USA Network
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | General Electric Co. (through NBC Universal division) |
The USA Network is a popular American cable TV network with about 89 million household subscribers as of 2005. The network shows a variety of original and second-run programming, from syndicated TV series to edited movies. USA also shows some sports coverage, such as select golf tournaments, the U.S. Open (tennis), and annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Since 2004, they have broadcast portions of the Olympic Games, along with many other NBC Universal basic cable channels. Previously, it had a weekly boxing show named USA Tuesday Night Fights, which ran for 17 years. USA was also the home of World Wrestling Entertainment (then called the World Wrestling Federation or WWF)'s flagship cable TV shows from the channel's launch until September 2000, and again since October 2005.
Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily been gaining popularity recently, thanks in part to breakout hits like the detective series Monk and the sci-fi mini-series turned regular series The 4400. Reruns of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent are also frequently shown and are popular on the network, as is another NBC Universal property, House.
Alan Kalter was the network's main promotional voice throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s.
USA Network timeline
- September 27, 1977: Originally organized as the Madison Square Garden Network (not to be confused with the New York City regional sports network of that name), the channel became one of the first national television channels when it chose to use satellite delivery as opposed to traditional television broadcasting.
- April 1980: The channel changed its name to USA Network after the ownership structure was reorganized under a joint operating agreement by the UA-Columbia Cablevision cable system (now known as Cablevision Systems Corporation ) and MCA Inc. (whose assets are currently owned largely by NBC Universal and Vivendi SA).
- 1981: Time Inc. (who eventually merged with Warner Communications to form Time Warner) and Paramount Pictures Corp. (then a division of Gulf+Western; now a part of Viacom with its television division, now named CBS Paramount Television, part of CBS Corporation) took minority ownership stakes in USA.
- 1987: Ownership consolidates under Paramount and MCA, each with 50 percent ownership.
- 1991: Japanese electronic giant Matsushita buys MCA.
- September 24, 1992: USA launches a sister network, the Sci Fi Channel
- 1994: Viacom buys Paramount.
- 1995: The Seagram Company buys MCA Inc.
- 1997: Seagram buys out Viacom's 50% interest and gains complete ownership of USA and Sci Fi and sells both channels to Barry Diller's Home Shopping Network, which renames itself USA Networks, Inc.
- 1999: From Universal Studios and bankrupt Polygram, respectively, USA buys October Films and Gramercy Pictures, renaming them USA Films, and PolyGram Video, renaming it USA Home Video.
- 2000: USA Networks buys Canada's North American Television, Inc. (a joint partnership between the CBC and Power Corporation), owner of cable TV channels Trio and Newsworld International. (The CBC continued to program NWI)
- 2001: USA Networks sells its non-shopping TV and film assets (including the USA Network, the Sci Fi Channel, the Trio channel, USA Films (which is rechristened as Focus Features) and Studios USA) to Vivendi Universal. USA and the other channels are folded into Vivendi's Univeral Television Group.
- 2003: General Electric's NBC agrees to buy 80% of Vivendi Universal's North American-based filmed entertainment assets, including Universal Pictures and Universal Television Group in a multibillion dollar purchase, renaming the merged company NBC Universal.
- 2004: NBC Universal officially takes over as owner of USA and its sibling cable channels except for Newsworld International, which is bought by an investment group led by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt who rebrand the network with a new title, "Current TV", in fall 2005.
USA original programming
Children/Teen Programming
- Calliope, children's anthology program
- Commander USA's Groovie Movies, [1985-1989]
- Dance Party USA, teen-oriented dance program
- Radio 1990, a music-video and magazine show hosted by Lisa Robinson and Kathryn Kinney (1983-1986)
- Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, tween-oriented Power Rangers clone
- USA Action Extreme Team, action-oriented successor to the USA Cartoon Express
- USA Cartoon Express, animation block with USA Network Kids Club segments in-between them
- USA High, teen-oriented sitcom from Peter Engel, producer of Saved by the Bell
- USA Live (1995-2000), an afternoon program that mixed court shows with live lifestyle segments, hosted by Kathleen Murphy (1995-1998) and later by Bertice Berry (1999-2000). This replaced the station's popular game show programming.
