Prime Time Entertainment Network

Prime Time Entertainment Network

Type	Defunct ad hoc broadcast television network
Country	United States
Availability	National
Owner	Warner Bros. Domestic Television Chris-Craft Industries
Launch date	January 20, 1993 (1993-01-20)
Dissolved	October 27, 1997 (1997-10-27)
Affiliates	List of affiliates
Replaced by	The WB UPN

The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) was an American ad hoc television network that was operated by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Domestic Television subsidiary of Time Warner and Chris-Craft Industries. First launched on January 20, 1993 and operating until 1997, the network mainly aired drama programs aimed at adults between the ages of 18 and 54. At its peak, PTEN's programming was carried on 177 television stations, covering 93% of the country.^[1]

History

Origins

At the time of PTEN's founding, co-owner Chris-Craft Industries owned independent television stations in several large and mid-sized U.S. cities (among them its two largest stations, WWOR-TV in New York City and KCOP-TV in Los Angeles) through its BHC Communications and United Television divisions, which formed the nuclei of the network.^[2]

PTEN was launched as a potential fifth television network, and was created in reaction to the success of the Fox network (which debuted in October 1986, seven years before PTEN launched) as well as the successes of first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It offered packaged nights of programming to participating television stations, beginning with a two-hour block on Wednesday evenings, with a second block (originally airing on Saturday, before moving to Monday for the 1994-95 season) being added in September 1993.^[3] Originally, the station groups involved in the Prime Time Consortium helped finance PTEN's programs; however, that deal was restructured at the beginning of the network's second year.

The service sought affiliations with various television stations not affiliated with the Big Three television networks. However, close to half of PTEN's initial affiliates were stations that were already affiliated with Fox; as a result, these stations usually scheduled PTEN programming around Fox's then five-night prime time schedule (although Fox would expand its schedule to seven nights with the addition of programming on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on January 19, 1993, the day before PTEN launched). The Prime Time Entertainment Network launched on January 20, 1993, with two series: the science fiction series Time Trax and the action drama Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.^[2]

Demise

PTEN faced two obstacles created by its parent companies, that would affect the network. On November 2, 1993, the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner announced that it would form its own fifth network, The WB Television Network, as a joint venture with the Tribune Company,^[4] Shortly afterward, in early 1994, Chris-Craft Industries announced the launch of the United Paramount Network (UPN), in a programming partnership with Paramount Television (which would become part-owner of the network in 1996). As a result, the core Chris-Craft independent stations (as well as those owned by Paramount) would serve as charter stations of the new network; Chris-Craft also chose to pull out of the partnership to focus on operating UPN.

The network also faced issues from some PTEN-affiliated stations that took issue with the network's barter split, which gave nine minutes of advertising time per hour to the syndicator, leaving only five minutes for the stations to sell and program locally. PTEN also ran into difficulty when the studio was forced to let stations out of their back-end commitments for several series. PTEN adopted a variable schedule for the 1995-96 season, for affiliates to schedule around The WB and UPN's programming on the night of their choosing. With Chris-Craft pulling out of the venture, PTEN essentially became a syndication service for its remaining shows. The network ceased operations in 1997. One of the two series that aired during the service's final year of operation, the science fiction drama Babylon 5, would later be revived by TNT, where it aired for a fifth and final season beginning in 1998.

Programming

Former programming

Series

• Babylon 5 (February 22, 1993, as a made-for-TV movie; January 26, 1994 – October 27, 1997, as a weekly series)
• Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (January 27, 1993 – January 1, 1997)
• Pointman (January 24, 1994, as a made-for-TV movie; January 26–November 27, 1995, as a series)
• Time Trax (January 20, 1993 – December 3, 1994)

Movies and mini-series

• The History of Rock 'n' Roll (March 6, 1995)
• Island City (March 2, 1994)
• The Wild West (March 22–26, 1993)

Affiliates

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

References

• Mike Freeman (January 17, 1994). "Lots of action in action-adventure genre". Broadcasting & Cable. 
• Mike Freeman (August 29, 1994). "Action escalates For Syndicators". Broadcasting & Cable. 
• David Tobenkin (April 24, 1995). "Fate of WB's `Pointman' undecided". Broadcasting & Cable. 
• Lee Whiteside (April 6, 1995). "B5: Babylon 5 TV Station List/Times updated!". rec.arts.sf.tv. Google Groups. Retrieved November 27, 2006. 

External links

• PTEN – Television & Tropes Idioms