Paramount Television Service

Paramount Television Service
TypeUnrealized broadcast television network
Country
United States
AvailabilityUnlaunched
FoundedApril 1978; 46 years ago (1978-04)
by Barry Diller
OwnerGulf+Western
ParentParamount Pictures
Key people
Charles Bluhdorn
Barry Diller
Martin Davis
Richard Frank[1]
Michael Eisner
Jeffrey Katzenberg[2]
Mel Harris
Former names
Paramount Programming Service[3]
CallsignsPTVS

The Paramount Television Service (or PTVS for short and also known as Paramount Programming Service[3]) was the name of a proposed but ultimately unrealized "fourth television network"[4] from the U.S. film studio Paramount Pictures (then a unit of Gulf+Western, now owned by Paramount Global). It was a forerunner of the later UPN[5] (the United Paramount Network), which launched 17 years later.

History

[edit]

In 1974, Barry Diller started his tenure as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures Corporation. With Diller at the helm, the studio produced television programs such as Laverne & Shirley (1976), Taxi (1978), and Cheers (1982). With his television background, Diller kept pitching an idea of his to the board: a fourth commercial network.[6]

Paramount Pictures purchased the Hughes Television Network including its satellite time in planning for PTVS[7] in 1976. They also hired Rich Frank of KCOP-TV and a member of the Operation Prime Time steering committee.[8] Plans relating to the proposed launch of the Paramount Television Service were first announced on June 17, 1977.[9] Set to launch in April 1978, its programming would have initially consisted of only one night a week.[6][10] Thirty "Movies of the Week" would have followed Star Trek: Phase II[11] on Saturday nights. Planned too was a series derived from Paramount's version of The War of The Worlds (1953) as "backup" for Phase II; a pilot presentation was completed by the film's producer George Pal. PTVS was delayed until the 1978-79 season due to cautious advertisers.[12][13]

At the time, Star Trek was being broadcast on 137 stations in the United States in syndication, and it was expected that the new television as an effort for the station could become the fourth national network in the United States;[14] Diller and his assistant Michael Eisner had hired Jeffrey Katzenberg to manage Star Trek into production with a television film due to launch the new series at a cost of $3.2 million – which would have been the most expensive television movie ever made.[15]

Despite Barry Diller's best efforts, the Paramount board, and studio chief Charles Bluhdorn, passed on the network, as Bluhdorn worried that PTVS would lose too much money.[16] Six months before the launch, Paramount canceled the network before PTVS was set to debut.[6] Ultimately, Star Trek: Phase II was transformed[17] into Star Trek: The Motion Picture[18] (1979). Diller then took his fourth network idea with him when he moved to 20th Century Fox to start the Fox Broadcasting Company.[6]

Meanwhile, Paramount, long successful in syndication with repeats of Star Trek,[citation needed] with several impressively popular first-run syndicated series[19] by the turn of the 1990s, in Entertainment Tonight, Hard Copy, Webster (which moved from ABC for its last two seasons), The Arsenio Hall Show, Friday the 13th: The Series, War of the Worlds (unrelated to the 1970s attempt) and Star Trek: The Next Generation.[20]

On February 9, 2017, Viacom announced that Spike would take on the new branding of the Paramount Network in early 2018, as the company switches to a focus on six prime ViacomCBS brands with most of the company's backing and resources.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Executive Richard H Frank on heading up the new Paramount Television Service on YouTube
  2. ^ "Two Appointed". Gadsden Times. AP. October 7, 1977. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  3. ^ a b LLC, New York Media (May 30, 1977). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC.
  4. ^ Margulies, Lee (March 9, 1978). "'Fourth Network' Gains Momentum". Los Angeles Times. p. E22. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2012. Appearing at the same session with Masini and Cox Rich Frank president of Paramount Television Distribution said the studio has not given up on ... of Star Trek original TV movies and occasional specials The service will be offered if sufficient advertiser interest can be lined up he said.
  5. ^ Pearson, Messenger Davies, Roberta, Máire (April 18, 2014). Star Trek and American Television. Univ of California Press. p. 51. ISBN 9780520276222.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c d Lowry, Brian. "After 5 years, the WB and UPN still head in different directions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  7. ^ Lowery, Brian. "After 5 years, the WB and UPN still head in different directions". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ Nadel, Gerry (May 30, 1977). "Who Owns Prime Time? The Threat of the 'Occasional' Networks". New York Magazine. New York: 34–35. Retrieved October 4, 2009.
  9. ^ Retro TV1 dead link
  10. ^ "'Star Trek' will be new TV Series". The Free Lance-Star. AP. June 18, 1977. p. 13. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  11. ^ Connelly, Sherilyn (October 9, 2019). The First Star Trek Movie: Bringing the Franchise to the Big Screen, 1969-1980. McFarland. p. 97. ISBN 9781476672519.
  12. ^ "Snag postpones 'Star Trek'". Boca Raton News. November 11, 1977. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  13. ^ Reeves-Stevens, Judith and Garfield (March 1, 1997). Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series. Pocket Books. pp. 21–22, 34, 49, 69. ISBN 0671568396.
  14. ^ Sackett, Susan (March 1978). "A Conversation with Gene Roddenberry". Starlog (12): 25–29. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  15. ^ Masters 2000, pp. 80–81.
  16. ^ Vespoli, Chris (April 7, 2010). "Dead Air: A Timeline of Failed Broadcast TV Networks". Gawker.
  17. ^ Johnson, Derek (January 3, 2018). From Networks to Netflix: A Guide to Changing Channels. Routledge. ISBN 9781317331667.
  18. ^ "A Lok At Star Trek". TVObscurities.com. September 1, 2006. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  19. ^ Hadley, Josh (February 12, 2018). "Death Slot: The Secret Origin of First Run Syndication". Force of Geek.
  20. ^ "SALHANY, LUCY". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  21. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 9, 2017). "Spike President On Channel's Rebranding As The Paramount Network". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
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