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 3

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Sportsbook and a Breakup" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mandy finds out Meemaw runs an illegal sportsbook and decides she wants in on the action. Meanwhile, Georgie struggles to keep Mandy’s new job a secret.

Ghosts - "His Girl Shiki" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Pete makes good on his promise to find someone for Sasappis by bringing in a wisecracking 1940s screenwriter who also has the ability to roam.

Bob's Burgers - "The Shell Game" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Bob competes in a competition to inherit Mr. Fischoeder's 100-year-old tortoise.

Grimsburg - "Molly" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Flute forgets to buy Stan a gift for his birthday, he steals an AI doll from the evidence locker; Wynona is forced to confront her ex-boyfriend.

Family Guy - "Row v. Wade" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Brian wins a boat on "The Price is Right" and decides to sail to Texas to help women seeking legal abortions.

The Great North - "Silence of the Dams Adventure" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Honeybee accidentally revives an old Lone Moose curse, sending a terrifying creature after her and the Tobins.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 30)

Thursday, July 3

  • Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building) - Catch Steve on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Zach Cherry (Duncanville/I Feel Bad/Crashing) - Zach is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Joel McHale (Animal Control/The Great Indoors/Community) - Joel appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Sandy Honig (Three Busy Debras), Mitra Jouhari (Clone High/Three Busy Debras) and Alyssa Stonoha (Three Busy Debras) - Sandy, Mitra and Alyssa are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Rob Lowe (Unstable/The Grinder/Parks and Recreation/A New Kind of Family) - Rob discusses cancer research and how it changed his life with GMA lifestyle contributor Lori Bergamotto on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Laurence Fishburne (black-ish) - Laurence chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Justin Bartha (The New Normal/Teachers) - Justin talks about Nuked on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down), Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) and Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Adam, Britt and Ben talk about Severance on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

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


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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07/02 - FETV Acquires The Rookies; Hulu Renews The Bear for Season 5
07/01 - Bert Kreischer Gets Netflix Sitcom; NBC Gets Into Survival Mode This Summer
06/30 - The Comeback Makes Another...Comeback; First Look at Black Rabbit at Netflix
06/29 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 30, 2025)
06/28 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Comeback Returning for a Third and Final Season; South Park to Remain on HBO Max
06/27 - The White Lotus Star Teams Up with Netflix; Remembering Bobby Sherman, Lynn Hamilton, and Rick Hurst
06/26 - The CW's Fall Movie of the Week; First Look at New York Comic Con 2025
06/25 - Netflix Renews Ransom Canyon for Season 2; My Life with the Walter Boys First Look for Season 2
06/24 - Marc Maron Gets Second HBO Comedy Special; Outlander Prequel Renewed for Season 2 Ahead of Series Premiere
06/23 - MeTV Summer Changes, Adds Adventures of Superman; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Summer Guest Hosts
06/22 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 23, 2025)
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06/20 - Great American Media Announces New Danica McKellar Movie; Jennifer Love Hewitt ID True Crime Series
06/19 - Bad Thoughts Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix; Zarna Garg Gets Hulu Special This July
06/18 - Weigel Broadcasting Announces WEST Network with Classic TV Westerns; Hulu's Season 2 of Such Brave Girls
06/17 - Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife on A&E Series; Digman! Returns July 9 on Comedy Central
06/16 - Hulu's Chad Powers Teaser; Prime Video's Jesse Williams Series
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06/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Mulls Airing The Paper on Primetime Lineup; Fox Revives Baywatch Reboot Talk
06/13 - My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Renewed for 2 More Seasons; Hanna-Barbera Developing Adult Animated Series
06/12 - Comedy Superstar Jack Black Is the King of Comedy at Nickelodeon; Doc Adds Felicity Huffman
06/11 - Celebrities for Celebrity Family Feud Season 11; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Starts Production
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