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141-511: Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion ) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company . The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV , focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming. It rebranded as i: Independent Television (commonly referred to as "i") on July 1, 2005, converting into

282-473: A MyNetworkTV affiliate) since 1996; Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC-TV produced evening newscasts for WVPX-TV that focused primarily on that O&O's city of license, nearby Akron ). In some cities, a major network affiliate also provided some engineering and other back office services for the PAX station. In an effort to increase revenue due to low viewership and other financial issues, PAX gradually increased

423-540: A Regional Radiocommunication Conference to abrogate the ST61 plan and to put a new plan for DTT broadcasting only in its place. In December 2005, the European Union decided to cease all analog audio and analog video television transmissions by 2012 and switch all terrestrial television broadcasting to digital audio and digital video (all EU countries have agreed on using DVB-T ). The Netherlands completed

564-765: A call to action , are erroneously called infomercials; when used as an independently produced commercial, they are generally known as DRTV spots or short-form DRTV . Infomercial sponsors often also use shorter spots during regular programming. The products frequently marketed through infomercials at the national level include cleaning products, appliances, food-preparation devices, dietary supplements, alternative health aids, memory improvement courses, books, compilation albums , videos of numerous genres, real estate investment strategies, beauty supplies, baldness remedies, sexual-enhancement supplements, weight-loss programs and products, personal fitness devices, home exercise machines and adult chat lines. Uses for infomercials in

705-607: A virtual channel is defined as part of the ATSC stream metadata so that a station can transmit on any frequency but still show the same channel number. Additionally, free-to-air television repeaters and signal boosters can be used to rebroadcast a terrestrial television signal using an otherwise unused channel to cover areas with marginal reception. (see Pan-American television frequencies for frequency allocation charts) Analog television channels 2 through 6, 7 through 13, and 14 through 51 are only used for LPTV translator stations in

846-488: A " name " adds value in making an introduction. Infomercials particularly exploded in the mid-1990s with motivational and personal development products, and " get-rich-quick scheme "s based on the premise that one could quickly become wealthy by either selling anything through classified ads or through flipping . These were hawked by personalities such as Don Lapre and Carleton H. Sheets , among others. When they first appeared, infomercials were most often scheduled in

987-442: A "closing argument" to his campaign. The combination of these networks reportedly drew a peak audience of over 33 million viewers of the half-hour program, making it the single most watched infomercial broadcast in the history of U.S. television. Aside from blocking viewer choice, reception was not all positive: an NBC reviewer referred to Obama as having a "thin resume". Obama opponent John McCain commented that "No one will delay

1128-458: A "paid advertisement for [particular product or service], sponsored by [sponsor]" at the beginning ("following program") and end ("preceding program") of the advertisement and before ordering instructions are displayed. Customer protection advocates recommend buyer beware : study the product and the claims before making a purchase. Many stations and networks normally run their own disclaimers before, during and/or after infomercials. Some mention

1269-448: A certain number of frequencies by virtue of the ST61 plan, not all of them were brought into service. The first National Television System Committee standard was introduced in 1941. This standard defined a transmission scheme for a black-and-white picture with 525 lines of vertical resolution at 60 fields per second. In the early 1950s, this standard was superseded by a backward-compatible standard for color television . The NTSC standard

1410-580: A children's program block called "Cloud Nine" on Saturdays from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and Sundays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 am. Central. In addition, the network aired religious programming through time-lease agreements with The Worship Network (which aired its overnight programming on PAX seven nights a week) and Praise TV (featuring Contemporary Christian music and other faith-based programs aimed at teenagers and young adults, which aired on Friday and Saturday late-nights from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 am. Central until 2000). The remainder of

1551-418: A children's programming block, as part of a partnership with NBCUniversal and Scholastic Entertainment. On January 29, 2007, the network changed its name again to Ion Television (as a result of its parent company's renaming to Ion Media Networks ). Days after the rebrand, California-based entertainment group Positive Ions, Inc. filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ion Media Networks, claiming that

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1692-496: A comparably small fraction of the paid programming schedule it aired in the past. Ion owned-and-operated stations and affiliates formerly also provide limited local programming on weekday mornings to fulfill public affairs guidelines, which ranged from entirely local productions to Ion Life-sourced programs within which commercial slots are instead devoted to local physicians or experts giving locality-specific health advice or advertising their services. This programming has ended as

1833-403: A considerably more conservative programming content policy than the major commercial television networks, restricting profanity , violence and sexual content; accordingly, many of the network's acquired programs were edited to remove sexual and overt violent content, while profane language was muted . Most of the network's initial affiliates were Paxson Communications-owned affiliate stations of

1974-537: A controlling stake in Ion to Citadel, in exchange for Citadel investing $ 100 million into Ion's growth and digital plans. Ion Television's programming, for the most part, remained unchanged upon the rebrand; the network continued to feature programming from the content deals it signed while under the i brand (such as Who's the Boss? , Mama's Family , Growing Pains , and The Wonder Years ). The network also aired

2115-440: A dialup option. During the financial crisis that lasted from 2007 to 2008, many struggling individual television stations began to devote more of their programming schedules to infomercials, thereby reducing syndication contracts for regular programming. Some stations found that the revenue from infomercial-time sales were higher than those possible through traditional television advertising and syndication sales options. However,

2256-456: A dual reference to its founder and corporate parent, and the Latin word for " peace " – shortly before its launch. Paxson, who felt that television programs aired by other broadcast networks were too raunchy and not family-friendly enough, had decided to create a network that he perceived as an alternative. Since the new network would focus on programming tailored to family audiences, PAX maintained

2397-454: A forced divestiture of either i or Spanish network Telemundo , which NBC had acquired in April 2002 (prior to its merger with Vivendi Universal ), along with the divested network's O&Os due to FCC rules that prohibit broadcasters from owning more than two television stations in the same market unless there are either a minimum of 20 full-power stations in the market or one of the stations

2538-490: A form of linear datacasting without the need to interfere with a subscriber's internet bandwidth (or lack thereof if they solely used the machine's dialup connection for updating). The program was listed as Teleworld Paid Program , named for TiVo's corporate name at its founding. Teleworld Paid Program was quietly discontinued at the start of the 2016–17 television season as the company's install base had mostly transitioned to broadband and newer TiVo devices no longer included

