This TV

This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network that is owned by ThisTV, LLC, a joint venture between Nexstar Media Group, and the MGM Domestic Television Distribution subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The network maintains a large programming emphasis on films (those primarily sourced from the library of partial owner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), but also airs other limited general entertainment content in the form of classic television series and children's programming.

This TV
TypeFree-to-air television network
BrandingThis TV
Country
United States
AvailabilityNationwide via digital terrestrial television
(83% U.S.coverage)[1]
FoundedJuly 28, 2008 (2008-07-28)
Slogan
  • This is Your Movie Network
  • It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois
Owner
ParentThis TV LLC.
Launch date
November 1, 2008 (2008-11-01)
Picture format
480i 4:3 (normal and letterbox) (SDTV)
AffiliatesList of affiliates
Official website
www.thistv.com

The network – which broadcasts 24 hours a day in 480i standard definition – is available in many media markets via broadcast television stations, primarily on their digital subchannels, and on select cable providers through carriage of a local affiliate (primarily on digital tiers). This TV's programming and business operations are headquartered at 303 East Wacker Drive in Chicago; MGM handles advertising sales for the network through its offices in New York City.[2]

History

Film and television studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Chicago, Illinois-based television station owner Weigel Broadcasting announced the formation of This TV on July 28, 2008, with a launch planned for that autumn.[3][4][5] The "This TV" name was chosen as a branding and marketing avenue for the network and its stations, with slogans such as "This is the Place for Movies", "It Doesn't Get Any Better than This", "This is What You're Watching", "Stay Here for This" and "This is the Channel!" proposed for use in on-air promotions.[2]

This TV formally launched at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 1, 2008, with the 1986 Spike Lee film She's Gotta Have It as the network's first program.[6] However, some initial affiliates may have "soft launched" the network one day earlier – on October 31, 2008 – to carry some Halloween-themed programming that was provided by the network.[6] At launch, in addition to featuring content sourced largely from the MGM film and television library, Cookie Jar Entertainment provided children's programming for This TV's daily morning schedule.[2]

Under Weigel Broadcasting part-ownership, the network's operations were overseen by Neal Sabin, who in his role as Weigel's executive vice president oversaw the national launch of MeTV, a classic television network similar in format to This TV though with an almost exclusive focus on comedic and dramatic series. Jim Marketti, president/CEO of Marketti Creative Group, was hired in August 2008 as This TV's creative director, focusing on the network's marketing and promotion.[7]

On May 13, 2013, Weigel Broadcasting announced that it would be leaving the This TV partnership in order to focus on Movies!, a similar film-oriented multicast network that Weigel launched in partnership with Fox Television Stations in January 2013. Tribune Broadcasting, owners of the classic television multicast network Antenna TV, took over daily operations of This TV on November 1, 2013; concurrently, the network moved its affiliation in Chicago from the fifth digital subchannel of Weigel flagship station WCIU-TV (channel 26) to a newly created third subchannel of Tribune's television flagship WGN-TV (channel 9).[8][9][10] On May 2, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its KidsClick children's programming block that would air on This TV starting on July 1, 2017.[11] KidsClick left This TV on July 1, 2018.

Programming
Main article: List of programs broadcast by This TV

This TV's program schedule relies primarily on the library of films and television programming currently owned by MGM and subsidiary United Artists. No originally produced programming appears on the network, although the use of on-air presenters had once been considered for This TV's movie broadcasts; the network is also devoid of infomercial programming.[2] However, the network does display an on-screen logo bug during its programs, and affiliates are inclined to include regional descriptors reflecting the station's primary broadcast area or the station's own logo underneath the network bug.

The network did not utilize a split-screen credit sequence to promote upcoming programs during the closing credits until Tribune took over operations (these appear in the style used by many of Tribune's television stations and co-owned WGN America, with a varying number of network promos appearing on the top left of the screen on films that feature the credits running at normal or accelerated speed, framed by a text/background only graphic referencing the next program or promoting the network's website or social media accounts).[2] Films broadcast on the network do feature commercial interruption, and breaks during its programming primarily consist of direct-response advertisements for products featured in infomercials and, particularly during This TV's children's programming, public service announcements. The network's first continuity announcer was Milwaukee radio personality and Miller Park PA system announcer Robb Edwards, who was replaced later in the Weigel era by Jim Cummings; Andy Geller, the primary promo voice of ABC through the 2000s, took over when Tribune assumed partial ownership of This TV.

Movies

This TV's daily schedule consists largely of feature films, which air on Monday through Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., and Sundays from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m., 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time (sometimes starting earlier or ending later depending on the length of the films). The film roster does not concentrate on films from any specific era (although the network's film slate primarily focuses on releases made after 1960), meaning any film from the Depression era to contemporary times, and films made for either television, home video/DVD or theatrical release can be featured.

