The Look Back : Kids WB

The Flashback   Children's TV
                                                              
        We now return to all our children's programs.  Well, that got your attention, this time we are talking Kids WB something about this block  to really note.  It ran longer than the network it was created for , and  it was the last weekday children's block on commercial TV.
     The WB network  was announced  in 1993  as the network of Warner Brothers and Tribune Company (who owned a minority share and provided affiliates in major markets)  and it launched in  January of 1995. Many of the affiliates were stations that were non-affiliated (independents)and  some former network affiliates.  Like when we talked about FOX KIDS , many of these stations may have had their children's programming blocks of syndicated programs.   But like the network itself , why not have a place to show-off Warner Brothers cartoons and library of shows for Children?

    A new block of children's program yay!!!/ Warnerbrothers/Youtube                
     In the new fall season 1995, Kids WB launched  it  ran  Weekday afternoons for 1 hour 4-5pm (all time zones , though could be adjusted) , and Saturday Mornings ,of course, 8AM-11AM.  The Early programs were some Warner Brother's programs that were originally on FOX Kids or syndication: "Animaniacs". New series included : "Sylvester and Tweety mysteries" (Where the cat and bird solve mysteries together ) , Freakazoid! (about a teenager who absorbs his computer  and gains all knowledge of things on the internet  and becomes a super-hero), "Earthworm Jim" ( a super hero worm, no we didn't make these shows up) , and  "Animaniacs" spin-off "Pinky and The Brain" (Narff).
   
    See... we didn't make it up                 Warnerbrothers/ Youtube
         They also later  added cartoons of Batman and Superman  and was doing well enough to expand Weekdays by 2 more hours ( 1 hour in the morning, and 1 more hour in the afternoon, though some stations would combine into 3 hours in the afternoon) , in 1997.  Then something BIG happened.   In 1999, Kids Wb picked up the English Dub of anime program , "Pokemon". The Program was a hit.  (Stop!,  Kids WB was not the first home on American TV for Pokemon, it was originally in syndication. Now back to your whatever this is)   This helped it beat FOX Kids.  (We bet someone at FOX Kids was not very happy about not getting  Pokemon)

 
  Oh my Gosh! it's Something amazing! Call Everyone!!!!  | Youtube
    When you buy anime  and it does well, you buy more anime , and that's what they did.. like "Yu-Gi-Oh!".  Oh , and the whole block didn't become anime fueled it still had other series to make the non anime fans happy.
  OK, time for learning.. (E/I).
    In 1996, Time Warner owned Warner Brothers (well of course) , Ted Turner (for some odd reason) sold his company to Time Warner, one of those properties was Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network was launched in 1992, as a place for Ted Turner to put all his cartoons that he had bought in the 80's somewhere.  In March of 1997, Cartoon Network launched a block in the afternoon called Toonami. It was the home of Cartoon Network's action shows. (Yeah!!! Action!). Now keep that in mind.



( Can we get back to Kids'WB Now?)

    In 2001 , the afternoon block was renamed Toonami on Kids WB it didn't air everything the Cartoon Network block did,  but it did shows from Cartoon Network to the block ,namely the "Powerpuff Girls". Other shows were shared with Cartoon Network ,and some were Kids WB's own shows namely, "Nightmare Room".  Sadly in 2001  the weekday morning block was discontinued. (For Newscasts, bad talk shows , or infomercials depending on where you are because that's fun) .  This was around the same time as FOX Kids was in it's dying days, the weekday block of FOX kids had ended.  UPN's weekday block ,which was done by Disney,  and Kids WB were the only network weekday  children's blocks left.
    It's mix of outside  and done-by-Warner-Brothers, and  Cartoon Network co-operating continued.  They introduced a new version of Scooby-Doo  called "What's New Scooby-Doo" (Yes Scooby,what is new?) It was the first new Scooby Series in about a decade (the last Scooby-Doo series was A Pup named Scooby Doo , it was him as a puppy) after some direct to video releases and the other series airing in reruns on Cartoon Network, it was time. Scooby had a new voice and the series was a hip, cool 21st century making of  "Scooby Doo, Where are you?"

