At a time when many believe that the broadcast era is ending, Invincible Entertainment is making a bet that combining its streaming channels with the YTA Broadcast Network will be a winner.

Invincible is an independent production and distribution company that also operates 18 free ad-supported streaming TV channels including Galxy TV and The  Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Channel. Renowned producer Thom Beers of Deadliest Catch fame joined Invincible when Invincible bought the Business Rockstars streaming channel he co-founded for $20 million in 2020.

Little known YTA Broadcast Network launched as the Nostalgia Channel on cable  in 1985. It has gone through a number of owners and names, but now reaches about 41 million homes through over-the-air affiliates in small markets and cable carriage.

Invincible CEO Thomas Ashley told Broadcasting+Cable that the acquisition was completed last month for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock, giving its old owner Centerpost Media a minority stake in Invincible. 

“YTA came to us as an opportunity to acquire a traditional over-the-air broadcast TV network,” Ashley said. “One of our goals is to increase the distribution and improve the content that’s on the network. We have a large library to pull from.”

Asked if it was odd for a company in the booming FAST business to be buying a broadcast network, Ashley said that while some have sounded its death knell, “I don’t know that broadcast is dying.” 

He noted that while people are paying for streaming networks like Hulu, they’re forgetting that much of the same programming is available for free over the air.

“The fact remains, a lot of people are watching broadcast,” Ashley said. “In some cases, it’s a better value proposition.”

A name change is likely for YTA in the near future, but Ashley said he was ready to announce the new branding.

Ashley said that Invincible will be programming YTA as a general entertainment network, with an eye toward “fanboys, nerd culture and gamers.” 

Shows created by Beers have traditionally been male skewing and Beers said that some of the shows that he produced that are now owned by Fremantle could be showing up as part of a “Tom TV” block on YTA during primetime.

The first Beers show coming to YTA is Kings of Kush, which follows pitchman Anthony Sullivan’s effort to build a CBD farm in rural Vermont. Other shows that will land on FAST as well as YTA include Swords: Life on the Line, Black Gold,  Whisker Wars, Storage Wars – Northern Treasures and America’s Lost Treasures.

In addition to the shows, Beers plans to create interstitial programming for the block that tells behind the scenes stories about how those shows were made.

“My sweet spot was a 35 year old male,” Beers said. “It’s a pretty good ad sweet spot too.”

Invincible plans different programming blocks for other dayparts on YTA.  In the morning,  and afternoon, it has a library of cartoons that could air. Invincible will also be bringing sports to the networks with MMA and baseball programming, though Ashley didn’t provide details. 

Most of the people who keep YTA running will be staying on, Ashley said. But Invincible will be adding a top distribution person to increase YTA’s broadcast and streaming footprint, and a new in-house ad sales head.

Invincible currently works with a number of third-parties to sell inventory on its FAST Networks. It works with Beachfront on programmatic sales of the FAST networks and is looking for Beachfront to create a programmatic capability for YTA. 

“That’s part of our strategy to meld these two worlds together,” Ashley said.

Invincible also plans to bring to YTA the “pay-them-to-watch strategy”' it is using on its Galxy TV channel, which went live two month ago. The network literally gives 15% of its revenues minus streaming costs to its users.

Viewers can get $2 to watch a movie and get another dollar for a written review. They get another dollar to post on Facebook or Twitter or to email a friend about a program on the network. Galaxy had its first pay-out in July. One user earned $140 dollars, Ashley said.

“We really believe that people pay more attention to what we're doing in that way and it'll be a great way that we can grow and build the brand.”

“Invincible is a clear leader in FAST streaming TV and tech. Combine that with their very deep content library and longstanding relationships with distributors and we felt this was a terrific opportunity for us to take the  YTA Network to the next level,” said Scott Miller, CEO of YTA.

“We are delighted for this next step in the evolution of YTA and look forward to the next chapter of growth along with Invincible,” added YTA owner and Chairman Ed Frazier.

Even after acquiring YTA, Invincible plans to continue to roll out new FAST channels, even though distributors are getting more selective about what they’re willing to carry. 

Invincible recently acquired Euro Cinema and just reimagined the brand as a FAST channel with foreign-language, subtitled content in the past few days. It also recently got together with Impact TV  to launch Impact Professionals last month, a network for entrepreneurs looking to have a positive impact on the world and still be positive.

