Retro TV

Last updated
Retro TV
RetroTV logo.png
Type Broadcast television network
Country United States
Headquarters Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
Programming
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Ownership
Owner Get After It Media
Key peopleJoel Wertman
David Leach [1]
History
LaunchedJuly 2005;19 years ago (2005-07)
Former namesRetro Television Network
Links
Website www.getafteritmedia.com/retrotv

Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through the 1980s, although it also includes more recent programs from the 1990s and 2000s. Through its ownership by Luken, Retro TV is a sister network to several broadcast network properties that are wholly or jointly owned by the company, including the family-oriented Family Channel and country music-oriented network Heartland.

Contents

At its outset, Retro TV was designed to be broadcast on the digital subchannels of television stations; however in recent years, the network's affiliate body has been drawn down to primarily low-power stations, as many station groups have replaced the network on the subchannels of their full-power major network affiliates with similarly formatted networks such as Antenna TV and MeTV, which have assumed rights to many of the distributors that formerly held programming agreements with Retro. The network is also available nationwide on free-to-air C-band satellite via SES-2 in DVB-S2 format; [2] [3] as individualized transmitter-ready feeds for each station are centrally generated using broadcast automation and delivered to the stations by satellite. In March 2020, Retro TV launched a live online feed, which carries a limited six-hour selection of the network's programming, looped four times each day. [4]

History

Retro Television Network logo used from July 2005 to June 2009. Retro Television Network.png
Retro Television Network logo used from July 2005 to June 2009.

The Retro Television Network (originally branded as "RTN") launched in July 2005 on select television stations owned by the Equity Broadcasting Corporation (later known as Equity Media Holdings), a chain of small (often low-powered) satellite-fed VHF and UHF television stations controlled directly from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. Equity had expanded quickly with purchases of many small stations in the early 2000s, but by 2008, the company was struggling to meet its obligations.

In June 2008, while the company was undergoing financial troubles, Equity Media Holdings sold RTN to Henry Luken III's – Equity's former president and CEO, and the company's largest shareholder – Luken Communications (which later rebranded as Reach High Media Group in 2019) for $18.5 million in cash. Equity had an option to repurchase the network for $27.75 million; the purchase option was not exercised and expired on December 24, 2008. Equity had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy three weeks before the expiration of the purchase option. [5]

On January 4, 2009, a contract conflict between Equity and Luken Communications interrupted RTN programming on many of its affiliates with Luken alleging that Equity had left many obligations to RTN's creditors, including programming suppliers, unpaid. As a result, Luken restored a national feed of the network from its Chattanooga headquarters with individual feeds to affiliates not owned by Equity following suit on a piecemeal basis. Equity-owned or -operated stations lost RTN affiliation, though Luken vowed to find new affiliates for the network in the affected areas. [6]

RTV logo used from June 2009 to March 2013. RTV Retro Television logo.svg
RTV logo used from June 2009 to March 2013.

The Retro Television Network changed its on-air branding to "RTV" in June 2009 (a nod to the digital television transition that occurred that month, though a trademark dispute with the Racetrack Television Network was also a factor in the change). [7] [8]

In 2012, RTV dropped from 120 to 80 affiliates with many ABC affiliates switching to the Live Well Network. [9] Further affiliate drops occurred as RTV's scheduling began to decline with lesser product, with MeTV and Antenna TV (both with strong corporate backing and financing, along with more generous affiliation terms than Luken) making major carriage deals with large broadcast groups. In March 2017, the final "major" group carrying the network, Sinclair Broadcast Group, dropped the network from three remaining Sinclair stations where RTV affiliation agreements were made with their former owners, replacing it with their in-house network TBD. On October 1, 2017, the network lost its last station with one of the major broadcast networks, WKTC in Columbia, South Carolina, which replaced its subchannel with Laff.

The network was re-branded as Retro TV in 2013. Of the top 25 digital broadcast networks for 2014, Retro TV ranked No. 10 with a coverage of 54% of households.

Concept and programming

Since its creation, Retro's principal programming concept consists of classic television series, initially maintaining a 24-hour schedule of shows. As of 2019, the on-air lineup dates mostly from the 1950s to the 1970s, with the exception of prime time, which consists mostly of contemporary programming from Canada. Retro airs a full block of Saturday morning cartoon reruns and family-friendly adventure series and comedies on Saturdays; the network uses Sunday mornings to meet E/I liabilities, largely with programming widely available elsewhere.

There have been some deviations to the format, including during the network's ownership under Equity, which added some original talk programming (notably Unreliable Sources) during the late night slot on weeknights from the summer of 2008 to early 2009, a concept billed as "Classic Hits All Day & Fresh Talk All Night". Overnights also eventually became devoted to Shop LC and paid programming. [10] The network has also featured originally produced horror film showcases such as Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In [11] and Off Beat Cinema ; Retro also aired the talk show Daytime produced by WFLA-TV's Riverbank Studios in Tampa, Florida, co-hosted by Jerry Penacoli and Cyndi Edwards.