The network's film telecasts usually, by far, are "television" cuts meant for broadcast syndication which feature content edits, dubbing or muting of profanities (including some that may otherwise be permissible on broadcast television) and some time edits by removing superfluous plotting or adult scenes toned down to fit within a two-hour timeslot with commercials. The use of the "television" cut means that most of the network's films are also presented in a pan and scan format suitable for 4:3 television sets; however since Tribune became part-owner of the network in November 2013, This TV has carried 16:9 syndication cuts of a limited number of titles – mainly those originally released after 2000 – that are downconverted to a letterboxed format to fit the network's native aspect ratio, as is also done with the KidsClick block.

Films featured on This TV consist of releases from network co-parent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and its subsidiaries United Artists (post-1952 films) and The Samuel Goldwyn Company (pre-1997 films), as well as films produced by now-defunct film studios Orion Pictures (post-1981 films and its Orion Classics division), Cannon Group (except for those co-produced with Warner Bros.), American International Pictures, and the Mirisch Company (all of which were acquired by MGM); in addition, the pre-1996 library of films previously held by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment are also featured on the network. This also shows films from Miramax as well. Under Weigel co-ownership, This TV aired Pink Panther cartoon shorts to pad out surplus airtime when a film concludes more than five minutes prior to the end of the film's allotted timeslot.

Film blocks

This TV also commonly features themed movie presentations, with the entire day's schedule consisting of films from a particular genre once a week throughout the month (such as Mondays, which feature drama and romance films under the theme "From the Heart;" and Wednesdays, which feature action and western films under the theme "Wednesdays Are Wild"). On certain days, the network may air differing genres of films separated by daypart (for example, crime dramas during the day and comedies at night). The network also broadcasts a featured movie in primetime at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday through Friday nights.

Until October 31, 2013, the weeknight prime movie presentations were typically replayed later in the evening (usually at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, depending on the length of the film that preceded it), which allows viewers which have This's primetime pre-empted by a secondary network to watch those films. From the network's launch until October 26, 2013, This TV ran a family film block preceding the network's Saturday morning "Cookie Jar Toons" lineup called "This Family Friendly"; under Tribune part-ownership, this block was discontinued, with a wider variety of films (mostly targeted at an adult audience) filling the block's former Saturday morning slot; however, family-oriented films remain part of the network's schedule, only airing on certain days in random timeslots and depending in part on the titles selected for that month's film slate. During 2014, the network shared select older film titles with sister network Antenna TV (which ran its own movie block until January 2015), with some films airing on both networks at different times during the same day or week.

Classic television series

In addition to its film content, the network also carries a modest amount of vintage comedy and drama series from the 1950s to the 1990s, airing in the early morning most days of the week and on weekend evenings. Its core bIock of classic programming is "TV Night on This," a weekend-only prime time and late-night lineup – comprising multi-episode blocks of two series each night – which launched on January 10, 2016 as an extension of an existing Sunday evening rerun block that maintained a more generalized format dating back to the network's launch; as of September 2016, the lineup consists of Westerns (The Magnificent Seven and Dead Man's Gun) on Saturdays and police procedurals (In the Heat of the Night[12] and Cagney & Lacey) on Sundays.

Most of the network's series programming airs during the early morning hours during pre-determined breaks within the network's movie schedule (currently consisting of Sea Hunt, Flipper and Mackenzie's Raiders, as of September 2016). After Tribune Broadcasting assumed operations of This TV, three series formerly seen on the network – The Patty Duke Show, Mister Ed and Green Acres – were moved from the network to new sister network Antenna TV.[12]

Children's programming
Main articles: Cookie Jar Toons and KidsClick

Under Weigel's co-ownership, This TV featured a daily morning block of children's programs that was handled by Toronto-based Cookie Jar Entertainment, then by WildBrain (known as DHX Media at the time) when it purchased Cookie Jar in 2012. It also featured a Weigel-produced program originally produced for its Chicago flagship WCIU-TV, Green Screen Adventures (which now airs exclusively on MeTV outside of the Chicago market). The block's core children's programming was branded under the banner name "This is for Kids", while a separate lineup of Cookie Jar-produced shows that met the Federal Communications Commission's educational content requirements was branded under the name "Cookie Jar Toons". Children's programs featured in the blocks included library content from CJE entities DiC Entertainment and Cinar Films, as well as recent originally produced content by Cookie Jar. The block competed with other Saturday-morning cartoon blocks, including 4Kids TV on Fox, ABC Kids on ABC, AniMeTV on MeTV, and the Toonzai and Vortexx blocks on The CW. However, 4Kids TV was replaced by Weekend Marketplace, a paid programming block, in 2008,[13] while AniMeTV and Toonzai were discontinued because of bankruptcy/acquisition. (the latter was replaced by Vortexx) ABC replaced ABC Kids with the E/I-compliant Litton's Weekend Adventure in 2011.

