hmaxhanson 650 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Most of the talk about the Sinclair-Tribune marriage has been on the conflicts in St. Louis and Oklahoma City, as well Sinclair's "programming", but theres one subject that's been overlooked in the merger talks, Antenna TV, Tribune's classic TV network. What would Sinclair do with that network? Would they shut and down and replace it with their long gestating Fox News rival? Not likely, but they might force stations in their markets already airing Antenna TV to give it up to one of their stations. They may also close down one of their already existing networks (TBD seems like the most expendable, since it's literally only internet videos) and use its slot on their current stations to expand Antenna TV's reach. So tell me, what would Sinclair possibly do with Antenna TV? Let me hear your answers. And Mr. Weeters, if this is more of a Speculatron post, go ahead and put it on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3442 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I hope it continues as a rival to MeTV in close to its current form. (I can't really say that much as I haven't been able to receive it...yet... I should have an in-market affiliate (WPAN) but they serve the OTHER half of the market and are apparently, off the air, and have been so for a while. The closest station is a low-power out of Pascagoula, MS that sometime comes in, and if I'm lucky I get it on WGNO from New Orleans or WDBD out of Jackson, MS.) They really did the classic-tv format well when it first launched, even by NOT resorting to the gimmickry that other channels have done like truncating the credits and on-screen snipes. At the time, the only other competitor was Luken's RTV, which was on it's second wind with a lot of shows from NBCUniversal (before, under founding owner Equity, they had all of the CBS TV syndication) The presentation was much to be desired, especially compared to Antenna TV. Then, MeTV came along with a vengeance, and as all of RTV's major deals floundered (losing the NBCUNI shows really tanked the network and made them jump the shark) MeTV took many of their slots and had the CBS hits that could be considered the "gold standard" of classic tv. Some of the NBC shows ended up on Antenna, others on Me, and over time, the "exclusivity" of shows faded away as lineups became more established. Originally, Antenna's lineup was many of the Columbia/Sony/Screen Gems shows along with D.L. Taffner (Three's Company among others). Recently, getTV (also owned by Sony) got a majority of these shows to themself, and The Jeffersons ended up on MeTV. From the snippets I've seen over the years, Tribune has caved from their original mission and does all of the credit-robbing that all channels do today to save time and sell more ads I'm not thrilled with what sinclair has put out there for diginets. TBD is a complete waste of airtime, Charge! is a poorly run verison of thisTV, Stadium is all of the stuff ESPN won't air, and Comet just simply isn't my cup of tea. Tribune has let ThisTV fall amongst the wayside, with the channel being viewed on few stations and as filler for other channels...I hope Antenna TV doesn't meet the same fate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColDayNews 437 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I hope it continues as a rival to MeTV in close to its current form. (I can't really say that much as I haven't been able to receive it...yet... I should have an in-market affiliate (WPAN) but they serve the OTHER half of the market and are apparently, off the air, and have been so for a while. The closest station is a low-power out of Pascagoula, MS that sometime comes in, and if I'm lucky I get it on WGNO from New Orleans or WDBD out of Jackson, MS.) They really did the classic-tv format well when it first launched, even by NOT resorting to the gimmickry that other channels have done like truncating the credits and on-screen snipes. At the time, the only other competitor was Luken's RTV, which was on it's second wind with a lot of shows from NBCUniversal (before, under founding owner Equity, they had all of the CBS TV syndication) The presentation was much to be desired, especially compared to Antenna TV. Then, MeTV came along with a vengeance, and as all of RTV's major deals floundered (losing the NBCUNI shows really tanked the network and made them jump the shark) MeTV took many of their slots and had the CBS hits that could be considered the "gold standard" of classic tv. Some of the NBC shows ended up on Antenna, others on Me, and over time, the "exclusivity" of shows faded away as lineups became more established. Originally, Antenna's lineup was many of the Columbia/Sony/Screen Gems shows along with D.L. Taffner (Three's Company among others). Recently, getTV (also owned by Sony) got a majority of these shows to themself, and The Jeffersons ended up on MeTV. From the snippets I've seen over the years, Tribune has caved from their original mission and