2679-724: A fourth digital subchannel of local i owned-and-operated stations and affiliates until the network was dropped in January 2010; in addition, Tomorrow's Weather Tonight and rebroadcasts of network affiliate newscasts were discontinued the day prior to the rebrand on June 30, 2005 (though a few stations not owned by the network's parent company retained news share agreements with major network stations after that date, such as WBNA in Louisville, Kentucky , which continued to air newscasts from NBC affiliate WAVE ). The network shifted its format almost entirely to reruns of television series from

2820-404: A general entertainment network featuring recent and older acquired programs. The network adopted its identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007. For many years, Ion has focused primarily on off-network reruns of existing series, with most of its current schedule devoted to marathon blocks of procedural dramas , along with occasional broadcasts of films (including television films during

2961-532: A graduated program. The first centre to experience analog switch-off was the remote Victorian regional town of Mildura , in 2010. The government supplied underprivileged houses across the nation with free digital set-top converter boxes in order to minimize conversion disruption. Australia's major free-to-air television networks were all granted digital transmission licenses and are each required to broadcast at least one high-definition and one standard-definition channel into all of their markets. In North America,

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3102-432: A late afternoon sitcom block called "Laugh Attack", which featured reruns of comedy series targeted at African American audiences (originally consisting of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and The Wayans Bros. , the latter of which was later replaced by The Steve Harvey Show ). In January 2008, Ion Media and Comcast reached a carriage agreement to continue carrying Ion Television, while also adding Qubo and Ion Life to

3243-406: A local level. During the early days of television, many television shows were specifically created by sponsors with the main goal of selling their product, the entertainment angle being a hook to hold audience's attention (this is how soap operas got their name; such shows were sponsored by soap manufacturers). A good example of this is the early children's show The Magic Clown on NBC , which

3384-551: A major commercial broadcast network until 2010). On January 4, 2015, the Qubo block on Ion was relaunched as the "Qubo Kids Corner", concurrent with the block's move to Sunday mornings. As mentioned above, Scripps now purchases syndicated programming to meet Ion Television's E/I requirements with its wind-down of Qubo. The network has previously broadcast certain sporting events, including Conference USA college football games (produced by College Sports Television ), soccer matches from

3525-527: A news share agreement with another local station – to produce Tomorrow's Weather Tonight , a five-minute national forecast segment that aired Monday through Friday nights at the conclusion of PAX's entertainment schedule. Starting in 2000, many PAX stations also entered into news share agreements with a local major network affiliate (mostly involving NBC-affiliated stations, though some involved an affiliate of ABC , CBS, or Fox ) to air tape-delayed broadcasts of evening, and in some markets, morning newscasts from

3666-609: A one-year delay from their original syndication broadcast) and, due to its alliance with NBC, The Weakest Link (both from the Anne Robinson -hosted network run and the George Gray -hosted syndicated version) as well as the 2000 revival of Twenty-One . In September 1999, NBC purchased a 32% share of Paxson Communications for $ 415 million in convertible stock, with an option to expand its interest to 49% by February 2002, pending changes in ownership regulations set by

3807-481: A partnership between Ion Media Networks , NBC Universal , the Nelvana unit of Corus Entertainment , Scholastic Media , Classic Media , and its subsidiary Big Idea Productions . The Qubo block originally debuted on NBC and Telemundo on September 9, 2006, with NBC's Qubo block initially being rebroadcast on Ion Television on Friday afternoons (making it the last weekday afternoon children's block to be carried by

3948-479: A professional in the field as saying that "infomercial companies tend to do well during recessions." The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words " information " and " commercial ". As in any other form of advertisement , the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor . Infomercials are often made to closely resemble standard television programs . Some imitate talk shows and try to downplay

4089-515: A regular schedule of experimental television programmes . However, these early experimental systems had insufficient picture quality to attract the public, due to their mechanical scan technology, and television did not become widespread until after World War II with the advent of electronic scan television technology. The television broadcasting business followed the model of radio networks , with local television stations in cities and towns affiliated with television networks , either commercial (in

4230-697: A specification laid out by the ATSC has become the standard for digital terrestrial television. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set the final deadline for the switch-off of analog service for 12 June 2009. All television receivers must now include a DTT tuner using ATSC . In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) set 31 August 2011 as

4371-691: A tentpole of the network with Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) games occupying weekly slots in the programming lineup and to launch a refresh of their brand identity and new year-long brand campaign based on the new tagline from the new branding being "Ion. It's On", replacing "Positively Entertaining" after 16 years. Sister channels Ion Mystery and Ion Plus would also be rebranded with similar graphics based on Ion's branding. As of April 2024, Ion provides general entertainment programming to owned-and-operated and affiliated stations every day from 6:00 am. to 2:00 am. Eastern Time (except Fridays outside of

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4512-449: A town hall-like program. Fellow presidential candidate Barack Obama 's 2008 presidential campaign used infomercials extensively, including running a 24-hour channel on Dish Network. One week before the 2008 general election , Obama purchased a 30-minute slot at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time during primetime on seven major networks ( NBC , CBS , MSNBC , Fox , BET , TV One and Univision (with Spanish subtitles)) to present

4653-511: A trio of winged teenage angels that hosted the wraparound segments that bridged breaks during the block's shows, which were mostly sourced from the DIC library. "Cloud Nine" was discontinued in the spring of 1999, and was replaced by a new block under the title "Pax Kids." Pax TV discontinued the "Pax Kids" block in September 2001, as a result, it became the first major commercial broadcast network in

4794-401: A week of each other, and another that among other things would bring original programming to Ion Television's lineup. On June 27, 2006, Ion Media announced a comprehensive programming deal with Warner Bros. Television Distribution , which gave it the broadcast rights to movies and television series owned by the company. One week later on July 5, 2006, Ion announced a similar deal that resulted in

4935-644: A year later when seven series made it to PAX's 2004–05 schedule. On June 28, 2005, Paxson Communications announced that it would rebrand PAX as i: Independent Television , to reflect a new strategy of "providing an independent broadcast platform for producers and syndicators who desire to reach a national audience." The network used a lowercase letter "i" for its branding and other items such as its electronic program guide listings. The rebranding also resulted in several changes to its programming lineup: paid programming replaced overnight programming from The Worship Network, which began to carry its full 24-hour schedule on

