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Type | Digital broadcast television network (Classic television series) |
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Country | United States |
Availability | Nationwide (available on OTA digital television and LPTV in most markets; also via satellite) |
Slogan | Memorable Entertainment Television |
Owner | Weigel Broadcasting |
Key people | Neal Sabin (Executive Vice President, Weigel Broadcasting) |
Launch date | January 1, 2005 (in Chicago) March 1, 2008 (in Milwaukee) December 15, 2010 (nationally) |
Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
Official website | http://www.metvnetwork.com |
Me-TV ("Memorable Entertainment" Television, and stylized as MeTV) is a television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[1] that airs classic television sitcoms, dramas and classic commercials from the 1950s through the 1980s. Through its ownership by Weigel, the national Me-TV network is a sister network to This TV, which focuses more on films from the 1930s to the 2000s, with limited classic television series. Me-TV has local versions of the service known as "Me Too" in Chicago and Milwaukee, which have a wide variety of off-network sitcoms and drama series from a variety of distributors.
The national network though primarily airs sitcoms and drama shows from the CBS Television Distribution and 20th Television libraries, and several shows from other libraries. Like similar networks RTV and Antenna TV, Me-TV is designed to air on the digital subchannels of local stations; however, Me-TV also maintains a small number of affiliates who carry its programming as a primary affiliation on their main channel. It is also available nationwide on free-to-air C-band satellite via AMC-1 in DVB-S format.[2]
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Background
Beginnings in Chicago
Me-TV was initially a programming block which aired from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on WFBT (now WWME-CA channel 23) in Chicago. Shows included The Jack Benny Program, Sergeant Bilko, The Carol Burnett Show, Maude, and One Day at a Time, though the lineup changed occasionally.
On January 1, 2005, Weigel rechristened the Chicago ethnic station as WWME-CA, with Me-TV full-time. The station's former ethnic programming and call letters (WFBT Chicago) moved to channel 48. On March 1, 2008, that station became WMEU-CA and became MeToo, an extension of the original station. The two low-power stations also air locally on WCIU-TV's digital subchannels. Initially, the two stations ran similar schedules, but by 2008, one would air only sitcoms while the other aired only dramas, and vice-versa.
On September 14, 2009, the two stations carved their own identities, as Me-TV began to run only off-network sitcoms (such as The Bernie Mac Show, All in the Family, The Three Stooges and Frasier) and was positioned as the station for comedy while MeToo began running only off network drama shows (such as Perry Mason, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Twilight Zone) and became known as the choice for drama.
Milwaukee expansion
Weigel expanded Me-TV to the DT3 subchannel of their Milwaukee station, WDJT, a CBS affiliate, on March 1, 2008.[3] The Milwaukee version of the station featured much of the same programming, with some different shows and time slots.
On April 21, 2008, Weigel moved the Me-TV programming to its own dedicated full-powered channel, the newly acquired WJJA in Racine, changing the call letters to WBME-TV, and later launched the station's new digital transmitter on the Weigel tower in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park. Me-TV was still carried on channel 58.3 until November 1, 2008, with the launch of This TV on the same channel. The station also airs public affairs programming including Racine & Me, and because of their full power status, E/I programming such as WCIU's Green Screen Adventures and Saved by the Bell.
National expansion
On November 22, 2010, Weigel announced that they would take the Me-TV concept national and have it become a full-fledged network with a standardized schedule, available to any station wishing to affiliate; as a result, Me-TV would compete fully with RTV and Antenna TV, while complementing successful sister network This TV, which carries library product from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Cookie Jar Entertainment.[4] The national Me-TV network launched on December 15, 2010. As with sister network This TV, MGM is handling the distribution of the network.[5][6]
As part of the standardization with the new network, Chicago's local version of Me-TV merged with MeToo, airing both comedy and drama programming together as locally-programmed channel MeToo. The national Me-TV airs on WCIU subchannel 26.3 and WWME-CA, while the new MeToo moved to WCIU subchannel 26.4 and WMEU-CA.[7] The local MeToo channel in Chicago airs a broader variety of programming than the national version, as MeToo locally continues to carry both classic and recent programs, while acquired programming on the national Me-TV network is limited to series that debuted prior to 1985.
