MeTV

This article is about the broadcast television network. For other uses, see Me TV (disambigulation).
MeTV
Type Broadcast television network (classic television series)
Country United States
Availability Nationwide (available on OTA digital television and LPTV
(covering 91% of the U.S.);[1]
also via AT&T U-verse in select markets
Founded January 6, 2003 (2003-01-06)
Slogan Memorable Entertainment Television (primary)
That's Memorable, That's Me (secondary)
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois
Owner Weigel Broadcasting
Key people
 Neal Sabin
(Vice Chairman, Weigel Broadcasting)[1]
Launch date
 January 1, 2005 (2005-01-01)
(as a programming format, in Chicago)
March 1, 2008 (2008-03-01)
(as a programming format, in Milwaukee)
December 15, 2010 (2010-12-15)
(as a national network)
Picture format
 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Affiliates List of affiliates
Official website
 www.metv.com

MeTV (an abbreviation for Memorable Entertainment Television) is an American broadcast television network that is owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[2] Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV," the network airs a variety of classic TV shows from the 1950s through the 1990s, which are sourced primarily from the libraries of CBS Television Distribution, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, and 20th Television. Through its ownership by Weigel, MeTV is sister to three other networks that source their programming content from the network's distributors: rerun-focused networks Heroes & Icons and Decades (the latter being a joint venture with CBS Television Stations), and the film-focused Movies! (a joint venture with Fox Television Stations).

MeTV is carried on digital subchannels of an affiliated television station in most markets; however, some of MeTV's stations carry the network as a primary affiliation on their main channel, and a small number of stations air select programs from the network alongside their regular general entertainment schedules. The network is also available nationwide on free-to-air C-band satellite via SES-1 in the DVB-S format,[3] and on AT&T U-verse standard channel 136 and high-definition channel 1136 in some markets. MeTV's operations are based out of Weigel Broadcasting's corporate headquarters on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois.

Background

Beginnings in Chicago

MeTV originated as a programming block that debuted on January 6, 2003 on Class A television station WFBT-CA (channel 23) in Chicago, Illinois, an independent station that otherwise featured an ethnic programming format. The block of series from the 1950s to the 1980s – which aired daily from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – featured shows that included The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Perry Mason, The Carol Burnett Show and Hogan's Heroes, although the programs that aired within the lineup changed occasionally.[4]

On January 1, 2005, Weigel rechristened the Chicago ethnic station as WWME-CA, with the MeTV format being adopted by the station full-time. Channel 23's former ethnic programming and WFBT-CA call letters were transferred to its sister station on UHF channel 48. On March 1, 2008, that station became WMEU-CA and was reformatted as MeToo, an extension of WWME's MeTV format, maintaining a wide selection of off-network sitcoms and drama series from a variety of distributors (similar to the former local MeTV format on WWME, but differing from the limited distributor output of the present-day national MeTV network). The two low-power stations also are broadcast locally on digital subchannels of Weigel's flagship station WCIU-TV (channel 26). Initially, the two stations ran similar schedules, but by 2008, one station would air only sitcoms while the other aired only dramas.

On September 14, 2009, the two stations carved out their own identities, as MeTV on WWME began to exclusively carry off-network sitcoms (such as I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Bernie Mac Show, All in the Family, The Three Stooges, The Honeymooners and Frasier),[5] while MeToo on WMEU began running only off-network drama series (such as Perry Mason, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Rockford Files and The Twilight Zone).[6]

Milwaukee expansion

Weigel expanded the MeTV format to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it began airing on the third digital subchannel of the company's CBS affiliate in that market, WDJT-TV (channel 58), on March 1, 2008.[7] The Milwaukee version of the service featured much of the same programming as the Chicago outlets (some of which aired in different timeslots than on WWME and WMEU), as well as certain programs that were exclusive to the Milwaukee service.

On April 21, 2008, Weigel moved the MeTV programming to its own dedicated full-powered channel – the newly acquired WJJA (channel 49) in Racine, whose call letters were changed to WBME-TV; it later began transmitting the station's signal from a new digital transmitter on the Weigel tower in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park on October 20 of that year. MeTV continued to be carried on digital channel 58.3 until November 1, 2008, when it was replaced by the newly launched This TV on the same channel. The station also airs public affairs programming including Racine & Me, and because of its full-power status at the time of the move of MeTV programming to channel 49, E/I-compliant programming such as WCIU's Green Screen Adventures and Saved by the Bell.