Until 2011, Retro offered a customized schedule for use at the discretion of the local affiliate. The network then moved towards a set national schedule, although affiliates have the option to pre-empt or reschedule some network programming. [12]

By June 2011, when Retro's distribution agreement with NBCUniversal Television Distribution ended, the network adjusted its schedule to feature programming from other distributors (such as I Spy and Starsky and Hutch ) and public domain programs (such as early episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies ), as well as low-cost Canadian barter programs (such as Cold Squad and Da Vinci's Inquest ) and reality and documentary programming (including Crusade in Europe based on Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's memoirs of World War II and Crusade in the Pacific). Retro also featured a Saturday morning block of vintage cartoon programming. [13] In 2014, Retro began broadcasting Mystery Science Theater 3000 , the soap opera The Doctors, and the classic era of long-running British science fiction television show Doctor Who ; MST3K departed the schedule upon the rights being purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group's Comet.

The network previously had major content deals with CBS Television Distribution until July 2008, [14] and NBCUniversal Television Distribution (whose programming agreement began after the deal with CBS ended) until June 2011. Retro's current programming roster draws from various distributors including BBC Studios Distribution, Genesis International, Shout! Factory, Peter Rodgers Organization, CBC Television, and SFM Entertainment, as well as John DiSciullo (the distributor of Off Beat Cinema ); compared to its competition, public domain series continue to compose a large portion of the schedule.

Affiliates

As of March 2017, Retro TV is carried on 97 affiliates and translators across the United States, covering 60% of the country's DMA households.

Prior to the 2009 digital transition, Retro TV was seen on a number of analog stations owned by Equity Media Holdings, the network's former owner. Some Equity stations mixed Retro programming with first-run and recent off-network syndicated programming or also carried another network, such as MyNetworkTV or The CW Plus.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equity Media Holdings</span> American TV broadcasting company

Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, a name later used for its broadcast station subsidiary. The company had a focus on Hispanic and Asian American communities in large markets while owning a combination of English-language network affiliates in medium and small markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXNW</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

KXNW is a television station licensed to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, United States, serving Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Rogers-licensed NBC affiliate KNWA-TV and Fort Smith–licensed Fox affiliate KFTA-TV. The three stations share studios on Dickson Street in downtown Fayetteville, with a satellite studio in Rogers and a news bureau and sales office on Kelley Highway in Fort Smith. KXNW's transmitter is located on Humphrey Mountain near Garfield.

KQUP is a television station in Pullman, Washington, United States, which is currently silent. It is owned by the Word of God Fellowship, the parent company of the Daystar Television Network, and serves the Spokane television market. Its main transmitter is located atop Tekoa Mountain. A low-power television station, KQUP-LD, serves as a supplement to KQUP for coverage of Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMYA-DT</span> Television station in Arkansas, United States

KMYA-DT is a television station licensed to Camden, Arkansas, United States, serving the Little Rock area as an affiliate of MeTV. Owned by LR Telecasting, LLC, the station maintains studios on Shackleford Drive in the Beverly Hills section of northwestern Little Rock, and its transmitter is located four miles (6.4 km) northwest of El Dorado, along Arkansas Highway 335.

WMFP is a television station licensed to Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area and primarily airing paid programming from OnTV4U. It is owned by WRNN-TV Associates alongside Norwell-licensed WWDP. Through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WWDP's spectrum from a tower off Pleasant Street in West Bridgewater. WMFP's studios are located on Lakeland Park Drive in Peabody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMYU</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in St. George, Utah

KMYU is a television station licensed to St. George, Utah, United States, serving as the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the state of Utah. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Salt Lake City–based CBS affiliate KUTV and independent station KJZZ-TV. The stations share studios on South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City; KMYU's transmitter is located atop Webb Hill, 2+1⁄4 miles (3.6 km) south of downtown St. George. Previously, KMYU-TV maintained separate studios in the J. C. Snow Building on East St. George Boulevard in downtown St. George, while KUTV's facilities only housed KMYU's master control and some internal operations.

KDCG-CD is a low-power, Class A television station in Carencro, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with Heroes & Icons. It is owned by Delta Media Corporation alongside dual MeTV/Telemundo affiliate KLWB and low-power station KXKW-LD. The three stations share studios on Evangeline Thruway in Carencro; KDCG-CD's transmitter is located northeast of Lafayette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KQCK</span> CTN TV station in Cheyenne, Wyoming

KQCK is a religious television station licensed to Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, serving the markets of Cheyenne and Denver, Colorado, as an owned-and-operated station of the Christian Television Network (CTN). The station's studios are located on Yates Street in the Denver suburb of Westminster, and its transmitter is located on Horsetooth Mountain, just outside Fort Collins, Colorado.

KEGS was an independent television station in Goldfield, Nevada, United States. It served both the Reno and Las Vegas markets by way of translators KRRI-LP in Reno and KEGS-LP in Las Vegas. Like many stations that were owned by Equity Broadcasting, the stations were operated remotely by satellite; their programming could be seen free-to-air on Galaxy 18.

