Litton's Weekend Adventure
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Weekend Adventure (originally known as ABC Weekend Adventure and Litton's Weekend Adventure) is an American syndicated
programming block Block programming is the arrangement of programs on radio or television so that those of a particular genre, theme, or target audience are united. Overview Block programming involves scheduling a series of related shows which are likely to attra ...
that is produced by
Hearst Media Production Group The Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Syndications and Litton Entertainment) is an American media and production company based in New York City, New York as a division of the Hearst Television subsidiary of Hearst Communications, wit ...
, and airs weekend mornings on the
owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
s and
affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...
of
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
. The block features
live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
documentary and lifestyle series aimed at a family audience that meet educational programming requirements defined by the
Children's Television Act The broadcast of educational children's programming by terrestrial television stations in the United States is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under regulations colloquially referred to as the Children's Television Act (C ...
. Announced on May 24, 2011, Litton's Weekend Adventure premiered on September 3, 2011, replacing the ABC Kids block. The block is syndicated to ABC stations directly rather than being part of the network's official schedule. This was the result of a compromise between the network and its stations after ABC management decided in 2010 that it no longer wanted to provide educational programming. Thus, Weekend Adventure does not contain any ABC branding or promotions, and likewise is not promoted directly by ABC on-air or mentioned on the network's website.


Background

The block came as a result of ABC's decision in March 2010 to no longer provide E/I programming as part of its Saturday morning network lineup to its affiliates; the network had not introduced any new E/I programs for its ABC Kids block since 2007, and those that had been airing on the network at the time of the decision consisted of reruns of
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
s that had first aired on the block between September 2005 and May 2007, all of which were out of production by the time ABC Kids ended its run. In addition, before
Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...
and
Saban Brands Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commu ...
repurchased the rights to the ''
Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entert ...
'' franchise from
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in 2010, several station groups that owned ABC affiliates (such as
Hearst Television Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications. From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ...
, which would later acquire a majority stake in Litton Entertainment in 2017 and
Allbritton Communications The Allbritton Communications Company was an American media company. Based in Arlington, Virginia, Allbritton was the leading subsidiary of Perpetual Corporation, a private holding company owned by the family of company founder and former Riggs B ...
) refused to carry any series from that franchise (or any other non-E/I-compliant shows within the block such as ''
Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated action comedy-adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The title character is a teenage girl tasked with fighting crime on a regular basis while coping wi ...
'') or chose to run them only in low-rated early morning timeslots, and had demanded any lineup be fully educational so the stations would not have to purchase E/I programming from syndication distributors. Most of the major commercial networks began restructuring their Saturday morning children's program blocks (with
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
dropping its outright) to comply to tightened educational content and advertising regulations in the Children's Television Act; cultural shifts and changes in viewing habits through the migration of younger viewers to cable channels, recordable and streaming media were also affecting viewership of children's lineups carried by broadcast television networks. As a compromise, the network's affiliate board agreed to instead look for a
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
package that would air exclusively on ABC owned-and-operated and affiliate stations. Litton Entertainment was eventually selected by the ABC affiliate board to program the block, beating out two other competitors as a part of the winning presentation in which Litton suggested counterprogramming the then-usual Saturday morning fare by featuring unscripted and "pro-social programming" aimed at children and teenagers ages 7–17.