5076-964: Is a satellite ). As part of the agreement, Lowell Paxson stepped down from his position as chairman of Paxson Communications. In April 2006, published reports surfaced that i owed more than US$ 250 million to creditors. Standard & Poor's reported a much higher debt in March 2008, owing $ 867 million to creditors and having a bond rating of CCC+/Outlook Negative. According to a statement on its website, DirecTV (which ironically had, and still has, multiple networks made up of full-time paid programming) planned to terminate its carriage agreement with i on February 28, 2006. The satellite provider cited that "most of [ i Network's] programming consists of infomercials and other promotional shows", despite an earlier promise by network executives that it "would consist of general, family-oriented entertainment". At its peak, infomercial time stretched across eighteen hours of

5217-552: Is able to circumvent the legal limit of covering 39% of the population because all of its stations operate on the UHF television band, which is subject to a discount in regard to that limit. In the digital age, the restoration of the UHF discount has proven controversial with other broadcast groups and FCC rulings between presidential administrations, though as the network's parent company mainly acquired low-performing stations and stations on

5358-468: Is allocated free of charge to political parties according to a formula approved by Parliament, and is available only on broadcast television and radio channels. The Communications Act 2003 prohibits political advertising. Television advertising of pharmacy-only and prescription drugs is also prohibited. Some U.S. televangelists such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff buy television time from infomercial brokers representing television stations around

5499-433: Is available throughout most of the United States through its group of 44 owned-and-operated stations and 20 network affiliates , as well as through distribution on pay-TV providers and streaming services; since 2014, the network has also increased affiliate distribution in several markets through the digital subchannels of local television stations owned by companies such as Gray Television and Nexstar Media Group where

5640-605: Is despite both DirecTV and Dish carrying several infomercial-only and leased access networks which have been criticized by their subscribers. As with other advertising, content is supervised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and regulated by Ofcom . Advertising rules are written and maintained by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), working closely with the ASA and Ofcom. In

5781-1043: Is used while testing their DTT platform. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Advanced Television Systems Committee developed the ATSC standard for digital high-definition terrestrial transmission. This standard was eventually adopted by many American countries, including the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras; however, the four latter countries reversed their decision in favor of ISDB-Tb . The Pan-American terrestrial television operates on analog channels 2 through 6 ( VHF -low band, 54 to 88 MHz, known as band I in Europe), 7 through 13 (VHF-high band, 174 to 216 MHz, known as band III elsewhere), and 14 through 51 ( UHF television band, 470 to 698 MHz, elsewhere bands IV and V ). Unlike with analog transmission, ATSC channel numbers do not correspond to radio frequencies. Instead,

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5922-669: The Newsweek used the term infomercial to describe a cookbook whose author was described as "hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list". The Los Angeles Times mediated. Other possible putdowns include informercial-like and infomercial type stuff . The infomercial format has been widely parodied: Others have been done too, and these parodies are an ongoing source of amusement and creativity. The Adult Swim late-night block of cable channel Cartoon Network has often broadcast an anthology of comedy shorts in

6063-535: The 720p format, announcing they would do so on January 28, 2009, with an original launch date of February 16, 2009, but delayed to March 16, 2009, after the passage of the DTV Delay Act , which pushed the national digital television transition to June 12, 2009. Most Ion stations began to switch their main signals from 480i standard definition to 720p HD in late February; an early decision to pillarbox 4:3 programming with blue rather than black pillarboxing

6204-635: The Better Business Bureau or a state/local customer protection agency. A "paid programming" bug in a corner of the screen during infomercials, particularly for financial products, is to avoid an exploitation of an "as seen on" claim of endorsement. Some, particularly smaller networks, only use a limited number of trusted advertisers. Considerable FTC scrutiny is also given to results claims and testimonials. Rules controlling endorsements are periodically enhanced to increase customer protection and fill loopholes. Industry organizations such as

6345-471: The Christmas season). In the past, Ion had acquired first-run airings of Canadian series not picked up by other U.S. networks, and had also been infamous for devoting much of its schedule to infomercials . Under Scripps ownership, Ion has increasingly added national sports programming from the newly-established Scripps Sports division, beginning with packages of WNBA basketball and NWSL soccer. Ion

6486-653: The Dallas Cowboys . The series was not renewed for the fall 2008 season. Ion also obtained rights to televise games from the American Indoor Football Association , which were slated to begin airing in March 2008. However, the game's producers did not provide a live broadcast and the agreement was terminated. On December 28, 2010, Ion Television signed a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to air

6627-457: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the amount of advertising that could appear during an hour of television did away with these programs, forcing sponsors into the background; however, a few infomercials, mainly those for greatest hits record sets (which could get around the restrictions by devoting much of the airtime to snippets of the songs on the records, which did not count as advertising) and Shop Smith power tools, did exist during

6768-528: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would allow it to acquire additional television stations. NBC later sold its share in the network back to Paxson in November 2003. In lieu of a national news program, in 2000, Paxson Communications signed an agreement with Jackson, Mississippi -based WeatherVision – which mainly produces weather forecast inserts for television stations in certain markets that do not operate an in-house news department or maintain

6909-482: The Infomall TV Network (inTV), a network launched by Paxson in 1995 that relied mainly on infomercials and other brokered programming . During the late spring and summer of 1998, a half-hour preview special hosted by former Waltons star Richard Thomas , featuring interviews with Lowell Paxson about PAX's development and initial programming, aired on inTV stations slated to become charter outlets of

7050-594: The National Women's Soccer League announced Scripps Sports as a rightsholder beginning in the 2024 season, with Ion to air Saturday night doubleheaders. Ion will also air the 2024 NWSL Draft . As of October 2020, Ion has 64 owned-and-operated stations, and current and pending affiliation agreements with nine additional television stations encompassing 36 states and the District of Columbia . The network has an estimated national reach of 60.63% of all households in

7191-525: The VHF and UHF bands. Since radio waves in these bands travel by line of sight , reception is generally limited by the visual horizon to distances of 64–97 kilometres (40–60 miles), although under better conditions and with tropospheric ducting , signals can sometimes be received hundreds of kilometers distant. Terrestrial television was the first technology used for television broadcasting. The BBC began broadcasting in 1929 and by 1930 many radio stations had

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7332-689: The Women's United Soccer Association , Real Pro Wrestling (which more resembles the amateur form than the theatrically-based ring sport), the Champions Tour of golf, the Paralympic Games and a weekly mixed martial arts program from BodogFight . In its home state of Florida, the network's stations had served as a statewide chain to carry play-by-play coverage of a number of games for Major League Baseball 's Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins (demarcated by each team's territories) until

