Country | United States |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Nationwide |
Headquarters | El Segundo, California |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 720p HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | DirecTV |
History | |
Launched | November 25, 1999 |
Closed | May 22, 2020 |
Former names | Freeview (1999–2005) The 101 Network (2005–11) |
Audience Network (also known as Audience from 2016 until 2020) [1] was an American pay television channel that was owned by AT&T. It featured a mix of original and acquired series, specials, and feature films. The network operated as a commercial-free service and broadcast its programming without editing for content. It was originally exclusive to DirecTV, though it was also added to AT&T U-verse after AT&T's 2015 acquisition of DirecTV. It was also made available on later AT&T streaming efforts, including AT&T TV and AT&T Watch TV, a lower-cost option available to AT&T Mobility customers. [2] As of 2019, the channel had a subscription base of 26 million. [3] The channel ceased operations on May 22, 2020.
The channel launched on November 25, 1999, as Freeview, a service on DirecTV channel 103 carrying a continuous loop of concerts and other events. [4] Freeview was part of all of the satellite provider's subscription packages, starting with the Total Choice tier. [4] In 2005, it was moved to channel 101 and was rebranded as The 101 Network (as a suffix, "101" is college jargon for basic classes or, in more general terms, a way to describe any basic concept). Following the rebrand, the channel's schedule began to expand to include original programs. It also presented its very first original, CD US, which was announced on November 1, 2005. [5]
The channel was rebranded as Audience Network on June 1, 2011. [6] In 2015, the channel was added to AT&T U-verse after DirecTV was acquired by AT&T. [7] In June 2018, AT&T announced its discount streaming service, WatchTV, which would carry Audience. [2]
On January 8, 2020, it was announced by parent company AT&T that Audience would end operations in its current format and transition to a barker channel for HBO Max, a service which launched on May 27. [8] Rich Eisen later confirmed in a statement regarding the future of his daily radio show (which had maintained a longtime video simulcast on Audience) that the network would go off the air on February 29 (his show ended the day before on Audience, and ended on radio on April 7). [9] [10] AT&T itself would not confirm the actual end date for the network at the time and it did continue for two months after with previous programming, though simulcasts of Eisen's show and The Dan Patrick Show both ceased on February 28, and the network's website became merely a redirect to the generic DirecTV network listing. Eisen later found a new television home on NBCSN and YouTube, with Patrick also utilizing a YouTube live stream during the COVID-19 pandemic, before both ultimately ended up at Comcast-owned streaming service Peacock. In mid-April 2020, AT&T notified customers the network would officially sunset at 12:00 am Pacific on May 22, 2020. [11] [12] The network closed as scheduled after an airing of the documentary Black Sabbath: The End of The End, after which the channel space created by Freeview in 1999 folded. [13]
Starting in January 2009, the channel aired Wonderland , a controversial drama series that had briefly aired on ABC in the spring of 2000. [14] The run included all eight episodes of the series, six of which were not originally aired during the program's ABC run. [14]
DirecTV and NBC Universal Television Studio announced on April 25, 2007, that new episodes of the soap opera Passions would begin airing exclusively on the channel on September 17, 2007, [15] [16] retaining its 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time timeslot that it held during its NBC run, with reruns airing on weekends. The series had aired on NBC since July 1999, however in early 2007, the network announced they were not renewing the series as a result of replacing the series by a fourth hour of Today and very soon DirecTV bought exclusive Broadcasting rights from NBC to continue airing the series and the final NBC episode was aired on September 7, 2007, concluding its eight-year broadcast on NBC and then the new episodes began airing exclusively on DirecTV starting September 17, 2007. Although Passions had left NBC and moved to DirecTV, NBC continued to maintain the series official website on NBC.com due to the fact that their parent company NBCUniversal maintained Ownership and production rights to the series, however the free streaming service of the new episodes of Passions on NBC.com and the option to purchase the episodes for download on iTunes, which had started in the final NBC season of 2006-07 were completely discontinued once DirecTV began exclusively airing the new episodes. Initially the DirecTV episodes were only supposed to be available on their own network, but DirecTV later announced an agreement to allow NBC to rebroadcast the DirecTV episodes of Passions only as a paid subscription internet streaming content on NBC.com with a monthly subscription fee as an alternative for viewers who were unable to subscribe to DirecTV after the series left terrestrial television; this began in October 2007. [17] In December 2007, DirecTV announced that it would not pick up Passions from NBCU for a tenth season, [18] the series finale aired on August 7, 2008.
