{"id":61,"date":"2010-09-10T03:58:48","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T03:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html"},"modified":"2010-09-10T03:58:48","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T03:58:48","slug":"thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on creating a traditional-values based TV network"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday I <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/why-kelsey-grammers-right-network-is-off-on-the-wrong-track.html#comments\">wrote<\/a> about the launch of Kelsey Grammer&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/rightnetwork.com\/\">Right Network<\/a> &#8212; suggesting that, while the idea of a conservative-values TV network is a winner with a huge potential audience, this particular exercise is plagued by an overly-obvious name, an unfortunate preoccupation with politics and inadequate distribution. <\/p>\n<p>Regarding the distribution part of that equation, I wrote that <i>&#8220;there are forces out there that can pull it off &#8212; if they only would<br \/>\ndemonstrate the will (and business savvy).&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Here are some logical candidates who could step up to the plate:<\/p>\n<p><b>1. News Corporation<\/b><br \/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The company is, of course, controlled by Rupert Murdoch&#8217; whose conservatism is well known and certainly reflected in his company&#8217;s ownership of Fox News and publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Yet, when it comes to the entertainment side of the ledger, conservative values are hard to find on his non-news TV assets. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; On the broadcast side, News Corp. owns the Fox Broadcasting Network (not known as a haven for traditional values) and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mynetworktv.com\/schedule.php\">MyNetworkTV<\/a>. The latter operation was hastily thrown together in 2006 to provide programming for stations that had carried the late UPN network.&nbsp; It began it&#8217;s life by offering American versions of the TV novellas that are popular on Latin American TV. That idea floundered&nbsp; and these days the network mostly offers reruns of off-net shows liked <i>The Unit<\/i> and, of course, <i>WWE Smackdown<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; On the cable side, the company owns the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fxnetworks.com\/\">FX Network<\/a>, home of edgy cable dramas liked <i>Rescue Me<\/i> and <i>Sons of Anarchy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; <\/i>Now, one would think, that Mr. Murdoch could use at least one of these networks as a distribution vehicle for conservative-themed shows. The likely candidate would be MyNetworkTV which is hardly setting the world on fire in its current state. In fact, it might make sense for MyNetworkTV to strike a distribution deal to carry suitable Right Network programming. <\/p>\n<p><b>2. Anschutz Film Group<\/b><br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; Owned by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Philip_Anschutz\">Philip Anschutz<\/a>, the conservative billionaire who last year bought the Weekly Standard from Rupert Murdoch, also counts the family-friendly film studio\/publishing house <a href=\"http:\/\/www.walden.com\/\">Walden Media<\/a> (<i>The Chronicles of Narnia<\/i>) among his holdings.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; With some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rbr.com\/tv-cable\/24448.html\">recent speculation<\/a> regarding the potential sales of ABC and\/or CBS, it would great if Anschutz ponied up the dough and transformed one of these networks into a profitable home of values-based entertainment programming. Some Walden properties would actually make pretty good TV series and\/or TV movies.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Proctor &amp; Gamble and Walmart<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; <\/b>The consumer product giants are on record for wanting more family-friendly venues to promote their products and, in pursuit of that goal, recently embarked on a <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052748703455804575057551112653666.html\">joint project<\/a> to produce and promote backdoor TV movie pilots for NBC.&nbsp; <b><\/b>Two of those films have aired, one (<i>Secrets of the Mountain<\/i>) to <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.zap2it.com\/frominsidethebox\/2010\/04\/tv-ratings-nbc-secrets-of-the-mountain-triumphs-friday.html\">strong ratings<\/a>. Despite very good ratings, however, NBC appears to have passed on a <i>Secrets of the Mountain <\/i>series &#8212; proving, once again, how key control of distribution is to getting values-based product to the market. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Maybe P&amp;G and Walmart could partner up on a TV network (i.e. buying ABC or CBS). <\/p>\n<p><b>4. Comcast<\/b> <br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; The cable operator is currently in the process (pending government approval) of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2010-07-22\/comcast-purchase-of-nbc-may-require-the-selling-of-stations-or-arbitration.html\">buying NBC<\/a> &#8212; providing a perfect opportunity to re-energize the struggling (former Must-See) network and chart a course toward creating an overall programming strategy with true mainstream appeal. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; I&#8217;ll have some thoughts on how it might do that on Monday. &nbsp; <br \/>&nbsp; <br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday I wrote about the launch of Kelsey Grammer&#8217;s Right Network &#8212; suggesting that, while the idea of a conservative-values TV network is a winner with a huge potential audience, this particular exercise is plagued by an overly-obvious name, an unfortunate preoccupation with politics and inadequate distribution. Regarding the distribution part of that equation, I&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Thoughts on creating a traditional-values based TV network - Catholics Media and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thoughts on creating a traditional-values based TV network - Catholics Media and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday I wrote about the launch of Kelsey Grammer&#8217;s Right Network &#8212; suggesting that, while the idea of a conservative-values TV network is a winner with a huge potential audience, this particular exercise is plagued by an overly-obvious name, an unfortunate preoccupation with politics and inadequate distribution. 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Regarding the distribution part of that equation, I&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html","og_site_name":"Catholics Media and Culture","article_published_time":"2010-09-10T03:58:48+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html","name":"Thoughts on creating a traditional-values based TV network - Catholics Media and Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-09-10T03:58:48+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-10T03:58:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2010\/09\/thoughts-on-creating-a-traditional-values-based-tv-network.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thoughts on creating a traditional-values based TV network"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/","name":"Catholics Media and Culture","description":"Catholic Church News and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}