AmericanLife TV Is Sold
New Owners Schuller, Wyatt Plan 'Family Values'-Based Rebrand
by Kent Gibbons -- Multichannel News, 6/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
The Rev. Robert A. Schuller, former co-host of weekly religious program The Hour of Power, and Godtube.com founder Chris Wyatt said last week their ComStar Media Fund has purchased AmericanLife TV Network with plans to make it “the destination for family values.”
Financial terms weren't disclosed. The baby-boomer-centric program outlet — founded as Nostalgia Network in 1985 and later called GoodLife TV — claims 12.7 million subscribers and the new owners say they plan to elevate that to 40 million homes over time. The network will have a new management team, not yet named, based in Dallas, the new owners said.
Schuller — who left Hour of Power last October in a falling out with the Crystal Cathedral Ministries founder, his father, famed televangelist Robert H. Schuller — says he will bring a new show to the network this autumn.
He said the new show wouldn't be preachy. “People don't want to be told what to do, they want to be shown what to do. So the purpose of my show is to take preaching and make it more practical.”
Hour of Power, which Schuller's father launched in Los Angeles in 1970, claims a worldwide audience of 20 million viewers.
Wyatt founded and is former CEO of Godtube.com, a Christian version of video-upload site Youtube.com, and Wyatt said the rapid growth of that site was evidence he has the expertise to help ALN reach its cable and satellite distribution goals.
He said he had in mind something like Pat Robertson's Family Channel was before it was sold and eventually became what is now ABC Family.
The first new show on ALN (which will be renamed) will be Schuller's show, followed by new originals this fall that will round out a lineup currently heavy on retro TV staples such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Batman and Hill Street Blues. The network owns a 700-hour program library.
New shows might include reality-genre entries, a live morning show and a game show, Wyatt said.
“You're going to see celebrities get involved directly with the network,” he said. “You're going to see it really taken to the next level, where all of us thought it could be.”
RBC Daniels said it represented AmericanLife in the transaction.
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Schuller ruined the channel. Deleted all the best shows and the lineup. What a poor choice. Hope he fails so that I can see the shows on another channel. Nice going, running a website and running a TV channel are two different things. I am sure the viewership is down considerably.
John Handley - 6/13/2009 10:02:41 AM EDT
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