Cookie Jar Toons/This is for Kids had its program breaks filled with a mix of regular commercials, PSA's, and promotions for shows on the block. Prominent advertisers for the block included the Ad Council, McDonald's, General Mills, Chuck E. Cheese's, Gerber Life, K12, Juicy Drop Pop, Hasbro, Skechers, and Gamefly.

Once Tribune assumed part-ownership of This TV, the network relegated its children's program solely to Sunday mornings, coinciding with discontinuance of the network's agreement with Cookie Jar/DHX (effectively ending This's status as the only digital multicast network and one of only two broadcast networks, alongside The CW (which discontinued Vortexx in favor of the fully E/I-compliant One Magnificent Morning in October 2014), to carry a traditional entertainment-based children's block rather than a strictly educational-based lineup); the former Cookie Jar Toons/This is for Kids block was replaced with a three-hour weekly block of E/I-compliant programs originally distributed for syndication by Bellum Entertainment Group; these were joined by select series from Steve Rotfeld Productions in March 2016.

On May 3, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would launch KidsClick, a multiplatform children's programming endeavor featuring long-form and short-form animated content from various production studios. Sinclair named This TV as the national carrier of the venture's three-hour morning cartoon block, which debuted on July 1 – coinciding with the launch of a syndicated version that would initially be carried on Sinclair-operated stations in certain markets.[11] On July 1, 2018, This TV discontinued carriage of KidsClick, which was transferred full-time to Sinclair-owned online content-focused network TBD (which began carrying the block on a transitional basis two months prior on May 7).[14] KidsClick would later be discontinued on March 31, 2019.[15]

Affiliates
See also: List of This TV affiliates

In addition to its carriage on Weigel-owned stations in Chicago (WCIU-TV), Milwaukee (WDJT-TV) and South Bend, Indiana (WCWW-LD) at the network's launch, This TV reached affiliation agreements with several television station groups – including Hearst Television, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Post-Newsweek Stations, Fisher Communications, Raycom Media and Belo – to add the network on the subchannels of some of their stations in 2009.[16][17] A May 2010 renewal of its affiliation agreement with Tribune Broadcasting expanded the network to additional stations owned by the company in markets such as Los Angeles, New York City, Miami and San Diego, helping increase This TV's market coverage to 85% of the U.S.[18] and making it the largest subchannel network by population reach percentage (a status that has since been surpassed by former sister network MeTV). A number of NBC affiliates added This TV as a replacement for the now-defunct NBC Weather Plus service, which shut down in November 2008. Additionally, Equity Media Holdings selected This TV as a replacement for the Retro Television Network on some of its stations after the company terminated its relationship with RTN in January 2009 due to a payment dispute; the Equity-owned stations have since been sold, with several disaffiliating from This TV or ceasing operations completely.

Stations that carry This TV have the option to air select programming from the network on their main channels; affiliates also have the option to preempt select This TV programs, running alternate programming in place of certain shows from the network's national schedule (some stations may even switch to scheduled alternate programming while a film is in progress), either via a secondary affiliation deal with another network such as The CW or MyNetworkTV (this is particularly common with This TV affiliates in smaller markets), substitutions by locally produced programming, or in the most common case, moving network programming to the This subchannel to accommodate local sports or breaking news coverage on the main channel.[19]

With Tribune Broadcasting taking over operational responsibilities for the network, This TV became one of the few television networks to move its flagship station; the network moved from WCIU to a digital subchannel of Tribune's Chicago flagship WGN-TV (which until November 1, 2013 was the largest Tribune-owned station by market size not to carry This TV).[8] In Milwaukee, Weigel continued to carry the network on WDJT following Tribune's December 2013 acquisition of the market's Fox affiliate, WITI (which also carries sister network Antenna TV); on March 3, 2015, Weigel moved This to WDJT's sister independent station, WMLW-TV, on its DT3 subchannel; its former channel slot on WDJT was concurrently filled by the Weigel-owned network Heroes & Icons, effectively consolidating the group's main subchannel networks onto WDJT's digital signal while allowing Weigel to fulfill its existing contract for This TV; through the move, the network's cable coverage was affected in the channel exchange with some area cable providers having to sign new agreements to carry the network via WMLW-DT3.[20] In South Bend, its status on WCWW did not change, partly because Tribune does not own a television station in that market, unlike in Chicago and Milwaukee. Weigel transferred This to WYTU-LD3 on January 8, 2018 due to a large-scale channel remapping involving the spectrum auction, finally discontinuing their run of This TV in Milwaukee on September 3, 2018 upon the launch of Start TV.

