Entertainment Studios Networks

Last updated
Entertainment Studios Networks
ESN.png
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaUnited States
Headquarters Los Angeles, California
Programming
Language(s) American English
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
Ownership
Owner Allen Media Group
History
LaunchedMay 2009;14 years ago (2009-05)
Links
Website
Availability
Streaming media
Roku & Amazon Fire TV
  • SmartTV.com channel (likely to transfer to platform-agnostic Weather Channel Plus service in late 2021)

Entertainment Studios Networks is a group of seven high-definition cable networks operated by Entertainment Studios, a company owned by and featuring comedian Byron Allen.

Contents

The seven networks include Cars.TV, Comedy.TV, ES.TV, Justice Central, MyDestination.TV, Pets.TV and Recipe.TV. [1] All the shows appearing on the networks are produced and distributed exclusively by Entertainment Studios, but are also distributed in traditional broadcast syndication, to some controversy by cable providers who have rejected carriage of the networks under those grounds as providing low customer value when those programs are all available on traditional television stations. In addition, Byron Allen in early 2018 acquired The Weather Channel, which remained mainly under carriage agreements under its old management, along with its own separate corporate structure, but now comes under the same carriage agreement with ESN and Allen Media, Byron Allen's broadcast stations group.

History

The networks were launched in May 2009 through a deal with Verizon FIOS and have since expanded to several other pay-TV services. The networks are also offered direct-to-consumer through a Roku/Amazon Fire TV channel known as "SmartTV.com".

On March 22, 2018, Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios announced its intent to acquire The Weather Channel's television assets from an NBCUniversal/Blackstone Group partnership. The actual value is undisclosed, but was reported to be around $300 million; the channel's non-television assets, which were separately sold to IBM two years prior, were not included in the sale. [2] [3] Likewise, the regional sports networks Entertainment Studios is purchasing in conjunction with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Bally Sports (formerly Fox Sports Networks), will be operated in a separate venture, Diamond Sports Ventures. [4]

Ratings

As of the end of 2017, only two of the channels in the suite, Justice Central and Comedy.TV, maintained a nightly Nielsen average enough to tabulate a rating, while the others five had such a low sample size, they unable to be rated; the two channels also are regularly among the least rated Nielsen-measured networks in the United States. [5] ESN has since classed the other five networks together as one unit known as "ESN Lifestyle" for ratings purposes to allow Nielsen classification, though this has not been reflected on-air. [6]

As of 2019, Comedy.TV was the lowest-rated network measured by Nielsen, with an average of 1,000 primetime viewers. Justice Central had the highest viewership among Allen networks, averaging 11,000 viewers. [7] The remaining five channels have a combined average of 3,000 viewers. [8]

Channels

Carriage lawsuits

On December 3, 2014, a $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit was filed against AT&T's U-verse division and DirecTV by the National Association of African American Owned Media (NAAAOM) for allegedly violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866. NAAAOM is headed by Entertainment Studios Vice-President Mark DeVitre. The lawsuit claimed that Entertainment Studio Networks were denied carriage by the two providers on racial concerns. [9] In December 2015, AT&T and DirecTV (by then part of AT&T) reached a settlement with Entertainment Studios to carry the networks, with Comedy and Justice Central carried on DirecTV, and Comedy, Recipe, ES, MyDestination, Cars and Pets added to U-verse, along with Justice Central's existing carriage. [10]

The same type of lawsuit, again for $10 billion, was filed against Charter on January 28, 2016, which seeks carriage as part of Charter's merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks into the front-facing Spectrum brand. [11] [12] [13] Charter and Comcast (which had a separate $20 billion suit filed against them by Entertainment Studios and NAAOM) filed an appeal to dismiss the lawsuit in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on First Amendment grounds, which was dismissed by the 9th Circuit on November 19, 2018, allowing the two suits to go forward to trial. [14]

