[max1]

Hey, all , sorry if this has been asked before but why doesnt D add the American Life tv. I think this would be a great replacement for tv land. They have a lot of shows that a lot of us would like to watch. I believe it's the ownership of American Life but I think it would be great if D could add this channel. TV Land is becoming a big disappointment with all of the new shows like she's got the look and the foreman thing. What do these shows have to do with classic tv. Who ever is doing the programming on tv land has ruined this once great channel. Max.

 

[PoitNarf]

Is this an SD or HD channel? Either way, capacity is tight on the SD side but HD should open up significantly in less than a week. So you've got the issue of capacity for new channels as well as demand for the channels. Seeing as I've never heard of "American Life" before I'm guessing it's not all that well known, so DirecTV feels less inclined to offer it.

 

[gfrang]

The more people that contact Directv the better.Here is a link for more info.http://www.goodtv.com/contact.php

 

[jpl]

Is this an SD or HD channel? Either way, capacity is tight on the SD side but HD should open up significantly in less than a week. So you've got the issue of capacity for new channels as well as demand for the channels. Seeing as I've never heard of "American Life" before I'm guessing it's not all that well known, so DirecTV feels less inclined to offer it.

It's SD - we get it on FiOS. Not a bad channel - has some older shows from the 70's, e.g.

 

[rey_1178]

maybe add it but don't replace tvland. i've never really heard of this channel

 

[LarryFlowers]

From Wikipedia:

According to a June, 2007 story in Variety, the network has been a consistent money-loser, though the Unification Church's tax-exempt status makes it easier for the parent organization to absorb the losses. Vice-president of marketing Darlene Chapman-Holmes blamed AmericanLife TV's status as "a niche, standalone network that doesn't have any leverage" for its failure to land more lucrative carriage deals with cable and satellite system operators.[3] The network has made a video on demand (VOD) deal with TVN Entertainment Corporation to offer up to twenty hours of programming per month on a VOD basis to more than 100 cable affiliates.[

 

[mystic7]

They should carry it for the same reason they carried TV Land back when it was what it was. Although my heart hardly bleeds for the Unification Church.

But you bring up another point that I've harped on before. If it is lucrative for the network to get picked up by satellite or cable companies, why is it that the satellite and cable companies have to pay THEM for the right to carry? Seems these channels should be paying the carriers for the chance at being exposed to larger audiences.

 

[tftc22]

From Wikipedia:
...
Vice-president of marketing Darlene Chapman-Holmes blamed AmericanLife TV's status as "a niche, standalone network that doesn't have any leverage" for its failure to land more lucrative carriage deals with cable and satellite system operators.[3]

Getting a station on cable/satellite is harder than you think if you aren't already a media giant. It will cost cable/satellite companies money for carriage plus use up bandwidth and it is hard to create a strong demand for a channel when you have no real media presence. By comparison, an established company can simply state that if the cable/satellite provider wants to continue to carry their popular channels, then they must add their new channel. Independent companies don't carry similar leverage.