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UPDATED: This seems to be what Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt was talking about this month when he threatened to drop some channels as a way to control costs. The cable company has informed Ovation that it will be dumped at the end of the year, when its contract expires. “Ovation is among the poorest performing networks, and is viewed by less than 1% of our customers on any given day,” the No. 2 cable operator says. “We’ve paid more than $10 million in carriage fees to Ovation over the past several years. They’ve had ample opportunity to improve the ratings and the content, and have failed to deliver.” It adds that Ovation’s not as arts-oriented as it claims: “One 7-day period in November 2012 shows that 70% of their schedule was old movies that are repeated, numerous repeats of the PBS show Antique Road Show, Infomercials that are unrelated to the arts, and repeats of TV shows from broadcast networks….Just as broadcast and cable networks make decisions to cancel or move shows that fail to perform, we are obliged to make the same decisions with networks.” Ovation doesn’t buy Time Warner Cable‘s cost-control argument. “While they are investing huge amounts in sports programming, they’ve chosen to limit their customers’ viewing options by cutting the only arts network in their lineup,” Ovation’s EVP Content Distribution Brad Samuels says. “Ultimately, we hope that Time Warner Cable will see the value our other Affiliate partners see in Ovation and will reconsider their decision.”
Cable and satellite companies pay about 7 cents per subscriber per month for the channel, SNL Kagan estimates. It’s expected to generate about $81M in revenue this year, about 57% from pay TV affiliate fees. The channel is an easy target: It’s owned by a group that includes Sparkler Entertainment, Ovation CEO Charles Segars, and Hubbard Media Group — not a major media company that has several channels that Time Warner Cable wants. Ovation says that its growth plans could be derailed by the No. 2 cable operator’s decision. Ovation reaches 51M homes, up from 5M six years ago. The channel adds that it has been a potent advocate for arts funding, and since 2007 has donated more than $14M to projects — including several in areas served by Time Warner Cable such as New York and Los Angeles.
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Wow! Broadcaster choosing sports over arts. What a surprise!
Hollywood is the biggest generator of American arts and culture. If we don’t stand up to Time Warner Cable we will be complicit in this direct attack on the Arts in America. If Time Warner Cable drops Ovation, then all Los Angelenos should drop Time Warner Cable #KeepOvation
I’ve never heard of this Ovation channel before, but I’m sure I’ve passed over it while flipping through channels. And I prefer sports and entertainment over old movies and reruns. So thanks, but pass.
Another bright bulb in the dark.
Math and science may feed capitalism, it’s the arts that feed humanism. Good-bye Antiques Roadshow — the original, not the tepid PBS re-tread. Good-bye couth and culture. Hello, brain-addled warriors, testosterone, T&A. Third-world nation, here we come!
Oh, sports are turning us into a third world nation, I didn’t know that.
As someone who worked on the cable network side for years, I have to say I side with Time Warner on this one: the market’s different from what it was 10 years ago, and underperforming nets will and should lose their distribution. Ovation airs infomercials, repeats of “Fame,” and catalog movies (most of which you could get via Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, etc). I’m sorry, but repeats of “So You Think You Can Dance” are not what most people think of as “arts” programming. The goal of almost all of these little cable nets was to build up enough distribution that they became the entertainment equivalent of “teardowns”: valuable real estate for larger media companies to buy and then totally rebrand (as NBC did with Bravo). But in a world of multiple screens and streams, channel position 384 on your lineup isn’t worth near what it used to be. Ovation is the one of those cable nets that never quite broke through and now are going to be picked off, one by one, as operators use much more sophisticated data measurement techniques to make calculated bets on what they can stop paying for with minimal disruption to their own sub numbers. Although frankly, Time Warner also needs to put its money where its mouth is and let those of us who NEVER watch a sports net stop subsidizing those insane high programming costs by allowing us to opt out of packages that include a hundred sports networks.
I have to agree on this. I check Ovations line-up every day for anything of interest, and rarely find something. It is also the least watched channel in my house. They did run an interesting series of BBC dramas this fall called THE BEST YOU’VE NEVER SEEN that really was worthwhile. But that’s about it.