Comcast successfully petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for writ of certiorari to challenge the Ninth Circuit's decision, which the Court granted in June 2019. [15] In March 2020, the Supreme Court issued a 9-0 unanimous decision agreeing with Comcast that Allen must meet the high bar under the 1866 Civil Rights Act and prove that Comcast would have carried his channel "but for" his race. The court sent the case back to the 9th Circuit of reconsideration. [16] In June 2020, Comcast and Allen settled the lawsuit and came to a broader agreement to carry Allen's broadcast stations and the Weather Channel, along with three of the ESN networks. [17]

Charter settled their lawsuit with Allen on February 4, 2021, out-of-court for undisclosed terms. [18] Spectrum systems thus added four ESN networks (Pets, Cars, Recipe, and Justice Central) at the start of May 2021.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Sports Networks</span> American sports channel group (1996–2021)

Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019, following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. A condition of that acquisition imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice required Disney to sell the regional networks by June 18, 2019, 90 days after the completion of its acquisition. Disney subsequently agreed to sell the networks to Sinclair; the transaction was completed on August 22, 2019. The networks continued to use the Fox Sports name only under a transitional license agreement while rebranding options were explored. A rebranding cross-partnership with Bally's Corporation took effect on March 31, 2021, and the networks were rebranded as Bally Sports, ending the Fox Sports Networks branding after 25 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBCUniversal</span> American media and entertainment conglomerate

NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NFL Network</span> American sports-oriented pay television network

NFL Network is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL RedZone. Dedicated to American football, the network features game telecasts from the NFL, as well as NFL-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries. The network is headquartered in the NFL Los Angeles building located next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and broadcasts its worldwide feed from Encompass Digital Media in Atlanta, Georgia. The network has secondary East Coast facilities in the NFL Films building in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBA TV</span> American sports pay television network

NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular season and playoff game broadcasts from the NBA and related professional basketball leagues, as well as NBA-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries. The network is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The network also serves as the national broadcaster of the NBA G League and WNBA games. NBA TV is the oldest subscription network in North America to be owned or controlled by a professional sports league, having launched on November 2, 1999.

Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, just ahead of Comcast, and the largest pay TV operator ahead of Comcast and AT&T. Charter is the fifth-largest telephone provider based on number of residential lines.

ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. The channel is primarily dedicated to coverage of college athletics, and is also used as an additional outlet for general ESPN programming. ESPNU is based alongside its sister networks at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altitude Sports and Entertainment</span> American regional sports network

Altitude Sports and Entertainment is an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel, which serves the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, features a mix of professional, collegiate, and high school sporting events as well as some entertainment-based programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHL Network (American TV channel)</span> Television sports channel

NHL Network is an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that is a joint venture between the National Hockey League (NHL), which owns a controlling 84.4% interest, and NBCUniversal, which owns the remaining 15.6%. Dedicated to providing broadcast coverage of ice hockey, the network features live game telecasts from the NHL and other professional and collegiate hockey leagues, as well as NHL-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiller (TV network)</span> Former American TV network

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.

NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast, and the Philadelphia Phillies. It is the flagship owned-and-operated outlet of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM+</span> American pay television network

MGM+, formerly known as Epix, is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary of Amazon MGM Studios. The channel's programming consists of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, original television series, documentaries, and music and comedy specials.

Allen Media Group, alternately known by its former name of Entertainment Studios, Inc. is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and distribution of first-run television series for U.S. television syndication. Under the Entertainment Studios Networks division, it also operates a group of digital cable and satellite channels, which broadcast a mix of original programs and the company's syndicated content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space City Home Network</span> Regional sports network in Houston

The Space City Home Network is an American regional sports network owned jointly by the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bally Sports New Orleans</span> American regional sports network

Bally Sports New Orleans is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local coverage of professional and collegiate sports events within New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.

A carriage dispute is a disagreement over the right to "carry", that is, retransmit, a broadcaster's signal. Carriage disputes first occurred between broadcasters and cable companies and now include direct broadcast satellite and other multichannel video programming distributors.

