 | |
| Type | Unrealizedbroadcasttelevision network |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | Unlaunched |
| Founded | April 1978; 47 years ago (1978-04) byBarry Diller |
| Owner | Gulf+Western |
| Parent | Paramount Pictures |
Key people | Charles Bluhdorn Barry Diller Martin Davis Richard Frank[1] Michael Eisner Jeffrey Katzenberg[2] Mel Harris |
Former names | Paramount Programming Service[3] |
| Callsigns | PTVS |
TheParamount Television Service (orPTVS for short and also known asParamount Programming Service[3]) was the name of a proposed but ultimately unrealized "fourth television network"[4] from the U.S.film studioParamount Pictures (then a unit ofGulf+Western, now owned byParamount Skydance). It was a forerunner of the laterUPN[5] (the United Paramount Network), which launched17 years later.
In 1974,Barry Diller started his tenure as the Chairman andChief Executive Officer ofParamount Pictures Corporation. With Diller at the helm, the studio produced television programs such asLaverne & Shirley (1976),Taxi (1978), andCheers (1982). With his television background, Diller kept pitching an idea of his to the board: a fourth commercial network.[6]
Paramount Pictures purchased theHughes Television Network including its satellite time in planning for PTVS[6] in 1976. They also hired Rich Frank ofKCOP-TV and a member of theOperation Prime Time steering committee.[7] Plans relating to the proposed launch of the Paramount Television Service were first announced on June 17, 1977.[8] Set to launch in April 1978, its programming would have initially consisted of only one night a week.[6][9] Thirty "Movies of the Week" would have followedStar Trek: Phase II[10] on Saturday nights. Planned too was a series derived from Paramount's version ofThe War of The Worlds (1953) as "backup" forPhase II; a pilot presentation was completed by the film's producerGeorge Pal. PTVS was delayed until the 1978-79 season due to cautious advertisers.[11][12]
At the time,Star Trek was being broadcast on 137 stations in the United States in syndication, and it was expected that the new television as an effort for the station could become the fourth national network in the United States;[13] Diller and his assistantMichael Eisner had hiredJeffrey Katzenberg to manageStar Trek into production with atelevision film due to launch the new series at a cost of $3.2 million – which would have been the most expensivetelevision movie ever made.[14]
Despite Barry Diller's best efforts, the Paramount board, and studio chiefCharles Bluhdorn, passed on the network, as Bluhdorn worried that PTVS would lose too much money.[15] Six months before the launch, Paramount canceled the network before PTVS was set to debut.[6] Ultimately,Star Trek: Phase II was transformed[16] intoStar Trek: The Motion Picture[17] (1979). Diller then took his fourth network idea with him when he moved to20th Century Fox to start theFox Broadcasting Company.[6]
Meanwhile, Paramount, long successful in syndication with repeats ofStar Trek,[citation needed] with several impressively popular first-run syndicated series[18] by the turn of the 1990s, inEntertainment Tonight,Hard Copy,Webster (which moved from ABC for its last two seasons),The Arsenio Hall Show,Friday the 13th: The Series,War of the Worlds (unrelated to the 1970s attempt) andStar Trek: The Next Generation.[19]
On February 9, 2017, Viacom announced that Spike would take on the new branding of theParamount Network in early 2018, as the company switches to a focus on six prime ViacomCBS brands with most of the company's backing and resources.[20]
Appearing at the same session with Masini and Cox Rich Frank president of Paramount Television Distribution said the studio has not given up on ... of Star Trek original TV movies and occasional specials The service will be offered if sufficient advertiser interest can be lined up he said.
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