7473-423: The daytime and late fringe/early graveyard periods over a five-year span (however, this resulted in the network increasing its reliance on regularly scheduled marathon -style blocks of a relatively small inventory of programs in lieu of acquiring a much larger lineup of series to fill out the schedule). More recent theatrically released feature films were also added to the lineup, alongside older movie releases from

7614-415: The "Ion Lounge", a lifestyle segment used mainly to advertise a company's product within the featured program's commercial breaks. In the recent past, Ion Television has aired a limited number of comedy or comedy-drama series that were cycled on-and-off the schedule such as Monk , Psych and Married... with Children , with half-hour sitcoms used on certain occasions to fill scheduling gaps prior to

7755-949: The "Ion Television at the Movies" block. Ion's method of running predominantly syndicated programming is very similar to the international model of broadcasting used in Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia, which mixes imported and syndicated shows with original programming – a model used only in United States broadcast television by digital multicast services (particularly those that specialize in acquired programs such as MeTV and Antenna TV ), smaller English language entertainment-based networks (such as America One ), PBS member stations, and networks broadcasting in languages other than English (such as Univision , UniMás , and Telemundo ). The major commercial broadcast networks in

7896-422: The 1960s to the 1990s (such as Green Acres , Amen , and Pax holdover Diagnosis: Murder ) and feature films, reruns of former Pax TV series (such as Doc ) and first-run episodes (and later reruns) of Pax holdover series America's Most Talented Kids were also included as part of the schedule. In turn, the network adapted its programming content standards to those similar to other broadcast networks. During

8037-498: The 1970s that the hard sell "But wait! There's more!" Ginsu ads were being aired on American late-night TV. The Federal Communications Commission lifted the prohibition on program-length advertisements on radio in 1981. Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission eliminated regulations that were established in the 1950s and 1960s to govern

8178-462: The 1980s and 1990s. In April 2009, it was announced that Ion Media Networks was once again facing balance sheet problems. The company disclosed that it was in discussions with lenders on "a comprehensive recapitalization" of its balance sheet , translating to an effort to restructure its considerable debt, which, according to The Wall Street Journal , stood at $ 2.7 billion as of April 2009. The network launched high definition operations in

8319-554: The 1989, the Satellite Shop was launched as the first UK shopping channel. Shortly afterwards, infomercials began on satellite television, and they became known as teleshopping . Until 2009, the UK permitted neither paid infomercials nor teleshopping on broadcast television. However, in 2009, Ofcom allowed up to three hours of infomercials per day on any channel. Airtime for political messages, known as party political broadcasts ,

8460-506: The 1990s, federal and state customer protection agencies have criticized several prominent infomercial pitchmen, including Kevin Trudeau , Donald Barrett and, to a lesser extent, Matthew Lesko , and also Don Lapre , a salesman notorious for his get-rich-quick schemes . Some were successfully sued. Programs that collect donations or sell via Premium-rate telephone number (900-number) have additional disclosure requirements. In 1992,

8601-453: The 2005–06 season, the network launched only one new series that met the network's new mission of being an 'independent broadcast platform', the teen drama Palmetto Pointe , which only lasted five episodes and was criticized as a poor imitation of Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill ; the network went entirely to a lineup of reruns with limited original programming for the 2006–07 season (except for Health Report and specials branded under

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8742-470: The Canadian drama The Listener for broadcast in 2012, with an option for future seasons through an agreement with Shaw Media (parent of the show's originating broadcaster, Global ); the series would not join Ion's schedule until March 2014, by which time Ion Television had entered into a co-production arrangement for the program. A similar deal reached in September 2014 with Entertainment One gave Ion

8883-442: The Canadian drama series Flashpoint , which gave it first-run rights to the fourth season's final 11 episodes, after CBS aired that season's first eight episodes, as well as rights to air reruns of all episodes produced to date and thereafter; Ion (along with the show's originating Canadian broadcaster, CTV) also renewed the series for a fifth and final season that aired during the fall of 2012. In July 2011, Ion Television acquired

9024-508: The Cover , Balderdash , Dirty Rotten Cheater , a 2002 revival of Beat the Clock , Hollywood Showdown (in conjunction with Game Show Network , which also aired the show) and reruns of Born Lucky . The network would later carry reruns of the syndicated revival of Family Feud (consisting of episodes from Louie Anderson , Richard Karn and John O'Hurley 's tenures as host, airing on

9165-517: The Electronic Retailing Association, which represents infomercial marketers, often try to minimize the impact of these rule changes. FTC enforcement has focused on testimonials for publishing "non-typical" and "completely fabricated" customer testimonials used within infomercials. In 2006, the first third-party testimonial verification company was launched, and it now independently pre-validates many testimonials. Since

9306-679: The Holiday season which start at 7:00 am. ET; awhile the entertainment programming schedule starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 1:00 a.m. from Christmas to New Year's Day), with paid programming filling the remaining vacated hours. A children's programming block of Science Max (one past Qubo series), and Xploration Station from Steve Rotfeld Productions – which features programs compliant with FCC educational programming requirements – airs for three hours each Friday at 7:00 am. Eastern Time. Four hours overnight are programmed with compensated religious or commercial paid programming ,

9447-596: The Main Studio Rule repeal by the FCC in 2019 freed Ion stations from this requirement. Ion also served as the over-the-air broadcast distribution point for TiVo 's Teleworld Paid Program , a weekly 30-minute compilation program – usually carried during the overnight on Wednesdays or Thursdays within the network's designated paid programming time – it was specifically coded to distribute program previews and device tutorials for TiVo's digital video recorders ; in 2011,

9588-545: The U.S. rights to the medical drama Saving Hope (which made its U.S. debut on NBC in the summer of 2012); Ion began airing first-run episodes and repeats of the series in October 2015. In December 2011, Ion Television acquired the syndication rights to Cold Case , which debuted in 2012. On June 25, 2012, Ion Television entered into a deal with WWE to air a new hour-long series titled WWE Main Event on Wednesday nights;

9729-496: The U.S. that did not supply children's programming, and later one of only two until it restored a children's block in 2006 ( UPN eventually joined it in this distinction after it dropped its Disney's One Too block in August 2003, following the termination of a programming agreement with Buena Vista Television ). On September 15, 2006, Ion Television debuted a weekly children's program block called " Qubo on Ion Television", through

9870-486: The U.S. – ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox – carry first-run programs produced for the network, while leaving the responsibility of acquiring shows from the syndication market to their owned-and-operated stations and affiliates to fill time not allotted to network and, where applicable, locally produced programs ( The CW and MyNetworkTV , which are somewhat similar to Ion Television in their formats, mixes elements of both models as acquired programs are supplied both during prime time by