does all of the credit-robbing that all channels do today to save time and sell more ads I'm not thrilled with what sinclair has put out there for diginets. TBD is a complete waste of airtime, Charge! is a poorly run verison of thisTV, Stadium is all of the stuff ESPN won't air, and Comet just simply isn't my cup of tea. Tribune has let ThisTV fall amongst the wayside, with the channel being viewed on few stations and as filler for other channels...I hope Antenna TV doesn't meet the same fate. MeTV has become nothing but the old PAX network reincarnated. Many of the shows that once aired on Pax through their deal with KingWorld and CBS (i.e. Touched by an Angel, Promised Land, Diagnosis Murder) and others such as Bonanza, The Big Valley, Highway to Heaven, etc. are now airing on MeTV... Here in Cbus, WCMH had RTV for a bit, replacing Weather Plus that NBC added onto all of its' O&Os, with Columbus being an O&O market at the time. RTV was watchable - shows like Kojak (who loves ya baby?) and other Universal programming were good attention-getters. Does MeTV allow for local preemptions the way RTV did? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriangleTriadMediaNews 267 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Does MeTV allow for local preemptions the way RTV did? I believe so. Many MeTV stations feature an 10pm or 9pm newscast and some also co-affiliate with MyNet during primetime hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3442 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 The most important thing about Antenna TV....it's a fully functioning network that all Sinclair has to do is RUN...and not screw around with. (Like the Tennis Channel...minus the must-runs forced upon Sinclair viewers!) I say time and time again that I have doubts about our current owners' abilities to create success out of the sky. All of the success they have acquired over the years from better owners who invested in a quality product and nurtured it through time. It's like caretaking in most cases...if it's not broke, don't fix it, unless they're too cheap to pay for it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dman748 1250 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I think Antenna TV will be fine as is, I heard they dropped shows from the Sony library so I'm not sure if Sinclair will add back the shows in the Sony library or not, we'll just have to wait and see what happens after Sinclair takesover the network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl19ga114sc105 3 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I believe so. Many MeTV stations feature an 10pm or 9pm newscast and some also co-affiliate with MyNet during primetime hours. MeTV actually has its network promos with the fine print on the screen “Available on most MeTV stations” since stations are alowed to preempt programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 746 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 They may also close down one of their already existing networks (TBD seems like the most expendable, since it's literally only internet videos) and use its slot on their current stations to expand Antenna TV's reach. I'm not sure that's necessary, considering Antenna TV already has fairly wide reach (as of June, it has 75 affiliates covering 63% of the U.S., although that's apparently down from its January count of 80+ affiliates covering 70% of the country) and Sinclair could try to fix it to put Antenna TV on its stations without displacing any of its existing multicast networks in most areas. If they did displace any of its multicast networks for one of Tribune's (should the merger be completed), Sinclair would more likely do this for This TV (possibly for one of the MGM-operated networks, since that studio already owns the half-stake in This TV that Tribune does not own). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriangleTriadMediaNews 267 Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 I never really understood the premise of TBD-TV. I can only imagine they get the viewership of a local all-infomercial or Godcaster station, unless there are other affiliates like WRLH 35.2 who runs syndicated and MyNet from 6p-10p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 746 Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 I never really understood the premise of TBD-TV. I can only imagine they get the viewership of a local all-infomercial or Godcaster station, unless there are other affiliates like WRLH 35.2 who runs syndicated and MyNet from 6p-10p. The premise was clearly to attract millennial viewers acclimated with web video in their content consumption. I actually watch some programs on the network (like the React-based compilation series from FBE, Big Red Lazor and 10 Up); I rarely watched original web content before KOCB-DT2 began carrying TBD, so it, in essence, turned me on to such content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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