WBLU-LP is a defunct low-power television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Owned by Equity Media Holdings, the station broadcast its signal from downtown Lexington and provided coverage that did not extend far past the developed portions of the city, although the signal could be picked up in neighboring Scott and Bourbon counties. The station was active from 1999 until 2009, when it went dark due to a wide-ranging bankruptcy involving Equity.

KTVC is a religious television station in Roseburg, Oregon, United States, affiliated with the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN). The station is owned by Better Life Television, and maintains studios on Golden Valley Boulevard in Roseburg and a transmitter on Mount Rose northeast of the city.

WBIF is a religious television station licensed to Marianna, Florida, United States, serving the Panama City area as an owned-and-operated station of the Daystar Television Network. The station's transmitter is located on SR 20 in unincorporated Youngstown, Florida.

KCBU was an independent television station in Price, Utah, United States. The station was owned by Equity Media Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KEYU (TV)</span> TV station in Borger, Texas

KEYU is a television station licensed to Borger, Texas, United States, serving the Amarillo area as an affiliate of the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KFDA-TV. The two stations share studios on Broadway Drive in northern Amarillo; KEYU's transmitter is located on Dumas Drive and Reclamation Plant Road in rural unincorporated Potter County.

KFDF-CD is a low-power, Class A television station in Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with the Spanish-language Estrella TV network. It is owned by Pinnacle Media alongside Univision affiliates KWNL-CD and KXUN-LD. KFDF-CD's transmitter is located on Pernot Road in Van Buren, Arkansas.

Larry E. Morton was one of the founders of the defunct Equity Broadcasting Corporation, established in 1998 and liquidated in 2009. Prior to forming Equity Broadcasting Corporation, Morton was the president/manager of Las Vegas Media, LLC and Kaleidoscope Affiliates, LLC (1994–1998).

Retro Jams was a music video network that played music videos from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, with the vast majority of clips used in the public domain to reduce and avoid performance and rights fees. Established in 2007, it was owned and operated by now-defunct Equity Media Holdings. Retro Jams was formerly carried full-time as a free-to-air TV channel on various Equity-owned terrestrial low-power television stations nationwide. Blocks of programming on sister network Retro Television Network also featured Retro Jams, either with videos pre-programmed or requested live by viewers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KEYT-TV</span> ABC/CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Santa Barbara, California

KEYT-TV is a television station licensed to Santa Barbara, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California as an affiliate of ABC, CBS, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) alongside San Luis Obispo–licensed low-power, Class A Fox affiliate KKFX-CD ; NPG also provides certain services to Santa Maria–licensed Telemundo affiliate KCOY-TV through a shared services agreement (SSA) with VistaWest Media, LLC. KEYT-TV's studios are located on Miramonte Drive on TV Hill, overlooking downtown Santa Barbara; KCOY-TV and KKFX-CD share separate facilities at West McCoy Lane and Skyway Drive in Santa Maria north of Santa Maria Public Airport. KEYT-TV's transmitter is located atop Broadcast Peak, between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez in the Santa Ynez Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get After It Media</span> American television broadcast company

Get After It Media LLC, formerly known as Luken Communications and Reach High Media Group, is a privately owned American broadcast holding company, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which owns or operates around 80 television stations in the United States and six digital television multicast networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catchy Comedy</span> American digital multicast TV network

Catchy Comedy, formerly known as Decades, is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. The network, which is mainly carried on the digital subchannels of television stations, primarily airs classic television sitcoms from the 1950s through the early 1990s. Established in 2015, the network was previously called Decades.

References

  1. ↑ Buckman, Adam (July 26, 2016). "Diginets Keep Growing, Despite Auction Cloud". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  2. ↑ SES-2 at 87.0°W, LyngSat Archived May 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Free TV from United States, LyngSat Archived December 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Retro TV - Get After It Media". Get After It Media.
  5. ↑ Arkansas Business: "Creditor Files to Liquidate Equity Media, Claims Company Cannot Meet Payroll Obligations", 12/10/2008. Archived February 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Jessell, Harry A. (January 5, 2009). "Financial Dispute Disrupts RTN Diginet". tVNewsCheck. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  7. ↑ "RTN Rebrands as RTV", from broadcastingcable.com 6/17/2009 Archived September 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Attorney Defends Luken Actions In Purchase Of Retro TV Programming". The Chattanoogan . July 24, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  9. ↑ Marcucci, Carl (October 31, 2012). "Luken RTV affiliate losses not a big hit". Radio-TV Business Report. Streamline RBR, Inc. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Back from Basic," from BusinessTN, September/October 2009 Archived February 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ "Wolfman Mac interview", from Outsight Radio Hours, 3/27/2011
  12. ↑ RTV Changes Schedule, Loses Universal Archived August 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "RTV Bringing Back Retro Saturday Morning TV", from TVNewsCheck, 8/5/2010
  14. ↑ Creditor Files to Liquidate Equity Media, Claims Company Cannot Meet Payroll Obligations Archived February 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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.