History

ABC and Litton Entertainment announced the block on May 24, 2011 for a fall 2011 launch, under the
working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
"ABC Weekend Adventure." ABC initially signed deals with its owned-and-operated station group
ABC Owned Television Stations ABC Owned Television Stations is a division of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution operated by Disney Networks Group that oversees the owned-and-operated stations of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a division of The Walt Disney C ...
, as well as affiliates owned by
Cox Broadcasting CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company prim ...
,
The McGraw-Hill Companies S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...
,
Newport Television Newport Television, LLC was a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. History In September 2007, Newport ag ...
, and
Post-Newsweek Stations Graham Media Group (formerly Post-Newsweek Stations) is the television broadcasting subsidiary of the Graham Holdings Company. It is now headquartered in Detroit, co-locating with its local NBC affiliate WDIV-TV, after spending 10 years in Chic ...
to carry the block; these were followed by May 2011 with distribution agreements involving ABC stations owned by Belo,
Bonten Media Group Bonten Media Group was a New York City-based owner of television broadcast stations in the United States. It was formed by Randall D. Bongarten and Diamond Castle Holdings in November 2006. Its first acquisition was 14 stations from Bluestone Te ...
, Chambers Communications Corporation,
Fisher Communications Fisher Communications was a media company in the United States. Based in Seattle, Washington, the company primarily owned a number of radio and television stations in the Western United States. It was the last company in the Seattle area to own ...
,
Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, ...
,
The E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
, LIN TV Corporation,
News-Press & Gazette Company The News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) is a media company based in St. Joseph, Missouri, wholly owned and operated by the Bradley family. It is presided by Brian Bradley and David R. Bradley, with Hank Bradley (retired), Eric Bradley and Kit Bra ...
,
Young Broadcasting Young Broadcasting, LLC was an American media company that owned or operated 12 television stations in 10 markets with a total U.S. television household coverage of 5.9%. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgr ...
, and
Weigel Broadcasting Weigel Broadcasting Co. is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood. It currently owns 25 television sta ...
. The renamed ''Litton's Weekend Adventure'' launched on September 3, 2011 with six series: ''
Jack Hanna Jack Bushnell Hanna (born January 2, 1947) is a retired American zookeeper and a former director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "Jungle Jack" was director of the zoo from 1978 to 1992, and is viewed as largely responsible for elevat ...
's Wild Countdown'', ''
Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin ''Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin'' is a television program which follows host Jeff Corwin's travels and works in conjunction with the Georgia Aquarium. It aired from 2011 to 2016 on Saturday mornings on ABC affiliates as part of the nature-ori ...
'', ''
Born to Explore with Richard Wiese Richard Wiese (born July 13, 1959) is an American explorer, the longest serving President of The Explorers Club, and Executive Producer and Host of the multiple Emmy Award-winning ABC and PBS program, Born to Explore. Early life and education ...
'', '' Culture Click'', ''Everyday Health'', and ''Food for Thought with Claire Thomas'' (originally titled ''The Delicious Adventures of Claire Thomas'' prior to its debut). Two other series were also initially announced to be in development: the environment-focused ''Agents of Change'' (from producer Mark Koops) and ''Earth: Angry Planet''; however, neither show was picked up to series. When the block debuted, Litton's Weekend Adventure became the first Saturday morning block to present all of its programs in high definition. On May 2, 2012, ABC and Litton reached an agreement to broadcast Weekend Adventure worldwide on the
American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
, beginning that June. On September 24, 2012, Litton announced that a television version of
Everyday Health Everyday Health Group is a digital media company which owns websites and produces content relating to health and wellness for consumers and medical professionals. For consumers, its brands include Everyday Health, Diabetes Daily, Migraine Again, ...
's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
series ''
Recipe Rehab ''Recipe Rehab'' is an American cooking competition television program that originally debuted as a short-form web series on YouTube on April 2, 2012, and subsequently became a half-hour television series on October 6, 2012 as part of the ABC s ...
'' (one of several web series directly funded by the video sharing website as a part of a premium content initiative) would premiere on the block beginning on October 6, 2012 replacing the ''Everyday Health'' series. On September 28, 2013, Litton launched a competing Saturday morning block for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, the
CBS Dream Team CBS Dream Team (suffixed with ...It's Epic! before October 3, 2020) is an American programming block that is programmed by Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Entertainment), and airs weekend mornings on CBS under a time-lease agreeme ...
(which replaced the ''
Cookie Jar TV Cookie Jar TV was an American children's programming block that aired on CBS, originally premiering on September 16, 2006, as the KOL Secret Slumber Party; the block was later rebranded as KEWLopolis ( ) on September 15, 2007, and then as Cookie ...
'' block). The following week on October 5, 2013, the Weekend Adventure block's "Health and Wellness Hour" (consisting of health and culinary programs that filled the third hour of the block) was discontinued as part of a refocusing towards exclusively wildlife-focused programs, with the move, ''Recipe Rehab'' migrated to CBS's ''Dream Team'' block. Subsequently, on October 4, 2014, ''Expedition Wild'' moved from Weekend Adventure to another Saturday morning block produced by Litton that launched on that date, ''
One Magnificent Morning One Magnificent Morning (OMM) is an American programming block that is programmed by Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Entertainment) and distributed by CBS Media Ventures, and debuted on October 4, 2014, as a replacement for the ani ...
'' on
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. In 2016, two stations disaffiliated from ABC due to varied issues;
WKPT-TV WKPT-TV (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Kingsport, Tennessee, United States, serving the Tri-Cities, Tennessee, Tri-Cities area as an affiliate of Cozi TV. It is owned by Glenwood Communications Corporation alongside low-power ...
in the Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, and
WSVI WSVI, virtual channel 8 ( UHF digital channel 20), is an Ion Television- affiliated station serving the United States Virgin Islands that is licensed to Christiansted, Saint Croix. The station is owned by Atlas News and Information Services, a ...
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but as the Litton syndication contract for Weekend Adventure is separate from their expired ABC affiliation agreements, were able to continue to air Weekend Adventure for the time being. The new Tri-Cities ABC affiliate, WJHL-DT2, used programming from the Fox-associated
Xploration Station Xploration Station is an American syndicated programming block that is programmed by Steve Rotfeld Productions, distributed by Fox, and debuted on September 13, 2014. It airs weekends (typically on Saturday mornings), primarily on Fox-affiliat ...
block (which was turned down by
WEMT WEMT (channel 39) is a television station licensed to Greeneville, Tennessee, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Tri-Cities area. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with ...
) and other syndicated programming for their E/I contributions instead. In April 2017, Weekend Adventure moved to WJHL-DT2 after WKPT voided all of their syndication contracts to become a full-time carrier of
Cozi TV Cozi TV (stylized on-air as COZI TV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal. The network airs classic television series from the 1960s to the 2000s. The network origina ...
.


Programming

Programs featured on ''Litton's Weekend Adventure'' are designed to meet federally mandated educational programming guidelines, allowing ABC stations to comply with the three-hour weekly minimum for E/I content defined by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
. However, some ABC stations may carry syndicated educational programs to provide additional E/I content supplementary to the block. Programs aired within the block may be deferred to Sunday daytime slots, or (in the case of affiliates in the Western United States) Saturday afternoons due to
breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
or severe weather coverage or, more commonly, regional or select national sports broadcasts (especially in the case of
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...
tournaments) scheduled in earlier Saturday timeslots as makegoods to comply with the E/I regulations. Some stations may air the entirety of the ''Weekend Adventure'' block on tape delay to accommodate local news or other programs of local interest (such as public affairs shows,
real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
or lifestyle programs).


Current programming


Former programming


Awards and nominations

In 2014, ''Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin'' won two Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Travel Program".


References

{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 2010s Brokered programming American Broadcasting Company original programming Litton Entertainment Television programming blocks in the United States Television shows featuring audio description