Tuesday, January 24, 2012
NATPE 2012: Day 2 Has MeTV Acquiring Classic Media Series Like He-Man; Lifetime TV Pulls Reba From Schedule
MeTV Network, Memorable Entertainment Television announced from NATPE an agreement with Broadcast Partners LLC and its Classic Media Library. MeTV will be adding a weekend morning animation block featuring multi-generational favorites such as Gumby, Mr. Magoo, He-Man and She-Ra. The programming will be added to the MeTV schedule beginning in the second quarter of 2012. Me-TV affiliates will have the option of carrying additional programming including the live action classics: Timmy and Lassie Hour; and The Lone Ranger; as well as the animated series: The Archies; Ghostbusters; Casper and Friends; and Bravestarr.
Neal Sabin, President of Content and Networks for Weigel Broadcasting Company, says He-Man is celebrating its 30th anniversary this summer. MeTV is now seen in more than 73% of the country.
Elsewhere at NATPE, in only four months, Katie Couric's highly anticipated nationally syndicated talk show, Katie, has already been cleared in 93% of the country. Katie will premiere on leading stations across the country in September 2012. Disney-ABC Domestic Television has secured outstanding station clearances and key early fringe time periods for the LIVE one-hour daily daytime talk show. Sales to date include 95 of the top 100 markets. In addition to the ABC Owned station group, Katie has also been sold to leading stations from broadcast groups including Allbritton Communications, Belo Corporation, Cox Media Group, Gannett Broadcasting, Granite, Griffin, Hearst Television, LIN Broadcasting, McGraw-Hill, Media General, Meredith, Raycom, Scripps Howard Broadcasting, Sinclair and Young Broadcasting, among others.
We'll have more from NATPE tomorrow with our annual look on what is being offered in first-run syndication and new off-network series.
Lifetime TV has made a last minute schedule change that will start next week (Monday, Jan. 30). It is a minor schedule change, but they will remove Reba from its weekday mornings at 8:00am & 8:30am timeslots. Instead, they will add another hour of Will & Grace, which already airs from 9am-11am. No word on when Reba will return, but it has been pulled before but it returned quickly after. No other schedule changes are being made at Lifetime TV, so expect Old Christine from 11am-1pm, Desperate Housewives at 1pm, Grey's Anatomy at 2pm & 3pm and an hour of How I Met Your Mother at 4pm to continue in daytime. From 5pm-4am will be a mix of original series encores and actual original series in primetime, like Dance Mom, America's Most Wanted and Project Runway. Lifetime also airs Wife Swap on some nights.
In other Lifetime news, in its world premiere Saturday night, the Lifetime Original Movie Drew Peterson: Untouchable, starring Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) Award nominee Rob Lowe (Parks & Recreation, Brothers & Sisters) and Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory, 8 Simple Rules), generated record viewership, averaging 5.8 million Total Viewers, making it cable's most watched original movie in the demo in two years since Lifetime's The Pregnancy Pact on January 23, 2010. Additionally, the 5.8 million Total Viewers represent a 241% jump versus Lifetime's original movie premiere average in 2011. Based on a true story about police officer Drew Peterson's (Lowe) fall from grace after the mysterious disappearance of his fourth wife (Cuoco), the movie posted Lifetime's best numbers for an original movie premiere among the key demos since the January 3, 2011, debut of The Craigslist Killer, including 2.5 million Adults 25-54 viewers (+233% vs. the network's original movie premiere average in 2011), 2.2 million Adults 18-49 viewers (+210%), 1.8 million Women 25-54 viewers (+215%) and 1.5 million Women 18-49 viewers (+178%), according to Nielsen Research. Drew Peterson: Untouchable also generated a 4.25 Household rating (+223%).
It was a really good movie and Rob Lowe did a great job with perhaps an Emmy nomination coming? Anyway, we'll have more on Lifetime should anything change, so stay with us!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, July 26
The Conners - "Keep on Truckin'" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.
The Conners - "Tangled Up in Blue" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene gets one surprise after another when David introduces his girlfriend at a parent-teacher conference and mentions that Mark & Harris will be spending the weekend with them.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)
Friday, July 26
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Burning Love/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate) - Sasheer, Joe and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. NBC's Today catches up with Jennie in the 10am hour.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus talks about his coming-of-age film How I Learned to Fly on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Delroy Lindo (UnPrisoned) - Delroy talks about UnPrisoned on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan talks about Lionsgate's The Duel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season / The Complete Series
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest
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