Star Television Network
| Type | broadcasting network |
|---|---|
| Branding | Star Television Network TV Heaven |
| Country | US |
| Founded | 1987 by
|
| Headquarters | Orlando, Florida |
| Owner |
|
|
Key people
|
Dale W. Lang (chair) Ron Eikens (CEO) |
|
Launch date
|
September 29, 1990 |
| Dissolved | January 14, 1991 |
|
Former names
|
Starcast |
| Affiliates | list |
Star Television Network was an attempt at a fifth broadcasting network based in Orlando, Florida. The network was notable as the first television network to have featured exclusively direct response commercials and infomercials among standard programming.
The network featured classic, though cheaper and lesser-known, 1950s and 1960s programming, movies and game shows under the TV Heaven banner, with direct response infomercials rounding out the schedule. Star expected to buy newer programs and originate their own programming once on a firm operating status.
The network was facing competition from the Home Shopping Network and Fox, which went after the bigger markets. In light of this, Star explained that its key advantage is in terms of operating costs for the station, in which a station affiliating with the network could save about 90% on their programming costs, and a national advertiser advertising on Star could pay about 68% of the major network rates.
The network was introduced under the Starcast name in October 1987 as needing $15 million to launch and had just started contacting potential affiliates. The network expected to sign up 30 stations by the April 1989 launch date and have 18 hours of broadcasting a day. After the Black Monday stock market crash in October 1987, Starcast's investors pulled out. By January 1988, the company had 70 stations willing to sign on to the network, since renamed Star Television Network.
By April 1989 the projected launch date, Star pushed back their launch to July due to programming negotiations and financing hold ups. 64 stations had provisionally signed on as affiliates in markets like Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Jacksonville, Florida and Orlando to an estimated reach of 40 million households. The network was then in talks with an additional 33 stations. At this time, an affiliation fee ranging from $2,750 to $60,000 annually would be paid by the stations based on their market size instead of the standard network payments to affiliates. 36 minutes a day would be allocated for advertising sold by the network, with the remainder given to its affiliates. Star missed the July launch due to lack of additional funding and set a new September 1 deadline for enough affiliates to sign on for a possible November 1 launch. The network expected to be based at the then-new Universal Studios Florida in Orlando. At this time, the network restructured its affiliate agreement in dropping the annual carriage fee for the addition of some infomercials and a refundable deposit of $1,500 to $175,000 based on the station's size. The number of affiliates at launch and infomercials was a requirement to bring on replacement investor Dale W. Lang, owner of Lang Communications, which then owned several magazines including Success and Working Woman magazine. The infomercials would bring a steady source of income for the network and were mostly to be provided by Quantum Marketing International.
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Wikipedia