Grass Hoppa, a martial arts channel, is set to launch in the next 30 days. The title is a reference to the old series Kung Fu, which will not be appearing on the network however.■

RELATED:Evine Unveils Shareholders Rights Plan

About a year after a proxy fight gave it new owners and a new board of directors, management and direction, Evine Live, the former ShopHQ, is finding the path to success may take a little longer than it first expected.

Expectations were high when New York-based investment adviser The Clinton Group took control of the company in what was at times a contentious proxy fight. A new board of directors — including former Fremantle Media North America CEO and reality show pioneer Thom Beers — and former HSN CEO Mark Bozek were brought in to transform the company from a hawker of watches and jewelry into a retailer with a heavy concentration on proprietary product lines.

The idea was that by intertwining aspects of reality television and TV talent shows, Evine could create a “seamless entertainment transactional experience.”

INITIAL ENTHUSIASM

Early results were good: in the fourth quarter of 2014, Evine grew revenue 4% to $201 million and adjusted EBITDA increased 44% to $7 million. Evine stumbled in Q1, though. Total revenue of $158 million in the quarter fell short of analyst estimates and was down about 1% from the prior year. Cash flow was $1.6 million in the period, down 71% from $5.5 million in the prior year. Sales in the next two quarters would be flat compared to the prior year, Evine also said, with growth not expected until the fourth quarter.

As a result, Evine’s stock has plunged by more than 50% since it reported those results in May and last week raised some eyebrows with the initiation of a shareholders’ rights plan — also known as a “poison pill” — that would make it harder for an outside party to attempt a hostile takeover of the company.

Brean Capital senior vice president and senior analyst equity research Tom Forte said he believes the poison pill is merely a measure to preserve Evine’s $486 million in net operating losses, which are used to offset future tax payments.

That said, Forte said there are two story lines to Evine — the actual company and its stock.

“From the standpoint of the company, you have a CEO, Mark Bozek, who has taken an aggressive approach to transforming the business,” Forte said. “Instead of maintaining the status quo of the business he took over, he has boldly made changes that if successful will position the company for sustained sales and profitability growth.”

Evine management was not immediately available and declined to comment for this article.

Some of those changes include the introduction of a new line of cookware and accessories by celebrity chef Todd English and a surprisingly successful line of seafood and cookware modeled after The Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel.

The other Evine, its stock, indicates that the transition from Shop HQ to Evine has been “choppy,” Forte said. That’s mainly because the transformation of the company from a watch and jewelry seller to a retailer with its own proprietary brands has taken longer than expected.

“It takes time to build new brands, even the ones I believe will be successful,” Forte said.

Forte is obviously bullish on the stock and his company, Brean Capital, makes a market in Evine securities, but he also has a point.

Even QVC and HSN, the two home-shopping leaders, didn’t make the switch to proprietary brands overnight. And Evine has had some early successes: Mark Cuban’s American Dream, a show starring the Dallas Mavericks owner, investor and Shark Tank panelist, along with a lineup of nine entrepreneurs hawking their own products and inventions, was one of its most-watched programs ever. The addition of English and the success of the Deadliest Catch line, all expected to continue their relationship with Evine, looks encouraging.

But even Forte admits that the Q1 slowdown has created some skepticism in management’s ability to do the job.

PRODUCT MIX QUESTION

While Evine management has said the rebound should begin in the fourth quarter, Forte said the bigger question is whether or not the company can transform its product mix to more than 70% proprietary offerings.

Evine has said proprietary products make up about 33.8% of sales, but Forte believe the figure is more like 20% to 25%.

“When that day comes, I suspect that they will have solid financial performance,” Forte said.

About five months after a proxy battle that ousted its management and revamped its board of directors, home shopping giant ValueVision Media has changed its name to Evine Live, in an effort to better reflect its transformation into a comprehensive digital commerce company.

ValueVision made the announcement in conjunction with releasing with its third quarter earnings results on Nov. 18. As part of the transition, the company changed its trading symbol on the NASDAQ Exchange from VVTV to EVLV on Nov. 20.

The company said the name change is part of the ongoing effort to transform Evine Live into a true digital commerce company.

