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. Image File history File links PTEN.jpg Summary Prime Time Entertainment Network logo Licensing This is a logo of a corporation, sports team, or other organization, and is protected by copyright and/or trademark. ... This is a list of television-related events in 1993. ... Warner Bros. ... Chris-Craft Industries is a privately held American manufacturer of civilian powerboats based in Sarasota, Florida. ...

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. The Fox Broadcasting Company, usually referred to as just Fox (the company itself prefers the capitalized version FOX), but rarely as FBC, is a television network in the United States. ... Prime time is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening. ...

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. UPN (which originally stood for the United Paramount Network) is a television network in the United States, owned by CBS Corporation, which also owns the more widespread CBS network. ... This is a list of television-related events in 1995. ... The WB Television Network, casually referred to as The WB, or sometimes as The Frog (referring to the networks former mascot, the animated character Michigan J. Frog), is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ... This is a list of television-related events 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. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... There are many articles named Drama: Drama, the art form. ... Babylon 5 is an epic science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. ... Island City is a city located in Union County, Oregon. ... Time Trax was a syndicated American/Australian co-produced science fiction TV series that first aired in 1993. ... Master Po (left) and Kwai Chang Caine (right) in a flashback from the episode Dark Angel, written by Herman Miller Kung Fu (1972-1975) was an award-winning American television series which starred David Carradine. ...

Legacy

The PTEN was the predecessor to the WB television network. The WB will be merging with UPN to form the CW Television Network in the fall of 2006. The CW Television Network, or more casually The CW, is a new American television network set to launch for the 2006-07 television season in the United States. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Benson, Jim, "Warner weblet to 2-night sked", Variety, May 28, 1993.

• Freeman, Mike, "PTEN goes to two evenings, sort of", Broadcasting & Cable, May 31, 1993, pp. 16.

• Freeman, Mike, "Lots of action in action-adventure genre", Broadcasting & Cable, January 17, 1994.

• King, Susan, "Space, 2258", Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1994, pp. 4.

• Freeman, Mike, "Action escalates For Syndicators", Broadcasting & Cable, August 29, 1994.

• Tobenkin, David, "Fate of WB's `Pointman' undecided", Broadcasting & Cable, April 24, 1995.