The SFM Holiday Network was an 'occasional' network from SFM Media which aired on holiday weekends (such as the 4th of July , Christmas , etc.) from 1978 until 1991.
6-725: The network would usually clear 88% of the U.S. After the success of the Mobil Showcase Network , SFM Media launched its own occasional network, SFM Holiday Network in 1978. For 1982, 11 films were scheduled by the network. In 1983, the Network started its season in March with 150 stations. Popcorn magnate Orville Redenbacher hosted the show (his company was a main sponsor of the Holiday Network), in special segments with his grandson. The theme song used for many of
12-487: The 8 PM ET/PT Thursday time slot for 10 weeks. In the winter of 1976, Mobil launched its first show, Ten Who Dared , hosted by Anthony Quinn and adapted from a 1975 BBC documentary series, which was originally shown in the UK as The Explorers and presented by David Attenborough . The show dramatized the adventures of various explorers (including James Cook , Christopher Columbus , Roald Amundsen and Mary Kingsley ), and
18-627: The SFM Holiday Network broadcasts, including the commercial "bumpers", was Johnny Pearson 's " Heavy Action ", which was also used as the instrumental theme for Monday Night Football . SFM would arrange for programming by giving part of the advertising to the movie companies, while the station would get about half the ad time. SFM would end up with 7.5 to 15 minutes of advertising time to sell for each 2 to 3 hour movie. Mobil Showcase Network The Mobil Showcase Network , also known as Mobil Showcase or Mobil Showcase Theatre ,
24-468: The company buy a newspaper, the Long Island Press . He instead settled on a "sort of TV network" as Mobil and Schmertz were frustrated with the network-developed anti-oil-company news and documentaries. Schmertz worked with SFM Media Service Corporation lining up 43 stations, primarily in the top 50 markets; half of these were network affiliates. Mobil paid $ 3.2 million to the stations for
30-494: Was an occasional television network from 1976 to 1984 with an ad hoc group of stations. A Mobil Oil media expert, Herb Schmertz , wrote canned paid "editorials" placed into newspapers like the New York Times opinion-editorial page. Schmertz also had Mobil underwriting Masterpiece Theatre to improve Mobil's image, which Mobil has been sole supporter since the beginning of the series. He also considered having
36-442: Was one of the highest budgeted BBC shows for its time. The commercials were exclusively for Mobil, with some of them in a "documentary" or reality-based format showing Mobil employees out in the field, and shown in a positive light. The show beat the networks in the ratings, defeating NBC 's The Fantastic Journey , and even CBS 's The Waltons . Based on the ratings, Mobil arranged for two more "'non-network' series." In 1979,
#449550