Yeah rock theme song.... cool      Warner Brothers/ Youtube
   There was also more "Pokemon" , !Mucha Lucha!, more "Yu-Gi-Oh!", and more.  In 2002, the Toonami on Kids WB name was removed and the weekday block was just called Kids WB.   So it continued it's competition around it was changing  around  2002.  CBS had Nickelodeon programming, ABC was more Disney  Channel Programming , FOX had given up and sold it's kids slot to 4Kids Entertainment , UPN  didn't do children's TV ( local stations had to find their own), and NBC had gone to Discovery. So, Kids WB was the only commerical network with it's own programmed block of new programming. Though Cartoon Network programs were shared with Kids WB.

more after this jump

A busy trade between 5 station groups

TV News    Business TV News 

    Today was a busy day for Lin, Media General , Sinclair , Hearst , and Meredith as some TV station deals and trades were made.
    Due to Lin and Media General wanting to merge , they had to remove some stations that would be redundant  and to comply with FCC ownership Rules.
      The Sinclair Broadcasting Group and Lin/Media General are making the following  sales as trade :
  Due to Media General owning WJAR-TV   (NBC affiliate)  and WPRI-TV (CBS) being owned by  Lin Media General will sell WJAR To  Sinclair  , keeping WPRI.
     In Greenbay  WLUK-TV(FOX) and WCWF(CW)  ,owned by Lin  will be sold to Sinclair while Media General owned WBAY (ABC)  will be owned by the new merged company.
   In Savannah, GA  WJCL (FOX)  the non-license assets owned by Lin will be sold to Sinclair , while the station will still be owned by WTGS Television ,LLC.

 Meanwhile as part of the trade , Sinclair will hand over 3 stations to Media General.
        WTTA-TV (MyTV) in Tampa Bay, which will become a sister station to WFLA (NBC) .    Colorado Springs Fox and CW affiliates KXRM (FOX) , KXTU (CW)  are the other two to be sold to Media General.
 
In Birmingham  Lin owned WTAT  (CBS) will be owned by the new company  , WVTM (NBC) ,owned by Media General , will be sold to Hearst Broadcasting.  Hearst will also acquire Savannah WJCL (abc).

In Moblie, Alabama  WALA  (FOX ) , will be sold to Meredith  Company , while it's sister station , CW affiliate WFNA  will co-run with WKRG (CBS).




