Another format permutation at the MetroTV portion of Rainbow Media Group's
MetroChannels will go into effect next week.
Under the latest change, personal-oriented talk/reality and weekend sports
fare are in, while fashion -- a centerpiece of MetroTV's last format -- gets
transferred and goes national on fellow Rainbow service WE: Women's
Entertainment.
The new schedule comes two weeks after MetroTV laid off staffers as part of
the 7 percent across-the-board staff cut at Rainbow parent Cablevision Systems
Corp. A MetroTV spokesperson declined to comment on the number of workers who
were let go and the on-air talent affected.
Primetime programming as of Oct. 7 will feature, with the exception of
Fridays and Saturdays, a mix of New York-themed films and original lifestyle
series.
One new attraction is Naked New York, a relationship talk hour hosted
by Bob Berkowitz, formerly of CNBC's Real Personal (on which this show
may be modeled), as well as Cable News Network and Financial News Network.
Also coming up is NYPD: At Close Range, a Sunday-night documentary
series on the world of Irish-American police officers.
Sports -- including live New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey
Devils National Hockey League games, as well as New York Knicks National
Basketball Association contests -- will be featured Friday and Saturdays.
Not known yet is whether games slated for Cablevision-owned Madison Square
Garden Network and Fox Sports New York will be shifted to MetroTV. In the past,
MetroTV has carried New York team games on an infrequent basis when they didn't
run on either channel due to scheduling conflicts.
Three of MetroTV's current primetime attractions -- To Live and Date in
New York, Bid New York and Urban Latino -- will continue on
the new schedule.
Subway Q&A, a local Emmy Award winner, will move from primetime to 11
p.m. each night and get paired with Strictly Personal, which will attempt to link up single
men and women of similar likes or dislikes, helped by the channel's Web site (http://www.metro.tv/).
WE will take Full Frontal Fashion, the nightly look at New York's
fashion world, national in January. Further details about the shift are expected
to be announced at a later point.
Rainbow president of regional programming Greg Moyer said in a prepared
statement that the format upgrade would not deter from MetroTV's mission to
showcase the New York-area living experience.
'As our brand matures, we are focusing our programming efforts on capturing
an audience that cuts across the interests of men and women,' he said.
MetroStories and Metro Traffic & Weather, the other
two MetroChannels, will continue as is, along with MetroArts Thirteen, the
programming block running in various dayparts on MetroTV and MetroStories.
