 | This article'sfactual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024) |
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| Type | Defunctfree-to-airtelevision network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Nationwide, viadigital terrestrial television (83% U.S.coverage) |
| Headquarters | Century City, California |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i or480p4:3 (normal and letterbox) (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Allen Media Group |
| Parent | Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC |
| History | |
| Founded | July 28, 2008 |
| Launched | November 1, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-11-01) |
| Closed | May 31, 2024; 20 months ago (2024-05-31) |
| Replaced by | TheGrio |
This TV (also known asThis TV Network and alternately stylized asthisTV) was an Americanfree-to-airtelevision network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of theAllen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally formed in 2008, as a joint venture betweenMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer andWeigel Broadcasting, the network carried various unscripted series from Entertainment Studios' library. The network originally had a large programming emphasis on films, primarily sourced from the library of former owner MGM, but all films were removed from the schedule in 2024. Classic television series and children's programming had also aired on the network previously. The network quietly closed and merged intoTheGrio on May 31, 2024, with the website eventually shutting down on July 13.
The network was available in manymedia markets via broadcasttelevision stations, primarily on theirdigital subchannels, and on selectcable television providers through carriage of a local affiliate (primarily ondigital cable tiers). This TV's programming and business operations were headquartered inCentury City, California with the rest of Entertainment Studio's operations; MGM provided advertising sales for the network through offices in New York City.[1]
Film and television studioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Chicago,Illinois-based television station ownerWeigel Broadcasting announced the formation of This TV on July 28, 2008, with a launch planned for that fall.[2][3][4] 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.[1]
This TV formally launched at 9:00 p.m.ET on November 1, 2008, with the 1986Spike Lee-directed filmShe's Gotta Have It as the network's first program.[5] However, some initial affiliates may have "soft launched" the network one day earlier, on October 31, 2008, to carry someHalloween-themed programming that was provided by the network.[5] At launch, in addition to featuring content sourced largely from the MGM film and television library, Canada-basedCookie Jar Group (nowWildBrain) provided children's programming for This TV's daily morning schedule until November 2013.[1]
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 ofMeTV, 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'screative director, focusing on the network's marketing and promotion.[6]
On May 13, 2013, Weigel Broadcasting announced that it would be leaving the This TV partnership in order to focus onMovies!, a similar film-orientedmulticast network that Weigel launched in partnership withFox Television Stations in January 2013.Tribune Broadcasting, owners of the classic television multicast networkAntenna TV, acquired Weigel's co-ownership and assumed daily operations of This TV on November 1, 2013; concurrently, the network moved its affiliation in Chicago from the fifth digital subchannel of Weigelflagship stationWCIU-TV (channel 26) to a newly created third subchannel of Tribune's television flagshipWGN-TV (channel 9).[7][8][9] On May 2, 2017,Sinclair Broadcast Group announced itsKidsClick children's programming block that would air on This TV starting on July 1, 2017.[10] KidsClick left This TV on July 1, 2018.
On October 28, 2020,Byron Allen'sAllen Media Group (which also controls Entertainment Studios) announced that it would be buying This TV andLight TV from MGM.[11] After the transition, This TV launched a permanent high-definition master feed, allowing its affiliates to carry the network in a widescreen format for the first time.
Throughout 2024, This TV was removed from many of its affiliates, with coverage sharply declining from 73.6% of the U.S. population in January to 1.42% by July.[12][13] This included affiliates fromABC Owned Television Stations, who gave the network coverage in major cities, and network owner Allen Media Group. Although an exact date is unconfirmed, This TV shut down on May 31, 2024; its website was blanked and on July 13, it was completely shut down.
Before This TV's closure, the network's programming schedule relied primarily on the programs of Entertainment Studios, having previously relied on the library offilms owned by previous network co-owner MGM and subsidiaryUnited Artists.[14] The use of on-air presenters had once been considered for This TV's movie broadcasts.[1] However, the network did display adigital on-screen graphic during its programs, and affiliates were inclined to include regional descriptors reflecting the station's primary broadcast area or the station's own logo underneath the network bug. The network added three hours ofpaid programming time in 2021, expanded to six hours by 2024.
