Why doesn't Warner Brothers make a comic based TV network?

With all the shows and films they have in the vault, wouldn't it be profitable to start airing them on their own channel?

Editorial Opinion
By EntertainmentAddict - Mar 21, 2015 10:03 PM EST
Filed Under: DC Comics

Warner Brothers and DC Comics have so many live action and animated translations of their comics, it seems to me to make perfect sense to create a new broadcast network to showcase them.  As far as content, it would be highly profitable to WB due to the fact they own all the properties.  They could easily run animated series from 7 to noon, and then run live action series from noon to 8pm.  For instance you could start with 2 episodes of Smallville at noon, followed by an hour of The Adventures of Superman, Superboy for an hour, Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman, an hour of Batman, and Arrow winding up at 7pm.  At 8pm weeknights, you could show a 2 hour block of short lived series such as The Flash (1990), Human Target, Witchblade, and Man From Atlantis (though not comic book, would fit in the general programming demographic).  In the overnight hours, you could re-air the shows from noon to 8pm, this time from 10pm to 6am.  That would only leave one hour of no programming block, where you could run paid programming or meet E/I requirements.

On the weekends, you could run movies and other short-lived series, such as iZombie, Constantine (if neither gets picked up for a second season), Birds of Prey, and the first seasons of Gotham and The Flash from The CW.  They could also run late night shows on Saturday with Blade The Series (as WB owns New Line Cinemas, but iffy since it is a Marvel character) and Spawn from HBO.

As revenue grows on the network, they could start adding other series and film rights to broadcast as well as original programming.  The first original program should be DC All Access every week for an hour show.  They already produce it online, so it would not be difficult to stretch to an hour with ads, plus this would give lengthier segments and interviews and the reports would not have to be so rushed.  They could also air a show that truly delves into the different characters.  A half hour documentary style would be perfect for this show.  As funds grow, new animated and live action series could also be developed.

Other shows that would fit in the realm of the network would be Dark Angel, Misfits of Science, My Secret Identity, Powers of Matthew Starr, Heroes, Painkiller Jane, Flash Gordon, Black Scorpion, The Greatest American Hero, The Green Hornet, and so on.  They could also consider acquiring broadcast rights of Marvel shows such as The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Nightman, and Mutant X as well as the animated and new series from Marvel Studios.  They could also try to acquire rights to Comic Book Men reruns.

In other words, there is so much potential to launch a successful network centered around the comic book characters we all know and love.  Hopefully, one day soon, WB will finally realize the goldmine they have in broadcasting these shows again and we will all win for it.  After all, if networks devoted to Golf, Football, wrestling, and so on reach an audience for year round viewing, surely the entertainment provided by comic based shows and films would also generate plenty of interest...

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528491
528491 - 3/22/2015, 7:19 AM
I guess the simple answer is that if it really were the most profitable option, WB would likely have done it by now.

As an example, people in the UK always ask the BBC why they have never pooled all their Live Sports rights into a single BBC Sport Channel - and the answer is always that if they did that they would actually get fewer viewers than they currently do showing Sports on their regular broadcast channels.

In other words, the only people that would tune in for a dedicated Sports channel are dedicated Sports fans, whereas having Sports shown on the main channels also pulls in casual fans, curious first-timers, and people who are too lazy to change the channel after whatever show they were watching before.

The same would very likely be true for a dedicated Comic Book TV channel - the only people that would watch it would be dedicated Comic Book fans - and thus lower viewing figures, less exposure and ultimately lower income.

So really it wouldn't make sense for WB to marginalise their Comic Book properties by burying them away on a Specialist TV channel when they really want their properties up-front and centre on the major networks at prime time.
EntertainmentAddict
EntertainmentAddict - 3/24/2015, 11:25 PM
@528491, I disagree. While Britain may find a sports network a bad idea, obviously the USA does not. We have about 15 ESPNs, NFL and Golf Networks, and countless other total sports channels. ALSO, there is an Fillipino cable channel named HERO. USA has gotten away from genre networks with BBC America and the like, and it irritates me to no end. Never want to watch a mystery or horror channel and find a sitcom like Happy Days on it (and I love Happy Days). Not to mention the fact that in the USA we have the same show on 15 different networks, so it would be no different to leave the shows running on other networks WHILE running them on the genre specific channel as well.
EntertainmentAddict
EntertainmentAddict - 3/24/2015, 11:27 PM
@DrunkenNukem, I like where you are going with it. However, we also have to have the classic shows and give the networks a chance with the first runs of the new seasons. I do love the Kevin Smith talk show idea though. I swear if I could start the network with WB's backing, I would do it instantly...
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