For the Record
by Staff -- Multichannel News, 3/30/2009 2:00:00 AM
Ion Television Revs Up Movie Slate
New York — Looking to leverage its considerable real estate, Ion Television will produce 12 original films annually, with the first — a Christmas movie — debuting set for holiday 2009. Ion will debut an original film each month after that, according to executives.
“There’s plenty of room out there to do movies,” new executive vie president of programming Leslie Chesloff said on March 25. “We’re stepping our toe into original production.”
Chesloff said the films, which Ion will develop from script to finished product, could lead to what she called “backdoor pilots” for the network. Ion will work with advertisers, she added, on “integrated marketing opportunities” in the telefilms, which will cover a wide range of genres.
Ion also offered peeks at three Canadian series making their U.S. debut: the suburban thriller series Durham County, which bears the tagline “This is no Wisteria Lane”; the homeland-security drama The Border; and the Coast Guard-themed action series The Guard. Durham will debut in the fall of 2009, and the others after that.
Once the home of aging reruns like Mama’s Family and Who’s the Boss?, Ion has been ramping up both its original production and its acquired series through programs like Boston Legal and NCIS. Last spring, Ion partnered with RHI Entertainment to air four original westerns on Saturday nights. Come fall, it will air Jennifer Love Hewitt-starrer Ghost Whisperer at 8 p.m. and Criminal Minds at 9 p.m.; Durham County will follow in the 10 p.m. slot.
Acquired films like Goodfellas and Batman Forever help round out the schedule.
The gritty dramas further shift Ion from its family-friendly past as Pax TV, and more into general entertainment. “We’re as far away from what we used to be as can be,” said Chesloff, previously a senior vice president at Lifetime.
Lifetime Scores With 'Northern Lights’
New York — Lifetime’s Nora Roberts’ Northern Lights was the highest-rated and most-watched movie telecast on ad-supported cable this year, the network said, with 17.4 million viewers over three plays on its premiere weekend (it debuted Saturday, March 21).
The LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian starrer debuted with a 3.6 household rating and an average audience of 4,531,000 viewers, the network said. It also earned a 1.7 rating among women 18 to 49 (993,000 viewers), a 2.2 rating among women 25 to 54 (1,183,000 viewers) and a 3.2 rating among women 18 and older (3,258,000 viewers).
TBS Dives Into Late Night With George Lopez
Atlanta — TBS will take a deeper dive into the late-night waters with comedian George Lopez.
The not-yet-titled show, featuring an “outdoor street party” atmosphere will be stripped Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., beginning in November. From 2.2 Productions, paraMedia and Telepictures Productions, in association with Warner Horizon Television, the show will include visits from celebrity guests, live music and comedy acts, complementing Lopez’s own flair and personality.
Lopez, whose George Lopez sitcom has been a ratings draw for Nick at Nite over the past year or so, would go head-to-head at 11 p.m. on a cable basis with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, E!’s Chelsea Lately and sister service Adult Swim, which has attracted a host of young males since carving out its place from Cartoon Network.
