ION Television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ION Television | |
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| Type | Broadcast television network, satellite television network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | National (but not available in all markets) |
| Founder | Lowell 'Bud' Paxson |
| Owner | ION Media Networks |
| Key people | R. Brandon Burgess |
| Launch date | August 31, 1998 |
| Past names | Pax (1998-2005) i (2005-2007) |
| Website | www.ionline.tv |
ION Television is a broadcast and cable television network first broadcast on August 31, 1998 under the name PAX TV (early on in its development, it was called PaxNet). The network is owned by ION Media Networks (formerly Paxson Communications), in which NBC Universal had a 32% share, up until 2004. Programming was initially family-oriented and contained little or no sex, overt violence, or strong language.
The network changed its name from PAX TV to i: Independent Television on July 1, 2005, and then to ION Television on January 29, 2007.
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[edit] Overview
Named PAX TV in 1998 by Lowell 'Bud' Paxson, co-founder of the Home Shopping Network and chairman of Paxson Communications, the network can be seen as a semi-descendant of inTV, launched in 1996; a shared-time specialty broadcast network service similar to cable channel Product Information Network, broadcasting infomercials and other paid advertisements on various affiliates, most being UHF channels. The network also aired religious programming at night from The Worship Network during the late night hours and contemporary christian television network Praise TV Friday and Saturday nights from 12:00-3:00AM ET/PT.
Paxson, a born-again Christian since 1985, was exhausted with the amount of sex, violence, and profanity on network television and decided to create a network which would carry only programming devoid of such content. About all of InTV's affiliate stations ended up affiliating with PAX. PAX's initial schedule was much larger in scope than it is today and consisted of general entertainment programs from 12:00PM-12:00AM ET/PT weekdays and paid programming from 12:00-1:00AM and 5:00AM-12:00PM ET/PT and all afternoon Saturdays and Sundays. PAX continued on with the airing of programming from Worship from InTV.
Initial programming on the network consisted of new shows, such as It's a Miracle (the network's longest-running program, airing from just after the network's inception until 2003), the game show The Reel to Reel Picture Show, and talk shows Woman's Day and Great Day America, along with reruns of older programming, including Highway to Heaven, Here's Lucy, The Hogan Family, Dave's World, and Touched by an Angel. [1] While the network was known as PAX TV, it created some original dramas such as Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye and Doc, which have since been cancelled.
The network's wholesome family-friendly format was lampooned by some secular television series such as The Simpsons, Will & Grace, and Mad TV.
Unlike most TV networks in the United States such as ABC, CBS, Fox, or NBC, the network also has national feeds that are part of basic DBS and cable packages, in addition to having its affiliates carried by cable systems (PBS is the only other network to have a national feed). ION programming consists of some original programming, reruns of various TV shows and movies, and paid religious and commercial programming. The network is currently in somewhat of a gap between the Big Five and smaller networks.
As of 2006, the network was viewable in approximately 91 million homes, "or 83% of primetime television households in the U.S. through [its] broadcast television station group and pursuant to distribution arrangements with cable and satellite distribution systems." [2] The network has 94 VHF and UHF-owned-and-operated or affiliate stations in the U.S., although these stations are mainly poorly watched UHF stations, and not all of the stations air the network's complete nightly transmission. Some local stations used to rebroadcast that market's NBC affiliate's newscasts at a later time, but have since discontinued that practice.
ION is not considered by many to be on par with the five existing major national broadcast networks. It has no over-the-air stations in several major markets, most notably Charlotte, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis (the last city received the network only by way of a low-power repeater of a station in Mount Vernon, Illinois, which has subsequently changed affiliations).
In several markets, the station's city of license is considered outside the main portion of a market's metropolitan area, like Minneapolis-St. Paul, where that area's affiliate station transmits from St. Cloud, fifty miles north, and Milwaukee, where the affiliate is licensed from Kenosha, with their transmitter south of Milwaukee in Racine County. In Cleveland, ION airs on the former ABC affiliate in Akron (WVPX), which had formerly targeted their audience away from Cleveland.
Typically, the network's television shows average only 1% of the viewing audience, which is considerably lower than any other (major) broadcast network. To compare, the "big 3" networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) frequently garner 15-25% of the viewing audience.
[edit] From PAX to i
On June 28, 2005, Paxson announced it would rebrand PAX as i, in order to reflect a new strategy of "providing an independent broadcast platform for producers and syndicators who desire to reach a national audience." After the transition was complete, PAX TV would continue to air programming under its PAX brand on one of its digital channels over the air and in select cable homes (see below). Some media observers jocularly postulated that i was code for "infomercial."