National expansion

On November 22, 2010, Weigel announced that it would take the MeTV concept national and turn it into a full-fledged network with a standardized schedule, available to any station wishing to affiliate. As a result, MeTV would compete fully with the Retro Television Network and Antenna TV, while complementing successful then-sister network This TV, which carried library product from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and children's programming from Cookie Jar Entertainment (until Tribune Broadcasting took over Weigel's operational interest in This TV on November 1, 2013). MeTV runs a limited number of classic television series alongside its movie-dominated schedule.[8] The national MeTV network launched on December 15, 2010. As with This TV, MGM handles the distribution of the network.[9][10]

As part of the standardization with the new network, Chicago's local version of MeTV merged with MeToo, airing both comedy and drama programming together under the MeToo brand as a locally programmed service. The national MeTV airs on WCIU subchannel 26.3 and WWME-CA, while the new MeToo moved to WCIU subchannel 26.4 and remained on WMEU-CA.[11] The local MeToo channel on WMEU in Chicago aired a broader variety of programming than the national version, as MeToo continued to carry a mix of both classic and recent programs, while acquired programming on the national MeTV network is limited to series that debuted prior to 1985. The MeToo format on WMEU lasted until November 1, 2013, when it was converted into a standalone extension of WCIU's "The U Too" subchannel, which carries a general entertainment independent station format with some classic series remaining on the schedule.

Low-powered WBME-CD in Milwaukee carries the national feed of MeTV in its entirety on digital channel 41.1; as a full-power station (prior to an August 2012 license swap that saw sister independent station WMLW move to full-power channel 49, while WBME moved to low-power channel 41, and also returned to its former secondary 58.2 slot to reach the entire market and to provide cable providers with a quality source of its signal), Weigel planned to launch a locally programmed MeToo subchannel on WBME, which was set for an early 2011 debut – however, this never occurred due to the launch of sister network Movies! on May 27, 2013, which took the proposed 49.3 channel slot.[9] After Movies! moved to a newly created second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WISN-TV (channel 12) in August 2014, WMLW-DT3 became a charter affiliate of Weigel's new male-targeted classic television network Heroes & Icons. Weigel-owned WBND-LD (channel 57) in South Bend began carrying MeTV on its 57.2 subchannel on December 15, 2010. On April 1, 2013, Nielsen began to include MeTV in its primetime and total day ratings reports.

On February 9, 2015, Weigel announced that, after it took over the station under a local marketing agreement (inherting the LMA from Tribune Broadcasting, which had operated it as an sports talk station) on February 23 of that year, it would relaunch Chicago low-power station WGWG-LP as a MeTV-branded oldies radio station, concurrently changing its call letters from WGWG-LP to WRME-LP.[12]

Beginning in February 2016, the master feed of the network began to be carried in a standard definition widescreen 16:9 format after beta-testing with WWME-CD months earlier, mainly to accommodate national and local advertisers who now work exclusively in the 16:9 format and prefer not to have their advertising letterboxed into a 4:3 presentation, and stations which carry newscasts and other local programming on their MeTV subchannels which prefer widescreen presentations. MeTV also now carries their promotions in the 16:9 format, and matches their sister networks Heroes & Icons and Decades in presentation, which prefer to be carried in 16:9 widescreen. The network has also begun to carry the widescreen re-masters of some of their programming such as Wonder Woman.

Programming

MeTV's program schedule relies on the extensive library of television programs that are currently owned by CBS Television Distribution and 20th Television; as such, no originally-produced programming appears on the network, though MeTV does air two programs produced by parent company Weigel Broadcasting (Svengoolie and Green Screen Adventures). Similar to the former local MeTV and MeToo formats, the network maintains a broad variety of classic television programs, carrying approximately 60 program titles on its weekly schedule;[13] the network's slate of programming is regularly altered at the start of the network's fall, winter and summer programming seasons, which respectively begin on Labor Day, New Year's Day and Memorial Day. Since MeTV broadcasts syndicated programs the episodes are usually edited to fit into the allotted time.

The network does not air a split-screen credit sequence or feature voiceovers promoting upcoming network programming during the closing credits (borrowing a format common in local broadcast syndication). The network's primary continuity announcer is Chicago-based voice-over artist Carol Gallagher, who has served as MeTV's staff announcer since its existence as a local programming format on WWME-CA and WMEU-CA, prior to its establishment as a national network; longtime voice-over artist Richard Malmos, who has been the continuity announcer for Weigel's flagship station WCIU since December 1994 (and is also known as the continuity announcer for many stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group), is the network's secondary announcer.