soucres:  Sinclair (PDF)  Hearst   Lin/MG   TV news check 

Al Jazeera America : 1 year later

NEWS  MEDIA

Written By Skyler
 Editor of Mychiller

     On , August 20, 2013  Al Jazeera America launched  replacing  Current TV.  So now we have reached one year since launch and how  is it doing?
   Well ratings wise, not to well   there could be an assortment of reasons .  1) Cable : This reason has two, on many cable systems  ,including mine , it's on a higher channel  , while Fox News , MSNBC, and CNN are right to next other  AJAM is out there.  HD rights , it's not available in  HD on many cable systems unlike , FOX News , MSNBC, and  CNN. Many HD viewers may want to watch but be not wanting too.  2) The Name:  The hard thing this channel has it's name . I don't hold  it's name against it I mean most names on American cable tv don't mean anything , look at History Channel , where's the History?  Or Discovery , what I am to discover ?  Or BBC America, not much  BBC to the Americans there.  But many people in America do because of it's foreign sounding name and logo and maybe to an extant it's ownership , the ruling family of the Qatari government.  The company has stated they aren't thinking of changing the name ,because Al Jazeera is the name of the company and the channel is part of the company.  Which makes sense , BBC World News is owned by the BBC (BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC) and the BBC News name is a respected trusted news organization  so why change the name?
     I am kind of glad they didn't just plop Al Jazerra English and say "here you go" , they do simulcast AJE at points of the day. AJAM's  US based newscasts cover alot of international stories and stories here in US.  Unlike MSNBC , which most of it's programming weekdays are opinion programming , and Fox News Channel , which has alot of opinion programming, they don't that you won't see (insert liberal /conservative here) hosting a prime time show on the channel . Instead you get a 8PMET / 5PM PT   News cast anchored by former NBC News anchor  , John Seigenthaler. Yes, a full hour of news from around the world and the US. Not a program telling me why I should  hate republicans or democrats  or CNN  squeezing some random story out any juice they can get.  At 9PMET/6PT you get a news magazine show "America Tonight"  that  gives interesting stories  not constantly focusing on crime like the network news magazine shows , 60 Minutes not in that group of crime laden shows.  At 10PM/7pt   you get a conversation and current affairs show , "Consider  This", which sometimes has some interesting topics. At 11PM/8pt they give another live newscast anchored by Seigenthaler , because we have a west-coast time zone .     The reason why I said I am glad they didn't just plop AJE in  and try to give some American news programming , as well  is because it is kind of lacking. We have a confused CNN  , MSNBC, which has lot of opinion programming ,especially between 2PMET until 5AMET.  Fox News has a mix . I am a person who watches all the news channels , just not all day (that would be crazy). Do find that  Al Jazeera America's un-flashiness , not  having the word breaking news  on all day for no reason , or telling me why insert celeb here has been arrested, married, having a baby,moved to somewhere ,said/did something stupid...etc.  a nice chance of pace. It's a style that I l like about "CBS Evening News" (when I do watch an evening newscast) and a reason why  I don't watch "ABC World News".
       As it hits one year  it has not changed much even though low ratings, which I say is good thing  I would hate that it jumped around got crazy and started copying other channels ideas or programming.  I am also glad we have  more news channels on our systems like AJAM , BBC World News, One America News  , and some have France 24 and I24.  

Two new digital networks launch today

TV News 

                        

           Two new digital networks are launching today.  Grit is a channel  for men  airing movies and TV shows targeted to that audience.   The movies are from the Warner Brothers , Universal, and Paramount pictures libraries. While Escape is targeted toward women with movies and TV shows.  With Movies from the same libraries as Grit TV.  It will also have true crime programs ,mystery programs , and Crime dramas.  Both channels launch at 12PMET .  Grit will start with the John Wayne film High Noon  part of a launch week of John Wayne movies.  While  Escape's first broadcast will be with Body Heat.   
      Grit and Escape join a long list of over the air digital television networks  many of which air movies.

Grit Launch day schedule
12PMET   High Noon
1:45PMET   Shane
4:15PMET    Jeremiah Johnson
6:45PMET    Young Duke : Making of A Movie Star
8PMET    Big Jake
10PMET   Donovan's Reef

Escape Launch day schedule
12PMET Body Heat
2:30PMET    Final  Analysis
5PMET   Dead Calm
7PMET   Malice
9:30PM  Frantic

To find where these stations are in your area      Grit   Escape   As with most digital networks it may not be on cable on launch day so check your local cable listings after you find out if you area will have the station.

David Gregory is out at Meet The Press

NBC   TVNEWS 
               
     The pressure has exploded  after months and months of speculation , rumors , and stories of bad ratings , David Gregory is out at "Meet The Press", NBC's Sunday Morning staple.

David Gregory tweeted  this today

I leave NBC as I came - humbled and grateful. I love journalism and serving as moderator of MTP was the highest honor there is . (1 of 2)
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) August 14, 2014

(2 of 2) I have great respect for my colleagues at NBC News and wish them all well. To the viewers, I say thank you.
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) August 14, 2014

   NBC's Chuck Todd  currently  NBC's chief Washington  Correspondant and political director and anchor of MSNBC's  Daily  Rundown will officially take over as host September 7th.