10011-414: The U.S., and even some widely distributed cable networks that are not averse to carrying religious programming . A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET under the umbrella title BET Inspiration (which fully replaced the direct-response variety of infomercials on the channel in 1997). The vast majority of religious programming in the United States is distributed through paid infomercial time;

10152-446: The UK, "admags" (advertisement magazines) were originally a feature of the regional commercial ITV stations from launch in 1955. While very popular, admags were banned in 1963. The word "teleshopping" was coined in 1979 by Michael Aldrich , who invented real-time transaction processing from a domestic television and subsequently installed many systems throughout the UK in the 1980s. This would now be referred to as online shopping . In

10293-467: The US) or government-controlled (in Europe), which provided content. Television broadcasts were in greyscale (called black and white ) until the transition to color television in the 1960s. There was no other method of television delivery until the 1950s with the beginnings of cable television and community antenna television (CATV). CATV was, initially, only a re-broadcast of over-the-air signals. With

10434-467: The United States (or 189,453,097 Americans with at least one television set). Ion Television has the most owned-and-operated stations of any commercial broadcast network in the United States, reaching 65.1% of the United States (well above the Federal Communications Commission's coverage-based national ownership limit of 39%); it is also the only American commercial broadcast network whose stations almost exclusively consist of network-owned stations, similar to

10575-604: The United States and Canada during late-night/early morning hours. As stations have found value in airing them at other times, a large portion of infomercial spending occurs in the early morning, daytime, early prime and even prime time periods. There are also all-infomercial networks (such as cable channels Corner Store TV, OnTV4U , Access Television Network and GRTV ) that yield revenue for cable and satellite providers who carry them or fill local programming voids. Some cable carriage contracts were adjusted in 2006. CNBC , which airs only two hours of infomercials nightly during

10716-473: The United States, the strategy of buying prime-time programming slots on major networks has been utilized by political candidates for both presidential and state office to present infomercial-like programs to sell a candidate's merits to the public. Fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche regularly bought time on CBS and local stations in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Ross Perot also bought network time in 1992 and 1996 to present his presidential policies to

10857-603: The United States. Channels 52 through 69 are still used by some existing stations, but these channels must be vacated if telecommunications companies notify the stations to vacate that signal spectrum. By convention, broadcast television signals are transmitted with horizontal polarization. Terrestrial television broadcast in Asia started as early as 1939 in Japan through a series of experiments done by NHK Broadcasting Institute of Technology . However, these experiments were interrupted by

10998-454: The acquisition of broadcast rights to films and series distributed by Sony Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television Studios ). Starting in September of that year, series and feature films from both libraries were incorporated onto the network's prime time schedule (including Who's the Boss? , Designing Women , Mama's Family , Growing Pains , Green Acres , and The Wonder Years ). However, these older series were later dropped when

11139-534: The amount of paid programming content on its schedule throughout the early 2000s, at the expense of its general entertainment programming. Infomercials and other types of brokered programs ultimately became the dominant form of programming during the network's broadcast day; by January 2005, the time that PAX had allocated to entertainment programs had been reduced to six hours on weekdays (from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 pm) and five hours on weekends (from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm. Central Time). Original programming

11280-755: The beginning of the World War II in the Pacific. On February 1, 1953, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) began broadcasting. On August 28, 1953, Nippon TV (Nippon Television Network Corporation), the first commercial television broadcaster in Asia was launched. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Alto Broadcasting System (now ABS-CBN Corporation ), the first commercial television broadcaster in Southeast Asia , launched its first commercial terrestrial television station DZAQ-TV on October 23, 1953, with

11421-574: The block. Some refused Weekend Marketplace outright. In September 2014, Weekend Marketplace was replaced in some markets by the E/I-focused Xploration Station . In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that any infomercial 15 minutes or longer must disclose to viewers that it is a paid advertisement. An infomercial is required to be "clearly and conspicuously" marked as

11562-509: The broadcast television rights to six films produced by Starz Media (now Lionsgate ) as part of its weekend film block (then branded as the "Big Movie Weekend"); the films started airing on the network in November of that year. Ion also acquired the syndication rights to the USA Network series Psych and Monk from NBCUniversal; the two series respectively began airing in late 2011 and early 2012. House , also from NBCUniversal, joined

11703-505: The business week, sometimes airs nearly 30 hours of infomercials on weekends; from the September–October 2008 financial crisis to early 2017, CNBC had inserted a "paid programming" bug at the top right corner of the screen during all airings of infomercials. In contrast, sister network CNBC World airs international programming rather than any paid programming. When a conventional prime-time two-minute advertising pod has no ads,

11844-542: The cable provider's channel lineups. On May 1, 2008, Ion Television held an upfront presentation announcing its programming for the 2008–09 season at the New York Public Library in Manhattan . In addition to the announcement of its programming acquisitions, the network unveiled a new logo (a wordmark that incorporated a positive ion symbol as a pseudo-period next to the "ion" typeface) and slogan for

11985-556: The commercial content of television. Kevin Harrington , nicknamed the "infomercial godfather", had his first infomercial air in 1985. By 1994, an estimated 91% of all stations had or were airing infomercials. One relatively early question was whether or not infomercials should feature celebrities. Although "how much will it cost" was part of the equation, so was a "highly demonstrable item with obvious features and benefits." Even when experts are used for their endorsement value,

12126-535: The date that terrestrial analog transmission service ceased in metropolitan areas and provincial capitals. In Mexico, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) discontinued the use of analog terrestrial television on 31 December 2015. Infomercial Washington, D.C. –based National Infomercial Marketing Association was formed in late 1990; by 1993 "it had more than 200" members committed to standards "with teeth". While

12267-441: The early 1990s included offering free trials of personal care products such as enhanced plaque removers; an 800-number was used to collect basic marketing information. Major brands (such as Apple , Microsoft and Thermos-Grill2Go ) have used infomercials for their ability to communicate more complicated and in-depth product stories. This practice started in the early 1990s and has increased since. Such advertisers generally eschew

12408-609: The early-morning hours, concealed in program schedules under the title " Infomercials " to provide a false impression that legitimate paid programming had been scheduled in that time slot. Some of these shorts have parodied the cliches of real infomercials, such as Paid Programming (a parody infomercial which begins as one for the fictitious supplement Icelandic UltraBlue, but seamlessly segues into segments promoting other loosely related products and businesses), For-Profit Online University , and Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick (which parodies self-help programs). In