You can opt out right now. Do what I did, cut the cord, and replace it with Netflix and Roku. I can get everything that cable would have given me, I just have to wait and/or settle for seeing it on DVD, but I have such a backlog of things to view, that waiting is no problem.
Would that I could. Unfortunately, thanx to industry collusion, Time Warner’s carved our neck in the woods for its own.
It’s not like ovation was an arts channel. It had very little art on it.
I think cable companies should do much more of this thing of running a business and dropping the deadweight and keeping costs down for the consumer.
We really don’t need 5000 channels.
Disagree completely. While Ovation does have some re-runs, it is holistically an arts channel, especially when you look at their original programming and what they did offline in terms of grants and things. (My hometown applied for one of their $15,000 grants – that’s the only reason I even knew about it.)
Just go to their schedule over the next week and it’s basically Antique Roadshow, general entertainment movies and The Nutcracker. You have other outlets for that type of content – especially the movies. And unless your target demo is 80 nobody wants to see the nutcracker that much. Drop em – especially if this means people get more of what they want or rates don’t go up.
Your rates aren’t going to go down from dropping one channel or even this channel and the couple others Glenn Britt mentioned (WEtv, IFC, Hallmark). Ovation only costs 7cents per subscriber. You say “especially if this means people get more of what they want” but what about the people that want this? How is taking something away giving people MORE of what they want?
I totally agree I have been a customer of time warner for many years. I have paid rather high increases for their service. I have to rethink about paying for a provider who would drop OVATION network!
Instead of the controversial a la carte system, cable packages should be TIERED! For example, a Sports Tier would be the most expensive, for all those sports fans willing to pay for it. Then you’d have a generic Basic Tier for all the popular networks like USA, TBS, etc. Finally, you’d have the Budget Tier, or something more marketable, that’s aimed at families.
This 3-tier system would solve all problems, and not be as drastic as a la carte, which would kill basically most networks.
Except TWC expects to be able to make a lot of money by forcing their subs to pay for these sports networks. If the figure I have seen that 20% of subs watch the sports content like the Lakers or Dodgers is accurate, than the LA sports fan would have to pay 5 times the monthly rate to get that service (pricing spread out against all subs versus only the 20% that watch). I assume that with the price, a good chunk of the 20% that want to watch would then not pay that amount – and that would break down the financial math of the paying for the content in the first place.
When Steinbrenner created the YES Network TW fought long and hard to keep it off basic cable. Ultimately they failed and the customers suffered for it. At the time they charged $.25/month per subscriber. Once YES set the precedence it seems every team is setting up expensive networks stuffed down the public’s throats.
Don’t wait, make your own tiered system: Netflix + Roku. Perfect for those of us who don’t care about sports and are happy to get news from the internet. I don’t even bother with broadcast anymore.
Why are you so content in letting these billion dollar corporations overcharge you every month under the threat that the programming that you like will go away if no one is willing to pay for it? It’s a bluff. You’ve been paying monthly fees for YEARS, and companies still cancel your shows and fill their hours with cheap-to-make “reality” shows. If your money is so vital to the equation, why are we not watching the 10th season of Firefly?
A la carte would not cause the widespread “killing off” of channels! Quit spreading FUD! It would, however, force programming changes and advertising revenue adjustments.
Bundled programming packages are essentially corporate welfare. A la Carte is not evil. Paying for only what you want is fair concept. And it fully supports consumer choice — I’m willing to pay for FX, but not for FoxNews. Even though the money would still go to the same parent company, they should know that I am not interested in their “news” channel. Cable companies have an “all or nothing” choice, so I chose “nothing”.
The problem is that Ovation has not been living up to its name or mandate for years now. There is room for a number of for arts channels (remember when Bravo and Arts & Entertainment were arts channels), if presented well. We are living in an anti-art, anti-intellectual society, where the arts have been bullied out of existence by the cable channels. Time Warner and others smell enormous money in sports – fine – but valid arts channels should be supported. It’s Ovation’s fault for not living up to its mandate, but something should take its place. Actually, there are way too many channels, too testosterone-driven, and I’d love to cut the Time Warner cord.
