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Commentary

5 Steps To Launching a Successful TV Network

Think You Could Launch A Network? These People Have, And They Share Why It’s So Hard, Even For Oprah. By Stacey Harrison & Athena Voulgaropoulos No one is immune from the multitude of challenges that come with launching a new TV network. Not even Oprah Winfrey, whose struggles getting OWN up and running have been breathlessly detailed in the media over the past few months, or Al Gore, whose efforts to take Current into the big time hit a major roadblock with the ugly departure of Keith Olbermann. So how does it work? What are the essential components needed to […]

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TV News & Program Updates

Destination America exec talks about new network’s roadmap to success

Tune in to Planet Green this weekend, and you’re likely to be surprised. Well, that probably won’t happen to many people, or else there wouldn’t be any reason to be surprised. As of this weekend, the erstwhile eco-minded — but ratings-challenged — Planet Green becomes Destination America, a network dedicated to highlighting people around the nation who embody the American spirit. The drastic change in content has been interpreted by some in political terms, with an environmentally conscious network being replaced by one dedicated to unabashed red-white-and-blue patriotism. But Marc Etkind, senior vice president of content strategy for the network […]

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TV News & Program Updates

Planet Green being rebranded Destination America starting May 28

I had recently been wondering about the change in programming Planet Green has undergone, and what that meant for the future of the network. It had seemed to stray from its original mission of programming about ecological matters to become a catchall lifestyle channel, airing reruns of shows about ghosts, UFOs and other things very far removed from its “Green” title. A dead giveaway that it was no longer the “Green” network was when it was one of only two networks in the Discovery family that did not simulcast the series premiere of Frozen Planet last month, which would have […]

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Documentary

“Midnight Snack” and “Suzilla” set Planet Green off in search of food

Planet Green takes a step in a direction away from its purely eco-centric mission with two specials hitting its schedule Dec. 20. Midnight Snack and Suzilla: The Mouth That Roars both take to America’s highways in search of eats, but with different agendas. The first, Midnight Snack (Dec. 20 at 10pm), hosted by VH1’s and Fuse’s Steven Smith, is set in those late-night after-hours, when people out on the prowl are looking for a nosh, either to combat the effects of booze or simply because they just wanna eat. Smith goes through the heart of Hollywood in search of the […]

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TCA

TCA Talk #2

Posted by Barb More news and notes from the TCA tour: Tommy Lee Claims Ludacris Is “A Sweetheart” Hip hop superstar Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Mötley Crüe rocker Tommy Lee battle it out to become eco-friendly on Planet Green’s Battleground Earth (premiering Aug. 3 at 10pm ET). After weeks of sparing, trying to outwit and conserve more energy than the other, the two have forged a genuine friendship. “Man, we really became good friends. I absolutely adore him,” Lee says. “He’s a sweetheart. He’s got a big heart, man. He is just a real passionate, cool, cool guy, you know, […]

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Lifestyle

Ludacris On Battleground Earth

If you haven’t seen this commercial for Battleground Earth: Ludacris vs. Tommy Lee on Planet Green, check it out. Trust us, it’s worth 30 seconds of your time. (And anyone who thinks Tommy Lee is joking about not showering for seven days hasn’t read The Dirt.) The show, in which rapper/actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges goes head-to-head with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee to see which musician can lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle, doesn’t premiere until August 3. But we interviewed Ludacris this week, and this is a sampling of what he had to say about the show: Some people might […]