USA Late Night Series
- Night Flight, (1981 - 1988) - late-night anthology with music videos, short films and miscellaneous programming
- USA Up All Night, schlock-y feature films hosted by Gilbert Gottfried, Caroline Schlitt, and Rhonda Shear (c. 1988-1999).
USA Original Series
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (newer version bought when NBC cancelled it) black & white intros were colorized and storylines were remade.
- The Big Easy, short-lived series based on the film.
- Campus Cops, comedy series
- Check it Out!, USA's first original co-production with Canada's CTV, a supermarket-based sitcom starring Don Adams
- Duckman, adult-oriented animated comedy series starring Jason Alexander
- G vs E
- Kojak, a revamped version of the 1970s detective series that debuted in March 2005.
- Monk, a comedic mystery series that has become USA's signature show
- Nashville Star, a country music singing competition in the mold of American Idol (2003-present).
- La Femme Nikita, a dramatic series based on the French film that inspired the U.S. film Point of No Return
- Pacific Blue, Baywatch-like drama
- Psych, another comedic mystery series about a man pretending to be a psychic
- Silk Stalkings, a Canadian mystery series
- The 4400 (In Association with Sky Television), a sci-fi miniseries that debuted in July 2004. It returned as a regular weekly series on June 5, 2005.
- The Dead Zone, mystery/paranormal series
- Weird Science, a fantasy-oriented comedy series based on the 1980s film of the same name
World Wrestling Entertainment Programming
- All American Wrestling, WWF's Sunday-afternoon showcase series hosted by "Mean" Gene Okerlund and co-hosted by the likes of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Hillbilly Jim.
- Monday Night RAW, WWE's prime time wrestling program
- WWE A.M. RAW, a program showing recaps from the previous week's RAW.
- Sunday Night HEAT, once a major show, now a B-show for RAW, now airing on wwe.com
- Prime Time Wrestling, WWF's weekly prime time airing of certain matches from the syndicated WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestling Spotlight series, hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan; precursor to Monday Night RAW.
- Tuesday Night Titans, WWF's weekly interview series hosted by Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes, a precursor to Prime time Wrestling.
Programming Staples
- PGA Tour Golf on most Thursdays and Fridays
- US Open tennis championship
- Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
- World League of American Football Coverage featuring helmets rigged with cameras.
Historical Programming Notes
- For many years (1987 to 1995), USA had a popular afternoon game show block, with shows such as The $25,000 Pyramid and Press Your Luck (both can now be seen on GSN). It also had original games shows, such as Canada's Global Television Network's Bumper Stumpers, The New Chain Reaction, Jackpot, Quicksilver, and Free 4 All. Also it rerun episodes of the defunct soap opera The Edge of Night (from the episodes from 1981 until 1984) from 1985 until 1989.
- At one point, USA shared channel time/space with two upstart cable nets, C-SPAN and Black Entertainment Television. Later, it simulcast Bloomberg TV in the early-morning hours.
USA Network slogans
- 1980s: It's a Great Place to Stay
- 1990-1994: America's Favorite Cable Network
- 1994-1997: The Remote Stops Here
- 1997-1999: The Cure for the Common Show
- 1999-2001: You Are Here
- 2005-present: Characters Welcome
- The slogan incorporates the use of television spots featuring USA original characters interacting with each other or the world (with humorous effect)
Logos
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USA Network logo from 1980-1996 (This logo was originally in color and had a red USA with a blue Network)
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USA Network logo from 1996-1999
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USA Network logo from 1999-2002 (This image was changed in 2002 due to the 7 stripes on-screen not being fully compatible with NTSC on the Leitch "Logomotion" bug generator... it was, however, the return to a red, white, and blue themed logo and the first use of an American flag to identify the network)
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USA Network from 2002-2005
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Present USA Network logo
