Upcoming Channel Launches

[Adam Richey]

Hey everybody. Running the Service Desk, I got bored and decided to update my Desired Basic Channels page. There are A LOT OF new niche and basic entertainment channels coming. I thought I would let you guys know about it, and maybe this could be a thread to discuss some potential sleepers to be successful. I wouldn't mind having several of these. I'm leaving out the ones I've heard talked about on here before.

America National Network (March 2005) - http://www.sentinel-america.com/ANN-Home-Page.htm
General patriotic entertainment channel

American David (September 2006) - http://www.americandavid.com (Not Up Yet)
Jewish entertainment and educational channel

Auto Channel (September 2005) - http://www.theautochannel.com

Black TV News Channel (July 2005)

Boating Channel (4th Qtr 2005) - http://www.boatingchannel.com
Nautical entertainment, informative and competitions

Boxing Channel (May 2005)

Career Entertainment TV (2nd Qtr 2005) - http://www.ce.tv
Entertainment to enrich "people's working lives"

Casino and Gaming TV (2nd Qtr 2005) - http://www.cgtv.com

Destiny Channel (4th Qtr 2005) - http://www.destinychannel.com
Ethics channel for 18-34 year olds

Edge TV (1st Qtr 2005) - http://www.theedgetv.com
All kinds of gaming from poker to crosswords to game shows and more

Fashion and Design TV (April 2005) - http://www.fadnetworks.com

Film Festival Channel (4th Qtr 2005) - http://www.filmfestivalchannel.com

God TV (February 2005) - http://www.god.tv

Jewish TV (July 2005) - http://www.jtelevision.com
News and reality-driven with a broad range of Jewish entertainment

Puppy Channel (March 2006) - http://www.thepuppychannel.com

Radio TV Network (March 2005) - http://www.rtvnet.com
All of the best radio shows, now on TV

Shalom TV - http://www.shalomtv.com
Covers everything in the Jewish culture

Wine Network (Middle 2005) - http://www.winenetworktv.com

Also, has anybody heard ANYTHING about the Hallmark Movie Channel?

[Spruceman]

Yuuuuucccccckkkkkkk!!!! Don't want any of them.

[Guesst925XTU]

Destiny Channel, EdgeTV and Film Festival Channel sound OK, nothing outstanding though.

[midnight75]

Puppy Channel? Now there's something I'll be sure to watch. :rolleyes:

[junki]

Is this for real? It sounds like someone having fun at Dish's expense, or just maybe it is something of relvent content comming from Dish?

[Adam Richey]

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with Dish Network, DirecTV or Voom. This is just a list of channels that will be launching in the coming year(s) that some people may not have heard about.

[junki]

So will these channels be offered by any provider, i.e Satellite (FTA) or Cable?

[Adam Richey]

I'm not too sure. It just depends on how easy it is for some companies to strike a deal with them. I'm sure some of them will be FTA on C-Band for at least a while.

[Bill R]

Some of the channels Adam listed will not actually launch because A) they don't really have the financial backing that they need to get started or B) they don't have enough "apeal" for enough vendors to carry them.

Dozens and dozens of channels have been proposed in the past (some were canceled just months before they were scheduled to launch) but very few new ones actually see light of day (make it on the air).

[Jacob S]

They are probably not "compelling" enough to add. I'm sure they would not cost very much especially seeing how they are a startup service and some of them may not last too long.

[Paul Secic]

Hey everybody. Running the Service Desk, I got bored and decided to update my Desired Basic Channels page. There are A LOT OF new niche and basic entertainment channels coming. I thought I would let you guys know about it, and maybe this could be a thread to discuss some potential sleepers to be successful. I wouldn't mind having several of these. I'm leaving out the ones I've heard talked about on here before.

America National Network (March 2005) - http://www.sentinel-america.com/ANN-Home-Page.htm
General patriotic entertainment channel

American David (September 2006) - http://www.americandavid.com (Not Up Yet)
Jewish entertainment and educational channel

Auto Channel (September 2005) - http://www.theautochannel.com

Black TV News Channel (July 2005)

Boating Channel (4th Qtr 2005) - http://www.boatingchannel.com
Nautical entertainment, informative and competitions

Boxing Channel (May 2005)

Career Entertainment TV (2nd Qtr 2005) - http://www.ce.tv
Entertainment to enrich "people's working lives"

Casino and Gaming TV (2nd Qtr 2005) - http://www.cgtv.com

Destiny Channel (4th Qtr 2005) - http://www.destinychannel.com
Ethics channel for 18-34 year olds

Edge TV (1st Qtr 2005) - http://www.theedgetv.com
All kinds of gaming from poker to crosswords to game shows and more

Fashion and Design TV (April 2005) - http://www.fadnetworks.com

Film Festival Channel (4th Qtr 2005) - http://www.filmfestivalchannel.com

God TV (February 2005) - http://www.god.tv

Jewish TV (July 2005) - http://www.jtelevision.com
News and reality-driven with a broad range of Jewish entertainment

Puppy Channel (March 2006) - http://www.thepuppychannel.com

Radio TV Network (March 2005) - http://www.rtvnet.com
All of the best radio shows, now on TV

Shalom TV - http://www.shalomtv.com
Covers everything in the Jewish culture

Wine Network (Middle 2005) - http://www.winenetworktv.com

Also, has anybody heard ANYTHING about the Hallmark Movie Channel?