WBME in Milwaukee carries the entire national feed of Me-TV on 49.1, though they will add their own locally-programmed MeToo subchannel in early 2011.[5] Weigel-owned WBND-LP in South Bend began carrying the network on its subchannel 57.2 on December 15, 2010.[8]
Programming
Me-TV's program schedule relies on the extensive library of television programs that are currently owned by CBS Television Distribution and 20th Television; as such, no originally-produced programming appears on the network, though two programs produced by parent company Weigel Broadcasting (Svengoolie and Green Screen Adventures) are aired on Me-TV. The network does not air a split-screen credit sequence or feature voiceovers promoting upcoming network programming during the closing credits (borrowing a format common in local broadcast syndication). The network's continuity announcer is local voice-over artist Carol Gallagher, who has served as Me-TV's staff announcer since its existence as a local programming format on WWME-CA and WMEU-CA, prior to its establishment as a national network.
Like sister network This TV, Me-TV does display an on-screen logo bug during its programming, its affiliates are inclined to include regional descriptors reflecting the station's primary broadcast area underneath the logo; the network also does not carry infomercials (however in its existence as a broadcast format concept on certain Weigel's owned-and-operated stations, some Weigel stations carrying Me-TV programming did air some paid programming).
Classic television series
Me-TV has program licensing agreements with 20th Television (which includes series produced by Four Star Television and MTM Enterprises), CBS Television Distribution (which includes most of the Paramount Television library that was acquired by CBS Television Distribution following the 2006 split of CBS and Viacom into separate companies, along with series from Desilu Productions, Bing Crosby Productions, Don Fedderson Productions, QM Productions, Spelling Television and Republic Pictures Television); Me-TV also shares broadcast rights to programs from the NBCUniversal Television Distribution library (including shows from Universal Television, Revue Studios, NBC Studios and MCA Television)[9] as well as select titles from Sony Pictures Television with Antenna TV and select titles from the Peter Rodgers Organization with the Retro Television Network.
The network's series programming covers mostly sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s to the 1980s and includes series such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, Batman, Family Affair, I Love Lucy, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, M*A*S*H, Cheers and That Girl; most of the series airing on the network have been widely syndicated on other television outlets in the United States and abroad, though a scant few series featured on the channel (such as Cannon, Petticoat Junction and The Phil Silvers Show) have not been seen on television for several years or syndicated on an fairly inconsistent basis.
Unlike competing classic TV network Antenna TV, which relies heavily on comedies, Me-TV's schedule features a fairly large amount of westerns, crime drama, mystery and suspense programs; the network devotes large blocks of programming to dramatic series including a late morning/afternoon block on weekdays (which in addition to the aforementioned dramas, also includes Perry Mason, Kojak and The Big Valley), a western block on Saturday afternoons and a mystery series block on Sunday nights.
Movies
Despite access to program content from the Universal Television, Paramount Television and 20th Century Fox libraries, movies have a relatively limited presence on Me-TV's weekly schedule. Saturday evening airings of the Rich Koz-hosted horror and science fiction film showcase Svengoolie, which is syndicated by sister independent station WCIU-TV, and Sunday morning airings of films and shorts featuring Laurel and Hardy are currently the only movie content airing on Me-TV.
Children's programming
In order to meet the FCC's required weekly amount of educational children's program content, Me-TV carries Green Screen Adventures, Weigel's Chicago-based program originally meant for local viewing (which also airs on sister network This TV), as well as syndicated the sketch series Mad About and the Canadian teen drama series Edgemont.
