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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Network for Conservative Entertainment Launches

Posted: 9/8/2010 10:21:25 PM EDT

wireStory?id=11583388

Network for Conservative Entertainment Launches

Kelsey Grammer backs new network providing entertainment for political conservatives

The Associated Press

By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer

NEW YORK September 8, 2010 (AP)

Actor Kelsey Grammer is an investor and public face supporting a new
network that launched Wednesday with entertainment designed to appeal to
political conservatives.

RightNetwork, whose first series, "Running," follows the fortunes of a
couple of Tea Party-backed candidates for public office, is also trying a
new model to establish itself. It is initially making programming
available through video-on-demand services, the Internet and through
mobile phones, bypassing the route of traditional TV networks with a
spot on channel lineups.

Investors hope that the support of a conservative audience that has made
Fox News Channel and radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh successful could
also work for entertainment programming, said Kevin McFeeley,
RightNetwork's president.

"We feel the precedent has been set," he said.

Grammer, the Emmy-winning star of "Frasier," said the network
represented a desire by him and some political friends "to stop allowing
people who hate us to define us."

"If you have NBC, ABC, you have entire networks flooded with a very
particular point of view," he said. "They won't admit it, but it's
clearly the way it is. There's plenty of room for us."

Initial programming also includes "Right2Laugh," with standup comedians
Evan Sayet, Kivi Rogers and Adam Yenser; "Politics and Poker," with card
players sitting around talking politics; and "Leftovers," with Yenser
hosting a "lighthearted look" at current news and entertainment. New
episodes are made available every couple of weeks, McFeeley said. Some
of the candidates featured in "Running" have already lost primary bids.

In the works is a sitcom called "Moving Numbers," about quirky political
consultants trying to elect a candidate to the U.S. Senate. McFeeley
said the RightNetwork will also offer some vintage programming, such as
old episodes of William F. Buckley's "Firing Line" and Milton Friedman's
"Uncommon Knowledge."

"We're not out to vilify or accuse or identify anybody as an enemy,"
Grammer said. "We're out there to encourage people to open their minds
and take a look at some things that we as a group of people believe is
the right direction for the country."

Jeff Cohen, an Ithaca College journalism professor and liberal activist,
questioned whether the kind of audience that likes conservative talk
shows want something similar in entertainment, and whether it can be
pulled off.

"Comedy requires irony," Cohen said. "It can't be frothing with hate or
fear. Drama requires complexity. It can't be all black and white."

While Grammer narrates a programming highlight reel available on
RightNetwork's website, he hasn't participated as an actor or producer
in any of the network's programming. The only other investor the
privately held company has identified is Ed Snider, chairman of
Comcast-Spectacor and owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers.

Snider's involvement led to initial false reports this spring that
Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company, was a backer of
RightNetwork. However, the network doesn't even have a deal to
distribute its programming through Comcast, which aggressively markets
video-on-demand offerings. So far, Verizon FiOS subscribers are the only
customers who can access the shows on demand, McFeeley said. Similarly,
Nokia is the only mobile phone outlet.

It illustrates the huge challenge RightNetwork faces in trying to build
its brand at a time cable and satellite companies have little space to
offer new networks, said Derek Baine, a senior analyst at SNL Kagan.
Only the Anime Network, which had some limited success with a
specialized lineup of Japanese animation, and Fearnet, which offers
horror films and has the backing of Comcast and movie distributor Lions
Gate Entertainment Corp., have tried the video-on-demand model to start,
he said.

"The problem is, you've got to get a way for people to find you," Baine
said. "Without big marketing dollars, how are people going to know you
are on the air?"

McFeeley said the video-on-demand approach will mirror the way people
are increasingly watching television, by picking and choosing from
programming and making their own schedules. He said the company will
specially target potential conservative viewers with e-mail messages
touting the product.

With billboards, "we're trying to hit some of the major media markets to let people know that we've arrived," he said.

Grammer said he "came out" as a conservative in Hollywood 20 years ago
and said it hasn't affected his work, although he wouldn't advise a
young actor with similar views to talk about them. He said that it's not
"right-wing nuts" who are behind the network.

"We're middle-of-the road people who have a fairly conservative approach
to government, that's all. Less government," he said. "It's not some
insidious group of people who are plotting some horrible takeover."

———

Online:

http://www.rightnetwork.com

Posted: 9/8/2010 10:31:50 PM EDT

[#1]

Hope they have good shows.

Posted: 9/8/2010 10:36:13 PM EDT

[#2]

I wish them luck and hope it will last, but I doubt it.

Posted: 9/8/2010 10:37:03 PM EDT

[#3]

racist

Posted: 9/8/2010 10:54:14 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
racist

clearly

Posted: 9/9/2010 3:13:19 AM EDT

[#5]

may they be successful in their endeavors

CHEF

Posted: 9/9/2010 3:46:53 AM EDT

[#6]

Some show titles:

Beck-errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Palin-drones

My Way or the Highway to Hell

White - The Color of Money

Dey terk urr jerbs!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Network for Conservative Entertainment Launches

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Network for Conservative Entertainment Launches

Kelsey Grammer backs new network providing entertainment for political conservatives

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