This TV
Encyclopedia
This TV is a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 general entertainment television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies.

A joint venture between film/TV studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

-based Weigel Broadcasting Co.
Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting is an American locally based television broadcasting company. The company is based in downtown Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV , at the apt address of 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood.- History :The company was founded by Chicago...

, the network appears in many markets via terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...

 stations (primarily on their digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...

s), on select cable systems, and on free-to-air C-band satellite via AMC-3 in DVB-S
DVB-S
DVB-S is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Satellite; it is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and demodulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1994, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997...

 format. This TV broadcasts 24 hours a day in the 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...

 standard definition broadcast format.

Background

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Weigel Broadcasting announced the formation of This TV on July 28, 2008, with a planned launch that autumn. The network had a formal on-air launch date of November 1, 2008, though some stations may have "soft launched" the network one day earlier—October 31, 2008—to carry some Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

-themed programming that the network provided.

The "This TV" name was chosen as a branding and marketing avenue for the network and its stations, with proposed slogans such as "THIS is the place for movies", "THIS is what you're watching", and "It doesn't get any better than THIS!". This TV launched on November 1, 2008 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

, with the 1986 Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

 film She's Gotta Have It
She's Gotta Have It
She's Gotta Have It is a 1986 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It was also Lee's first feature-length film. The film stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell. Also appearing are cinematographer Ernest Dickerson as a Brooklyn resident and...

as the network's first telecast.

This TV's operations are overseen by Neal Sabin, who in his role as Weigel Broadcasting's executive vice president launched Me-TV, a classic TV network similar to This TV. Jim Marketti, president/CEO of Marketti Creative Group, was hired in August 2008 as This TV's creative director, focusing on the network's marketing and promotion. MGM handles sales for the network through their New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 offices.

Programming

This TV's program schedule relies on the extensive library of films and TV programming
MGM Television
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television is an American television production/distribution launched in 1955 and a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc....

 currently owned by MGM and subsidiary United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

 (notably excluding the pre-1986 MGM film/TV library and the a.a.p.
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...

 library, whose rights are currently held by Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...

 and Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

).

No originally-produced programming appears on the network, although the use of on-air presenters had been considered for This TV's movie broadcasts. The network does not utilize a split-screen credit sequence or feature voiceovers promoting upcoming network programming during the closing credits, and is also devoid of informercial programming. However, films broadcast on the network do feature commercial interruption, breaks during programming primarily consist of direct response advertisements for products featured in informercials and particularly during This TV's children's programming, public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...

s. The network's continuity announcer is Milwaukee radio personality and Miller Park PA system announcer Robb Edwards.

Movies

This TV's daily schedule consists largely of feature films, which air on Monday through Thursdays from 11 a.m.–4 a.m., 11 a.m. Friday mornings–9 a.m. ET Saturday mornings, Saturdays from 1 p.m.–7 a.m. ET, and Sundays from 12–9 p.m. and 11 p.m.–4 a.m. ET (sometimes starting earlier or ending later depending on the length of the films). The film roster does not concentrate on films from any specific era, meaning any film from the Depression era to contemporary times and films made for either TV or cinema can be featured.

This TV also commonly features themed movie presentations, with the entire day's schedule consisting of films from a particular genre once a week throughout the month. The network also broadcasts a featured movie in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on Monday through Friday nights, the weeknight prime movie presentations are typically replayed later in the evening. Although the network does not advertise itself as a family-oriented television network, This TV uses audio ducking to remove all profanities featured within many more recent film titles, though other suggestive content is kept as is from the broadcast versions of the films. In addition, the network will air Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...

cartoon shorts as filler between films, in instances where a film runs at least seven minutes short of its allotted air time.

Films featured on This TV consist of releases from network co-parent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and its subsidiaries United Artists (post-1952 films) and The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...

 (pre-1997 films), as well as films produced by now-defunct film studios Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...

 (post-1981 films and its Orion Classics
Orion Classics
Orion Classics was the division of Orion Pictures, headed by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, and Marcie Bloom, that acquired independent and foreign films for North American distribution, in addition to producing some arthouse films of its own...

 division), The Cannon Group (except for those co-produced with Warner Bros), American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...

, Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...

 (in this case, the 1956 film Moby Dick
Moby Dick (1956 film)
Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury and the director. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn...

; the rest of the library, except for the 1948 film Rope
Rope (film)
Rope is a 1948 American thriller film based on the play Rope by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Sidney Bernstein and Hitchcock as the first of their Transatlantic Pictures productions...

, was acquired by Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...

 in 1986), and Mirisch Company
Mirisch Company
The Mirisch Company was a film production company owned by Walter Mirisch and his brothers, Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The company was also known at various times as Mirisch Production Company, Mirisch Pictures, Inc., and The Mirisch Corporation.Walter Mirisch began producing at Monogram Pictures...

 (all of which were acquired by MGM); in addition, films produced by Polygram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was a film studio, founded in 1979 as a European competitor to Hollywood, but eventually sold and merged with Universal Pictures in 1999....

 (which was not acquired by MGM at the time Polygram folded in 1999, although MGM holds distribution rights to their pre-1996 films) are also featured on the network.

Most recently, Vampire in Brooklyn
Vampire in Brooklyn
Vampire in Brooklyn is a 1995 horror comedy film directed by Wes Craven, and starring Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett. Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Zakes Mokae, and Joanna Cassidy co-star. Eddie Murphy wrote the film's script, along with Vernon Lynch and older brother Charles Q....

