by Bailey Normann

601 Clearwater Park Rd.
West Palm Beach, FL, 33401 United States
(561) 659-4122

About

Originally founded as Paxson Communications in 1991, ION Media Networks was officially established in 2006 and has since made great lengths in all of its key areas including: general entertainment television, special interest television, and mobile television. ION is a leading American television provider and brings their content to nearly 260 million Americans. They deliver their entertainment “through innovation, offering quality content, new formats and innovative packages that are affordable and accessible to all consumers” [5]. At its helm is CEO and Chairman Brandon Burgess along with Chris Addeo in Marketing, Douglas Holloway in Distribution, and Jeff Quinn in Finance. Under the ION Media Networks Inc. flagship is ION Television, Qubo, and ION Life.

 

Holdings

Under the networks’ “Positively Entertaining” brand, ION Television offers an array of blockbuster movie titles, hit shows in syndication, and more recently, a jump into original content. The network reaches more than 1oo million US Homes and boasts it is “the only entertainment network with double-digit growth” [11]. It is available through all major distribution companies and is one of the fastest growing networks in America.

Qubo, ION’s “Good Fun” children’s network provides a safe space for childhood and adult viewing. It functions to provide content for preschoolers to tweens and tries to promote good role models and values in order to create more constructive members of society. It has also received numerous awards for its healthy programming and fight against childhood obesity. It has been recognized as the “Gold Standard” in kid’s television by the FCC and was also voted as “one of the more trustworthy sources for children’s programming” by the U.S. Government Accountability Office [12].

ION’s final special interest television venture is ION Life, a lifestyle channel that is

committed to offering programming that promotes healthy and active individuals. Its programs focus on such topics as relationships, inspirational stories, adventure, and home design. It is available 24/7 and is distributed over-the-air and through cable and satellite providers.

Financials

In May of 2009, ION Media Networks hit a serious road block.  Under the deal of a restructuring agreement with a group of debt holders whom promised they would make its debt into equity, the network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. With more than a billion dollars in liabilities and ten million in assets, ION rebuilt with a 150 million dollar funding commitment. However, by October of 2010, ION had resurrected from the ashes of bankruptcy. “Per Nielsen ratings data, ION Television averaged 1.12 million viewers in the third quarter of 2010, an improvement of 94 percent versus the year-ago period” [1]. This spur in growth is most attributed to the networks’ acquisition of shows such as Criminal Minds and Without a Trace and “from October 2009 through September 2010, ION has

grown its overall sales prime deliveries 72 percent to 1.01 million viewers, while improving 74 percent among adults 25-54 (450,000), and nearly doubling its delivery of viewers 18-49 (392,000 versus 205,000 in the year-ago period)“ [1]. Although ION is a private company and therefore does not publish their financial reports to the public, in a talk earlier this month, ION’s President of Multichannel Distribution confirmed that the company is continuing on its up-hill climb.

In the News

ION is also a leader in developing the future of mobile television and “co-founded the industry initiative to develop Mobile DTV technology in record time” [5]. This initiative, the Mobile Content Venture, or MVC for short, was also headed by NBCUniversal and Fox. In order to “mobolize” this project, these broadcasters plan to use the Dyle mobile TV service. Dyle mobile TV is working to turn Android and iOS devices into portable televisions and will allow customers to view local broadcast channels such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Quobo, Telemundo, and Univision. However, this program is not yet covered in all markets. In a presentation this month at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, ION’s President of Multichannel Distribution, Douglas Holloway, expressed qualms about Dyle’s business model, which at the moment will be entirely based on advertising. Holloway also expressed his concerns about his company’s failure to move at a fast enough rate with the expanding mobile TV platform. He said that creating their own distributable platforms are at the moment nearly impossible. This is mainly due to the fact that ION television is entirely syndication based.

Continuing to strengthen its syndicated content, ION Television announced its acquisition of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” in early August of 2012.  This off-networking licensing agreement has given the network the rights to all 10 seasons including all 195 episodes [7]. Similarly, in the same month, ION also acquired the off-net rights to all six seasons of the CBS procedural drama “Numb3rs,” which fits in perfectly with the networks’ crime drama line up [14].

In late September, ION Television announced what would be their most successful programming of the fall season. On October 3^rd, the network premiered the first match of the new WWE Main Event series. The new show was promoted with several promo ads, “featuring the WWE Superstars and Divas of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown” [9]. The series will premiere live events that are filmed across the country, including an international matchup in Europe. Since its debut, WWE Main Event has been a serious contender in television ratings. Up against a presidential debate on its premiere night, this program, according to Nielson, “garnered the highest male audience in the last year with the most Men 18-49 (422,000), Men 25-54 (444,000), and Men 2+ (876,000)” and was also the #4 program on television among Men 18-49. [9]. This beat not only the male audience watching the presidential debate, but it also beat out ESPN and ESPN2 on the last MLB regular season game. CEO Brandon Burgess describes, “’Fans of the WWE are passionate and seem to have a knack for finding their favorite Superstars wherever they live. Needless to say, we are particularly pleased that WWE has found a new home on ION Television, and we congratulate our new partner in the success of the premiere’” [9]. Vince McMahon , CEO and Chairman of WWE, responded, “’We expect our fans will make WWE Main Event the number one show on the network as they have done for WWE programs with all of our other TV partners’”[9].