Unlike other digital multicast networks such as former sister network This TV and competitor Antenna TV, MeTV does not usually run day-long marathons of its programs on major national holidays. Instead, the network airs holiday-themed episodes of its shows on some holidays (such as Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas) as part of its regular schedule, which are aired in the program's normal timeslot but are shown out-of-order from its regular episode rotation. Since its inception as a national network, MeTV has also aired marathons of The Doris Day Show on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas-themed specials during the month of December. In December 2014, the network aired Christmas episodes of its programs each weeknight from 10:00–11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, as part of the "MeTV Christmas Conundrum" stunt block,[14] along with airing Christmas episodes of its programs from late Christmas Eve through Christmas night. The network occasionally pays tribute to a recently deceased actor or actress with a marathon showcasing episodes of their past television roles (either those that the performer had starred in as a regular or appeared as a guest star) to which MeTV has access to broadcast through its distributors, pre-empting episodes originally scheduled to air that day.

Classic television series

MeTV has program licensing agreements with 20th Television (which includes series produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Four Star Television and MTM Enterprises), CBS Television Distribution (which includes most of the Paramount Television library that was acquired by CBS Television Distribution following the 2006 split of CBS and Viacom into separate companies, along with series from Desilu Productions, Bing Crosby Productions, Don Fedderson Productions, QM Productions, Spelling Television and Republic Pictures Television) and carries select titles from Warner Bros. Television Distribution. MeTV also shares broadcast rights to programs from the NBCUniversal Television Distribution library (including shows from Universal Television, Revue Studios, NBC Studios and MCA Television)[15] and Sony Pictures Television with Antenna TV, as well as select titles from the Peter Rodgers Organization with the Retro Television Network.

The network's programming lineup covers a mix of sitcoms, dramas, and westerns from the 1950s to the 1990s and includes series such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, The Donna Reed Show, CHiPs, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Perry Mason, The Brady Bunch, Batman, The Love Boat, I Love Lucy, The Beverly Hillbillies, M*A*S*H, Carol Burnett and Friends' and Gilligan's Island; most of the series airing on the network have been widely syndicated on other television outlets in the United States and abroad, though a few series featured on the network (such as The Streets of San Francisco, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Petticoat Junction and Make Room for Daddy) have not been seen on television for several years or were syndicated on a fairly inconsistent basis.

Programming blocks

MeTV regularly carries many of its programs in organized genre-based programming blocks, most of which use the "Me" title (in some cases, as an intentional pun) for brand unification purposes.

Current

Seasonal

Former

Movies

Despite access to program content from the Universal Television, CBS Television and 20th Century Fox libraries, movies have a relatively limited presence on MeTV's weekly schedule. MeTV airs the Rich Koz-hosted horror and science fiction film showcase Svengoolie on Saturday evenings, which is syndicated by sister independent station WCIU-TV and features film releases from Universal Studios; from September 2013 to January 2014, MeTV debuted a Friday primetime film block called "The MeTV Made for TV Movie," which showcases made-for-television films from the 1970s to the 1990s that were originally seen on NBC, ABC and CBS; the block later began to include movie-length blocks of certain series available on the MeTV schedule. Until September 2013, the network also aired Laurel and Hardy movies and shorts (which are distributed by Sonar Entertainment) on Sunday mornings.

On January 1, 2015, the movie-length block concept used by "The MeTV Made-for-TV Movie" was revived as part of the "MeTV Mystery Movie," a weekday late-night showcase of made-for-TV mystery movies (such as McMillan & Wife, McCloud and Banacek), based on the mystery anthology series concept popularized by NBC during the 1970s.[16]

Children's programming

In order to comply with educational programming requirements mandated by the Federal Communications Commission's Children's Television Act on behalf of the network's affiliates, MeTV carries an hour-long block of Green Screen Adventures (Weigel's Chicago-based program originally meant for local viewing) on Saturday mornings and a two-hour block of the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell (which has long been used to meet E/I requirements, including by the original Chicago MeTV on WWME-CA prior to the national network's launch, and the TNBC block it formerly anchored) on Sunday mornings.

In September 2013, MeTV began customizing its weekend morning lineup in order to allow its affiliates to choose between running both the Saturday and Sunday E/I blocks, or running the children's lineup on one weekend day and a three-hour block of classic series in place of the children's programs on the other, allowing stations to fulfill educational programming quotas by running the minimum three-hour requirement or an overall total of six hours of E/I content (this was reconfigured in January 2015 to allow stations the option of pre-empting the final two hours of the Saturday E/I block to carry only Green Screen Adventures and Saved by the Bell to reach their weekly E/I requirements).