Films broadcast on the network featured commercial interruption, and breaks during its programming primarily consist ofdirect response television advertising, generic national advertising, andpublic service announcements. The network's first continuity announcer was Milwaukee radio personality Robb Edwards, who was replaced later in the Weigel era byJim Cummings; Andy Geller, the primarypromo voice ofABC in the 2000s, started announcing the network when Tribune assumed partial ownership of This TV.
In January 2022, the network underwent a format change: episodes ofThe Rat Patrol were removed, movies began airing starting in the late afternoon, and the morning and early to mid-afternoon timeslots were filled with E/I programming. Four months later, the E/I programming block was shortened and movies began airing at noon precisely.
In January 2024, MGM films were removed from the network as MGM declined to renew its contract agreement with the network after its acquisition byAmazon, and started airing library content from the AMG library, mainly weather-related reality series fromThe Weather Channel, includingStorm Of Suspicion andWeather Gone Viral until its shut down in May 2024.
This TV's daily schedule originally consisted largely of feature films, which aired 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 did not concentrate on films from any specific era (although the network's film slate primarily focused on releases made after 1960), meaning any film from theGreat Depression to contemporary times, and films made for either television, home video/DVD or theatrical release would be featured.
The network's film telecasts were usually "television" cuts meant forbroadcast 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 several scenes (mostly adult-oriented) to fit within a two-hour timeslot with commercials. Before the transition to an HD master feed, many of the syndicated versions of the network's films were older cuts unoptimized for HD presentation, shown in apan and scan format more suitable for olderfullscreen television sets, along with abrupt cuts for commercials that are ill-suited to a digital television network, rather than a traditional television station.
Films featured on This TV consisted of releases from previous network co-parent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and its subsidiaries United Artists (post-1952 films) andThe Samuel Goldwyn Company (pre-1997 films), as well as films produced by defunct studios whose libraries were purchased by MGM, includingOrion Pictures (post-1981 films and itsOrion Classics division),The Cannon Group, Inc. (except for those co-produced withWarner Bros.),American International Pictures, andThe Mirisch Company (all of which were acquired by MGM). In addition, the pre-1996 library of films held byPolyGram Filmed Entertainment were also featured on the network, alongside variousMiramax films (a former subsidiary ofDisney) depending on which owner holds the rights to a film. Under Weigel co-ownership, This TV airedThe Pink Panther short cartoons tointerstitial program surplus airtime when a film concludes more than five minutes before the end of the film's allotted timeslot.
This TV also commonly featured 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 would air varying genres of films separated by daypart (for example,crime films during the day and comedies at night). The network also broadcast 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 allowed viewers which had This TV'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 morningCookie 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 several times during the same day or week.
In addition to its film content, the network also carried 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 was called "TV Night on This," a weekend-onlyprime time andlate night television 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; in September 2016, the lineup consisted of Westerns (The Magnificent Seven andDead Man's Gun) on Saturdays andpolice procedurals (In the Heat of the Night[15] andCagney & Lacey) on Sundays. By 2021, most MGM-owned library television series were eliminated from the lineup.
Most of the network's series programming aired during the early morning hours during pre-determined breaks within the network's movie schedule (which consisted ofSea Hunt,Flipper andMackenzie's Raiders). After Tribune Broadcasting assumed operations of This TV, three series formerly seen on the network (The Patty Duke Show,Mister Ed andGreen Acres) were moved from the network to new sister network Antenna TV.[15]
Under Weigel's co-ownership, This TV featured a daily morning block of children's programs that was produced by Canada-basedCookie Jar Group, then by DHX Media (nowWildBrain) 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 later aired exclusively on MeTV outside of the Chicago market). The block's main children's programming was branded under the banner name "This is for Kids", while a separate lineup of Cookie Jar-produced shows that met theFederal Communications Commission'sregulations on children's television programming in the United States requirements was branded under the name "Cookie Jar Toons". Children's programs were featured in both blocks included library content from CJE entitiesDIC Entertainment andCinar, as well as recent originally produced content by Cookie Jar.