On October 9, it was announced that ION had created a new and much longer-term partnership with DIRECTV, a leader in digital entertainment service providers. This has extended ION Television’s contract with the provider for many years to come. Also, for the first time, the network will be offered in high-definition on DIRECTV and will also be available nationwide, from East Coast to West Coast.

Another piece of programming proving to be a serious asset for the network this fall is its “nail-biting cop drama,” Flashpoint. Back in late January of 2011, ION Television made a deal with CBS Television for the “rights to all existing episodes and future production of the popular police drama”[10].  In this deal, they were given the rights to produce the fifth season of the drama and all subsequent seasons that may occur, which celebrates the networks’ first experience in creating its own original content. On October 16 of this year, the fifth (and final) season of the original crime drama premiered on the ION Television network. The season will include thirteen, one-hour episodes produced by Pink Sky Entertainment and Avamar Entertainment in association with CTV and ION Television. According to a Canadian television website, the show is “averaging 1.7 million viewers, up 13% from last fall’s season average” [13].

Works Cited

[1] Crupi, A. (n.d.). ION Resurrects Ratings After Bankruptcy Scare | Adweek. Adweek        – Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology.  http://www.adweek.com/news/television/ion-resurrects-ratings-after-bankruptcy-scare-116251

[2] Hoover’s | A D&B Company. (n.d.). Hoovers | Company Information | Industry             Information | Lists. http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.ION_Media_Networks_Inc.1a21103c9917c587.html

[3] Ion Media Files Bankruptcy With Deal to Swap Debt for Equity – Bloomberg.             (n.d.). Bloomberg – Business, Financial & Economic News, Stock Quotes.              http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYV7U84_mowg

[4] ION Life | Home. (n.d.). ION Life | Home. http://www.ionlife.com

[5] ION Media Networks | Home. (n.d.). ION Media Networks | Home.  http://www.ionmedianetworks.com/

[6] ION Media Networks | Press Releases. (n.d.). ION Media Networks | Home.  http://www.ionmedianetworks.com/press/hit-crime-drama-flashpoint-returns-to-ion-televisi?id=292

[7] Cable, L. R., & AM, 8. 1. (n.d.). ION Acquires Rights to ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’ – 2012-08-08 14:49:37 | Broadcasting & Cable. Cable Television News, Broadcast, Syndication, Programming & Local TV | Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/488339-ION_Acquires_Rights_to_Law_Order_Criminal

[8] ION Media Networks | Press Releases. (n.d.). ION Media Networks | Home.             http://www.ionmedianetworks.com/press/ion-media-networks-announces-new-agreement-with-d?id=297

[9] ION Television’s ‘WWE Main Event’ Debuts With Network’s Highest Male Ratings in a Year – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers. (n.d.). TV Ratings, TV Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.com. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/04/ion-televisions-wwe-main-event-debuts-with-networks-highest-male-ratings-in-a-year/151696/

[10] ION Television Acquires Popular Police Drama “Flashpoint” from CBS             Television Distribution | Business Wire. (n.d.). Press Release Distribution, Financial Disclosure, Online Newsrooms, PR, Public Relations, Investor Relations, EDGAR filing, XBRL, Breaking News, Business News, Financial News | Business Wire. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110125006261/en/ION-Television-Acquires-Popular-Police-Drama-%E2%80%9CFlashpoint%E2%80%9D

[11] ION Television | Positively Entertaining. (n.d.). ION Television | Positively                         Entertaining. http://www.iontelevision.com

[12] Qubo | TV Programming for Kids. (n.d.). Qubo | TV Programming for Kids.                  http://www.qubo.com

[13] Ratings: Flashpoint up 13% from last fall | TV, eh?. (n.d.). TV, eh? | What’s up in          Canadian television. http://www.tv-eh.com/2012/10/18/ratings-flashpoint-up-13-from-last-fall/

[14] Cable, L. R., & AM, 8. 9. (n.d.). ION Acquires ‘Numb3rs’ – 2012-08-07 13:30:15 | Broadcasting & Cable. Cable Television News, Broadcast, Syndication, Programming & Local TV | Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/488283-ION_Acquires_Numb3rs_.php

[15] http://newhouse-web.syr.edu/newhouse_img/news/Holloway.jpg