During the transition period, the PAX and i logos were both placed on-screen: the former in the bottom-left corner, and the latter in the bottom-right corner.
With this rebranding also came the following changes to the programming lineup:
- i dropped overnight programming from The Worship Network, which had been airing late nights on the network since its launch in August 1998. The time period is now leased to infomercials. Worship programming moved to a digital subchannel on local i affiliates.
- In many markets starting in the Fall of 2002, i had aired editions of local newscasts from local NBC affiliate stations. This was discontinued from some i station lineups on June 30, 2005. The change also displaced local news on WVPX in the Cleveland market, which was aimed at the station's former target area of Akron, Ohio. The newscast was produced by NBC affiliate WKYC in Cleveland, and moved to Time Warner Cable's systems in Akron and Canton, Ohio.
- Also dropped was "Tomorrow's Weather Tonight", a five-minute segment featuring current weather and forecasts from WeatherVision which had aired on the channel since 2000.
[edit] Differences between ION and other broadcast networks
ION Television, unlike other broadcast networks, does not necessarily allow its owned and operated stations to air syndicated programming during the daytime and late night hours. Syndicated programming accounts for a majority of local network affiliate and independent stations revenue.
Network programming (on stations that have a network affiliation) and infomercials make up the rest. Since paid programming makes up most of ION's schedule, the "pro" is that it is the main source of revenue. However, this is also a "con" since ION relies more on infomercials rather than sitcoms and dramas; sponsors of television series often have qualms about their message being lost on stations whose primary content is infomercials and other paid programming. During the 2005-2006 season, ION (as i) launched only one new series, Palmetto Pointe, a teen drama series which only lasted six episodes, and in 2006-2007, the network went entirely to a lineup of reruns (except for iHealth/ION Life specials).
As a result, there are a small number of stations that have taken dual affiliation with both ION and another smaller network, usually either America One or MyNetworkTV.
The fact that ION airs more infomercials than they do series programming is the main reason why some satellite operators dropped ION affiliates from their channel lineups.
ION is the only broadcast network that has never filled its entire primetime schedule with originally produced programming and replaced series that have ended with newer programming, opting to air past series instead.
Also, ION, along with the newly-launched MyNetworkTV, are the only broadcast networks never to air a sitcom produced for the network.
[edit] Network troubles
In 2003, the predecessor Pax network scaled back its operations, presumably due to financial losses. It was originally offering five or six new series each season. That year the number of new series airing on Pax dwindled to just two: Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye and Doc, which were pulled in 2004 because Pax's international backer, CTV, pulled out of producing the shows. The organization seemingly recovered a year later when seven TV series made it to Pax's 2004-05 schedule.
In the Spring of 2005, it was reported that Pax intended to break its contract with NBC Universal, which eliminated most of their entertainment programming, and rely on infomercials, talk shows, and other paid programming to help increase cash flow. However, the network issued a press release on May 25, 2005, in which Paxson Communications chairman Lowell "Bud" Paxson was quoted as saying:
| “ | There have been several reports in the press that the Company is dropping or reducing entertainment programming. Those reports are totally incorrect. The Company will continue to offer the same or an increased amount of entertainment programming than it has in the past. | ” |
In November of 2005, NBC Universal was granted a transferrable option to purchase a controlling stake in Paxson Communications. If this option is exercised, NBC would acquire approximately 63 i affiliates. As part of the agreement, Lowell Paxson left the network (and its parent company).
According to a statement on its website, DirecTV planned to terminate its agreement with the i network in February of 2006 and would drop i as well as its local channels from the DBS service. DirecTV cited that "most of (i Network's) programming consists of infomercials and other promotional shows", despite an earlier promise by network executives that the network "would consist of general, family-oriented entertainment". To appease DirecTV officials, the network decided to junk some infomercials and shopping shows and replace them with old public domain programming and cancelled PAX originals (see below). The channels were expected to be removed from the service by February 28, 2006. However, in May 2006, it was announced that DirecTV and ION Media had come to a new carriage agreement.
In early 2006, it was announced that the i affiliates in Memphis, Tennessee (WPXX-TV), Rapid City, South Dakota (KKRA-LP) and Greenville, North Carolina (WEPX, as well as WPXU-TV in Jacksonville, North Carolina) would add programming from MyNetworkTV in September 2006, thus causing programming airing on i to be unavailable on these stations while MNTV is broadcasting. This blow came after losing some affiliates in New Mexico, New York, and Illinois completely (although the New York station, WWBI-LP in Plattsburgh, subsequently rejoined i after a sale that resulted in the affiliation change fell through). In April of 2006, it was reported i owes more than US $250,000,000 to creditors [3].