WITI and other stations owned by Local TV – which Tribune bought in July 2013[21] and finalized its purchase of that December[22] – where the network has yet to transfer its affiliation will likely affiliate with the network at some point in the long-term (in markets where Tribune owns only one station, This TV may be carried on a tertiary subchannel; in duopoly markets, a Tribune station without any existing secondary subchannels may be required to create one to serve as the local This TV affiliate); in most markets where Tribune owns a former Local TV station, and the existing Tribune stations in four markets where the network is not carried (KIAH/Houston, KCPQ-KZJO/Seattle, KTXL/Sacramento and WPMT/Harrisburg), however, This TV has existing affiliation deals with stations owned by other station groups via national carriage deals; it is possible that Tribune may wait until these affiliation contracts lapse before moving the network to those affected stations, though because many of those deals are with national groups such as Hearst carrying the network in overlapping Tribune markets (which is the case with the Sacramento and Harrisburg situations), they may be renewed without an immediate move to a Tribune station to maintain affiliate relations. The first Tribune station to affiliate with the network since its purchase of Local TV and assumption of the network's operations was KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City, which joined the network on December 24, 2014, after KSBI dropped its This-affiliated subchannel upon Griffin Communications taking over its operations earlier that month, citing low ratings.[23][24]

In 2014, Tribune began to produce promotional advertisements for This TV that it distributes to its affiliates for broadcast on their main signals (which are modified to allow stations to insert over-the-air and cable channel information) in high definition.

A number of former Tribune stations (Tribune had been acquired by Nexstar Media Group on September 19, 2019) dropped This TV towards the end of October 2019 due to a new agreement with Katz Broadcasting to carry a reincarnated version of the court/true crime news network Court TV made before the close of the Nexstar deal.[25] A few markets saw This TV move to a new station, though for the most part, the network has lost distribution from its own parent company in many major markets.

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References
  1. Buckman, Adam (July 26, 2016). "Diginets Keep Growing, Despite Auction Cloud". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  2. Ben Grossman (July 27, 2008). "MGM Oldies in New Digi-Channel". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  3. "MGM, Weigel Launching This TV Diginet". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. July 28, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  4. Cynthia Littleton (July 28, 2008). "MGM Takes Digital Leap". Variety.
  5. Wayne Friedman (July 29, 2008). "MGM Launches This TV Channel, Strong On Kids' Shows, Movies". MediaDailyNews. MediaPost Publications.
  6. Michael Malone (October 27, 2008). "Weigel, MGM Hope "This" Thing's a Hit". Broadcasting & Cable.
  7. Michael Malone (September 8, 2008). "Marketti Named Creative Director at This TV". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  8. Michael Malone (May 14, 2013). "Tribune Replaces Weigel As Partner on This TV". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  9. Fern Siegel (May 13, 2013). "Tribune To Program MGM's This TV". MediaDailyNews. MediaPost Publications. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  10. Michael Malone (August 5, 2013). "Good Times for Digi-Nets...But We've Seen This Movie Before". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  11. Marszalek, Diana (May 3, 2017). "Sinclair Wants Back in on Kids' TV". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  12. "ThisTV Adds The Addams Family, In the Heat of the Night; GSN, MeTV Honor Marcia Wallace". SitcomsOnline. October 30, 2013.
  13. Schneider, Michael. "Longform ads replace kid fare on Fox", Variety,23 November 2008. Retrieved on 25 March 2018.
  14. @KidsClickTV (July 5, 2018). "We were sad too, but the good news is we are still on TV on TBD. You can check their market list to see where we are in your area: tbd.com/watch-on-tv . You can always watch on our app or site as well: kidsclick.com" (Tweet). Retrieved July 19, 2018 – via Twitter.
  15. "Kidsclick". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  16. "MGM Secures Over 40 Station Partners for "THIS"". Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Press release). December 1, 2008.
  17. Michael Malone (September 22, 2009). "Belo's WFAA, KTVK Add This TV". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  18. Michael Malone (May 25, 2010). "Tribune Teams with MGM's This TV For the Long-Term". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  19. Michael Malone (July 28, 2008). "Exclusive: MGM Launching New Digital Channel". Broadcasting & Cable.
  20. Chris Foran (March 4, 2015). "Weigel flips channels for This TV, Heroes & Icons formats". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  21. Robert Channick (July 1, 2013). "Acquisition to make Tribune Co. largest U.S. TV station operator". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  22. "Tribune Closes Local TV Holdings Purchase". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. December 27, 2013.
  23. Dallas Franklin (December 24, 2014). "New television station joins KFOR/KAUT family". KFOR-TV. Tribune Broadcasting. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  24. Mel Bracht (December 9, 2014). "KSBI secondary channel 'This TV' is discontinued". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  25. "Court TV Adds More Multi-Platform Distribution - Cable, 48 Broadcast Markets Plus Apple TV, Roku®, Amazon Fire TV - As Iconic Brand Readies for Return May 8 at 9:00 a.m. (ET)". Court TV. 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
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