The Death of TV Land

Remember when TV Land fit those lofty promises of 500 channels devoted to narrowcasting. And what do we know have? 500 channels that cannot be distinguished from each other. TV Land used to easily definable: it presented the best that classic TV had to offer. Now it shows reality shows, bad movies, and reruns of show currently in syndication on ten other channels. What happened to TV Land?

TV Land Articles

The Record Setting Rise and Fall of TV Land: Is there any television network in history that went from carving out a unique niche for itself to becoming just another one of the bland homogenized multitudes quicker than TV Land? When TV Land first started it was a place where people could go to in order find shows that had long ago bitten the syndication dust. TV Land arrived just in time to fill a chasm caused by a generational shift in the syndication landscape.
TV Land: Poster Child for the Empty Promises of Narrowcasting in a World of 500 Channels: The sick sad decline of TV Land continues unabated and the tragic rise and fall of this cable network appears headed to go down in history as a case study for future generations of how the grand promises of 500 channels and the move from broadcasting to narrowcasting would create niche programming in which the tastes of every individual would be fulfilled. There is perhaps no greater irony in the entertainment business than the realization that when just three networks existed and most households had access to at most five stations that there was a greater variety of choice than exists now in the land of deluxe digital cable and satellite TV. TV Land is destined to become the poster child for the failure of the promise of the future of television. That future is now. And it is bleak.
Watch Out TV Land: WGN America is About to Steal Your Original Audience: Just as TV Land prepares to unveil yet another in an eminently atrocious and misguided reality show that puts yet another coffin in the pleasant memory of what that cable network used to be, WGN has revamped itself into WGN America and has begun offering what it is calling Retro Nights. Whereas TV Land once used to be a place where you could go to watch reruns of classic TV shows, today you cannot tell it apart from Bravo, Spike or USA.