Equity's RTN Sold to Luken Communications; Me-Too in Chicago Airing Classic Movies Now, Too, More TV Shows Added

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Equity's RTN Sold to Luken Communications; Me-Too in Chicago Airing Classic Movies Now, Too, More TV Shows Added

Equity Media Holdings Corporation announced it has closed an asset sales transaction with Luken Communications, LLC, a group led by Equity Media's largest shareholder Henry Luken III (the "Investors"). The Investors purchased Equity Media's Retro Television Network (RTN) subsidiary for $18.50 million. Equity Media has the option to repurchase RTN at any time during the next six months. Concurrently with the closing of the RTN sale, the Investors purchased for $1.50 million warrants to purchase up to 8,050,000 shares of Equity Media for $1.10 per share. Equity Media also has entered into asset purchase agreements with the Investors for the sale by Equity Media of certain television stations. Equity Media has received a $5 million prepayment on the stations sale from the Investors. The stations sale will be consummated, and Equity Media will receive the remaining payment of $12.5 million, upon receipt of FCC and certain other approvals. Following consummation of the station sales, Equity Media will continue to own and operate 100 stations in 35 markets representing 24.8% of U.S. television households based on Equity Media's current stations roster.
View the full press release for more details. So what does this mean? It is hard to tell. I have asked RTN to see what is up, so I'll let you all know what they say. I think it won't affect current RTN affiliates. It doesn't mean the network is on its way out or that it won't add more stations since it was sold to another group, but I don't know if this is good or bad. We'll have to see in the coming weeks.

Beginning Monday June 30 at 7:00pm, Me-Too (WMEU-TV) in Chicago rolls out the red carpet for "Me-Too Movie Classics," a showcase for a wide variety of Hollywood's greatest movies, stars and directors. From the classic to kitsch to cult, "Me-Too's Movie Classics" brings back classic films to free, over the air television with minimal content editing and only five minutes of internal commercial break time.
Theme weeks include a look at significant movies of the 1970s featuring Easy Rider, Bob, Carol, Ted & Alice and Butterflies Are Free. A week of screwball/classic comedies includes The Twentieth Century, Born Yesterday and the original Brewster's Millions. A week of Joan Crawford classics include the truly classic as well as campy Crawford performances from the 1950s and 1960s.
Adding classic movies to the schedule of Me-Too serves to further distinguish Me-Too as the snappy sibling of Me-TV, Chicago's beloved home of Classic TV, and provide a unique and uncluttered environment for advertisers seeking an engaged, loyal and receptive audience.
The movies will air weeknights at 7:00pm and Saturdays at 1:00pm with many other stars like Jack Lemmon, Jack Nicholson, Jackie Gleason, Jane Fonda, Carl Reiner, Peter Falk, Dick Van Dyke, Burt Reynolds and John Ritter. The movies for the summer are available in a list form on our message boards. You may also discuss the movie list and stars there, which also has a lot of classic TV stars in feature films.

Adding movies is not the only thing happening on June 30. Me-Too will change their classic TV line-up a bit too. Me-Too launched back in March with this launch schedule, that has continued until today, but now some changes are coming. Gilligan's Island, Ozzie and Harriet, Rawhide, are among the new series coming to Me-Too. View the new Me-Too schedule.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, July 16

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Alpha Males and the Power of Prayer" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mandy tries to make things right with Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby) when she learns her controversial comments have hurt the tire store’s business. Meanwhile, Jim and Audrey butt heads over Connor’s allowance.

Ghosts - "Under New Management" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When new pressures threaten Sam and Jay’s control over Woodstone, they’re forced to navigate unexpected challenges to protect its future. Meanwhile, a long-absent ghost returns, reopening emotional connections that complicate new relationships.

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Country Club, a Yokel and a New Boss" (CBS, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie’s plan to make new clients at the local country club backfires when its outdated policies upset Audrey. Meanwhile, Mandy struggles to prove herself at work.

Ghosts - "Gate-gate" (CBS, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When an emotion‑driven decision puts Woodstone at risk, Sam and Jay step up to defend what they’ve built. Meanwhile, Isaac struggles to adjust to new surroundings, only to realize that some connections are too important to leave behind.

The Bear - "Raspberries" (FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A traffic jam.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 13)

Thursday, July 16

Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Regina Hall (Black Monday/Grandfathered/Married/Second Generation Wayans) - Regina talks about The Five-Star Weekend on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jon Barinholtz (Amerian Auto/Superstore) - Jon is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Will Ferrell (The Hawk/The Office) - Will stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jake Johnson (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed/Minx/New Girl) - Jak talks about The Dink on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Molly Shannon (The Hawk/I Love That for You/The Other Two/Divorce/Kath & Kim/Craking Up) - Andy Cohen interviews Molly on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo. She also talks about The Hawk on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Will Ferrell (The Hawk/The Office) - Will talks about The Hawk on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Brandy (Zoe Ever After/The Game/Moesha/Thea) - Brandy and Rita Ora discuss Descendants: Wicked Wonderland with ABC News contributor Kelley L. Carter on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
The Cast of The Hawk - The Cast of Netflix's The Hawk are guests on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tracy Morgan (The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins/Crutch/The Last O.G./30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Tracy tells Drew about his new show Crutch on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Dallas Liu (Pen15) - Dallas appears New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.