12549-444: The entirety of its $ 2.7 billion legacy debt and preferred stock, and recapitalize the company with a $ 150 million new funding commitment. On July 15, 2009, RHI Entertainment entered into a settlement agreement to resolve a dispute with Ion Media Networks, which resulted in the termination of a programming distribution agreement between RHI and Ion. In November 2010, Ion Television began airing its first made-for-TV movies, in

12690-661: The fact that the program is a commercial message. A few are developed around storylines and have been called "storymercials". However, most do not have specific TV formats but craft different elements to tell what their creators hope is a compelling story about the product offered. The term infomercial , by 2007, had come to refer to the format, even when used in a live presentation. Infomercials are designed to solicit quantifiable immediate direct response (a form of direct response marketing , not to be confused with direct marketing ); they generally feature between two and four internal commercials of 30 to 120 seconds which invite

12831-476: The fees that televangelists pay for coverage on most religious stations are a major revenue stream for those stations, in addition to programming the networks produce themselves. TiVo formerly used paid programming time weekly on the Discovery Channel on early Thursday mornings and Ion Television on early Wednesday mornings to record interactive and video content to be presented to subscribers in

12972-442: The films are produced by independent film and television studios such as Reel One Entertainment, Hybrid, LLC, The Cartel, and Vancouver -based MarVista Entertainment without the network's financial involvement (Ion does not maintain exclusivity to most of the films, which are also distributed via syndicated film packages or carried by other networks); the network extended these themed made-for-TV movies to other holidays in 2015, with

13113-549: The first national sports broadcast carried by Ion since 2011, and marks the first ever television contract for Scripps Sports, which was founded by the E. W. Scripps Company in December 2022 to acquire sports events for Ion and the group's local television stations. The agreement also grants local rights to selected Ion O&Os for games involving regional WNBA teams, which stations may carry in early- or late-evening broadcast windows depending on tip-off time. On November 9, 2023,

13254-428: The form of Christmas-themed films that air between the weekend after Thanksgiving (airing the weekend before that holiday in 2013) and Christmas Day, with up to five films premiering each year on the network, although they are advertised as "original movies" in on-air promotions (the 2012 film Anything But Christmas is the only movie aired to date in which Ion Television had actually held a production interest), most of

13395-493: The fringes of markets which targeted lower-profile cities in the analog age, it has not been an issue with Ion Media itself. The network was launched by Bud Paxson , co-founder of the Home Shopping Network and chairman of parent company Paxson Communications (the forerunner to Ion Media). It was originally to be called Pax Net , but was renamed Pax TV (often referred to as simply "Pax"; stylized as "PAX") –

13536-500: The help of Radio Corporation of America (RCA). By the mid-1990s, the interest in digital television across Europe was such the CEPT convened the "Chester '97" conference to agree on means by which digital television could be inserted into the ST61 frequency plan . The introduction of digital terrestrial television in the late 1990s and early years of the 21st century led the ITU to call

13677-637: The late 2000s, when cable's Fox Sports Florida and Sun (now Bally Sports Florida and Sun ) acquired the exclusive rights to both teams. Ion Television aired NFL Films ' weekly highlight program, the NFL Films Game of the Week on Saturday evenings from September 16, 2007, to January 5, 2008, with its initial broadcast focusing on the September 9, 2007 game between the New York Giants and

13818-575: The latter of which moved to the network following the revival series' cancellation by CBS earlier in 1998). The network also produced some original drama series such as Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye , Doc , Mysterious Ways (which originated on NBC ), Hope Island and Twice in a Lifetime through its programming division, Paxson Entertainment. PAX also aired many game shows including first-run revivals of established games that originated on cable networks such as Supermarket Sweep and Shop 'til You Drop , along with some original game shows such as On

13959-413: The less reputable trappings of the traditional infomercial business in order to create communication they believe creates a better image of their products, brands and customers. Apple's use of the infomercial medium was immediately discontinued with Steve Jobs ' 1997 return to the helm of the company. Automobile dealerships, attorneys and jewelers are among the types of businesses that air infomercials on

14100-441: The more common hours infomercials are broadcast (such as the overnight hours). Infomercials were previously a near-permanent staple of Ion Television 's daytime and overnight schedules, but the channel now only carries infomercials in the traditional 3:00-8:00 a.m. ET/PT timeslot emulated by most cable networks. Multichannel providers such as DirecTV had objected to carrying Ion feeds consisting largely of paid programming. This

14241-594: The name iHealth). At one point in this era, the network programmed eighteen hours of paid programming per day, ⅔ of the network's broadcast day, with the network only programming the early fringe and prime time periods with traditional programming. In November 2005, NBCUniversal was granted a transferable option to purchase a controlling stake in Paxson Communications. Had this option been exercised, NBC would have acquired approximately 63 i owned-and-operated stations (though this could have resulted in

14382-464: The network in September 2012. In September 2011, Ion Television acquired the syndication rights to George Lopez and Leverage . George Lopez began airing on September 29, while Leverage debuted in July 2012, the former has since been dropped from the network, while the latter has been cycled on-and-off the schedule. On October 4, 2011, Ion Television acquired the rights to the first two seasons of

14523-434: The network is unable to maintain a main channel affiliation with or own a standalone station, for the same purpose as the distribution of Ion's main network feed via pay-TV providers and streaming services. The network's stations cover all of the top 20 U.S. markets and 37 of the top 50 markets. Ion's owned-and-operated stations cover 64.8% of the United States population, by far the most of any U.S. station ownership group; it

14664-463: The network shifted its programming to feature extended blocks of its acquired series (which consist mostly of drama series, with sitcoms becoming an increasingly less integral part of the schedule); it also began a gradual expansion of the number of hours devoted to entertainment shows, starting with the addition of a two-hour block of programming in the late afternoon (from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm. Central) in January 2008, and expanding further into

14805-460: The network shifted towards more recent series. Ion also struck a library content deal with NBCUniversal , which gave it access to shows such as Law & Order . In September 2008, Ion Television reached a multi-year film rights agreement with Warner Bros. Television Distribution to broadcast more recent movies from Warner Bros. and its related studios. Meanwhile, three series from CBS Television Distribution (now CBS Media Ventures ) were added to

