The way I see things, there wasn't really any reason for Saban to have bought the Family Channel in the first place. As both part-owner of Fox Kids and the majority supplier to UPN Kids, what might have worked better is if the company chose to focus on it's terrestrial holdings and merge them under a single brand. That brand: Basement TV! The way I envision the block is as follows: FOX and UPN would have their children's blocks jointly managed by a single team of directors responsible for programming, marketing and advertising sales. Basement TV would be formatted so that both networks would split the block's timeslots evenly; FOX would run Basement TV from 3:00-5:00 PM on weekdays and 8:00 AM-12:00 PM Saturday mornings; while UPN would run it's half of the block from 7:00-9:00 AM weekday mornings and 8:00 AM-12:00 PM Sunday mornings. Programs would be contracted jointly for both networks, allowing shows to be transferred from one network to the other at the programmers' discretion. As with Post-97 Fox Kids in our timeline, FOX affiliates in any market would have the option to pass on their portion of the block to the UPN station in favor of syndicated programs and/or news. Conversely, if the market in question has no UPN station, the FOX station is then required to run Basement TV in full. And of course, if neither network had an over-the-air affiliate in your area, the full block would then run on the cable-only FOXNET service.
The promotional structure of Basement TV would work as follows: A single advertising team would be responsible for creating the promotional/graphics package for the entire block. Each half-hour, both FOX and UPN would be required to reserve at least one commercial space for a promo from the other network's assigned shows. In exchange, ad time would be sold across-the-block; meaning sponsors would be required to purchase time on both networks.
As for off-air marketing, all elements of the Fox Kids Network would be integrated within the "Basement" brand: "Totally Fox Kids Magazine" would be renamed "Totally Basement" and include print ads for both FOX and UPN's youth/family-based primetime series (Simpsons, Malcolm, Moesha, Clueless, etc.) as well as syndicated children's programs from either station (such as BKN or a would-be syndicated Disney's One Too). "Fox Kids Countdown" would be re-titled "Basement Kids Countdown" and be expanded to four hours, split into two "blocks". Radio stations carrying the program would be subject to compulsory timeslots: Block A would air from 6:00-8:00 AM Saturday mornings and Block B would air in the same timeslot on Sunday mornings. FOX and UPN stations would still receive their one minute per hour of free advertising, UPN stations on the Saturday portion and FOX stations on the Sunday portion. The Fox Kids Club would be renamed "Basement Dwellers Society" and continue as before. Finally, the block would operate a single website, www.basementtv.com, which would include program information, games, contests, and interactive features.
Well, that's about it: Enjoy the too-good-to-exist world of Basement TV and tell me what you think.
7 сен 2024