Adios RTN (1 Viewer)

Neil Brock · Jun 26, 2013

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/26/luken-communications-files-bankruptcy-after-arkans/

Harry-N · Jun 27, 2013

I had hopes that RTN/RTV/RetroTV would someday work its way back to some sort of glory. They were one of the first of their type and blazed the way. When I first encountered them down here in Florida I was amazed at the great shows they were running and regretted that I still lived up north. Later they found an outlet near Philly up in Allentown and I could *almost* get them with some degree of regularity, but never really did.

By the time we moved to Florida, the network was just in the process of being gutted by losing the rights to the many shows that propped it up. All that was left was pretty much what they're running right now - an old Bill Cosby sitcom that failed on CBS in the early 70s, showings of ROUTE 66 and NAKED CITY, I SPY and THE SAINT. Many of those are not exclusive and can be found in better quality on Me and Antenna.

There are certainly enough old shows to support a number of these networks, and I hope that out of the ashes of this one, something good arises.

Harry

schan1269 · Jun 27, 2013

I knew this was coming back in '09. What transpired was borderline illegal between the two parties. If the laughably low price Luken paid for "the part of his prior employer" would have kept Equity afloat...This fine would never have happened. How did they calculate the fine?Easy. How much would RTN have gone for in an open field Chapter 11 buyout?

Gary OS · Jun 27, 2013

As a Direct TV subscriber, I'm still bummed that after all these years we still don't have a national channel in the vein of RTN, ME-TV or Antenna TV. It's just a crying shame, imho.

Gary "thankfully we have a pretty good cross section of classic TV dvds to choose from" O.

Richard V · Jun 27, 2013

Gary OS said:
As a Direct TV subscriber, I'm still bummed that after all these years we still don't have a national channel in the vein of RTN, ME-TV or Antenna TV. It's just a crying shame, imho.

Gary "thankfully we have a pretty good cross section of classic TV dvds to choose from" O.

ATT U verse doesn't either, and I share the Direct TV experience, recently switched to ATT.

David_B_K · Jun 27, 2013

Richard V said:
ATT U verse doesn't either, and I share the Direct TV experience, recently switched to ATT.

I thought U-Verse carried MeTV? When I was considering U-Verse, MeTV was on one of the packages. I get MeTV because it is broadcast locally. I have my antenna connected to my DISH receiver, and can thus record antenna channels with my DISH DVR.

Sky Captain · Jun 28, 2013

Harry-N said:
I had hopes that RTN/RTV/RetroTV would someday work its way back to some sort of glory. They were one of the first of their type and blazed the way. When I first encountered them down here in Florida I was amazed at the great shows they were running and regretted that I still lived up north. Later they found an outlet near Philly up in Allentown and I could *almost* get them with some degree of regularity, but never really did.

By the time we moved to Florida, the network was just in the process of being gutted by losing the rights to the many shows that propped it up. All that was left was pretty much what they're running right now - an old Bill Cosby sitcom that failed on CBS in the early 70s, showings of ROUTE 66 and NAKED CITY, I SPY and THE SAINT. Many of those are not exclusive and can be found in better quality on Me and Antenna.

There are certainly enough old shows to support a number of these networks, and I hope that out of the ashes of this one, something good arises.

Harry

I disagree-I think it's good that RTN is showing The Bill Cosby Show, as that hasn't been rerun a lot to begin with, and is quite good. I also hope that the channel shows other 70's (and maybe even also 80's) shows as well.

Richard V · Jun 28, 2013

David_B_K said:
I thought U-Verse carried MeTV? When I was considering U-Verse, MeTV was on one of the packages. I get MeTV because it is broadcast locally. I have my antenna connected to my DISH receiver, and can thus record antenna channels with my DISH DVR.

It is listed under their channels, but when I try that channel, it does not appear.

David Weicker · Jun 28, 2013

AT&T UVerse in Chicago used to carry several of the ME channels. Then they dropped ALL of them even though they were still listed - in their guide and on the website, and on ME's website. I believe they were dropped when the ME channels converted over to digital sub-channels. Anyway uVerse finally began airing just the parent channel - ME-TV. Me-Too, THIS are currently not carried (but still in the guide)David

Harry-N · Jun 29, 2013

Sky Captain said:
I disagree-I think it's good that RTN is showing The Bill Cosby Show, as that hasn't been rerun a lot to begin with, and is quite good. I also hope that the channel shows other 70's (and maybe even also 80's) shows as well.

You're right - the fact that they're running something out of the ordinary is a plus. It just seems likes that's among the few gems they have any exclusivity on.

I like that they also have and run THE REAL McCOYS and THE JOEY BISHOP SHOW. Those are also not seen too much anywhere.

What I don't like are the recent-vintage Canadian shows, the strange remake of ZORRO, and their awful prints of OZZIE AND HARRIET that are virtually in unwatchable condition.

Harry

Neil Brock · Jun 29, 2013

Gary OS said:
As a Direct TV subscriber, I'm still bummed that after all these years we still don't have a national channel in the vein of RTN, ME-TV or Antenna TV. It's just a crying shame, imho.

Gary "thankfully we have a pretty good cross section of classic TV dvds to choose from" O.

Lets hope that the proposed "Decades" channels that Garth Ancier proposed actually come to fruition and that they devote at least a portion of their programming schedule to lesser known, shorter run shows. I know that when I had spoken to someone back in the early days of TV Land, when they actually did air obscure shows, they told me that the reason they never bought complete series was that it was far cheaper to repeat the same episodes than it was to run different ones. That's why when they ran something like Coronet Blue for instance, instead of running all 13 shows, they bought 2 and ran those over and over. And that's with TV Land being part of the same company as Paramount. Just doesn't make one very hopeful but you never know.

Home Theater

Entertainment & Streaming Content

Physical Media

Home Theater Equipment and Hardware

Other Diversions

Bargains and Classifieds

Home Theater Forum

Archives

Search

Home Theater

Entertainment & Streaming Content

Physical Media

Home Theater Equipment and Hardware

Other Diversions

Bargains and Classifieds

Home Theater Forum

Adios RTN (1 Viewer)

More options

Neil Brock

Harry-N

schan1269

HTF Expert

Gary OS

Richard V

David_B_K

Advanced Member

Sky Captain

Second Unit

Richard V

David Weicker

Harry-N

Neil Brock

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread

Sign up for our newsletter

and receive essential news, curated deals, and much more

Latest posts

Latest Articles

Members online

Forum statistics