I agree with T-W on this one, but hope that in Ovation’s place they will add something, something I doubt will cost them very much. Read on. ‘Ovation,’ like so many ‘arts and culture’ channels evolved into offering, for the most part, stale and recycled and dumb-downed crap under the guise of providing unique, provocative arts programming. We can use fewer Ovations. But what T-W can use is LINK, a fantastic channel it doesn’t carry (DirecTV does — I get both DirecTV and T-W at two different locations, and I sorely miss Link at the location where I don’t get it). Goodbye Ovation. Welcome, Link?
Ovation just hired experienced programming exec Rob Weiss as Chief Content Officer. They’re definitely due for a refresh and he’s the man to do it. TWC will regret their decision once Rob’s taken the reins.
There’s a cable network called “Ovation” ?
Huh.
This sucks! They are one of the few actual arts channels out there.With all the money Time Warner has, they can’t subsidize the arts?
I’m not a Time Warner fan, but I agree on this one. Ovation had a lot of promise, and a few years ago it was much better about programing arts coverage, documentaries, and things that you couldn’t see anywhere else.
A small audience share wouldn’t be such an issue, I think, if Ovation was delivering truly special content. That it’s basically repeating the same thing over and over, and with content that often really doesn’t relate to the channel’s stated focus, is the issue here.
Their ratings with Antiques and movies didn’t improve much. Which means the arts programs they previously aired was even less viewed.
Arts is already shown by PBS. No need for Ovation.
PBS doesn’t nearly show as much arts and culture as you think and why should we be held hostage by the few individuals who produce those series?
There is so much arts programming available in Europe and overseas, plus PBS re-runs; wonderful historical arts documentaries, performances, operas, modern art pieces. There is a dedicated audience for this.
Yes, and they all have PBS, as well as Netflix streaming for documentaries and arts, as well as YouTube and VOD. Clearly the ratings show there’s no need for Ovation.
Original arts programming deserves a wide platform, including cable. There are tons of arts programs which are not available on Netflix and streaming. An improved arts channel will pull in ratings. If you don’t want to watch, go back to Honey Boo Boo and America Loves Guns.
Oh no. NOW what are not going to watch? Oh, wait…there’s dozens of channels to not watch. Nevermind.
They should have developed “When Opera Singers Kill” when they had the chance
I guess Ovation isn’t living up to its potential at the moment — but I’d rather have a channel like that represented on cable systems than not.
And I’m honestly confused by this competitive, adversarial mentality on the part of some people. “The arts channel didn’t work, we’re getting more sports, ha-ha, I win, you lose!” Why is this a contest? There are hundreds of channels available, shouldn’t we be teaming up as subscribers to lobby the systems so that we all get what we want? it doesn’t mean we have to watch each other’s channels. I’ll sign your petition if you sign mine.
OVATION not an arts channel?! What a shock! All cable channels (except sports) seem to abandon their brand. Where’s the History in HISTORY? The Learning in TLC? The Arts & Entertainment on A & E? OVATION has a great programming team. They’ve grown the network and will continue to they are able to. The media landscape has been incredible challenging and I love OVATION and yep, I’ll sign your petition Travis!!
Go to their website and look at their managment team. The guy who runs it also also produced those shitty National Treasure movies which tells me that he obviously knows a lot about art. LOL.
Ovation is an ok music channel that might occasionally air an interesting documentary or two; it’s not some sophisticated “arts” channel that the philistine cable companies/american tv audiences aren’t supporting enough.
That being said, with the amount of money that cable companies make I don’t think they need to be trying to cut costs and make everything ratings driven (it’s not as if the savings will be passed on to the consumers); the main reason why there are interesting things on cable compared to network is that it’s not as ratings obsessed and shortsighted and allows for “quirkier” channels/shows.
KEEP Ovation. Its a good station and I like to have something to watch besides sports, multiple news stations and kids programss.
Ovation needs to be given a chance.
Dina l. Martin
I would be very disappointed if you dropped Ovation. I watch this channel because of the quality of the shows. I especially Pride and Prejudice. Quality entertainment.
One of my favorite channels is Ovation. It would be a severe loss for myself and Jeanette, if the program was discontinued. Thanks for the past programing.