MeTV also previously ran a children's program block on Saturday mornings called "AniMeTV" (which despite how the name makes it appear, aired no anime programming), that was handled by New York City-based Classic Media[17] (which, along with NBCUniversal, Nelvana and Scholastic Entertainment, previously co-owned the digital multicast network Qubo in conjunction with Ion Media Networks). The three-hour block debuted on April 7, 2012, and featured animated series such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power, along with Gumby and Mr. Magoo animated shorts;[18][19] the block officially ended on October 6, 2012. MeTV began airing the cult classic Sid & Marty Krofft productions H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost during the 2013 Christmas season; the shows became part of the regular Saturday morning lineup on December 28, 2013 as part of a block called "Sid & Marty Krofft and Me".[20]

Affiliates

As of August 2015, MeTV has current or pending affiliation agreements with 185 television stations in over 167 television markets encompassing all 50 states, covering approximately 95% of the United States; this makes MeTV the largest subchannel network by population reach percentage (a distinction once held by sister network This TV), and the seventh largest broadcast television network by number of affiliates in the United States. Of these affiliates, 18 stations carry the network as a formal primary channel affiliation and two are general entertainment stations that air select MeTV programs on a tape-delayed basis.[21][22]

Like former sister network This TV, many of MeTV's affiliates (some of which replaced This TV with MeTV, after the former was partially acquired by Tribune Broadcasting) include regional descriptors reflecting the station's primary broadcast area underneath the logo bug displayed during the network's programming (these descriptors are also used in the customized station identifications shown at the top of each hour between programs or during commercial breaks, which differ from the silent lower third in-program IDs seen on This TV). Some stations either display customized logos using adapted versions of their current logo with the subchannel number below the main MeTV logo bug (such as WSB-TV in Atlanta and WFLA-TV in Tampa) or in order to fit in with the network's "retro" format, a logo formerly used by the station. Others display their callsign and city of license (and in some cases, the affiliate's virtual channel number) below the MeTV bug full-time in case the full-screen ID sequence malfunctions in some manner. From August 2014 to August 2015, station identifications for MeTV were based around the motif "Thank You for Making Us America's #1 All Classic TV Network", allowing local affiliates to customize their IDs to refer to their individual viewing area (for example, "Thank You, Chicago" on WWME-CD).

On January 7, 2011, KCTU-LD in Wichita, Kansas became the first television station not owned by Weigel to carry the MeTV network.[23] However, that station's affiliation with the network lasted only about one week, as KCTU-LD and MeTV could not come to terms on a long-term affiliation contract.[24] In early 2011, Bahakel Communications became the first non-Weigel station group to sign selected stations to carry MeTV on their digital subchannels, with its stations in Charlotte, North Carolina (WCCB) and Columbia, South Carolina (WOLO-TV) adding the network in early March of that year. On April 4, 2011, Weigel announced affiliation agreements for MeTV with 14 broadcasting companies, most notably Hearst Television, Raycom Media, Cox Media Group, Media General and Titan Broadcast Management.[25] Also of note, in December 2013, the network moved its Dallas affiliation to a newly created subchannel of KTXA (replacing Greenville-based KTXD-TV, which abruptly disaffiliated from MeTV three months earlier), marking CBS Television Stations' first affiliation deal involving a major subchannel network (Weigel and CBS would later partner to create Decades, a similar classic television-focused network that launched on May 25, 2015[26]).

Although MeTV prefers that its local affiliates carry the entire schedule,[27] some affiliates pre-empt certain programs on the network's lineup in order to air newscasts or public affairs programs (such as with WLKY-TV in Louisville and WBAL-TV in Baltimore), infomercials (such as with WZME in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which preempts much of MeTV's morning and late night schedule with paid programming), locally acquired syndicated programming (such as with WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., which airs events from the American Sports Network, a syndicated college sports distributor owned by WJLA parent Sinclair Broadcast Group, over its MeTV subchannel on some weekends), or in some cases, because the local syndication rights to a particular program are held by a station other than the MeTV affiliate (such as with The Andy Griffith Show, which since the network began airing the program in September 2014, is substituted in many markets with an alternate feed of its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D.).

Two of MeTV's subchannel-only affiliates – WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee (whose 7.3 subchannel is primarily affiliated with CBS)[28][29] and WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas (whose 13.2 subchannel is primarily affiliated with MyNetworkTV)[30] – carry its programming on a secondary basis while nominally serving as an affiliate of a major broadcast network due to the lack of enough stations in their markets for a standalone main channel affiliation. One other affiliate, WBBZ-TV in Springville, New York (which serves the Buffalo market), carries the network's programming part-time within its main channel's regular schedule, while running the full MeTV network feed on a separate subchannel.