After years of sluggish performance, ValueVision Media emerged in June from a proxy fight that saw it jettison its top management and most of its board in favor of a slate of directors with varied and vast experience in retail, television production and cable. CEO Mark Bozek, a 20-year veteran of the home-shopping wars — he started as an executive at QVC in 1994 — and a former CEO of HSN, joined a slate of high-profile directors put forth by activist investor The Clinton Group to shake up the company.  

According to a company statement, the "Es" that bookend the Evine Live brand represent the ease, exclusivity and energy of what it calls a new entertaining consumer experience. The inclusion of the word "Live" is about real-time impulses to act and interact on all digital platforms.

ValueVision acquired the Evine brand as part of a $1 million stock deal to acquire Dollars Per Minute, a Huntington, N.Y. based merchandising and entertainment company created by Bozek and Russell Nuce. Evine said it has named Nuce as its new chief strategy officer.

According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Nuce will receive annual compensation of about $375,000, a signing bonus of $75,000 and a one-time bonus of $176,000. Bozek receives total annual compensation of about $1.3 million.

As part of the Dollars Per Minute transaction, former ValueVision independent board member Thom Beers, CEO of FremantleMedia North America, received stock worth $532,867 as payment for certain convertible bridge notes he held in the company.

“As a result of the consummation of the transaction, the company’s board of directors has determined that Mr. Beers will no longer serve as an independent director,” Evine said in an SEC filing, “…and at this time, will no longer be a member of the company’s corporate governance and nominating committee.”

The rebranding is in line with what The Clinton Group had promised during their fight for control of ValueVision -- transforming what has been a distant third in the homme shopping wars (behnd QVC Group and HSN) into a modern, streamlined and nimble competitor.

"On the heels of a solid third quarter, we strongly believe definitive change and innovation are necessary to build on our recent momentum and drive the company to the next level," Bozek said in a statement. "We believe that fully embracing this new transformation will enable Evine Live to forge new paths and new relationships that allow us to be far more competitive, far more creative, and far more disruptive on all our platforms. Evine Live has the opportunity to be fearless in our strategies to transform the worlds of retail and entertainment while, at the same time, driving greater consumer engagement."

The company expects to transition from doing business as "ShopHQ" to "Evine Live" over the coming months, with the complete rebranding planned to take place first half of 2015. In the coming months, the company intends to introduce new proprietary brands from the worlds of fashion, beauty, jewelry, home and fitness.

"The new approach should enable us to build a stronger foundation for long-term growth," Bozek added in a statement.

Oxygen Media has picked up five new reality series in advance of the network’s Oct. 7 rebrand, said Rod Aissa who was also elevated to the role of executive vice president of original programming and development.

The new series include The Investment Club, executively produced by Thom Beers and follows millennial entrepreneurs hoping to make it big; The Prancing Elite Project, produced by Crazy Legs Productions and chronicles an all-male competitive dance team in Mobile, Ala; The Wilkersons, from Magical Elves and follows the life of Pastor Rick Wilkerson and his family; and Finding My Father, produced by Asylum Entertainment which follows several men and women who are looking to piece together the truth about their past.  

The network will also expand its popular Preachers Of L.A. reality series with the 2015 launch of Preachers Of Detroit, said network officials.

These shows join the recently announced  greenlit series Nail’d It, My Crazy Love, Fix My Choir, Street Art Throwdown, Funny Girls, Living Different, It Takes A Sister, and After Happily Ever After. The shows are part of Oxygen’s rebrand launching on Oct. 7 and the unveiling the network’s “very real” tagline and new logo.

“Oxygen is committed to delivering more authentic originals geared to young, multicultural women,” said Aissa. “These vibrant series reinforce the network’s new programming direction as we continue to shape the future of Oxygen.”

In his new role, Aissa will continue to oversee the strategic development and production of Oxygen’s original programming and will help oversee the network’s rebrand, according to Oxygen. Aissa was behind the launch of several successful Oxygen series including Preachers of L.A and Sisterhood of Hip Hop.

“Rod has a remarkably intuitive touch for finding unique original content that is culturally relevant for our audience in this young, multicultural demo,” said Frances Berwick, President of Bravo and Oxygen Media.  “His passion and creativity will be instrumental as we continue to expand our programming slate for the new Oxygen.”