So RTV has made a few boo-boos--What SHOULD it do?

So what can RTV do? If I'm so smart and so eager to criticize the new direction, am I also willing to provide some solutions?

Not unless I get paid, straight-up P-A-I-D, baby. I ain't about to reveal my genius ideas for free.
No, who am I kidding? I wouldn't be blogging if I lacked a strong interest in forcing my opinions on others, and this situation is no exception. Here is what I think RTV should do.

1) Take out the trash.
Much of RTV's new lineup, as I wrote last week, is pretty good, but it's difficult for many viewers to appreciate the goodies because of the filler and modern junk that mars the schedule. Just eliminate programs like "Celebrity Kitchen" and "Cold Case Files," shows that are incompatible with the classic TV mission statement, and everyone will be more eager to embrace the new shows and put the pain of losing those Universal mainstays behind them. On a similar note...

2) Don't weaken the mothership to try to improve the "Luken Empire."
RTV's owner Luken Communications also runs something called My Family TV and Tuff TV, it is promising a kids channel called PB&J at some point, and is reportedly screwing around with the idea of an RTV2, which is laughable considering how much it has to stretch to fill an RTV1.

An RTV rep even admitted on Facebook--and I admire the candor--that the company is attempting to take advantage of economies of scale, in a sense, by repurposing shows on RTV. Hence the appearance of the likes of "Cold Squad" or, worse, generic syndicated magazine/lifestyle shows on the weekends on a channel that brags, "We know Retro."

I understand the concept and appreciate the desire to stretch a buck, but RTV is losing affiliates, and watering it down by shoehorning other Luken acquisitions into its universe debilitates the brand and makes it a less appealing product. I wish Luken would protect RTV, so to speak, and make it immune from the repurposing that plagues other entertainment corporations.


3) Think variety in genres of programming and expand the notion of what's RTV programming--as long as it's retro.
I added that caveat so as not to contradict what I wrote in item #2 there. As long as programming is retro, I'm willing to expand the definition of "classic." I would love a 1980 or so cutoff, but I'll accept some eighties stuff. The 1990s and beyond is too recent, though.
I'm thinking about talk shows, game shows, sports shows, anything beyond the standard selection of sitcoms and dramas. GSN had a lot of the game shows locked up, but as it abandons older material, perhaps some of that vault programming can be acquired more cheaply. It doesn't even have to be something like "What's My Line?" or "I've Got a Secret." How about the old 1970s/1980s game show reruns USA and CBN used to fill their daytimes with back in the day, stuff like "Joker's Wild" or "Name That Tune"?

"Celebrity Bowling" was announced as an RTV acquisition but isn't there yet. Maybe it's being held back for later, but it would be a great replacement for "Celebrity Kitchen" weekday mornings. It's fun, most assuredly retro, and has a deep catalog of episodes. Plus, its recent ESPN run notwithstanding, it is different than anything that's on anywhere else now, including those rival classic TV channels, and it's different than anything that has been on anywhere else.
If RTV is going to stick to those comfortable sitcoms and dramas, it should dig deeper for the really rare shows. "Movin' On" looks like a pretty odd duck in 2011, but I believe it's seldom been aired since its original run, and it is a nice treat that gives RTV some cred and some quirky charm. More of this and less overplayed evergreens would be welcome.

4) Don't get too attached to those library deals; furthermore, seek out the other libraries.
I confess I don't know a whole lot about how these "library deals" work, but it sure looks like attaching your channel to one studio's library exclusively, while providing a nice initial influx of programming, is a strategy that lends itself to stagnation if you don't cycle programs in and out (as RTV did not/could not do), and major shocks to the system when the deals run out (as RTV experienced when it lost the Paramount shows several years ago and last week when it lost the Universal shows; of course, when it lost the RTV shows, it at least could tout many familiar Uni programs to its viewers).

Antenna and ME-TV rely heavily if not exclusively on the Sony and CBS-Paramount libraries respectively, but apparently Sony shows are still in play, and maybe some Paramount obscurities are available, too. I've read people clamor for RTV to make a deal with Warners, but personally I think that is an overrated library unless someone really mines it for the rarer programs. Most of the notable stuff in the Warners catalog isn't that good or has been played heavily, and a lot of the rarer, higher-quality stuff was on American Life or Encore Westerns in recent years. Granted, those are two small cable outfits, but I'm just saying I wouldn't be eager to see RTV grab, say, "Hawaiian Eye" or "Cheyenne."

I don't know what the deal is with Fox. The Fox-owned properties are all over the place, with programs like "Big Valley" appearing on multiple outlets as varied as ME-TV and Family Net. Hey, RTV, how about picking up some of the programs Shout licensed for DVD then dropped, programs like "Peyton Place" and "Room 222"? Or how about "Julia," "Nanny and the Professor," and "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"? Now that I think about it, there are a lot of Fox shows potentially in play that would make great additions to the RTV schedule.

I'd like to see RTV continue to probe for holdings of some of the relatively smaller guys, too. For example, if SFM still holds syndication rights to it, I think "Make Room for Daddy" would make a wonderful enhancement to the RTV roster of sitcoms, and even if they don't unleash the Jean Hagen years, there are tons of episodes to make a weekday run viable. Note I'm not promising it would draw ratings--I think the DVDs flopped and I believe the show wasn't a great hit in reruns, though I remember seeing it on NY TV stations in the eighties--but I'm saying it's a funny show that would add some retro and classic to an RTV which could really use them right now.

5) If you want to go cheap, go really cheap.
OK, someone might say, if we're supposed to get rid of all these filler shows, how are we gonna, you know, fill the schedule without resorting to infomercials?

Well, for the love of Billy Mays, don't go to infomercials. If you need cheap programming, grab some of that public domain stuff that's floating around in the ether. When I first got Family Net, there was a narrow window of programming consisting of terrible-looking prints of shows either in or assumed to be in public domain. I'm talking "I Married Joan," "My Little Margie," "Meet Corliss Archer," and a few others. I don't know how many episodes are available, but I'd sure rather see something like that on RTV than "The Great Outdoorsman" on a weekend afternoon.