Me-TV also features a block of children's programs on Saturday mornings called "AniMeTV", that is handled by New York City-based Classic Media[10] (which also owns the digital multicast network Qubo in conjunction with ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana and Scholastic Entertainment). The three-hour block debuted on April 7, 2012, and features animated series such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power, along with Gumby and Mr. Magoo animated shorts.[11][12]
Affiliates
As of 2012, Me-TV has current or pending affiliation agreements with television stations in over 122 television markets in 42 states, covering approximately 78% of the United States (of these affiliates, 17 stations carry the network as a formal primary channel affiliation and two are general entertainment stations that air select Me-TV programs on a tape-delayed basis); Me-TV currently does not have affiliates in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Vermont and West Virginia.[13]
On January 7, 2011, KCTU-LD in Wichita became the first non-Weigel owned station to carry the Me-TV network.[14] However, that station's affiliation with the network lasted only about one week and ended after KCTU-LD and Me-TV could not come to terms on a contract.[15]
In early 2011, Bahakel Communications became the first non-Weigel station group to sign selected stations to carry Me-TV on their digital subchannels, with the WCCB (Charlotte, North Carolina) and WOLO-TV (Columbia, South Carolina) subchannels beginning transmissions in early March of that year. On April 4, 2011, it was announced that Me-TV had signed with 14 broadcasting companies, most notably Hearst Television, Raycom Media, Cox Television, Media General, and Titan Broadcast Management to begin airing Me-TV; this brings the national Me-TV clearance mark to over 45%.[16]
See also
- This TV, sister network to Me-TV, owned by Weigel Broadcasting and MGM, specializing in feature films with select classic TV programming.
- Retro Television Network, a competing digital broadcast network owned by Luken Communications specializing in classic TV series from the 1950s to the 1970s.
- Antenna TV, a competing digital broadcast network owned by Tribune Broadcasting specializing in classic TV series and films from the 1950s to the 1990s.
- Bounce TV, a digital broadcast network with similarly styled retro programming/movies specifically targeting African-American audiences.
References
- ^ "MGM To Distribute Weigel's Me-TV Diginet". TV Newscheck. January 4, 2011. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2011/01/04/48153/mgm-to-distribute-weigels-metv-diginet. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
- ^ "AMC 1 at 103.0°W". Lyngsat. 2012-03-30. http://lyngsat.com/AMC-1.html. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
- ^ TV Goes All-Local On the Storm, But with Limited Visibility of Wider World, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 7, 2008
- ^ Weigel Broadcasting Taking Me-TV National, Chicago Tribune, November 22, 2010
- ^ a b Updates on Me-TV National Network, Plus Local Me-TV/Me-Too; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows, Sitcoms Online, December 10, 2010
- ^ Our Exclusive Interview With Me-TV Network's Neal Sabin; Sitcom Stars On Talk Shows, Sitcoms Online, December 17, 2010
- ^ http://www.wciu.com/files/channel_grid.pdf
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Me-TV Announces New Shows on Fall Schedule Including NBCUniversal Series "Kojak," "The Rockford Files," & "Columbo", The Futon Critic, September 20, 2011.
- ^ Me-TV and Broadcast Partners Set Deal, TVNewsCheck, January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Me-TV Spring Schedule Changes". April 7, 2012. http://metvnetwork.com/springChanges.php. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ "Me-TV: AniMeTV". April 28, 2012. http://metvnetwork.com/AniMeTV.php. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
- ^ "RabbitEars.Info". RabbitEars.Info. http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php?request=network_search&network=Me-TV. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
- ^ "BRAND NEW!! All the...". Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=179094688789169&id=120877922783. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
- ^ "KCTU TV 43 Facebook Page". January 17, 2011. http://www.facebook.com/pages/KCTU-TV-43/120877922783. Retrieved 5 August 2011. "See post dated 1/17/2011"
- ^ "Weigel Broadcasting Co.'s "Me-TV" Exceeds 45% Clearance Mark Finalizing Deals with 14 Domestic Station Groups" (PDF). http://www.metvnetwork.com/metv_national_release.pdf. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
External links
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