 Tvnewser  has president of NBC News' Deborah Turness' statement

 H/T Tvnewser 

From: Deborah Turness (NBCUniversal)
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 4:41 PM
To: @NBC Uni NBC News All
Subject: Meet the Press
Dear All,
I want to share some news about Meet the Press. After an exceptional 20 years with NBC News, David Gregory is leaving the network.
I want to express my sincerest thanks to David, who, after the death of Tim Russert, led Meet the Press for almost 6 years. Under his leadership the show has had a string of exclusives, and David has shown a remarkable gift for holding leaders to account and getting answers on issues that matter to our audience. He is an outstanding journalist whose sharp intellect and quick sense of humor have made him a pleasure to work with. I know you all join me in expressing our deepest gratitude and in wishing him the very best.
I am very pleased to announce that Chuck Todd will take the helm on September 7. There is no one with a bigger passion for politics than Chuck. His unique ability to deliver that passion with razor sharp analysis and infectious enthusiasm makes him the perfect next generation moderator of this beloved broadcast. Chuck will ensure that Meet the Press is the beating heart of politics, the place where newsmakers come to make news, where the agenda is set. We have some exciting plans to evolve and update the broadcast under Chuck’s leadership that we will be sharing with you shortly.
Chuck will continue as NBC News political director, and will hand over his roles as chief White House correspondent and anchor of MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown.
Andrea Mitchell will serve as moderator of Meet the Press this weekend, and will continue to be a central figure of the broadcast, along with some new names that we will announce in the coming days.
For nearly seventy years, Americans have turned to Meet the Press on Sunday mornings for unrivaled insights on the news stories, political battles and public affairs debates dominating the national discussion. The next-generation Meet the Press, led by Chuck Todd, is certain to be the must-watch political destination on Sundays and beyond.
Deborah

David Gregory apparently won't be getting a farewell show (not sure on that yet)   as Andrea Mitchell will be hosting this Sunday (8-17).  David Gregory became host of Meet The Press  in December 2008 , after the death of Tim Russert.  The Show was number 1 in ratings but dropped in recent years to  "Face the Nation" , "This Week" and "Fox News Sunday" in some markets coming in 4th.

{Updated  8:47PMET}   Chuck Todd releases his statement the digital way
   

Honored and humbled to be in the company of great MTP moderators, including David, Tom and of course Tim. All three taught me so much.
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) August 15, 2014

The Lookback: Children's TV : The Disney Afternoon

The Flashback  Children's TV 
                                              
 
         So  we have told you about Disney's One Saturday Morning and Disney's One too , before Disney owned a broadcast network they   had to find other ways to air their content.  Now-a-days it's  Disney Channel , Disney XD, Disney Junior , and sometimes ABC.  Before then there was  Disney Channel , but it was premium. (Like HBO , though as one channel ,not a bunch ). So they had NBC,CBS,ABC and independent stations air their programs.    Now to FOX , we told in you in our FOX Kids piece that , Fox owned stations (some not owned) aired  some disney shows including "Duck Tales" and "Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers" that Disney syndicated to stations.  So after FOX and Disney got mad at each other  and FOX decided  to launch FOX Kids , many of the fox affiliates that aired the syndicated shows  still aired them or they were moved to other stations.  (usually independent stations )
 
     
  coming in 4 weeks?! I'm there.  youtube/ Disney

  Now on September 10th , 1990 (2 days after Fox Kids started)  The Disney Afternoon started. It was a syndicated block of about 2 hours airing programs made by Disney usually in the afternoon slots the stations would air kids TV shows anyway.
 
What did these two hours entail ?  (Yeah what did they entail?)  Well cartoons from Disney , a mixture of some from Disney airing on other networks , and new ones for the block.
   "Disney's Adventures  of the Gummi Bears" was the first series on the block . (This is the program that ran on NBC and ABC first) ,so why not start your new programming block with it?   "Ducktales" was the first Disney cartoon to air in syndication it originally ran on FOX and independent stations in the country  it was added to the block as repeats.  "Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers" also started in syndication was added as part of the syndicated block   as repeats.   And Disney added  "Talespin".
    Each year a new show was added in the last half hour and the "oldest show" was at the first half-hour and the next season each show moved up one half-hour and the first half-hour show from the previous season was removed.  In the 2nd year the new program was "Darkwing Duck" , it also aired on ABC (two for one) .  This cartoon was a cartoon super-hero show with Ducks.
                     
 ........ oh what expecting a comment? , no comment here just enjoy  Disney/Youtube
The 3rd year (some call it 1992)  "Duck Tales" was removed (it was the first hour show the last season , so it be eliminated )  and a new series came in called "Goof Troop". "Goof Troop" was a cartoon about Goofy and his 11 -year -old son ,  Max. (Goofy had a son?)  It also aired on ABC and The Disney Channel . (not ooh Disney Channel had a fancy phase of the )  In the 4th year ( uhhhh 1993) , "Chip n' Dale" were removed and a new series "Bonkers" came in.  It was a spin-off , of "Raw Toonage". (It aired on CBS so that's why didn't mention it here, also Bonkers didn't air on ABC which is shocking )   In the 5th year  ,"Talespin" was removed and the new series was "Aladdin". It was based of the popular movie that came out two years before (called Aladdin, as well ) ,  It takes  place after the movie. "Aladdin" also aired on CBS (hey! That's not ABC)
       
          Everything in the early 90's sounded like this...don't judge them    youtube/disney

     Also in the 5th year , another program was added  (the 3rd 1/2 hour was now 3 programs depending on the day) "Gargoyles" was also introduced the first two seasons ran on  Disney Afternoon and the final on ABC. (There we are)   It was more dramatic and less comedy  like the other programs.  It's about Gargoyles who are mystical creatures , trying to adjust to Newyork and the 20th century.
   In the 6th year , "Timon and Pumba" was the new series added, it was based off the two charcters from the highly popular "Lion King" movie , that came out just 2 years before.  It also aired on CBS (This is 1995,so you know what 1996 means).  This program also out lived the block by two years... kind of.  (more on that in a second)
   In the 7th year, "Quack Pack" and  "Mighty Ducks" were added. (Good year for Duck theme).  It's 1996 , this is also where the block dies ( awww)  on August 29, 1997. What was coming in 1997? (oooh pick me pick me). Yep The new block "Disney's One Saturday Morning" on ABC. The block died but it didn't. (well I am lost)  On September 1 it was renamed ____________ (in other words it had no name) and it was shortened to 90 minutes. It aired mostly repeats of shows from the Disney's One Sat block at this point. In 1999 it was officially ended. Another reason for it's end was also the stations , if they were now WB affiliates they would be airing Kids WB  in the afternoon ,so no need for the syndicated block , and others were UPN and same reason (with UPN kids).
    Disney didn't give up on afternoons they launched "Disney's One too" which you have already read about , (we hope , for our moral)  If not it's here .    The repeats of the programs and large amount of cartoons Disney was making , they launched Toon Disney , as a spin off of the now Basic cable Disney Channel (The "the" was removed)  and all the programs aired there for awhile.  Toon Disney closed in 2009.

So that's it ..thanks for reading .(How else would you end it?)

CBS to make switch in Indy

TV NEWS                                                      
                                                   
                 CBS and the Tribune Company announced that Tribune's current CW station WTTV will become Indianapolis newest CBS affiliate on January 1st of 2015. Current CW affiliation will move to 4.2 ,which is currently This TV. Current CBS station WISH will lose it's affiliation with the network. This gives Tribune access to the rights of the Colts ,thanks to CBS being the network airing AFC games. Tribune's president Larry Wert , Tribune owns two stations in INDY (WXIN, FOX59 and WTTV , Indiana's 4) , said today :

“This comprehensive agreement further expands our strong partnership with CBS and allows us to provide an array of outstanding programming, including leading live sports, news and entertainment,” said Tribune Broadcasting President Larry Wert. “Through WTTV’s new affiliation, we look forward to significantly enhancing our sports offerings, local news coverage and commitment to the community.”

