Wednesday, October 22, 2014

CBS to Launch Decades, A New Digital Subchannel; The CW Orders Full Seasons of The Flash, Jane the Virgin

Decades

The CBS Television Stations group and Weigel Broadcasting announced plans to launch Decades, a new national entertainment programming service for distribution across local television stations' digital subchannels – broadcast channels that utilize a local station's available spectrum to provide a companion to that station's primary channel. For example, in the New York market, WCBS-TV will continue to be available digitally as Channel 2.1 and Decades will be available as Channel 2.2. In addition to being available as an over-the-air broadcast channel, Decades will appear on numerous local cable systems and other multichannel video programming distribution services along with the stations’ primary channels.

I Love Lucy Star Trek Happy Days

Utilizing a library of more than 100 classic television series, including select titles from the CBS library such as I Love Lucy from the 1950s, Star Trek from the 1960s, Happy Days from the 1970s and Cheers from the 1980s, as well as a wide selection of theatrical and made-for-television movies and footage of historical news events from the archives of CBS News and Entertainment Tonight, Decades will provide viewers with a new way to experience our shared historical and cultural past. As the ultimate TV time machine, Decades will differentiate itself from other subchannel programming services by varying the classic series and movies that appear on the network every day.

Decades will take viewers into a daily time capsule presentation of entertainment, popular culture and news. The service will feature Decades Retrospecticals, a daily one-hour program that will be produced around the news events and cultural touchstones of a specific day, week or other time frame or theme. The TV series and movies presented each day will reflect that day's theme or commemorative event. For example, Decades will look back at classic series such as Happy Days and its "jump the shark" episode, explain its historical significance and then broadcast that episode. Viewers will also be taken back in time to rediscover events that shaped our world, such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, the Beatles' U.S. debut on The Ed Sullivan Show and the birth of software and technology companies like Microsoft and Apple. Decades will connect these events to what people were watching on television, seeing at the movies and experiencing as a nation.

Decades is expected to debut during the second quarter of 2015, with the 16 CBS-owned stations that are part of the CBS Television Network serving as the new service's launch group. This includes the CBS stations serving New York City (WCBS), Los Angeles (KCBS), Chicago (WBBM), Philadelphia (KYW), Dallas (KTVT), San Francisco (KPIX), Boston (WBZ), Detroit (WWJ), Minneapolis-St. Paul (WCCO and its satellite stations KCCO and KCCW), Miami (WFOR), Denver (KCNC), Sacramento (KOVR), Pittsburgh (KDKA) and Baltimore (WJZ).


The Flash

The CW has given full season orders to its two hit freshman series, The Flash and Jane the Virgin. The Flash debuted as the most-watched series premiere ever on The CW, scoring 6.1 million viewers in Live + 3 Day Nielsen ratings, and was the network's highest-rated series premiere among adults 18-49 in more than five years, since The Vampire Diaries debuted in 2009. The most critically acclaimed new series of the season, Jane the Virgin, bowed with The CW's most-watched and highest-rated show in its time period in two years. TV Guide called Jane the Virgin the "#1 Must-See" new show of the season, and named star Gina Rodriguez the "most inspiring young actress on TV today." Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter said Jane the Virgin was "by far the best network pilot –drama or comedy" this season.

Jane the Virgin


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, January 22

Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.

Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Wednesday, January 22

  • Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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