Some of the major network affiliates that carry MeTV full-time (such as WBAL, WLKY and WCVB-TV in Boston) use the affiliated subchannel as a buffer during network sports coverage, breaking news or severe weather coverage situations to carry regularly scheduled network and/or syndicated programming seen on its main channel, and may also regularly preempt select MeTV programs during certain morning and/or primetime slots to air local newscasts produced by the station specifically for the subchannel.[27] To address these variances, MeTV includes the fine print notation "On most MeTV stations" in its program promotions during the timeslot card. Additionally, stations may also air select MeTV programs that are recorded in advance on their main channels in order to fill unprogrammed timeslots or for use as a backup source of programming in the event that a network-televised sports event is delayed or postponed due to inclement weather.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Robert Channick (June 29, 2014). "Neal Sabin: The programming mastermind behind Me-TV". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 27, 2014. Me-TV, a classic television network featuring everything from "The Brady Bunch" to the original "Star Trek" series, has some 160 broadcast affiliates reaching 91 percent of TV households.
  2. ↑ Mark K. Miller (January 4, 2011). "MGM To Distribute Weigel's Me-TV Diginet". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ "SES 1 at 101.0°W". Lyngsat. October 5, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  4. ↑ Robert Feder (January 3, 2003). "'ME-TV' joins 'The U' on Weigel's local menu". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 31, 2012. (preview of subscription content)
  5. ↑ "Me-TV Comedy Fall 2009" (PDF). WWME-CA/Weigel Broadcasting. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Me-Too Drama Fall 2009" (PDF). WMEU-LP/Weigel Broadcasting. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ Tim Cuprisin (February 7, 2008). "TV Goes All-Local On the Storm, But with Limited Visibility of Wider World". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06.
  8. ↑ Phil Rosenthal (November 22, 2010). "Weigel Broadcasting Taking Me-TV National". Tower Ticker (Chicago Tribune).
  9. 1 2 "Updates on Me-TV National Network, Plus Local Me-TV/Me-Too; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows". Sitcoms Online. December 10, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Our Exclusive Interview With Me-TV Network's Neal Sabin; Sitcom Stars On Talk Shows". Sitcoms Online. December 17, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Channel Grid" (PDF). WCIU-TV/Weigel Broadcasting. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  12. ↑ Channick, Robert (February 9, 2015). "MeTV launching radio station at 87.7 FM". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  13. ↑ Elizabeth Guider (June 18, 2014). "Multicasting Special Report Part 2: Classic TV Diginets Make The Old New Again". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Me-TV Christmas Conundrum". Me-TV. Weigel Broadcasting.
  15. ↑ "Me-TV Announces New Shows on Fall Schedule Including NBCUniversal Series "Kojak," "The Rockford Files," & "Columbo"". The Futon Critic. September 20, 2011.
  16. ↑ "MeTV Winter 2015 Schedule Launches Jan.1; FXX's The League to End After 7 Seasons". SitcomsOnline. December 9, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Me-TV and Broadcast Partners Set Deal". TVNewsCheck. January 23, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Me-TV Spring Schedule Changes". April 7, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Me-TV: AniMeTV". April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Me-TV Network – Sid & Marty Krofft". Me-TV/Weigel Broadcasting. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Stations for Network – Me-TV". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  22. ↑ "MeTV Adds 5 Affils, Passes 92% Coverage". TVNewsCheck. October 17, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  23. ↑ "BRAND NEW!! All the...". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  24. ↑ "KCTU TV 43 Facebook Page". January 17, 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011. See post dated 1/17/2011
  25. ↑ "Weigel Broadcasting Co.'s "Me-TV" Exceeds 45% Clearance Mark Finalizing Deals with 14 Domestic Station Groups" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  26. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (October 21, 2014). "CBS to Launch Retro Digital Channel Focused on Pop Culture, History". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  27. 1 2 Diana Marszalek (July 23, 2013). "News Finds A New Home Among Diginets". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Where to watch Me-TV: WBBJ". Me-TV.
  29. ↑ Merrill Knox (November 7, 2011). "Jackson, TN Will Get CBS Affiliate In January 2012". TVSpy. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  30. ↑ Bill Blankenship (September 5, 2012). "WIBW 13.2 to switch from My TV to Me-TV". Topeka Capital-Journal.

External links

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