| Family Movie Night | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 9(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 2 hours |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC Fox (2 films) |
| Release | April 16, 2010 (2010-04-16) – December 2, 2011 (2011-12-02) |
| Related | |
| Walden Family Theater | |
Family Movie Night was an umbrella series of made for TV films owned and sponsored byProcter & Gamble andWalmart.[1] The companies were inserting product placements within the films.[2] Flyover Studios,[2] P&G Productions[3] and Telenext Media Inc. were also involved producing the films.[4] The films were aired via time buys and developed as back door pilots but none had gone to series.[5]
Procter & Gamble has been in the original content business having been involved in creating and producing thesoap opera genre as a part of the early TV model of sponsored shows and other program via P&G Productions.[6]
Previously in the late 1990s, P&G andWalmart had been launch members of the Association of National Advertisers' Alliance for Family Entertainment. The alliance pushed to get family-friendly programs like the WB'sGilmore Girls on air as they found that families with children under the age of 18 as the biggest "undeserved potential viewing audience" with only short of a quarter of this group were satisfied with existing family-entertainment.[3]
Walmart decided on its Family Moments campaign which pushes additional whole family entertainment choices in-store, online and via TV.[6] By early 2010, P&G and Walmart agreed to a joint marketing program in which they would have a series of commercial made-for-TV movies produced by P&G Productions to market their products. NBC was brought on board as the series' network.[3] There were originally to be three or four films.[7] P&G Productions supposedly budget $4.5 million to make the TV film.
With the first three doing respectable numbers, includingSecrets of the Mountain winning its night, the Family Night Partners decided in December 2010 to continue the series by purchasing time on Fox instead. None of the three films spawned a series. At that time,Dear Annie was casting.[8]
P&G Chairman and Chief ExecutiveBob McDonald, a supporter of the Family Movie Night, indicated that he felt that Wal-mart was not executing its part as well as they should by advertising more P&G products in circulars or store displays.[9] After airing 5 pilot-films, P&G and Wal-Mart announced that they would continue airing four more new films for the remainder of the year 2011.[10]
| Film | Network | Debut | million viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secrets of the Mountain | NBC | April 16, 2010 | 7.8[11] |
| The Jensen Project | July 16, 2010 | 3.9[11] | |
| A Walk in My Shoes | December 3, 2010 | 4.5[11] | |
| Change of Plans | Fox | January 8, 2011 | 3.1[9] |
| Truth Be Told | April 16, 2011 | 2.3 | |
| Field of Vision | NBC | June 11, 2011[5] | 2.8 |
| Who Is Simon Miller? | August 6, 2011 | 3.3 | |
| Game Time: Tackling the Past | September 3, 2011 | 2.2 | |
| Game of Your Life | December 2, 2011 | 2.1[12] |