They sound pretty boring to me!

[Mike Richardson]

A lot of those sound ambiguous. All the Jewish channels should team up and merge and then they have a much better shot at having a successful launch and lots of carriage (and have one higher quality channel instead of 3 lesser ones that have less carriage).

Edge TV sounds cool though if they could play actual GAME SHOWS such as Jeopardy, Price Is Right, etc. instead of the crappy poker they play on "GSN" now. The Boxing Channel could also have a shot. Most of the other ones sound too similar (new station in parenthesis): Style network (Fashon and design tv), Animal Planet (puppy channel), all the 50 other religious station (God TV), etc.

[Adam Richey]

I weeded out several channels that had no launch date, no contact information, or flat out said that they wouldn't have the finances to launch (Ice Channel being one of them). An all ice-skating channel doesn't seem like it would be a big enough hit to me.

[JBKing]

So will these channels be offered by any provider, i.e Satellite (FTA) or Cable?
Anyone care to wager that Charlie might be wanting to carry thi$ Channel?

Casino and Gaming TV (2nd Qtr 2005) - http://www.cgtv.com

[Adam Richey]

I think it's a popular enough niche that the channel would be successful if given placement on satellite and cable.

[Steve Mehs]

So will these channels be offered by any provider, i.e Satellite (FTA) or Cable?

Probably not, I'm willing to bet, a quarter of those channels won't launch when their expected to, another quarter launch on time or within a few months of the expected date but go bankrupt after less then two years and the remaining 50% never launch. I haven't looked over all of the channels websites, but I have on a few, if your not owned, have connections with or backed partly or wholly by Universal, Viacom, News Corp, Disney, GE, Scripps, Time Warner or a few of the big media owners or have backing from major headliners with the NFL Network and the NFL or Oprah and Oxygen you have little to no chance of surviving long term.

[Adam Richey]

I think that there should be themed packages to go along with the basic packages. For the most part, I would be willing to bet these new channels will get carriage any way they can. There are SO MANY channels that people want on DirecTV and Dish Network, but most of them don't have a big enough following for the companies to justify an increase later on down the line or spending extra money in the basic pack. It would be an answer to digital cable's continued domination in terms of the amount of programming offered, and it can still keep the rates in check for the basic packages while supplying most of the channels that people want.

[Uncle Peter]

How about "Deep Dish TV"? A Network from NYC that specializes in Public Access Programming.

[Adam Richey]

I will look at that one. I didn't think they were 24 hours a day, 7 days a week though.

[Nick]

I will look at that one. I didn't think they were 24 hours a day, 7 days a week though.Even a 24/7 transmission schedule doesn't guarantee around-the-clock quality, what with three-hour repeat scheduling and a ton of paid infomercials, which may be the financial rationale for many of these niche channels in the first place.

All these new channels may not be such a good idea. What if I watched the "God Channel", the "Puppy Channel" and "Deep Dish" and I came to believe that God wanted me to get a puppy and move to NYC and I was out walking my new puppy and got mugged and while I was giving my report to the cops my puppy pooped on the pavement and I got a citation right there on the spot and I was so pissed that I pulled out my piece and started waving it around like Goetz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz) and the cops shot me to death and in all the excitement the puppy wandered off and died of starvation?

[crkeehn]

Even a 24/7 transmission schedule doesn't guarantee around-the-clock quality, what with three-hour repeat scheduling and a ton of paid infomercials, which may be the financial rationale for many of these niche channels in the first place.

All these new channels may not be such a good idea. What if I watched the "God Channel", the "Puppy Channel" and "Deep Dish" and I came to believe that God wanted me to get a puppy and move to NYC and I was out walking my new puppy and got mugged and while I was giving my report to the cops my puppy pooped on the pavement and I got a citation right there on the spot and I was so pissed that I pulled out my piece and started waving it around like Goetz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz) and the cops shot me to death and in all the excitement the puppy wandered off and died of starvation?

Well, then you would certainly be "Living" proof of the pernicious effect of television.

[Nick]

Deleterious to the extent described only if specific channels are viewed in a certain sequence. :D

[Richard King]

Get that puppy a deep dish of puppy chow. :D

[Mark Holtz]

Shrug... did anyone compile a list of "Channels that died", and the "Zombie channels" aka channels that were announced but never reached the backhaul?

I want my Happy Puppy network!!!! :D

[Adam Richey]

I know of these, but I'm sure a few more will pop in my head.

CBS Eye on People
CNN Financial Network
CNN Sports Illustrated
Golden Sports TV
Ice Network (Figure Skating Channel)
Independent Music Network
The Football Network
Z Music TV

[Steve Mehs]

Don't forget the probably about a half a dozen, or more public intrest channels that appeared on Dish over the past few years that disappeared due to lack of funding.

[Adam Richey]

Yeah. I almost forgot about those Steve. I remember FamilyStar, StarNet and Justice Distance Learning Consortium (Safety Network).