14946-416: The network stole the "Ion" branding. Positive Ions had registered trademarks on the word "Ion" and had used the mark commercially since 1999. On May 14, 2007, Positive Ions filed for an injunction that, if granted, would have required Ion Media Networks to change its name once again. On May 4, 2007, Ion, Citadel Investment Group , and NBC Universal announced a deal to transfer NBC Universal's rights to purchase

15087-466: The network's Sunday afternoon and evening schedule ( holiday -themed made-for-TV films are also broadcast under the banner throughout the entertainment programming day on weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day regardless of where either holiday falls during the calendar week). Ion Television occasionally airs short hosted segments during its prime time lineup – particularly during film presentations – known as

15228-483: The network's broadcast day, or 126 hours of a 168-hour broadcast week. To appease DirecTV management, the network launched a secondary feed of the network for providers adverse to its over-the-air programming direction, replacing paid programming time with older public domain programs and cancelled Pax TV original series. DirecTV and Paxson then reached a new carriage agreement in May 2006. In September 2006, i launched Qubo,

15369-413: The network's format is predominantly devoted to marathon blocks of hour-long drama series, with consecutive episodes of a given series airing between two and 16 hours a day (depending on the day's schedule, with fewer hours in the morning and late fringe). The network broadcasts feature films released between the 1980s and the 2000s under the banner "Ion Television at the Movies", which fill the majority of

15510-435: The network, "Positively Entertaining" (a form of wordplay, as ions are atoms or molecules that have a positive or negative electrical charge). With the September 8, 2008, rebrand, the network also retooled its focus, emphasizing the key demographic of adults between ages of 18 and 49, and airing more recent acquired programming aimed at young adults (such as Boston Legal , NCIS , and Criminal Minds ). By this point,

15651-484: The networks will run a two-minute mini-infomercial at a much lower rate, charging "as little as 5 percent of what a general advertiser would" pay. The New York Times suggested that "the commercial became the show as infomercials ruled the night." A comparison of television listings from 2007 with 1987 verifies that many North American broadcasters began to air infomercials in lieu of syndicated television series reruns and movies, which were formerly staples during

15792-433: The new network. PAX launched on August 31, 1998, with the network's initial schedule being much larger in scope than it would be in later years. At launch, Pax aired general entertainment programming on weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and weekends from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm. Central Time. Through an agreement with then- Disney owned animation studio DIC Productions L.P. , its schedule also included

15933-576: The old 405-line system, while UHF was used solely for 625-line broadcasts (which later used PAL color). Television broadcasting in the 405-line system continued after the introduction of four analog programs in the UHF bands until the last 405-line transmitters were switched off on January 6, 1985. VHF Band III was used in other countries around Europe for PAL broadcasts until the planned phase-out and switch over to digital television. The success of analog terrestrial television across Europe varied from country to country. Although each country had rights to

16074-400: The ownership model of many commercial broadcast networks in Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia, and to a somewhat more expansive extent, many U.S.-based religious broadcast networks. Terrestrial television Terrestrial television , or over-the-air television ( OTA ) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is transmitted via radio waves from

16215-468: The partner station; in a few cases, the agreement partner produced live newscasts for the PAX station (as examples of the latter, NBC affiliate WTHR in Indianapolis produced a prime time newscast for PAX O&O WIPX-TV from February to June 2005, after CBS affiliate WISH-TV (now a CW affiliate) took over production of the newscast that WTHR had been producing for UPN affiliate WNDY-TV (now

16356-511: The period when commercial time was restricted. During the 1970s, XETV-TDT  – a Mexican TV station based in Tijuana but serving the San Diego market – ran a one-hour English-language program on Sundays showcasing San Diego-area homes for sale. As a non-USA station, the FCC's maximum number of commercial minutes per hour did not apply to XETV. It was also during

16497-547: The preliminary fights to the January 1 pay-per-view event UFC 125 . Ion also aired the preliminary fights for UFC 127 and UFC 140 later in 2011, before the organization signed an exclusive programming agreement with Fox . On April 20, 2023, Ion Television, through Scripps Sports , signed a multi-year deal with the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to air a 15-week slate of doubleheader games on Friday nights (branded as WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION ), beginning with that year's regular season . It will be

16638-638: The premieres of the romance films Meet My Valentine (which aired as part of the network's Valentine's Day programming slate) and You Cast a Spell on Me (which aired as part of its "Wicked Week" Halloween block). On September 24, 2020, E. W. Scripps Company agreed to buy Ion Media for $ 2.65 billion. The transaction, which closed on January 7, 2021, saw Ion Television and its sister networks absorbed into Scripps' Katz Broadcasting subsidiary, which already operates five specialty networks , most notably Bounce TV and Court TV . In regards to Ion Television's programming, Scripps indicated it would maintain

16779-596: The public. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has aired programs via paid programming time to present their views on issues such as gun control and other issues while appealing to the public to join their organization. Hillary Clinton bought an hour of primetime programming on the Hallmark Channel in 2008 before the Super Tuesday primary elections, and on Texas -based regional sports network FSN Southwest before that state's primary to present

16920-444: The reduced ratings from airing infomercials can have a chain reaction and harm ratings for other programming on the station. A feature-length documentary that chronicles the history of the infomercial is Pitch People . In 2008, Tribune Content Agency and Gemstar-TV Guide / Rovi began to relax the guidelines for listing infomercials within their electronic program guide listings. Previously all infomercials were listed under

17061-472: The schedule was filled by paid programming. Initial programming on PAX consisted of first-run shows (such as the true story profile series It's a Miracle , game show The Reel to Reel Picture Show , and talk shows Woman's Day and Great Day America ), along with reruns of older programming (including Highway to Heaven , Here's Lucy , The Hogan Family , Dave's World , Touched by an Angel , and new episodes and older reruns of Candid Camera ,

17202-546: The schedule: NCIS joined the lineup in September 2008, while Criminal Minds and Ghost Whisperer were added to the Ion Television lineup in 2009. In January 2009, the network announced that it had acquired the broadcast rights to the Canadian television drama series Durham County ; that show aired on the network for less than a year. On January 21, 2011, Ion Television acquired the U.S. television rights to

17343-411: The series debuted on October 3, 2012 and ran until April 2, 2014. Prior to Ion Television's original launch as Pax TV in 1998, the network had reached an agreement with DIC Entertainment to produce a five-hour children's programming block called Freddy's Firehouse , to air on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The block of animated series was instead launched on September 5, 1998, as "Cloud Nine", featuring

