The Works was an American digital broadcast

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

owned by the

MGM Television Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, formerly known as MGM/UA Television, is the television studio arm of the American film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), specializing in broadcast syndication and the production and distribution of television sh ...

division of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. The network, which was primarily carried on the

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

s of

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

s, maintained a general entertainment format featuring a mix of feature films, classic television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

s and drama series from the 1950s through the 1980s, and news and interview programming. Through its ownership by MGM, The Works was a sister network to

This TV This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) was an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally ...

, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between MGM and

Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television station, television and radio stations thro ...

which also focuses on films and classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s and carries programming from The Works' corporate cousin MGM Television.

History

With little prior announcement of its formation in advance of its debut, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer launched The Works on April 1, 2014; the network debuted on nine television stations owned or operated by Titan Broadcast Management (though either NRJ TV or Ellis Communications), with an initial clearance rate of, at minimum, 31% of all television households in the United States. In addition to carrying The Works on its stations, Titan Broadcast Management also handles advertising sales for the network. To make room for the network, Titan ended its affiliations with the

Retro Television Network Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through t ...

on most of its stations, swapping out that network with The Works. The network was formally launched in January 2015, with 26 affiliate stations, covering 37% of the nation's television households. The Works subchannel network quietly pulled off the air around February 28, 2017, when remaining affiliates, consisting mainly of Titan Broadcast Management operated stations, switched to Charge!, a Sinclair-owned subchannel network formerly operated by MGM.

Programming

The Works' program schedule relied primarily on the extensive library of

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

and television programming currently owned by MGM and subsidiary

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. Unlike many other digital multicast networks, The Works also featured some more recent and originally-produced programming. The network maintained a general entertainment programming format with a large emphasis on theatrical feature films from the MGM library, sports and classic television series. News programming was also provided by the network through a programming agreement with ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', which provided a rebroadcast of its discussion program ''Huff Post Live'' in separate two-hour blocks of news in the midday and early evening on Monday through Fridays; affiliates were also inclined to produce local news content to air on the network.

List of programs broadcast by The Works

Classic television series

* ''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

'' * '' American Gladiators'' * ''Comedy Time'' * ''

Home Run Derby The Home Run Derby is an annual home run hitting competition in Major League Baseball (MLB) customarily held the day before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game, which places the contest on a Monday in July. In the context ...

'' * '' Science Fiction Theatre'' * '' The Rat Patrol'' * ''Quick Laffs''

Children's programming

* ''Boomerang''^E/I (imported from Australia) * '' Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot'' (imported from Japan) * ''Heroes Among Us''^E/I * '' Jack Hanna's Into the Wild''^E/I * ''Killer Instinct''^E/I * '' Prince Planet'' (imported from Japan)

News/interview programming

* '' Huff Post Live''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Works Defunct television networks in the United States Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television channels and stations established in 2014 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017