocked to read that the ABC O&O which carries the HD feed of LiveWell at a higher average nitrate rate than the regular ABC HD feed in addition to a down down converted version of LW. If I recall the nitrates were 7Mbps for ABC HD, 9Mbps for LiveWell HD and 2Mbps for LiveWell SD. Now things might have changed and I believe they use adaptive bit rates so things could fluctuates. Also I never did realize why they decided to gave a third stream in their signal for a down converted version when the channel uses AFD which should adjust the ratio when needed. Hopefully this will up their picture quality.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

 

In an article that was posted by TVNewsCheck today some commenter mentioned that it was not effectively promoted. WMAR my local LiveWell affiliate barely made any mention of it when it was launched and I can't recall a single promo airing from my sporadic viewing in the past year. I honestly don't know why ABC didn't market it nationally intertwined during primetime given that it airs mainly on ABC stations and even if it wasn't they still could say check your local listening for times the way other channels advertise on sister networks.

 

 

On the other hand, when WMAR sister station KNXV had Live Well, they aired "Motion" weekly on the main channel, as well as aired half-hour promos touting the network. I think it depends on the local management of each station. Either they look at diginets as opportunities for extra revenue (KNXV) or a threat to their main channel (KPHO and Meredith in general).

 

 

 

A second commenter stated that a lot of the lifestyle shows are only beneficial to the rich because a lot of the improvements or recipes required expensive ingredients and parts. This reminds me of an article I read about Gwyneth Paltrow's relatively new lifestyle advice book, where the wants to be the next Martha Stewart, except if you were to follow her recommended recipes it would cost about $300 a day on food and a list of her wardrobe essentials added up to $450,000. http://www.eatyourbooks.com/blog/2013/4/9/gwyneth-paltrow's-new-cookbook-raises-controversy

 

 

I think it was the quality of most of the shows they aired (some of the originals were good quality, but the acquired syndicated product was cheap) and the constant repetition of the shows. Not to mention, they aired infomercials in prime-time (I believe it was purposely done by ABC to boost the main network's ratings).

[Jess 1110]

Translation:

 

"Bob Iger's forcing us to make cuts, and LiveWell's not really a core operation, so let's axe that so we can keep putting money into local news."

 

or in WPVI's case:

 

"You know that thing the Weather Channel has where Sam Champion calls up a holographic map? Yup, that's right. We bought one of those. We had to kill LiveWell to afford it, though."

[NYNewsCoverage 257]

Now there's speculation that the decision may have been made because of CBS.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/did-abc-shut-down-live-well-because-of-cbs_b122507#more-122507

[LTSC1980 96]

I would wonder what will WVXF in USVI do when LWN closed.

 

UPDATE: WVXF is now This TV.

[stevieboy247 42]

Here in Central PA., WLYH carried Live Well on digital channel 15.2 since August 2012.

 

With the network shutting down, the station could do 1 of 3 things.

 

1. Bring back the music channel TheCoolTV (which I doubt will happen).

2. Replace it with something like Cozi TV.

3. Shut down 15.2 outright.

 

I think if anything happens with 15.2, my guess is that they could affiliate with Cozi TV.

[A3N 996]

 

Here in Central PA., WLYH carried Live Well on digital channel 15.2 since August 2012.

 

With the network shutting down, the station could do 1 of 3 things.

 

1. Bring back the music channel TheCoolTV (which I doubt will happen).

2. Replace it with something like Cozi TV.

3. Shut down 15.2 outright.

 

I think if anything happens with 15.2, my guess is that they could affiliate with Cozi TV.

 

I thought TheCoolTV went out of business?

[stevieboy247 42]

 

I thought TheCoolTV went out of business?

 

No, they're still around. However, they only have a total of 5 affiliates.

[CircleSeven 1944]

TheCoolTV just debuted in Chicago not too long ago.....

[Thundershock MN 169]

 

Translation:

 

"Bob Iger's forcing us to make cuts, and LiveWell's not really a core operation, so let's axe that so we can keep putting money into local news."

 

or in WPVI's case:

 

"You know that thing the Weather Channel has where Sam Champion calls up a holographic map? Yup, that's right. We bought one of those. We had to kill LiveWell to afford it, though."

 

^ Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

 

They were likely instructed to increase the profitability of the O&O unit. There has been some general belt-tightening going thought the ABC O&O group. And, Live Well was part of the O&O unit and was by all account a money pit. So, the fact they 86'd LWN isn't that shocking. It's addition by subtraction instead of throwing money away on a losing proposition they improve profitability of the group. So, *in theory* this should leave more cash for the individual stations as it's not being siphoned off to fund LWN.

 

I'm not sure where the idea came from that they ABC will replace LWN. The quote in the email was in part "we made a strategic decision that our priority must be local content, and we want to maximize our investment in our core local news brands in the digital space." Not sure how that translated to starting another diginet, it couldn't be anymore vague. What do they mean by "digital space"? That could be website investment, app investment, etc., etc., etc. If I was a betting man I wouldn't count on ABC to replace LWN. The current LWN affiliates will likely the void by picking up some of the newer diginets like GetTV, Grit & Escape.

[ns8401 846]

 

^ Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

 

They were likely instructed to increase the profitability of the O&O unit. There has been some general belt-tightening going thought the ABC O&O group. And, Live Well was part of the O&O unit and was by all account a money pit. So, the fact they 86'd LWN isn't that shocking. It's addition by subtraction instead of throwing money away on a losing proposition they improve profitability of the group. So, *in theory* this should leave more cash for the individual stations as it's not being siphoned off to fund LWN.