17484-449: The services and by their stations at all other times). A limited number of non-Ion-owned stations that are merely affiliated with the network (such as former Louisville outlet WBNA ) do carry additional local or syndicated programming that, in some instances, pre-empts certain programs within the Ion master schedule. In 2006, Ion Media Networks reached several programming deals, two with major programming suppliers that were announced within

17625-492: The signal is transmitted to the receiver from an overhead satellite ; cable television , in which the signal is carried to the receiver through a cable ; and Internet Protocol television , in which the signal is received over an Internet stream or on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol . Terrestrial television stations broadcast on television channels with frequencies between about 52 and 600 MHz in

17766-399: The status quo, with no plans at the time to invest in original content or deviate from the channel's off-network programming approach. To get FCC approval for the transaction, 23 Ion Television stations were sold by Scripps to Inyo Broadcast Holdings . On April 8, 2024, Scripps announced that they would reposition Ion into a general entertainment channel, turning live sports broadcasting as

17907-667: The switchover by 2012 due to technical limitations; the rest of the EU member states had stopped analog television transmissions by the end 2012. Many countries are developing and evaluating digital terrestrial television systems. Australia has adopted the DVB-T standards and the government's industry regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority , has mandated that all analog transmissions will cease by 2012. Mandated digital conversion started early in 2009 with

18048-419: The telecast of its late-morning film presentations (usually in the 10:00 am. Central Time half-hour, if the succeeding film ran for at least 2 1 ⁄ 2 hours) because of their erratic scheduling; the network shifted to a more exclusive focus on dramas as part of its series content in January 2015, although the network continued to carry comedic programming in the form of select feature films aired within

18189-472: The term "infomercial" was originally applied only to television advertising, it is now sometimes used to refer to any presentation (often on video) which presents a significant amount of information in an actual, or perceived, attempt to promote a point of view. When used this way, the term may be meant to carry an implication that the party making the communication or political speech is exaggerating truths or hiding important facts. The New York Times cited

18330-470: The terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an antenna . The term terrestrial is more common in Europe and Latin America, while in Canada and the United States it is called over-the-air or simply broadcast . This type of TV broadcast is distinguished from newer technologies, such as satellite television ( direct broadcast satellite or DBS television), in which

18471-881: The time was used in early September to preview the pilot of Fox 's new sitcom New Girl , before its actual Fox premiere on September 20. TiVo discontinued the program in 2016 as broadband had become commonplace enough to end it. Most programs broadcast by Ion Television are distributed by either NBCUniversal Syndication Studios , Disney–ABC Domestic Television , CBS Media Ventures , or Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution . Ion Television also maintains film distribution deals with Universal Pictures , Paramount Pictures , 20th Century Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures . Series broadcast by Ion Television (as of October 2015) are mostly dramas such as Criminal Minds , Law & Order , Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , Law & Order: Criminal Intent , Numb3rs , Bones , Blue Bloods , and The Listener . As of 2014,

18612-504: The title Weekend Marketplace . Some local stations utilize Saturday morning slots to air local paid programming that typically sells used cars or real estate, and in other ways rejected infomercials, which were disdained by viewers and Fox affiliates alike: revenue was not shared with affiliates, and no local time for commercials between programs was offered. Some stations used Saturday morning for Educational/Informational (E/I) programming, with infomercials relegated to before or after

18753-593: The title "Paid Programming" (except for exceptions listed below), but now infomercial producers are allowed to submit a title and limited descriptive synopsis (though phone numbers or website addresses remain disallowed) to the listings providers. In January 2009, Fox became the first major broadcast network to carry a regularly scheduled block of paid programming when it discontinued its Saturday morning children's programming after disputes with provider 4Kids Entertainment . Fox gave back three early hours to its affiliates, while retaining two hours for infomercials under

18894-459: The transition in December 2006, and some EU member states decided to complete their switchover as early as 2008 (Sweden), and (Denmark) in 2009. While the UK began to switch off analog broadcasts, region by region, in late 2007, it was not completed until 24 October 2012. Norway ceased all analog television transmissions on 1 December 2009. Two member states (not specified in the announcement) expressed concerns that they might not be able to proceed to

19035-490: The viewer to call or take other direct action. Many viewers respond with a delayed response, by purchases made at retail outlets. These retail purchases are often the largest response. Using "not sold in stores" is a choice by advertisers who dislike sharing profit with retailers, or who lack the immense resources needed to get into retail channels. In the latter case, direct sales enables later retail distribution. Standalone shorter commercials, 30 to 120 seconds in length with

19176-423: The widespread adoption of cable across the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, viewing of terrestrial television broadcasts has been in decline; in 2018, it was estimated that about 14% of US households used an antenna. However, in certain other regions terrestrial television continue to be the preferred method of receiving television, and it is estimated by Deloitte as of 2020 that at least 1.6 billion people in

19317-431: The world receive at least some television using these means. The largest market is thought to be Indonesia , where 250 million people watch through terrestrial. By 2019, over-the-top media service (OTT) which is streamed via the internet had become a common alternative. Following the ST61 conference, UHF frequencies were first used in the UK in 1964 with the introduction of BBC2 . In the UK, VHF channels were kept on

19458-430: Was also affected by the network's programming changes; PAX was originally offering five or six new series each season. However, in 2003, the number of new series that aired on PAX dwindled to just two: Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye , which was cancelled in 2005, and Doc , which was cancelled in 2004 after PAX's international backer, Canadian broadcast network CTV , pulled out of producing the shows. The network seemingly recovered

19599-435: Was created essentially as an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy . The first infomercials for a commercial product (a Vitamix blender) were filmed by Cinécraft Productions , a Cleveland , Ohio–based motion picture studio in 1949. The filmed infomercials began appearing on television in 1950. The Hagley Museum and Library has posted online a number of the early Vitamix infomercials. Eventually, limits imposed by

19740-481: Was eventually abandoned as black coloring became the industry norm. Some Ion-owned and affiliate stations which carry the network as a multicast offering continue to carry the network in 480i widescreen over-the-air. On May 19, 2009, Ion Media Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection , putting the Ion network under bankruptcy for the second time in its history; it had reached an agreement with holders of 60% of its first lien secured debt that would extinguish

19881-579: Was exclusively being used in the Americas as well as Japan until the introduction of digital terrestrial television (DTT). While Mexico has ended all its analog television broadcasts and the United States and Canada have shut down nearly all of their analog TV stations, the NTSC standard continues to be used in the rest of Latin American countries except for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay where PAL-N standard

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