DirecTV, NBC, and Universal Media Studios announced a deal on April 2, 2008, in which The 101 would carry the 13-episode third season of Friday Night Lights beginning on October 1. [19] [20] Through the deal, after the season ended on The 101, the drama series' third season aired in second-run form on NBC (with some scenes edited) starting on January 16, 2009. On March 31, 2009, NBC and DirecTV announced that they had renewed Friday Night Lights for two additional seasons, again to be broadcast first on DirecTV and then on NBC. [21]
On July 19, 2010, DirecTV announced it had acquired the rights to the former FX drama Damages , and renewed the series for two additional seasons. The 101 began airing reruns of its first three seasons on January 5, 2011. Season 4 premiered on the rebranded Audience Network on July 13, 2011, and the fifth and final season premiered on July 11, 2012. [22]
The channel aired repeat episodes of SoapNet's original soap opera limited series, General Hospital: Night Shift throughout the series' run from July to October 2008. [23]
The channel broadcast the Nat Geo Adventure's documentary travel/adventure series Odyssey: Driving Around the World starting in June 2008.
The short-lived ABC drama The Nine began airing on the channel on May 27, 2009. [24]
The channel also aired reruns of the 2005–06 Showtime drama series Sleeper Cell . [25] On April 21, 2009, it was announced that DirecTV picked up the syndication rights to HBO's Oz and Deadwood . [26] [27]
The channel began airing the CBS drama Smith on April 8, 2009. [24] [28] It also began a general agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to air Eyes onto the channel also in 2009. [29]
DirecTV aired repeats of the HBO drama series The Wire starting on July 18, 2010. [30]
In recent years, DirecTV began acquiring exclusive US broadcast rights to series from fellow English-speaking countries UK, Canada and Australia.
The 101 began airing the Canadian comedy series Trailer Park Boys on February 5, 2009. [31]
On September 17, 2009, DirecTV announced that The 101 had picked up rights to the Australian miniseries Underbelly , which began airing on February 3, 2010. [32]
On September 28, 2010, DirecTV acquired rights to the British shows No Heroics , How Not to Live Your Life and Mutual Friends , which premiered on The 101 in November 2010. [33]
On February 10, 2011, DirecTV acquired rights to the Canadian series Call Me Fitz , which premiered on the network on April 21, 2011. [34]
In the spring of 2011, DirecTV acquired the rights to the Australian series Rake . [35]
In the fall of 2011, DirecTV acquired rights to the Canadian sitcom Less Than Kind [36] and the British drama Hit & Miss , the latter of which premiered on June 27, 2012, with a sneak preview, with the first full episode airing on July 11, 2012. [37]
DirecTV picked up the rights to the Australian series The Slap and the British series The Shadow Line , which started airing on Audience Network in February 2012. [38]
Celebrity Beach Bowl – Since 2007, during Super Bowl week, DirecTV has held an annual celebrity flag football game, which promotes DirecTV's exclusive sports package NFL Sunday Ticket. A concert follows the game, which is simulcast on Chicago television station WGN-TV, its sister network WGN America, Now known as NewsNation, and in 2013, NBC Sports Network.
Bracket Breakdown was an exclusive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship pre-game show with several college basketball analysts and insiders, including the University of Louisville's Rick Pitino, the University of Kentucky's John Calipari, the University of Oklahoma's Jeff Capel, the University of Tennessee's Bruce Pearl and the University of Washington's Lorenzo Romar and former UCLA player and current sports talk radio show host Sean Farnham. [39] It served as supplemental coverage to DirecTV's exclusive (now defunct) Mega March Madness package.
SXSW – the channel exclusively carried the 2009 South by Southwest Festival concert live. [40]
Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America aired exclusively on DirecTV. [41]
On February 13, 2012, Audience Network premiered the original documentary More Than a Dream, about the Civil Rights Movement, narrated by Martin Sheen. [42]
In October 2006, to mark Halloween, Audience Network aired several horror-themed movies, including The Toxic Avenger .