 

I'm not sure where the idea came from that they ABC will replace LWN. The quote in the email was in part "we made a strategic decision that our priority must be local content, and we want to maximize our investment in our core local news brands in the digital space." Not sure how that translated to starting another diginet, it couldn't be anymore vague. What do they mean by "digital space"? That could be website investment, app investment, etc., etc., etc. If I was a betting man I wouldn't count on ABC to replace LWN. The current LWN affiliates will likely the void by picking up some of the newer diginets like GetTV, Grit & Escape.

 

I was under the impression it might be some sort of a local news loop or something? Maybe one of those classic weather radar channels?

[CircleSeven 1944]

 

I was under the impression it might be some sort of a local news loop or something? Maybe one of those classic weather radar channels?

 

The O&Os use to loop the last newscast on its point-2 channels prior to the implementation of the Live Well. Hell, prior to LWN, ABC has one of the best picture quality signals out there, despite using two subchannels (the other being their AccuWX on .3). IMO the ABC signal was either on par or better in quality than the CBS signal (and at that time CBS O&Os did use any subchannels).

[rkolsen 1675]

The O&Os use to loop the last newscast on its point-2 channels prior to the implementation of the Live Well. Hell, prior to LWN, ABC has one of the best picture quality signals out there, despite using two subchannels (the other being their AccuWX on .3). IMO the ABC signal was either on par or better in quality than the CBS signal (and at that time CBS O&Os did use any subchannels).

I never got why they most of ABC O&O carried a letter boxed version of LiveWell on their .3. You would think auto format description would take care of any issues. Currently my local ABC station only carries Live Well in SD and the main network programming looks like crap regardless of the source, OTA or Comcast (which at least here doesn't reduce bandwidth.) Hopefully when LiveWell dies they won't replace it.

 

Currently WJZ, you know the step child of CBS that no one looks after or disciplines for not following the "rules", only carries their HD feed with a variable bit rate but to me at least doesn't have the best picture quality. I think BAL comes across better because they use a variable rate that doesn't fluctuate as much as JZ's which goes anywhere between 2-18Mbps but seems to average out at 12Mbps where as WBAL also has a variable bit rate but it's range is much less and normally comes out at 16Mbps. I also think the perception of CBS' PQ is due to the fact that so many of their shows are brightly lit where as NBCs seem to be darker. A perfect example of NBCs darker picture quality is on Hannibal which I describe as watching TV as if you were looking at a photograph that was printed on matte paper compared to CBS' glossy paper.

[DirtyHarry 718]

 

I never got why they most of ABC O&O carried a letter boxed version of LiveWell on their .3. You would think auto format description would take care of any issues. Currently my local ABC station only carries Live Well in SD and the main network programming looks like crap regardless of the source, OTA or Comcast (which at least here doesn't reduce bandwidth.) Hopefully when LiveWell dies they won't replace it.

 

 

I can't speak as to LiveWell, but the Epix movie channel letterboxes movies. Same with the SD version of Fox News. Since it's not on an HD channel, I like the fact that you can press the zoom button and it displays in proper proportions at 16:9 on the screen even fthough it comes through the cable box at 4:3.

[CircleSeven 1944]

Bumping this because Feder stated this morning that the ABC O&Os will continue to carry the Live Well Network past this weekend for about a couple of months.

 

No word on if the other stations outside the ABC O&Os will carry it past this weekend.

[Rusty Muck 4164]

Bumping this because Feder stated this morning that the ABC O&Os will continue to carry the Live Well Network past this weekend for about a couple of months.

 

No word on if the other stations outside the ABC O&Os will carry it past this weekend.

WEWS still hasn't named a replacement for Live Well, mainly because the subchannels that Scripps is signing up (Antenna TV, Movies!, etc.) already have affiliates in the Cleveland market.

[ns8401 846]

WEWS still hasn't named a replacement for Live Well, mainly because the subchannels that Scripps is signing up (Antenna TV, Movies!, etc.) already have affiliates in the Cleveland market.

I'm hoping WXYZ 7.3 stays empty and clears up more room for the main signal... The quality isn't always wonderful OTA.

[CircleSeven 1944]

 

I'm hoping WXYZ 7.3 stays empty and clears up more room for the main signal... The quality isn't always wonderful OTA.

 

Many folks in the O&O markets were pissed when the new Live Well HD launched in 2009, when they had to take some of the bits from the main channel and place it on the new 2nd HD channel. The PQ that ABC had prior to the LWN launch, was damn near pristine, despite having 2 480i subchannels at that time. IMO, ABC's 720p PQ might've been better than CBS's 1080i, which those stations didn't use any subchannels at all.

[ns8401 846]

Many folks in the O&O markets were pissed when the new Live Well HD launched in 2009, when they had to take some of the bits from the main channel and place it on the new 2nd HD channel. The PQ that ABC had prior to the LWN launch, was damn near pristine, despite having 2 480i subchannels at that time. IMO, ABC's 720p PQ might've been better than CBS's 1080i, which those stations didn't use any subchannels at all.

Since LAFF is being picked up my dream of a better picture just died.

[TexasTVNews 1366]

Here in Dallas right now, I'm watching the last five minutes of LWN on WFAA 8.3 and at the stroke of midnight tonight, WFAA 8.3 will carry The Justice Network.

[rbwny 0]

Hi! Just had to comment here...because (as of late last night) LiveWell is still alive and kickin'... at least here in upstate NY. And this is NOT an ABC o&o market. Our affiliate is owned by Young Broadcasting.

 

What's the LWN status where YOU are?

[TheRolyPoly 1844]

 

Hi! Just had to comment here...because (as of late last night) LiveWell is still alive and kickin'... at least here in upstate NY. And this is NOT an ABC o&o market. Our affiliate is owned by Young Broadcasting.

 

What's the LWN status where YOU are?

 

Young Broadcasting or Media General? It's Media General since they bought out Young Broadcasting. And you're probably referring to WTEN 10 out of Albany.