G4 (you know, the channel that killed TechTV a couple of years ago that has nearly zero viewers) has acquired broadcast rights to two of the 21st century's most iconic series so far, ABC's Lost and NBC's Heroes. The Comcast-owned network has rights to strip Heroes and Lost daily in a few years, but Heroes premieres in a few weeks on the channel.
Cartoon Network, which is one of the most watched channels on cable (currently number seven) is investing funds in developing new live-action properties as well as spending money to acquire older shows.
Comcast is giving G4 a ton of money, which allows them to make eye-opening purchases like that. Time Warner gives Cartoon Network a very limited amount of money, since they do generate ad revenue on their own, which is used for proudctions and on their own third-party acquisitions.
I'm not saying I wanted Heroes or Lost to air on Cartoon Network (because I really don't), but the deal does show that Comcast is willing to provide funds to acquire something that would definitely bring in the audiences while Time Warner seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Now, someone please explain something to me. Does Comcast like their network more or does Time Warner like their network less? Is it that Comcast feels more confident about the direction of G4 than Time Warner feels about Cartoon Network or does Time Warner believe in tough love and that they have to survive on their own?
Is Comcast that much better or is this just another reason why Time Warner is still THE MOST POORLY RAN ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY ON THE PLANET?
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4 comments:
Correct me if I'm wrong...
Time Warner use to own WCW wrestling and now that's gone. So it's safe to say CN prospects are as good as WCW.
I've been watching G4's progress and it actually turns out that G4's been growing. I lament the shift in focus at G4, but if they acquire and produce more geek-oriented content, I'm fine with them.
Also, Comcast has a lot more faith in G4 than Time Warner has in CN. The move to the E! studios was mainly to save money and for synergy.
Personally I think Comcast needs to stop spilling tens of millions of dollars into G4 and dramatically reduce spending. You can't overspend that much in the current cable television climate. It'll be hard for them to break even on that damn channel.
And even with all this, Time Warner is still of higher value than Viacom or Walt Disney Company.
And I think Namco-Bandai Holdings is a poorer run company.
Oh look. Comcast is down 11% today in the market.
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