On February 23 and 24, 2007, Audience Network aired a preview of Chiller, a then-recently launched cable channel owned by NBC Universal dedicated to horror programming that launched on DirecTV channel 257 on March 1, 2007. Programming featured during this preview included the two-hour pilot episode of Twin Peaks , the pilot episode of American Gothic , episodes of Monsters , Tales from the Crypt , Night Gallery , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , Friday the 13th: The Series , and various horror movies.
Audience Network aired a number of dramatic series a few days before their scheduled premieres on Showtime including The Tudors in March 2007 and Nurse Jackie in June 2009, as well as the Starz series Party Down on April 22, 2010.
On August 24, 2007, Audience Network aired an exclusive high-definition broadcast of High School Musical 2 , one week after its premiere on the Disney Channel (Disney Channel did not launch a high definition simulcast feed until April 2, 2008). [43]
On November 11, 2017, Audience Network premiered the first part of the two-part documentary The Volunteers. [44] This is a documentary about volunteers taking up arms against ISIS in Syria. [45] Ricky Schroder is the executive producer. [46]
Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revived game shows. The network has also previously aired reality competition series and televised poker.
Ion Television is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming. It rebranded as i: Independent Television on July 1, 2005, converting into a general entertainment network featuring recent and older acquired programs. The network adopted its identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007.
Passions is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and produced by NBC Studios, Passions follows the lives, loves and various romantic and paranormal adventures of the residents of Harmony, a small town in New England with many secrets.
Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. Launched on October 1, 1998 as Style Network, a spin-off of E!, the channel initially consisted of fashion, design, and urban lifestyle-themed programming. In 2008, Style shifted its programming towards personality-centric reality shows. The network was relaunched as Esquire Network on September 23, 2013; said rebrand was supposed to be on G4, but that was given to Style due to G4's low ratings. As Esquire Network, the channel focused on travel, cooking, sports and fashion, and also aired reruns of popular sitcoms and dramas.
Logo TV is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment programming targeting LGBTQ audiences.
Soapnet was an American basic cable network owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company.
Hulu is an American subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of The Walt Disney Company.
Eyes is an American crime drama television series starring Tim Daly as Harlan Judd that aired on ABC from March 30 to April 27, 2005.
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based at Warner Bros. Discovery's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy, and concert specials, and periodic interstitial programs.
Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series developed by Peter Berg and inspired by the eponymous 1990 novel by H. G. Bissinger, which was adapted as the 2004 film of the same name by Berg. Executive producers were Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Sarah Aubrey and Jason Katims who also served as showrunner. The series follows a high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, a small, close-knit community in rural West Texas. It features an ensemble cast led by Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, portraying high school football coach Eric Taylor and his wife Tami Taylor, a school faculty member. The primary cast includes characters associated with football and high school. The show uses its small-town backdrop to address many issues in contemporary American culture like family values, school funding, racism, substance use, abortion and lack of economic opportunities.
Chiller was an American cable and satellite television network that was owned by NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal, all owned by Comcast. It later opened its own film production company as well. Chiller specialized in horror, thriller and suspense programming, mainly films.
The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facilities and magazines.
MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications having minority ownership.
Teletoon at Night was a late night programming block that aired on Teletoon. It primarily carried adult animation and other programming targeting teen and adult audiences.
Undercover Boss is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working undercover in their own companies to investigate how their firms really work and to identify how they can be improved, as well as to reward hard-working employees.
FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and feature films for a primary demographic of men ages 18–34.
NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming primarily involving fishing, hunting, outdoor adventure programs, and outdoor sports. By the turn of the 21st century, OLN became better known for its extensive coverage of the Tour de France but eventually began covering more "mainstream" sporting events, resulting in its relaunch as Versus in September 2006.
Freeform is an American basic cable channel owned and operated by Disney Entertainment business segment and division of the Walt Disney Company. Freeform primarily broadcasts programming geared towards young adults – with some skewing toward young women – in the 18-34 age range, a target demographic designated by the channel as "becomers". Its programming includes contemporary off-network syndicated reruns and original series, feature films, and made-for-TV original movies.
Universal Kids is an American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of NBCUniversal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast.