i and Warner Bros. sign deal bringing movies and old tv shows to the network

[Scotty]

The nation's 7th and lowest rated broadcast network i (formerly PAX), has entered into a deal with Warner Bros....Here is the article from the Palm Beach (FL) Post from June 28th...

Link to full article: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/cont...d_ion_0628.html

[KMan101]

Starting July 1st, "i" taps into it's new deal with Warner Bros. and will air "Superman III". And in August, a new lineup, from 6pm-11pm, will debut, consisting of "Mama's Family," "Perfect Strangers," "Alice," "Chico & the Man," "Welcome Back, Kotter," "Growing Pains," "The Wonder Years," "The Wayans Bros.," "Scarecrow & Mrs. King," and more!

Found this from: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/ which is quite reliable.

Thoughts on this?

I'm thrilled, frankly. LOL. I cannot wait to see all of those shows back on TV again!

[Scotty]

They're going to air Mama's Family? Cool!!!!!!!!

It sucks that the only time it airs where I live now is at 5 and 5:30 am (central time) on TBS. Now it will be back on in primetime!!!!!

P.S.: KryptonMan101, in case you were wondering what happened to it, I merged your thread with the one I had started eariler about the same topic.

[R!ck]

Mama's Family

Alice

The Wonder Years

YAY!!!!! I can't wait to see these shows again!

[KBT]

I LOVE the Wonder Years, woo hoo.

I have no idea what Alice is.....

[KMan101]

Kirk -- Alice was a 70s/80s sitcom starring Linda Lavin as diner waitress Alice. It was based off the movie of the same name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_%28TV_series%29

And no worries Scotty ... I saw your post seconds after posting mine, LOL. I should of checked ... I usually do, lol.

And most of those shows are SUPPOSED to air. They might not ALL air at first ... just spec. on my part. I hope they all air. I don't see why Wayans Bros. though, it doesn't fit with the other sitcoms and isn't it on BET already?

[Kylie]

Ooo Mama's Family and Perfect Strangers? Me likey.

[bellcurve]

Well, PAX, i, or whatever the hell they call themselves now HAD to do something! After taking away the airings of THE WEAKEST LINK and SUPERMAERKET SWEEP, their daytime/evening lineup didn't have much going for it,

And who cared for Billy Ray Cyrus playing a doctor? Or any of the terrible, "original" productions they aired?!

Striking this deal MAY counterbalance CW and MyNetworkTV(which I predict will perform better than expected in demos and household ratings).

I like that the i network is offering something different instead of original programming like reality shows and cheesy church dramas.

The Wonder Years is also a rather hot show, since it has YET to be released on DVD and is probably one of the most demanded among TV on DVD whores.

[KMan101]

"I" has also struck a deal with SONY!!!

ION MEDIA NETWORKS AND SONY PICTURES TELEVISION ANNOUNCE PROGRAMMING AGREEMENT FOR TV SERIES AND FEATURE FILMS

(West Palm Beach, FL and Culver City, CA – July 5, 2006) – ION Media Networks, Inc. (AMEX: ION) and Sony Pictures Television (“SPT”) today announced a programming agreement that provides ION with the rights to broadcast dozens of classic television series and a large selection of award-winning feature films from the Sony library on the i television network, reaching over 90 million homes.

“This agreement reflects our strategy of strengthening our i network’s programming schedule with popular series and theatrical hits with proven audience appeal,” said Brandon Burgess, CEO of ION Media Networks. “We look forward to working with Sony on developing a compelling entertainment line-up that continues to appeal to our current audience, while attracting new viewers to the network.”

“The i network and its stations will benefit from a wide variety of titles from our extensive library of television series and feature films, which have proven to deliver audiences,” said John Weiser, president, distribution for Sony Pictures Television. “We are pleased to be in partnership with ION, helping them grow and making them a destination for great programming.”

Under the terms of the agreement, ION will have access to many of SPT’s most popular TV series from the last three decades, including “Charlie’s Angels,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “The Partridge Family,” “The Monkees” and “Silver Spoons,” among others.

In addition, titles from Sony’s extensive library of theatrical films will be available to ION, including “A River Runs Through It,” “Oliver!,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “Short Circuit” and many more.

“We are pleased to have access to Sony’s diverse collection of movies and classic TV shows” said Stacey Nagel Galper, ION’s Senior Vice President of Programming and Strategic Planning. “We will begin scheduling the Sony movies on the i network this month, with plans to launch the television series in August.”

[Scotty]

All this makes me very anxious to see what "i"'s new August lineup is going to look like!

[JER Soaps Fan]

Wait PAX TV/I is a broadcast channel? I SO don't get that as broadcast. Or at all.

[Scotty]

Yeah...it is a broadcast network, although it doesn't have affliates in all markets. It was called PAX from its creation in 1998 until either late last year or early this year when it became i . It used to have original primetime programming like Doc, Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, Ponderosa, Palmetto Pointe and others; but they had a lot of money problems, and have recently been showing only reruns of those shows, old shows and infomericals.

And while it has local affilates, it also has a national feed on DirecTV (channel 255) and on EchoStar (channel 181).

To find your local i affliate, and see if you have i on your local cable system, check out this link: http://www.ionline.tv/stations/list.cfm

[KMan101]

I'm so excited ... what bums me out is that the lineup will only be 6pm-11pm Sunday-Friday. Saturday will be 8pm-11pm.

Of course, I have heard they WILL expand ... it's just a question of when ... So just a fair warning that not all of the announced shows will air at first ...

[JER Soaps Fan]

My gosh, do you WORK for i?!!!

[bellcurve]

Scotty was probably being nice and informative, as always. Think about that.