Spectrum SportsNet LA and Spectrum Deportes LA is an American regional sports network jointly owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team and Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016. The channel's programming is devoted completely to the Dodgers, and includes coverage of all Dodgers games not being exclusively televised by MLB's national television partners, along with news, interview, and documentary programming focusing on the team.

ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel operates from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, though some programming and staff is in Charlotte, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquee Sports Network</span> American regional sports network

Marquee Sports Network is a regional sports network operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Chicago Cubs, launched on February 22, 2020. It is devoted exclusively to Cubs baseball, replacing a trio of channels as the exclusive broadcaster of Cubs games not shown on national TV.

Comcast v. National Association of African-American-Owned Media, 589 U.S. ___ (2020), is a United States Supreme Court case related to protections against racial discrimination in the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The case relates to whether cable television operator Comcast engaged in racial discrimination in refusing to carry channels from Entertainment Studios, a minority-owned network founded by Byron Allen. In a unanimous opinion in March 2020, the Court ruled that under the Civil Rights Act, Allen was burdened to show that race was but-for the sole reason Comcast failed to enter into a contract with his network. The parties reached a settlement after the Court's decision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black News Channel</span> American television news channel

The Black News Channel (BNC) was an American pay television news channel, targeting the African American demographic. The channel was based in Tallahassee, Florida, and launched on February 10, 2020. The station was co-founded by television executive Bob Brillante and former congressman J. C. Watts, who was also the network's chairman.

References

  1. ↑ SmartTV.com
  2. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie; Fleming, Mike (March 22, 2018). "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Acquires The Weather Channel TV Network For $300 Million". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ Albiniak, Paige (March 22, 2018). "Byron Allen Acquires The Weather Group in $300 Million Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia. "Sinclair Clinches Disney-Regional Sports Networks Deal, Byron Allen Joins as Partner". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  5. ↑ Schneider, Michael (December 28, 2017). "Highest Network Ratings of 2017: Most Watched Winners & Losers". IndieWire . Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Basic Cable Ranker: Week of May 28 (Total Viewers)". TVNewser. June 5, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018– via Scribd.
  7. ↑ Schneider, Michael (December 26, 2019). "Most-Watched Television Networks: Ranking 2019's Winners and Losers". Variety. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  8. ↑ Maglio, Tony (December 30, 2019). "115 Cable Channels Ranked by 2019 Viewership – Yes, Comedy.TV Is Still Dead Last". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  9. ↑ Zara, Christopher (December 4, 2014). "AT&T And DirecTV Hit With $10 Billion Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Claiming Providers Denied Carriage To Black-Owned Media". International Business Times. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  10. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (December 28, 2015). "AT&T Settles Byron Allen Racial Discrimination Lawsuit, Picks Up 7 Channels". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  11. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (January 28, 2016). "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Files $10 Billion Discrimination Lawsuit Against Charter Communications, FCC". Variety . Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  12. ↑ Soule, Alexander (February 4, 2016). "Charter revenue, losses up amid diversity row". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  13. ↑ Entertainment Studios, Inc. (March 31, 2016). "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios And NAAAOM Meet With FCC And Confirm Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger Is Not A Lock Amid Ongoing Investigations". PR Newswire. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  14. ↑ Chmielewski, Dawn (19 November 2018). "Appeals Court Clears Way For Byron Allen's Civil Rights Suits Against Charter, Comcast". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  15. ↑ de Vogue, Ariane (June 10, 2019). "Supreme Court takes Comcast race discrimination case". CNN . Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  16. ↑ Higgins, Tucker (23 March 2020). "Supreme Court hands win to Comcast in $20 billion racial discrimination suit". CNBC. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  17. ↑ "Byron Allen, Comcast settle long-running battle over alleged racism". Los Angeles Times. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  18. ↑ James, Meg (4 February 2021). "TV mogul Byron Allen, cable giant Charter settle long-running race discrimination lawsuit". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 1 May 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.