, which was released by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 became the first non-MGM film to be aired on the network on February 14, 2011. In addition to Paramount (through Trifecta Entertainment and Media), the network has acquired broadcast rights to classic movies from 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures, including among them Abbott and Costello movies.

Classic television series

The network's weekday early morning lineup features such vintage series as Highway Patrol
Highway Patrol (TV series)
Highway Patrol is a syndicated action crime drama series produced 1955-1959.-Overview:Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews, the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state...

, Sea Hunt
Sea Hunt
Sea Hunt was an American adventure television series that was aired in syndication by Ziv Television Programs from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced...

, Mister Ed
Mister Ed
Originally produced in late 1960, Mister Ed is an American television situation comedy produced by Filmways that first aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966....

, The Patty Duke Show
The Patty Duke Show
The Patty Duke Show is an American sitcom which ran on ABC from September 18, 1963, until May 4, 1966, with reruns airing through August 31, 1966. The show was created as a vehicle for rising star Patty Duke...

, Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson (TV series)
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...

, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...

, and more recent series, Emily of New Moon
Emily of New Moon (TV series)
Emily of New Moon was a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2000. The series originally aired in the United States on the Cookie Jar Toons block on This TV and it's currently seen in Canada on the Viva, Bravo! and Vision TV cable channels...

and Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...

. The majority of these classic series air on weekdays just prior to the network's children's program block, with the exception of Sunday night airings of Stargate SG-1.

Children's programming

This TV also features a daily block of children's programming called "Cookie Jar Toons" and "This Is for Kids" (including shows that meet the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

's E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...

 content requirements) that is handled by Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

-based Cookie Jar Entertainment and also features Weigel's Chicago-based program originally meant for local viewing, Green Screen Adventures
Green Screen Adventures
Green Screen Adventures is a children's television series which premiered in 2007. The series was originally produced for local broadcast on WCIU-TV in Chicago, which is the flagship station of Weigel Broadcasting, and is designed to fit the FCC's educational and information programming...

.

The blocks non-E/I programming are branded under the banner name "This is for Kids", while the E/I programming is branded under the name "Cookie Jar Toons". Children's programs featured in the blocks include library content from CJE entities DiC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...

 and Cinar Films
Çinar
Çınar is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey and also the name of downtown of Denizli city of Denizli Province of Turkey....

, as well as recent originally-produced content by Cookie Jar.

This is different from two other children's program blocks from CJE that feature E/I-compliant children's programming: Cookie Jar Kids Network, a block featuring mostly Cinar-produced programming from the 1990s, formerly known as the DiC Kids Network until a September 2009 rebranding; and the CJE-run Cookie Jar TV Saturday morning block for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 (incidentally, most of the current programming featured in the Cookie Jar Toons block on Saturday mornings, as of January 2011, has previously been or is currently broadcast on CBS' Cookie Jar TV block under that block's current name or under its previous names "KEWLopolis" and "KOL Secret Slumber Party").

Affiliates

In addition to Weigel-owned stations in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 (WCIU
WCIU-TV
WCIU-TV is an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois. It operates on UHF digital channel 27 and is Chicago's oldest UHF station, signing on the air in 1964. WCIU-TV is the flagship station of Weigel Broadcasting, a locally-based broadcaster which has owned the station since...

) and Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

 (WDJT-TV
WDJT-TV
WDJT-TV, channel 58, is the CBS-affiliated television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadcasting on UHF digital channel 46, that displays WDJT's virtual channel as its former analog channel assignment of 58 via PSIP...

), This TV reached agreements with several ownership groups to add the network to some of their stations in 2009. The group list includes stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company and is a self-contained corporation within that company...

, Fisher Communications
Fisher Communications
Fisher Communications is a media company in the United States. Based in Seattle, Washington, the company owns a number of radio and television stations in the Western United States.- Radio Stations :- Television Stations :...

, Hearst-Argyle Broadcasting, Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...

, Raycom Media
Raycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....

 and Belo
Belo
Belo Corp. is a Dallas-based media company that owns 20 commercial broadcasting television stations and two regional 24-hour cable news television channels. The company was previously known as A.H. Belo Corp. after one of the early owners of the company, Alfred Horatio Belo, now the name of the...

. This TV's affiliation agreement with Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...

 was renewed in May 2010, a move that will bring the network to additional Tribune-owned stations in markets such as Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Miami, and San Diego, and will help This TV's coverage reach 85% of the U.S., making This TV the largest subchannel by percentage of the population reached. A number of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliates added This TV as a replacement for the now-defunct NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...

 service, which closed at the end of 2008. Additionally, Equity Media Holdings selected This TV as a replacement for Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...

 on some of its stations after Equity dropped its relationship with RTN in January 2009 due to payment disputes; the Equity-owned stations were since sold, with several disaffiliating with This TV or going off the air completely.

Stations that carry This TV have the option to air select programming from the network on their main channels; they also have the option to preempt This TV programming, either via a secondary affiliation deal with another network or with locally-produced programming.

See also

  • Me-TV, a similar digital broadcast network, owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, specializing in classic TV series from the 1960s to the 1980s.
  • Retro Television Network
    Retro Television Network
    The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...

    , a similar digital broadcast network owned by Luken Communications specializing in classic TV series from the 1950s to the 1970s.
  • Antenna TV
    Antenna TV
    Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...

    , a digital broadcast network owned by Tribune Broadcasting specializing in classic TV programming and some feature film content.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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