The Retro Television Network is an American broadcast television network
that is owned by Luken Communications. The network mainly airs classic
television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through the 1980s, although it
also includes more recent programs from the 1990s and 2000s. Through its
ownership by Luken, the Retro Television Network is a sister network to several
broadcast network properties that are wholly or jointly owned by the company,
including the family-oriented Family Channel and country music-oriented
network Heartland. At its outset, the Retro Television
Network was designed to be broadcast on the digital subchannels of television
stations; however in recent years, the network's affiliate body has been drawn
down to primarily low-power stations, as many station groups have replaced the
network on the subchannels of their full-power major network affiliates with
similarly formatted networks such as Antenna TV and Me-TV, which have assumed
rights to many of the distributors that formerly held programming agreements
with RTN. The network is also available nationwide on free-to-air C-band
satellite via SES-2 in DVB-S2 format; as individualised transmitter-ready feeds
for each station are centrally generated using broadcast automation and delivered
to the stations by satellite. History
The Retro Television Network launched in July 2005 on select television stations
owned by the Equity Broadcasting Corporation, a chain of small
satellite-fed UHF television stations controlled directly from Equity's
headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. Equity had expanded quickly with
purchases of many small stations in the early 2000s, but by 2008, the company
was struggling to meet its obligations. In June 2008, while the company was
undergoing financial troubles, Equity Media Holdings sold RTN to Henry Luken
III's – Equity's former president and CEO, and the company's largest
shareholder – Luken Communications for $18.5 million in cash. Equity had an
option to repurchase the network for $27.75 million; the purchase option was
not exercised and expired on December 24, 2008. Equity had filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy three weeks before the expiration of the purchase option.
On January 4, 2009, a contract conflict between Equity and Luken Communications
interrupted RTN programming on many of its affiliates with Luken alleging that
Equity had left many obligations to RTN's creditors, including programming
suppliers, unpaid. As a result, Luken restored a national feed of the network
from its Chattanooga headquarters with individual feeds to affiliates not owned
by Equity following suit on a piecemeal basis. Equity-owned-or-operated stations
lost RTN affiliation, though Luken vowed to find new affiliates for the network
in the affected areas. The Retro Television Network changed its
on-air branding to "RTV" in June 2009 In 2012, Retro dropped from 120 to 80
affiliates with many ABC affiliates switching to the Live Well Network. The
network was rebranded as "Retro TV" in 2013.
Concept and programming Since its creation, RTN's principal
programming concept consists of classic television series, initially maintaining
a 24-hour schedule of shows dating from the 1950s to the early 1990s along with
rarely seen older programming. There have been some deviations to the format,
including during the network's ownership under Equity, which added some original
talk programming during the late night slot on weeknights from the summer of
2008 to early 2009, a concept billed as "Classic Hits All Day & Fresh Talk All
Night". The network has also featured originally produced horror film
showcases such as Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In and Off Beat Cinema; RTN also
aired the talk show 'Daytime' produced by WFLA-TV's Riverbank Studios in Tampa,
Florida. The show starred co-hosts Jerry Penacoli and Cyndi Edwards.
By June 2011, when RTN's distribution agreement with NBCUniversal Television
Distribution ended, the network adjusted its schedule to feature programming from
other distributors and public domain programs, as well as more recent
programs, and reality and documentary programming. RTN also features a
Saturday morning block of vintage cartoon programming.
RTN's current programming roster draws from various distributors including
Classic Media, Genesis International, Peter Rodgers Organization, and Sony
Pictures Television, as well as Stay Creepy Productions and John DiSciullo.
The network previously had major content deals with CBS Television Distribution
until July 2008, and NBCUniversal Television Distribution until June 2011.
Until 2011, RTN offered a customized schedule for use at the discretion of
the local affiliate. By June 2011, when RTN's relationship with NBCUniversal
ended, the network moved towards a set national schedule, although affiliates
have the option to pre-empt or reschedule some network programming.
Affiliates As of April 18, 2013, RTN maintains
current or future carriage agreements with approximately 90 television
stations in the United States. While the network's primary strategy is carriage
on digital subchannels of local broadcast stations, only 22 stations
within its affiliate body are presently full-power stations. RTV is also seen on
approximately 70 digital low-power stations.
Prior to the 2009 digital transition, RTN was seen on a number of analog
stations owned by Equity Media Holdings, the network's former owner. Some Equity
stations mixed RTN programming with first-run and recent off-network
syndicated programming or also carried another networks, such as MyNetworkTV or
Ion Television. References
External links Interview with RTN