Which CBS owned cable channel?

[xortex]

Would be the best choice for a new tv series again? Sorry to ask the same old question but I'm too lazy to google what cable stations CBS owns. Someone mentioned AMC and that sounds right to me. Also FX? and HBO but that's a premium channel and another can of worms, so let's start with what non premium cable channels would be best first considering audience availability and interest, etc., of course and then the possibility of premium Trek.

Can Moonves lend Trek to other networks? or make direct to DVD telemovies or series or MOWs (movies of the week), etc.?

 

[Nerys Myk]

CBS owns Showtime. FX is owned by FOX. AMC is owned by AMC.

Come on, would typing "CBS owned cable channel" in google really take less time than typing that entire post?

CBS can do what ever it wants with Trek, including what you describe. Its called "licensing".

 

[Tom]

CBS does not really own that many channels beyond Showtime and half of the CW network. Viacom has the most channels. Even 5 years after the breakup CBS has a close relationship with Viacom (thanks to daddy Redstone ).

 

[C.E. Evans]

CBS does not really own that many channels beyond Showtime and half of the CW network. Viacom has the most channels. Even 5 years after the breakup CBS has a close relationship with Viacom (thanks to daddy Redstone ).

Close like a divorced couple with kids...

 

[xortex]

I know I just heard on the radio a snippett of CBS being bought by somebody - wasn't it Viacom? You never know what you're gonna hear or mishear. Something just bought CBS which would mean more cable channel access. No?

So, it can liscence it to AMC? How about NBC?

 

[chardman]

They can license it to whomever they want to license it to.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I know I just heard on the radio a snippett of CBS being bought by somebody - wasn't it Viacom? You never know what you're gonna hear or mishear. Something just bought CBS which would mean more cable channel access. No?

Viacom bought CBS in 2000, but it was a largely unhappy arrangement, with the two companies sometimes working against one another (which is still going on today). They parted ways in 2006, with Viacom getting the Paramount Pictures movie studio and CBS aquiring what was formerly known as Paramount Television (which included the rights to Star Trek).

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Wikipedia will give you the rundown on basic business info.

 

[xortex]

I could swear I heard that CBS was bought recently.

 

[C.E. Evans]

CBS did buy recently a new television station--WLNY in New York.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Would be the best choice for a new tv series again? Sorry to ask the same old question

xortex the thread is still open and a valid place for discussion.
Poll: What channel should a new Trek TV series be on?
Many of your questions above have been discussed.

 

[xortex]

You're right. Sorry. Thanks.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

AXS TV

This afternoon CBS acquired a minority stake in AXS TV, the cable channel formerly known as HDNet.

In addition to CBS, AXS is owned by Mark Cuban, Ryan Seacrest, live events company AEG and talent agency CAA. According to the companies, CBS will provide the network with live programming, and will offer marketing support.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cbs-and-dan-rather-together-again_b167090

What kind of brand will AXS TV be in 2017?
Maybe CBS will buy a majority stake in it and a possible Trek outlet to carry this channel.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

CBS is buying AXS because they are interested in live events (because they are more DVR proof and therefore more lucrative for ads than scripted TV.)

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) announced today that it has partnered with AXS TV, the leading television network dedicated to broadcasting live events from the worlds of music and pop culture.

...

“CBS is happy to provide AXS TV with live event content as the basis of this partnership,” said Moonves. “This is an innovative way to use our tentpole programming to gain more ownership in the cable network business. AXS TV will now serve as a terrific complement to our existing broadcast television entertainment programming.”

Star Trek would be DVRed to the max, which is why it needs to be moved out of the ad-based ecosystem. Some kind of subscription service would work better for it.

This is just the cananry in a coal mine. All ad-based TV is moving towards live events to lessen the appeal of DVR use.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Temis mentioned last month: CBS is buying AXS
now CBS is buying the majority stake in another cable network

CBS Circling to Acquire Half of TV Guide Network

Lionsgate is expected to close a deal to sell about half of TVGN, formerly known as the TV Guide Network, to CBS.

CBS gets a network now seen in about 80 million American TV homes.

The deal also apparently includes TVGuide.com, which has shown growth by adding strong content and will fit with other CBS digital properties.

sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the price CBS is paying for 50 percent – about $100 million

For CBS, it is seen as a reasonable way to acquire a cable channel, broadening a portfolio that already includes the top-rated TV broadcast network, a pay TV service, a growing digital presence, a sports channel and half of The CW network.