In 2006, i struck several major content deals (see details below) in hopes of assuring its long-term future.
Days after the network changed to ION Television, a small California-based entertainment group named Positive Ions sued ION Media Networks, claiming that the network stole the "ION" branding. [4]
[edit] Programming
Despite being a 24-hour-a-day broadcast network, ION presently operates on a 35-hour network programming schedule, which it adopted in January 2006. It provides 35 hours of prime time general entertainment programming to affiliated stations from 6-11pm everyday (all times ET/PT). Other programming will also be provided 12am-1am weeknights, 6-8pm Saturdays and 7-10am and 11pm-12am Sundays (religious programming) and 3-6pm Fridays (a three-hour Friday afternoon animation block under the name qubo) (see below), with infomercials and other paid programming making up the remainder of the schedule.
[edit] Primetime schedule
Comedies are in red; dramas are in green; movies and other programming are in purple.
Effective Monday, April 2, 2007
| Primetime | 6:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | 11:00 PM | 11:30 PM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Battlestar Galactica | Battlestar Galactica | Movie | ION Life | ||||||||
| Monday-Thursday | Moral Court | Amen | Alice | Mama's Family | Mama's Family | Diagnosis: Murder | The Wonder Years | The Wonder Years | BodogFight: St. Petersburg (Tues.) (Paid) | |||
| Friday | ION Life (until April 13) Moral Court (starting April 20) |
|||||||||||
| Saturday | Morris Cerullo Helpline (Paid) | Movie | Movie | BodogFight: St. Petersburg (Paid) | ||||||||
All times Eastern. Not all programming may be available in your area.
The ION Television schedule is subject to frequent change. Mama's Family and Diagnosis Murder (the lone carryover from the Pax days) have been, since the network revamped, the only permanent fixtures in ION's schedule. The other programs are frequently rotated in and out of the schedule. Shows recently aired on ION but not currently in the schedule include Green Acres, Growing Pains, and Charlie's Angels.
[edit] Children's programming
As PAX, ION aired a four-hour children's programming block called PAX Kids, which featured mostly religious children's programming. The lineup lasted only a year and a half, presumably due to low ratings. What was unusual about the lineup is that although it was a weekend-only lineup like ABC, CBS and NBC, it was spread over two days, Saturday and Sunday (CBS does allow some of its affiliates to air its children's programming on Sundays, however only one or two programs are usually aired on Sundays and not all affiliates do this).
Until UPN ceased network children's programming in 2003 with the loss of that network's Disney's One Too lineup, ION (as PAX) was the only one of the eight broadcast networks (along with various religious networks) not to have a children's programming block.
In May 2006, ION (as i) announced plans to launch a new children's block on Saturday mornings starting in September 2006 as part of the qubo endeavor (see below), teaming ION Media Networks with NBC Universal, Scholastic Press, Corus Entertainment's Nelvana and Classic Media and its Big Idea production company. qubo includes blocks airing on i, NBC and Telemundo (NBC Universal's Spanish-language network) along with a 24/7 digital broadcast kids channel, video-on-demand services and a branded website. On ION, it is the only children's program lineup on any of the seven broadcast networks to air on weekday afternoons (NBC moved children's programming to weekends-only in 1956, other networks didn't follow until the 1980s and '90s and The WB was the last to move its childrens programming to weekends only) as it airs Fridays from 3:00 to 6:00PM Eastern Time.
The qubo lineup on ION features the same programming as the NBC qubo lineup. On Friday, September 15, 2006 i started airing the qubo programs, VeggieTales; Dragon; 3-2-1 Penguins!, Larry-Boy; Babar; Jane and the Dragon; and Jacob Two-Two.
| qubo | 3:00 PM | 3:30 PM | 4:00 PM | 4:30 PM | 5:00 PM | 5:30 PM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fridays | Babar | Dragon | 3-2-1 Penguins!/LarryBoy Stories | VeggieTales | Jane and The Dragon | Jacob Two-Two |
[edit] Sports
Currently, ION airs BodogFight, a mixed martial arts series. The program debuted in 2006 with a casting call special; the current run, which premiered on February 13, 2007, features matches taped in St. Petersburg, Russia. The show is paid for by the online casino Bodog.[5]
Previous network sports event telecasts included Conference USA college football games (produced by College Sports Television), the Women's United Soccer Association, Real Pro Wrestling (which more resembles the amateur form than the theatrically-based ring sport), the Champions Tour of golf, and the Paralympic Games.
