Weekend Adventure

Network	syndicated toABC owned-and-operated stations and affiliates[1] American Forces Network[2]
Launched	September 3, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-09-03)
Country of origin	United States
Owner	Hearst Media Production Group
Formerly known as	ABC Weekend Adventure(pre-launch) Litton's Weekend Adventure(2011–22)
Format	Saturday morningeducational program block
Running time	3 hours
Original language	English

Weekend Adventure (originally known asABC Weekend Adventure andLitton's Weekend Adventure) is an Americansyndicatedprogramming block that is produced byHearst Media Production Group, and airs weekend mornings on theowned-and-operated stations andaffiliates ofABC. The block featureslive-action documentary and lifestyle series aimed at a family audience that meeteducational programming requirements defined by theChildren's Television Act.^[3][4] Announced on May 24, 2011, Litton's Weekend Adventure premiered on September 3, 2011, replacing theABC Kids block.^[5][6][7][8]

The block is syndicated to ABC stations directly rather than being part of the network's official schedule. This was the result of a compromise between the network and its stations after ABC management decided in 2010 that it no longer wanted to provide educational programming. Thus, Weekend Adventure does not contain any ABC branding or promotions, and likewise is not promoted directly by ABC on-air or mentioned on the network's website.

The block came as a result of ABC's decision in March 2010 to no longer provideE/I programming as part of its Saturday morning network lineup to its affiliates;^[5] the network had not introduced any new E/I programs for itsABC Kids block since 2007, and those that had been airing on the network at the time of the decision consisted of reruns ofDisney Channelsitcoms that had first aired on the block between September 2005 and May 2007, all of which were out of production by the time ABC Kids ended its run.^{[citation needed]} In addition, beforeHaim Saban andSaban Brands repurchased the rights to thePower Rangers franchise fromThe Walt Disney Company in 2010,^[9] several station groups that owned ABC affiliates (such asHearst Television, which would later acquire a majority stake in Litton Entertainment in 2017^[10] andAllbritton Communications) refused to carry any series from that franchise (or any other non-E/I-compliant shows within the block such asKim Possible) or chose to run them only in low-rated early morning timeslots, and had demanded any lineup be fully educational so the stations would not have to purchase E/I programming from syndication distributors.^{[citation needed]}

Most of the major commercial networks began restructuring theirSaturday morning children's program blocks (withFox droppingtheirs outright) to comply to tightened educational content and advertising regulations in the Children's Television Act; cultural shifts and changes in viewing habits through the migration of younger viewers to cable channels, recordable and streaming media were also affecting viewership of children's lineups carried by broadcast television networks.

As a compromise, the network's affiliate board agreed to instead look for asyndication package that would air exclusively on ABCowned-and-operated andaffiliate stations. Litton Entertainment was eventually selected by the ABC affiliate board to program the block, beating out two other competitors^[5] as a part of the winning presentation in which Litton suggested counterprogramming the then-usual Saturday morning fare by featuring unscripted and "pro-social programming" aimed at children and teenagers ages 7–17.

ABC and Litton Entertainment announced the block on May 24, 2011, for a fall 2011 launch,^[5] under theworking title "ABC Weekend Adventure." ABC initially signed deals with its owned-and-operated station groupABC Owned Television Stations, as well as affiliates owned byCox Broadcasting,The McGraw-Hill Companies,Newport Television, andPost-Newsweek Stations to carry the block; these were followed by May 2011 with distribution agreements involving ABC stations owned byBelo,Bonten Media Group,Chambers Communications Corporation,Fisher Communications,Gannett Company,Hubbard Broadcasting,The E. W. Scripps Company,LIN TV Corporation,News-Press & Gazette Company,Young Broadcasting, andWeigel Broadcasting.^[11]

The renamedLitton's Weekend Adventure launched on September 3, 2011, with six series:Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown,Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin,Born to Explore with Richard Wiese,Culture Click,Everyday Health, andFood for Thought withClaire Thomas (originally titledThe Delicious Adventures of Claire Thomas prior to its debut).^[5] Two other series were also initially announced to be in development: the environment-focusedAgents of Change (from producer Mark Koops)^[5] andEarth: Angry Planet;^[11] however, neither show was picked up to series. When the block debuted, Litton's Weekend Adventure became the first Saturday morning block to present all of its programs inhigh definition. On May 2, 2012, ABC and Litton reached an agreement to broadcast Weekend Adventure worldwide on theAmerican Forces Network, beginning that June.^[2]

On September 24, 2012, Litton announced that a television version ofEveryday Health'sYouTube seriesRecipe Rehab (one of several web series directly funded by the video sharing website as a part of a premium content initiative) would premiere on the block beginning on October 6, 2012^[12] replacing theEveryday Health series.^[13][14]

On September 28, 2013, Litton launched a competing Saturday morning block forCBS, theCBS Dream Team (which replaced theCookie Jar TV block).^[15] The following week on October 5, 2013, the Weekend Adventure block's "Health and Wellness Hour" (consisting of health and culinary programs that filled the third hour of the block) was retired as part of a refocusing towards exclusively wildlife-focused programs,^{[citation needed]} with the move,Recipe Rehab migrated to CBS'sDream Team block.^[16]

Subsequently, on October 4, 2014,Expedition Wild moved from Weekend Adventure to another Saturday morning block produced by Litton that launched on that date,One Magnificent Morning onThe CW.^[17]

In 2016, two stations disaffiliated from ABC due to varied issues;WKPT-TV in theTri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, andWSVI in theU.S. Virgin Islands, but as the Litton syndication contract for Weekend Adventure is separate from their expired ABC affiliation agreements, were able to continue to air Weekend Adventure for the time being. The new Tri-Cities ABC affiliate,WJHL-DT2, used programming from the Fox-associatedXploration Station block (which was turned down byWEMT) and other syndicated programming for their E/I contributions instead. In April 2017, Weekend Adventure moved to WJHL-DT2 after WKPT voided all of their syndication contracts to become a full-time carrier ofCozi TV.^[18][19][20]

Programs featured onLitton's Weekend Adventure are designed to meet federally mandated educational programming guidelines, allowing ABC stations to comply with the three-hour weekly minimum for E/I content defined by theFederal Communications Commission.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} However, some ABC stations may carry syndicated educational programs to provide additional E/I content supplementary to the block. Programs aired within the block may be deferred to Sunday daytime slots, or (in the case of affiliates in the Western United States) Saturday afternoons due tobreaking news or severe weather coverage or, more commonly, regional or select nationalsports broadcasts (especially in the case ofcollege football tournaments) scheduled in earlier Saturday timeslots as makegoods to comply with the E/I regulations. Some stations may air the entirety of theWeekend Adventure block ontape delay to accommodate local news or other programs of local interest (such aspublic affairs shows,real estate or lifestyle programs).

In 2014,Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin won twoCreative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Travel Program".^[1]

• Children's Programming on the American Broadcasting Company

• Brokered programming
• American Broadcasting Company original programming
• Litton Entertainment
• Television programming blocks in the United States

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