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Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

post #1 of 15
6/18/09 at 12:24pm
Thread Starter 
Article in Chicago Magazine about the guy, Neal Sabin, who programs all the old shows for MeTV, THIS and some other local Chicago channels-according to the story the channels are available in quite a bit of the country. Interesting for fans of old tv. Sample quote: “When I would buy a major acquisition for WCIU such as The Doctors, I’d also say, ‘Let’s look in the library,’” he says. “A lot of that stuff, I had to tell the syndicators, ‘It’s there! You own it! Find it!’”

Neality TV - Chicago magazine - June 2009 - Chicago
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post #2 of 15
6/18/09 at 1:12pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Now there's a dream gig ... picking from the entire array of classic television to schedule your own nightly theme programming on your own networks! I particularly like "Saturday Night Noir," with Peter Gunn and Naked City.

I always thought it would be great to schedule shows in their original time slots and on their original nights for boomers, but featuring the best show in each slot. Ed Sullivan from CBS on at 8 p.m. Sunday, followed by Bonanza from NBC at 9 p.m. The switching you probably did back in the day ... is done for you.

I also think that WGN DJ Bob Sirott idea for a show is great. Have night strictly of 'best of' episodes complete with commentary and live call-ins (or emails, or twitters). I'd watch that.

The article says there's 60% penetration for these channels throughout the country, but I don't see it here.. We have Retro, Encore and AmLife and TVLand. And no Naked City.

Anyway, thanks for passing that article on, Eric.
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post #3 of 15
6/18/09 at 2:00pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Love that article; nice to see that our First Lady has good taste, btw! I wish there were far more Sabins in this little world. I don't see the point of having cable tv if all they show past 11 is infomercials. I KNOW that those programs make $$ for the networks, but it's not the point of programming. It's utter trash. I wanna see something like bad horror movies and reruns of Hogan's Heroes late at night. If it weren't for tv-on-dvd, I'd probably have shot myself years ago.
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post #4 of 15
6/18/09 at 4:04pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Finally, a programer who "gets it"
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post #5 of 15
6/18/09 at 6:31pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Quote:
Originally Posted by DeWilson
Finally, a programer who "gets it"

Great. One.
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post #6 of 15
6/18/09 at 6:35pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

I'm eager to see what "That Network" will have. Is this why Paramount didn't reup with RTN?
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post #7 of 15
6/19/09 at 1:32am

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

I don't get it- why not here in the NYC area? You know, there are a lot of vintage shows from the 50s-70s that I have yet to see. For instance, December Bride was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1950s, ran for years and even had a spinoff, Pete and Gladys, but I have yet to see it, either in syndication or cable. It hasn't been released on DVD either!

It was because of cable I discovered shows like Burke's Law, 77 Sunset Strip, Car 54 and more. I've always said that there needs to be a TV version of TCM: a premiun classic TV channel without commercials hosted by classic TV stars. That's one way of getting a lot of vintage shows out of the vaults!

What I'd give to see:

Love on a Rooftop
The Nurses
The Defenders
Camp Runamuck
The Farmers's Daughter
The High Chaparral
The Virginian
Longstreet
He & She
Peter Gunn
Ben Casey
Dr. Kildare
Adventures in Paradise
Strange Paradise
Hank (read a lot about this one, seems interesting!)
East Side, West Side
Bracken's World
The Governor and J.J.
The Danny Kaye Show (the master tapes still exist!)
The Name of the Game
The Bold Ones
Judd: For the Defense
The Survivors (see Lana Turner's first try at a primetime soap, a decade before her Falcon Crest appearances!)
Mr. Novak
Medical Center
Pistols n' Petticoats
T.H.E. Cat (also heard great things about this one!)

See what I mean? There are a lot of shows just lying in the vaults, awaiting rediscovery!!!!
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post #8 of 15
6/19/09 at 5:58am

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Until one of these retro networks is carried by DIRECT TV it will never be national as far as I'm concerned.

Gary "I see and hear about all these local digital channels popping up around the country, but nothing national that's carried by satellite - and that leaves me out" O.
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post #9 of 15
6/19/09 at 6:58am

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary OS
Until one of these retro networks is carried by DIRECT TV it will never be national as far as I'm concerned.

