Prime Time Entertainment Network
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Image:PTEN.jpg The Prime Time Entertainment Network (also known as PTEN) was a television network launched in 1993 by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Domestic Television and the Chris-Craft group of independent stations. Originally, the station groups in the consortium helped finance the shows on PTEN, but that deal was restructured at the beginning of the network's second year. At its peak, PTEN had 177 stations covering 93% of the country.
PTEN was launched as a potential fifth network, and offered packaged nights of programming to television stations, beginning with a two-hour block, with second block added one year later. However, close to half of PTEN's inital affiliates were Fox stations, and PTEN programming was usually scheduled around Fox's then five-night prime time schedule. Some PTEN-affiliated stations took issue with the network's barter split, which gave nine minutes of advertising time per hour to the syndicator, leaving only five minutes to the stations. The network also ran into difficulty when the studio was forced to let stations out of their back-end commitments for several series.
When Chris-Craft pulled out of the partnership and realigned with the just-launched UPN in 1995, and Warner Bros. lanched The WB with the Tribune station group, PTEN essentially became a syndication service for its remaining shows. The network eventually closed down in 1997.
The most successful PTEN program was the science fiction drama Babylon 5. Other shows included Pointman, Island City, Time Trax, and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and two 10-hour documentary mini-series: The Wild West and The History of Rock 'n' Roll.