 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | National |
| Headquarters | One Astor Plaza New York, New York, U.S. |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Spanish (viaSAP audio track) |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Media Networks (Paramount Global) |
| Parent | MTV Entertainment Group |
| Key people | Chris McCarthy(President/CEO, MTV Entertainment Group) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | April 29, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-04-29) |
| Founder | Nick at Nite |
| Former names | Nick at Nite's TV Land (1996–97) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated Streaming Service | Paramount+ |
| Service(s) | Philo,fuboTV,Sling TV,DirecTV Stream,YouTube TV,Hulu + Live TV,Vidgo TV |
TV Land is an Americanpay televisionchannel owned byParamount Global through itsnetworks division'sMTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched asNick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff ofNick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows. The channel now airs a combination of recent and classic television series (ranging from the 1960s to the 2020s), original scripted series and limited theatrically released movies. The network is headquartered atOne Astor Plaza in New York City. As of November 2023[update], TV Land is available to approximately 67,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2011 peak of 98,000,000 households.[1]
The network launched at 10:00 p.m.Eastern on April 29, 1996, asNick at Nite's TV Land. Following a seven-minute short film introducing the network, the first program aired was a syndicated edit ofThe Best ofThe Ed Sullivan Show featuringthe Beatles' American debut along with routines byJoan Rivers,Richard Pryor andSeñor Wences. The show led off a launch-day lineup that rebroadcast numerousseries premieres,pilot episodes and television firsts.[2]
The network's original lineup consisted ofHill Street Blues;St. Elsewhere;The Ed Sullivan Show;Gunsmoke;That Girl;The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour;Honey West;The Addams Family;Love, American Style;Petticoat Junction;Green Acres;The Phil Silvers Show; andHogan's Heroes.[3][4]
The channel launched during a time whenretransmission consent was becoming more common with subscription networks andterrestrialtelevision stations nationwide as a result of a provision in the1992 Cable Act. However, MTV Networks offered TV Land to subscription providers for free for its five years of operation if providers would agree to add the channel to their expanded basic tiers during the 1996 calendar year.[5]USSB, then one of two services that used theDirecTV satellite, offered TV Land as a free channel to USSB and DirecTV satellite users, without requiring a subscription, for its first years on air.[3]
Shortly after TV Land's debut,MCA filed a lawsuit against Viacom.[6] Because MCA's original agreement with Paramount Pictures to operateUSA Network prohibited either partner from operating other pay-television networks outside thejoint venture, Viacom had been inbreach of contract ever since the company bought Paramount in 1994, because it had operated MTV Networks (including Nickelodeon,MTV andVH1) since its founding in 1983, andShowtime Networks (owners ofShowtime,The Movie Channel andFlix) since it was founded in 1985. MCA claimed that the intention of TV Land was to compete directly with USA, a claim that turned out to be true.[7] Viacom claimed that the matter had already been settled whenSumner Redstone releasedFrank Biondi from his contract to let him work at MCA.[8] The suit was eventually settled when Viacom agreed to sell its 50% stake in USA Networks to MCA (MCA later becameUniversal Pictures, formerly just a subsidiary, which eventuallymerged withNBC and, later,Comcast).
In February 1999, according toNielsen ratings data, TV Land averaged a 1.0 share during primetime, tyingESPN for tenth place among all pay-television networks. Its siblings, MTV and VH1, tied for 17th and 26th place respectively. Columnist John Dempsey reported inVariety: "That February rating put TV Land into the top 10 for the first time since it began operating, and opened the eyes of the TV industry to the rich vein of golden-oldie TV shows that distributors are mining for an audience of nostalgia buffs and kids who are stumbling across the series for the first time."[9]
The network first forayed into original scripted programming in 2010 with the debut of the sitcomHot in Cleveland (starring established sitcom starsValerie Bertinelli,Jane Leeves,Wendie Malick andBetty White), which premiered in June 2010 to 4.75 million viewers, a record audience for the channel.[10] (The success of that series led to aspinoff calledThe Soul Man, which debuted in June 2012.) This was followed by the January 19, 2011, debut ofRetired at 35.[11]
In November 2014, amid growing allegations of sexual assault againstBill Cosby, the network removed reruns ofThe Cosby Show from its lineup and deleted all references of the series from its website. A marathon ofThe Cosby Show episodes that had been scheduled forThanksgiving was also canceled.[12] Episodes from theSteve Harvey run ofFamily Feud were aired instead.
The network began a programming transition in March 2015, when the newSutton Foster seriesYounger was launched without either traditional network branding or advertising. After the series finale ofHot in Cleveland, a new logo was unveiled as part of a larger rebranding that saw TV Land shift its focus toGeneration X viewers who grew into the network's demographic. New original seriesImpastor andThe Jim Gaffigan Show were unveiled as the network officially announced the rebranding on June 23, 2015.[13] Completing the shift to edgier, single-camera programming, TV Land announced on July 28 that the upcoming fifth season of the multi-camera sitcomThe Soul Man would be its last.[14] Less than two weeks later, on August 10, TV Land's last remaining multi-camera sitcomThe Exes was canceled as its fourth season was still airing, and the final episode aired on September 16.[15]
In July 2015, TV Land dropped reruns ofThe Dukes of Hazzard after the removal of theConfederate battle flag from the grounds of theSouth Carolina State House because the flag is displayed atop the show's car, theGeneral Lee.[16]
2016 saw the debut of the single-camera sitcomTeachers.[17]
Since 2017, Viacom has been reorganizing its media businesses around six flagship brands, includingParamount Pictures,BET,Comedy Central,Nickelodeon,Nick Jr. andMTV.[18][19][20] Network president Keith Cox was reassigned to the newly rebrandedParamount Network (the former Spike), and two series originally slated for TV Land—American Woman andHeathers—were reassigned to the channel. The former was canceled after its first season, while the latter eventually aired in a heavily edited and redacted form.[21][22]Younger was also supposed to move to Paramount Network for its sixth season, but the move was reversed before the newest season launched.[23] The series would eventually move toParamount+ andHulu for its final season, with later airings on TV Land.[24][25]
On August 20, 2019, two TV Land-branded channels, TV Land Drama and TV Land Sitcoms, were launched onPluto TV, a free streaming service acquired by Viacom in March 2019. The latter channel was a rebrand of the former Pluto TV Sitcoms channel.[26][27]
TV Land's programming originally focused on television series from the 1950s to the early 1980s. Such programming continues to air during the daytime hours, while the network's primetime lineup focuses on both recent and contemporary sitcoms originating from the late 1990s. The network held its own annual award show, theTV Land Awards, from 2003 to 2016.
In 2001,Craig Media launched aCategory 2 pay-televisionspecialty channel called TV Land Canada[28] through abrand licensing agreement with Viacom (which later acquired a minority ownership stake in the channel months after its launch). On August 2, 2010, TV Land Canada was rebranded asComedy Gold, reformatting the channel as an offshoot ofThe Comedy Network. The rebranded channel focuses primarily onsitcoms and sketch-comedy programs from the 1970s to the 1990s.[29] Viacom sold back its stake in the channel toCTVglobemedia (which would later be acquired outright by minority shareholderBCE, Inc. on September 10 of that year to formBell Media[30]) following the rebrand.[31] The channel was shuttered on September 1, 2019, after its broadcast license was sold toWow Unlimited Media.