Gary "I see and hear about all these local digital channels popping up around the country, but nothing national that's carried by satellite - and that leaves me out" O.

Direct TV refuses to carry the substations.

Plenty of places in Florida do receive RTN and THIS:

GainesvilleWYPN-CA, JacksonvilleWAWS, Key WestWEYW-LP, OrlandoWRDQ, PensacolaWKRG-TV, TallahasseeWTLH, TampaWFLA-TV & West Palm BeachWTVX.

THIS is on Tampa/St. Petersburg, FLWMOR-TV & Panama City, FLWBIF-TV[3]

Have you written your local stations to ask if they're interested in getting these channels for their subchannel action?
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post #10 of 15
6/19/09 at 9:05am

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

The thing that shocked me most about this article is that distributors needed to be reminded what library shows they own.
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post #11 of 15
6/19/09 at 9:11am

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Quote:
“At one point, I was selling him the rights to King of Queens for WCIU,” testifies Tom Warner, formerly of Sony Pictures Television and currently executive vice president of Litton Worldwide Distribution. “He kept pushing King of Queens aside to talk about renewals on all of this library product as well as picking up obscure library shows such as The Flying Nun. I was thinking, ‘What’s going on here?’ But eventually all of that became Me-TV. I’ve told him, ‘You should be working for Warner Bros. because you know more about their library than they do.’”
Oh, if only someone so enlightened worked at Warner's TV division.
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post #12 of 15
6/19/09 at 7:00pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Quote:
Originally Posted by MatthewA
The thing that shocked me most about this article is that distributors needed to be reminded what library shows they own.

Not surprising to me in the least.
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post #13 of 15
6/19/09 at 9:23pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Ellis
I don't get it- why not here in the NYC area? You know, there are a lot of vintage shows from the 50s-70s that I have yet to see. For instance, December Bride was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1950s, ran for years and even had a spinoff, Pete and Gladys, but I have yet to see it, either in syndication or cable. It hasn't been released on DVD either!

It was because of cable I discovered shows like Burke's Law, 77 Sunset Strip, Car 54 and more. I've always said that there needs to be a TV version of TCM: a premiun classic TV channel without commercials hosted by classic TV stars. That's one way of getting a lot of vintage shows out of the vaults!

What I'd give to see:

Love on a Rooftop
The Nurses
The Defenders
Camp Runamuck
The Farmers's Daughter
The High Chaparral
The Virginian
Longstreet
He & She
Peter Gunn
Ben Casey
Dr. Kildare
Adventures in Paradise
Strange Paradise
Hank (read a lot about this one, seems interesting!)
East Side, West Side
Bracken's World
The Governor and J.J.
The Danny Kaye Show (the master tapes still exist!)
The Name of the Game
The Bold Ones
Judd: For the Defense
The Survivors (see Lana Turner's first try at a primetime soap, a decade before her Falcon Crest appearances!)
Mr. Novak
Medical Center
Pistols n' Petticoats
T.H.E. Cat (also heard great things about this one!)

See what I mean? There are a lot of shows just lying in the vaults, awaiting rediscovery!!!!


How about:

The Lieutenant
Eleventh Hour
Breaking Point
Slattery's People
Bus Stop
Trials of O'Brien
The Reporter
Mr. Broadway
Many Happy Returns
The Tycoon
Way Out
The Cara Williams Show
The Good Guys
Man Who Never Was
Coronet Blue
The Hero
Temple Houston
Kentucky Jones
The Road West
To Rome With Love
The Smith Family
The Young Lawyers
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post #14 of 15
6/20/09 at 5:18pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Is there a reason Direct TV refuses to carry these stations? As soon as my contract is up I will probably cancel my subscription. I am waiting and waiting for a classic tv channel and Direct TV will not provide one. So I will cancel.
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post #15 of 15
6/20/09 at 9:41pm

Re: Article About Programming Old TV Shows Nowadays

Quote:
Originally Posted by cwilli
Is there a reason Direct TV refuses to carry these stations? As soon as my contract is up I will probably cancel my subscription. I am waiting and waiting for a classic tv channel and Direct TV will not provide one. So I will cancel.

Simple, under current FCC regulations, there isn't a 'must carry' rule for "sub-channels"and they are not legally bound to carry them.
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