Once Tribune assumed part-ownership of This TV, the network relegated its children's program only to Sunday mornings, coinciding with discontinuance of the network's agreement with Cookie Jar/DHX, effectively ending This TV's status as the only digital multicast network and one of only two broadcast networks, alongside The CW (which discontinued their children's blockVortexx in favor of the fully E/I-compliantOne Magnificent Morning in October 2014), to carry a traditional entertainment-based children's block instead of 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 byBellum Entertainment Group; these were joined by select series fromSteve Rotfeld Productions in March 2016.
On May 3, 2017,Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would launchKidsClick, a multi-platform children's programming endeavor featuring long-form and short-form animated content from various production studios. Sinclair choose This TV as the national carrier of the three-hour morning cartoon block, which introduced on July 1, coinciding with the launch of a syndicated version that would initially be carried on Sinclair-operated stations in certain markets.[10] On July 1, 2018, This TV discontinued carriage of KidsClick, which was transferred full-time to Sinclair-owned online content-focused networkTBD (which began carrying the block on a transitional basis two months prior on May 7).[16] KidsClick would later be discontinued on March 31, 2019.[17]
In addition to its carriage on Weigel-owned stations in Chicago (WCIU-TV),Milwaukee (WDJT-TV) andSouth Bend, Indiana (WCWW-LD) at the network's launch, This TV reached affiliation agreements with several television station groups (includingHearst Television, theSinclair Broadcast Group,Graham Media Group,Fisher Communications,Raycom Media andBelo) to add the network on the subchannels of some of their stations in 2009.[18][19] A May 2010 renewal of its affiliation agreement with Tribune Broadcasting expanded the network to additional stations owned by the company in markets such asKTLA,WPIX,WSFL-TV andKSWB-TV, helping increase This TV's market coverage to 85% of the U.S.[20] 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 ofNBC affiliates added This TV as a replacement for the now-defunctNBC Weather Plus service, which shut down in November 2008. Additionally,Equity Media Holdings selected This TV as a replacement for theRetro 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 shutting down completely.
Stations that carried This TV had the option to air select programming from the network on their main channels; affiliates also had 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 was in progress), either through a secondary affiliation deal with another network such asThe CW orMyNetworkTV (this was 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 TV subchannel to accommodate local sports or breaking news coverage on the main channel.[21]
After Tribune Broadcasting assumed 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).[7] 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 TV 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 networkHeroes & 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.[22] 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 TV toWYTU-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 ofStart TV (it later became a subchannel of local independent subchannel outletWIWN).
In 2014, Tribune began to produce promotional advertisements for This TV that it distributed to its affiliates for broadcast on their main signals (which were modified to allow stations to insert over-the-air and cable channel information) inhigh-definition television.
After Tribune was acquired byNexstar Media Group on September 19, 2019, a number of former Tribune stations removed This TV by the end of October 2019, due to a new agreement withKatz Broadcasting to carry a reincarnated version of the court/true crime news networkCourt TV made before the close of the Nexstar deal.[23] A few markets saw This TV move to a new station, though for the most part, the network's distribution was temporarily unavailable in many major markets, or saw downgrades to low-power television stations with no pay TV coverage.
In April 2021, theABC Owned Television Stations added the network as a replacement forLaff after its owner,E. W. Scripps Company, moved the network toIon Television stations in those markets after assuming management of Laff's previous owner, Katz Broadcasting, restoring much of the major-market coverage which became unavailable from 2019. ABC Owned Television Stations would later replace This TV withCharge!, a network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, on April 1, 2024.[24]