Some ION O&Os broadcast local and regional professional sports on their stations; an example of this is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' baseball games on local affiliate WXPX. However, since they have no backup programming of their own and an almost-total reliance on ION's satellite feed, sports on these stations often causes ION's programming to be joined in progress, and, on occasion, even be interrupted mid-program for a scheduled sporting event.
[edit] ION Plus
Separate national feeds have been made available to DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and non-O&O stations, featuring programming from ION Life in place of paid programming that airs on the main network.
Prior to the launch of ION Life, the ION Plus feeds carried reruns of cancelled PAX original programs (Miracle Pets, Beat the Clock), as well as movies and sitcom episodes (I Married Joan, The Beverly Hillbillies).
The feeds used the PAX name and bug long after PAX had changed its name to i, until about September 2005.
[edit] Multiplexing
On its O&O affiliates, ION has made notable use of "multiplexing," or splitting a digital TV channel into separate subchannels. [6] On these subchannels, it has carried/will carry several digital channels.
[edit] qubo
On May 8, 2006, ION Media Networks, NBC Universal, Corus Entertainment's Nelvana, Scholastic Books, and Classic Media and its Big Idea Productions unit announced plans to launch qubo, a new children's entertainment endeavor spread across all medium platforms, including video-on-demand on digital cable [7]. The new project features new and library programming from the partners, each one producing a new series a year.
The primary goal for qubo is to "champion literacy and values in the children's television category" [8]. qubo made its debut on NBC and Telemundo on September 9, 2006, with NBC's qubo block repeating on i on Fridays at 3:00pm [9]. A 24-hour digital television network began January 8, 2007 [10]; programming on the digital channel features a daily repeating 4-hour block of shows, all featuring programming exclusive to the new channel. As a consequence to this, the i secondary feed was replaced on i O&Os with a repeating promo loop in late September 2006.
[edit] ION Life
On May 31, 2006, ION Media Networks announced plans to rollout a "24-hour digital broadcast network dedicated exclusively to consumer healthcare and healthy living." The network finally launched on February 19, 2007 as ION Life. ION has been airing samples of ION Life programming on Friday evenings.
[edit] The Worship Network
The Worship Network was originally founded in 1992 to "create an atmosphere in the home to inspire and encourage a quiet time to worship God." When PAX launched in 1998, The Worship Network provided overnight programming. The next year, PAX and The Worship Network struck a deal in which the network would be carried on a digital subchannel of PAX 24 hours a day.
Today, The Worship Network continues to be carried on digital subchannels of ION O&Os and in some cases, is used as an alternative to the main ION network feed. It is also seen around the world through its 250 broadcast affiliates. [11]
[edit] Recent programming deals
In 2006, ION Media Networks reached several programming deals. Two were with major programming suppliers announced within a week of each other. Another would bring original programming to the i network, among other things.
On June 27, 2006, ION announced a comprehensive programming deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution, giving them broadcast rights to movies and programming owned by Warner. [12] On July 5, 2006, ION announced a similar deal with Sony Pictures Television, giving them broadcast rights to movies and programming owned by Sony. [13] Starting in September, programs and feature-length movies from both libraries were phased into the primetime schedule.
On October 25, 2006, ION announced "an exclusive programming alliance" with RHI Entertainment (formerly Hallmark Entertainment). Under this agreement, RHI will program the 7-11 PM time periods on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights for two years starting July 1, 2007. The agreement also makes way for the US broadcast premieres of at least six RHI productions each year. [14]
ION also struck deals with CBS Paramount Television and NBC Universal for library content. [15]
[edit] See also
- List of ION Television affiliates
- List of stations owned and operated by ION Media Networks
- List of United States television networks
- List of United States cable and satellite television networks
- Lists of corporate assets
[edit] External links
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Corporate Leadership: R. Brandon Burgess | Dean M. Goodman | Richard Garcia | Adam K. Weinstein | Tammy G. Hedge | Steven J. Friedman | Stephen P. Appel | Douglas C. Barker | David A. Glenn |
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Broadcast Television Networks: ION Television |
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1These stations are operated by ION under a time brokerage agreement. |
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Annual Revenue: $276.6 million USD (2004) | Employees: 433 (2005) | Stock Symbol: AMEX: ION | Website: www.ionmedia.tv |
