September 4, 2007

And That's the Way It Is — Again?

Retirement Living TV is trying to lure America’s most trusted man back to television as it prepares to become a 24/7 network, Seth Arenstein reports.

Walter Cronkite might not be the world’s oldest blogger or its most active (his latest entry on The Huffington Post was posted in March '06).

And the former CBS News anchor probably doesn’t rate much name recognition with those younger than their mid-40s. But the 89-year-old icon might be perfect for the fast-growing 55+ demographic that Retirement Living TV covets. That’s why the channel is attempting to bring Uncle Walter back to television, this time on cable and satellite.

RLTV President Brad Knight confirms the Columbia, MD-based network is in talks with Cronkite. One scenario would have Cronkite presenting a weekly commentary “about anything Walter wants to share with us,” Knight says.

And it could be a family affair. Walter’s son Chip Cronkite is a segment producer on RLTV’s The Art of Living. It’s possible that Chip would produce whatever projects his father does with RLTV, Knight said. (Another Cronkite connection: RLTV producer Dean Love won an Emmy while working for Cronkite's production company.)

Bringing Cronkite aboard could add legitimacy in the eyes of cable operators and spur distribution. RLTV can be found in 29 million homes nationwide. It's available on Comcast's regional networks CN8 — covering 12 million homes in Comcast's Mid-Atlantic and New England markets — and CET: Comcast Entertainment Television in metro Denver (850,000 homes). DirecTV offers RLTV nationally to 16.7 million homes.

Knight confirms RLTV is in carriage discussions with nearly all large MSOs and the NCTC. The feisty network marks its first birthday tomorrow (Sept. 5), celebrating one year on the Comcast-owned CN8.

Another move in a few weeks could help, too. On Oct. 1 the 240-person operation will expand its broadcasting day to 24 hours, 7 days per week, Knight says. RLTV broadcasts currently from 9am-5pm ET.

“Cable operators don’t know what to do with a [channel that broadcasts just 8 hours per day],” Knight says. He adds that RLTV plans to produce about 16 hours of programming daily, repeating about 8 hours, which is standard for many cable channels.

The 24/7 schedule already is helping RLTV, which last month signed G4 co-founder Charles Hirschhorn as its first chief creative officer.

Small cable operator Strategic Technologies Inc., an arm of homebuilder Lennar, with some 9,000 subscribers in Sacramento and Texas, will begin carrying RLTV Oct. 1, in its new full-time mode.

Another boost to RLTV’s legitimacy and eventually its content is the agreement it just signed with seniors' powerhouse AARP. The production agreement with AARP will allow RLTV to originate several shows each month from AARP’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. AARP also will produce programs that will premiere on RLTV.

Knight predicts RLTV's distributors will welcome the news. “Every time we are in a meeting with a cable operator, one question they always ask is, ‘What is your relationship with AARP?’”