 The Tribune company also renewed affiliation agreements with CBS on other affiliates that they own ,  Lin , which owns WISH-TV  has not said anything about plans for WISH-TV or how this will affect agreements with 10 other CBS affiliates.




sources:  FOX59 (WXIN)    Variety   Tribune 

CNN Gets new graphics

CNN  TV News Graphics 
   

   Today CNN changed it's graphics , to motif of red,black , and White.  The name of the show has moved from a box on the right to a grey rectangle on the new ticker.  The grey rectangle also alternates the hashtag of the program and on some cases the twitter handle.  The ticker remains but has been changed to a white and black color scheme with a cnn.com box  on the left.  The Stocks and time have moved under the logo and alternate  like they did in the old package.
    I am not sure what I think about them yet, but they are simple and flatter , kind of like MSNBC's  and less flashy , like the previous package or Fox News Channel's graphics.  CNN international does not have this package , not sure if they are getting a new look or not. Though these are seen during simulcasts of CNN on CNN I ,which happens alot these days.    

The Lookback : The New Leave it to Beaver

The Flashback  
       Ever wonder what happened to Beaver and Wally after "Leave It to Beaver"? (They became a singing duo in the70's?)  , it's that kind of question that makes TV shows.  That's what "The New Leave It to Beaver" answered.  The title sounds like if it was done now , those people that don't have new ideas decided to make a "reboot" of  "Leave It to Beaver". (Reboot means , "hey there's an old show that was good ,so let's make it worse  and it won't last more than 7 episodes)  Instead it was 20 years after the original series ended (1963)  to see how Wally and the Beaver were doing now (1983).
        Original in 1983, there was a movie called "Still the Beaver"  a 2-hour movie showing us how the  Cleavers were doing now. We were brought back to seeing Mrs. Cleaver ((Barbara Billingsley reprises her role) she was now a widow ( Hugh Beaumont, who played Ward died in 1982) Theodore/ The Beaver  Cleaver  (Jerry Mathers reprises his role ) and  Wally Cleaver ( Tony Dow) were adults now.  Beaver  was divorced (what mean writers) he and his 2 sons  Kip and Oliver lived with his Mother.  Meanwhile next door Wally is married (happily I guess)  to Mary  Ellen  and they have a 1 daughter , later on a son. (Lived next door saves money on sets or something )   Eddie Haskell  (Ken  Osmond )  had 2 sons (played by his real sons). "Lumpy" had 1 daughter.
    The Movie must have done well in 1983, because a TV series of the same name , "Still the Beaver" was launched and started in 1984 on The Disney Channel (back when it was a premium channel )  and ran 27  episodes on the network.  In 1985 it was announced to be moving over to Ted Tuner's TBS (before it was very funny)  and continued 3 more seasons there under the new name "The New Leave it to Beaver". (Creative aren't they)
   
    Tomorrow at 11:30 Eastern 10:30 am Central   // Youtube

           The series theme song was the original theme song but was eightiesized (why that's not a word is a travesty) .
       
     
     The  80's makes cool sax cool  // Youtube

           The sequel series followed the parent show (you think that was a pun don't you?)  in being focused from the kids on the series point of the view not the adult view. With the classic kids getting into trouble and the lesson learning in the program. It shows how Beaver and Wally are as fathers which was a great intrest for those who grew up with "Leave it To Beaver".   It's also interesting to see Eddie Haskell as a father.
   That's the (short) Lookback ... tune in next time when we find out how  Wally and Beaver's kids are as parents in the year 2003.  ( Wait that didn't happen)