American entertainment television channel
This article is about the American specialty television channel. For other uses, see
Pop
.
Television channel
Pop
, commonly referred to as
Pop TV
(formerly known as
Electronic Program Guide
,
Prevue Guide
,
Prevue Channel
,
TV Guide Channel
, and
TV Guide Network
), is an American
pay television
channel owned by
Paramount Global
under its
networks division
through MTV Entertainment Group. It is a general entertainment channel, focusing primarily on programs pertaining to
popular culture
.
The network was originally launched in 1981 as a
barker channel
service providing a display of localized
channel and program listings
for
cable television
providers. Later on, the service, branded
Prevue Channel
or
Prevue Guide
and later as Prevue, began to broadcast
interstitial
segments alongside the on-screen guide, which included entertainment, news, and promotions for upcoming programs. After Prevue's parent company,
United Video Satellite Group
, acquired the entertainment magazine
TV Guide
in 1998 (UVSG would in turn, be acquired by
Gemstar
the following year), the service was relaunched as
TV Guide Channel
(later
TV Guide Network
), which now featured full-length programs dealing with the entertainment industry, including news magazines and
reality shows
, along with
red carpet
coverage from major award shows.
Following the acquisition of TV Guide Network by
Lionsgate
in 2009, its programming began to shift towards a general entertainment format with reruns of
dramas
and
sitcoms
. In 2013,
CBS Corporation
acquired of a 50% stake in the network, and the network was renamed
TVGN
. At the same time, as its original purpose grew obsolete because of the integrated program guides offered by digital television platforms, the network began to downplay and phase out its program listings service; as of June 2014, none of the network's carriage contracts require the display of the listings, and they were excluded entirely from its
high-definition
simulcast. In 2015, the network was rebranded as Pop. In 2019, CBS acquired Lionsgate's 50% stake in the network and
merged
with
Viacom
.
Pop is available to 67.348 million households in America as of September 2018
[update]
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
On September 18, 2014, CBS and Lionsgate announced that
TVGN
(previously
TV Guide Network
) would be relaunched as
Pop
in early 2015, with the rebranding later announced to occur on January 14 of that year.
[2]
The newly branded channel would shift toward programming about pop culture fandom and would carry 400 hours of original programming following the rebrand, including a reality show starring
New Kids on the Block
and the
Canadian
sitcom
Schitt's Creek
,
[3]
[4]
the first program from Pop TV to receive
Primetime Emmy Award
nominations, including
Outstanding Comedy Series
.
[5]
Pop was made available on
AT&T U-verse
on March 1, 2016.
[6]
On March 12, 2019, CBS acquired Lionsgate's 50% stake in Pop, making Pop a part of CBS Cable Networks.
[7]
It then became part of
ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks
on December 4, 2019, when CBS
merged
with
Viacom
. Now under the latter's management, it was merged into Viacom's existing cable unit with corresponding job losses due to redundancies. As Viacom traditionally has their programming produced internally for their cable networks rather than from outside producers, second-season renewals for
Flack
and
Florida Girls
, along with a series order for
Best Intentions
were revoked, with Viacom freeing all three series to be shopped to other venues without penalty.
[8]
Programming
[
edit
]
Current programming seen on Pop includes a mix of
procedural dramas
, including
ER
,
Scorpion
, and series from the
NCIS
and
Law and Order
franchises, along with films. As mentioned above, original programming for the channel was cut after 2020 as the newly merged ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) focused on their more high-profile brands. Previously, the network also aired
professional wrestling
from
Impact Wrestling
and the
Las Vegas
-based Paragon Pro Wrestling.
[9]
[10]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Nielsen coverage estimates for September see gains at ESPN networks, NBCSN, and NBA TV, drops at MLBN and NFLN"
.
awfulannouncing.com
. 10 September 2018
. Retrieved
July 28,
2019
.
- ^
"Pop Network to Debut on Wednesday January 14, 2015"
.
TV by the Numbers
. November 17, 2014. Archived from
the original
on November 19, 2014
. Retrieved
January 24,
2015
.
- ^
"TVGN Rebrands as Pop, Shifts Focus on Fans"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. September 18, 2014.
- ^
Brian Steinberg (September 18, 2014).
"TV Guide Network to Relaunch In Early 2015 As POP"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
September 18,
2014
.
- ^
"Pop TV President Celebrates 'Schitt's Creek' Emmy Breakthrough: "Holy S***!"
"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. 16 July 2019
. Retrieved
July 16,
2019
.
- ^
Littleton, Cynthia (July 1, 2015).
"CBS, AT&T Reach Carriage Deal After All-Night Negotiations"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
November 19,
2015
.
- ^
"CBS Takes Control of Pop TV Cabler, Buys Out Lionsgate's 50% Stake"
.
Variety
. March 12, 2019
. Retrieved
March 12,
2019
.
- ^
Otterson, Joe (March 5, 2020).
"Three Pop TV Original Series Not Moving Forward as ViacomCBS Shifts Toward Owned IP (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
March 5,
2020
.
- ^
"Pop Gets Into Ring With Impact Wrestling To Become New TV Home"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. 19 November 2015
. Retrieved
9 April
2016
.
- ^
"Paragon Pro Wrestling Leaving Pop TV"
.
411Mania
. Retrieved
September 2,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Kids and Family Group
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Entertainment and Youth Group
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Premium Network Group
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Other assets
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