They surely could rebrand this channel in 3 years.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^^^
Not if Lionsgate, who still owns the other half, doesn't want to rebrand it.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

TVGN additional info

^^^
Not if Lionsgate, who still owns the other half, doesn't want to rebrand it.

more info on the CBS purchase of 50% of TVGN

The deal is expected to close sometime next week. Coincidentally, a rebranding effort that will eliminate the last vestiges of the channel's origins as an interactive program guide is planned for late March. The new moniker, TVGN, is of a piece with a longstanding tradition wherein a cable network dumps its established brand for a more generic cluster of initials (see also: AMC, ID, TLC).

Per SNL Kagan estimates, the channel doesn't carry a lot of weight with operators, scratching out an average carriage fee of just 3 cents per subscriber per month.

earlier this month, CBS CEO Les Moonves allowed that while he was interested in bolstering his portfolio with a cable property

"Would we like a general entertainment cable network? Sure, we would," Moonves said. "Do I think we could run it extremely well? Of course we could. We have a great deal of production, we have a great deal of expertise in that. Could CBS 2 be far more effective than a number of cable channels that are currently out there now? Absolutely. But I think the last thing the cable operators want is another general entertainment channel from us."

So CBS has plans for this cable network with carriage in 81 million homes. Since CBS owns subscription pay television (Showtime) is a premium channel and

Spike is available in 98.7 million American homes.

source and has it's niche and that's not friendly for Trek's younger audiences.

the other network CBS purchased the majority stake in

AXS is in 40 million households.

Only 40 million...then TVGN is obviously a contender for a serious rebranding.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: TVGN additional info

^^^
Not if Lionsgate, who still owns the other half, doesn't want to rebrand it.

more info on the CBS purchase of 50% of TVGN

The deal is expected to close sometime next week. Coincidentally, a rebranding effort that will eliminate the last vestiges of the channel's origins as an interactive program guide is planned for late March. The new moniker, TVGN, is of a piece with a longstanding tradition wherein a cable network dumps its established brand for a more generic cluster of initials (see also: AMC, ID, TLC).

"Would we like a general entertainment cable network? Sure, we would," Moonves said. "Do I think we could run it extremely well? Of course we could. We have a great deal of production, we have a great deal of expertise in that. Could CBS 2 be far more effective than a number of cable channels that are currently out there now? Absolutely. But I think the last thing the cable operators want is another general entertainment channel from us."

So CBS has plans for this cable network with carriage in 81 million homes.

Actually, the article doesn't say that. The only thing it says is that CBS was looking for a way to get into the cable industry (ABC, NBC, and FOX already have cable properties--CBS is very late to the game).

the other network CBS purchased the majority stake in

AXS is in 40 million households.

That's a digital tier-only channel on most cable systems--one of the last vestiges of niche programming, IMO (although that's fading there even as we speak).

Only 40 million...then TVGN is obviously a contender for a serious rebranding.

It's already been seriously rebranded (TVGN is the new name it just adopted). It's moved away from its original TV listings format to an actual channel with programming.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

CW rebranding over time?

an update on the CW network:

The female-friendly, 7-year-old network targets the 18- to 34-year-old demographic. But CW's executives aren't running away from middle age. They are trying to attract a more diverse audience.

The network, a joint venture between CBS Corp. and Warner Bros., underwent a series of changes this season

The 2013-14 slate is shaping up to be equally brand-expanding. The network has eight pilots in development,

pilots

Others are venturing a bit outside the brand lines. The network has a number of science fiction projects in the works, one about a romance between a human girl and an alien boy, and another set 97 years after a nuclear war, about human survivors on a spaceship traveling back to Earth to recolonize the planet.

the human survivors on a spaceship is the one I think all TrekBBS members may be interested in as it's a space opera.

More than just a strategy to attract new viewers, the content-stretching demonstrates a network evolving with its core audience, said Neil Howe, an authority on generations and president of the consulting firm LifeCourse Associates.

"What's happening now is that they're moving away from an exclusive focus on teens and … slowly moving into a more twentysomething focus/supernatural market," Howe said. "Rather than always going to the trouble of capturing a new set of viewers every year, why not just age with the same people?"

Not exactly the core Trek demo but perhaps a new Trek series based on JJnuTrek in that world (just not the feature film actors) in a few years would give a strong male audience to this network. If they could program another show that a young 18-34 male audience would like before or after it would be ideal for them.

the article also has some other business info on CW profits and digital viewership.
CW network revamp aims to draw wider audience