MBN (United States)

MBN (stands for Mein Broadcasting Network) is a non-terrestrial channel owned by Mein Corporation. MBN began broadcasting in experimental form in December 1985 as MTC and was made official in April 1986 with its programming debut "Come Along to The Best of MBN". MBN is headquartered at the Mein Television Center in New York City, with main control operations and additional offices at MBN Tower in Los Angeles and MBN Broadcasting House in Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Origin
Prior to the founding of MBN, what can be considered as the forerunner of this network was Central Broadcasting America, which had two of their flagship channels in the United States. CBA's first and main channel was KNLA in Los Angeles, launched on August 13, 1978 on UHF channel 19 formerly occupied by KUWN-TV which had moved to VHF channel 12 in 1957 and was the only more established independent station to reject any network affiliation. WNNY launched on July 8, 1979 as CBA's second and final flagship station in New York City, broadcast on UHF channel 16 and was independent, featuring programming from its independent production arm.

In 1983, CBA announced plans to create a new network that would compete with the "Big Three" networks, creating the "CBA Network" aimed at more established independent affiliates rejecting any network affiliation with both CBA station outlets being the network's new planned affiliate. However, crises and restructuring the company went through forced it to drop plans for CBA Network and the two CBA outlet stations continued to broadcast as independents.

1980s; Network formation
After News Corporation purchased a 50% stake in TCF Holdings in March 1985, TCF Oasina owner Joko Roberto left the company and both News Corp/TCF relinquished their holdings in TCF Oasina while changing its name to Mein Corporation in June 1985. Joko then took advantage of this after the resignation by reaching an agreement with CBA owner, Win Wilson, to buy 25% of the company's broadcasting branch in July 1985 to form a new network.

In October 1985, Mein Corporation announced it would launch their new network using a combination of studio TCF Oasina and the former CBA station to produce and distribute programming (the same way 20th Century Fox announced it would establish the Fox network). The two CBA-owned stations would become charter affiliates of Mein Television Company (abbreviated as MTC), with both stations' headquarters being renamed Mein Television Center. For the network's programming to air in other markets, Detroit was the only market the audience wanted through WDTR-TV (which had aired various KNLA-WNNY programming Monday-Friday and Saturday-Sunday respectively), so Mein and CBA reached addition agreement on November 7, 1987 to purchase WDTR-TV (channel 5) from the Detroit Network resulting in a total of 3 network affiliates in certain markets which became the property of MTC. At that time, with the exception of WDTR-TV, MTC was in the same position as the other fourth television efforts, having little choice but to affiliate with a UHF station in the market where it was licensed. Joko Roberto, former chairman of TCF Oasina, was appointed as MTC's first president of entertainment on the same day.

MTC began trial broadcasts on December 1, 1985 airing some mix programming from WNNY-KNLA and the rest of programs produced by its independent production arm. However, within days, MTC finally decided to change their programming on December 12, 1985, ordering the two stations to offer only one hour of late-night programming at the time (a practice Fox would eventually join in October of that year). Carrying only one hour of late-night programming, for all purposes and intents, MTC and its stations are still considered independent stations, with three of its stations filling the remaining empty schedules with syndicated programming or, in the case of WDTR-TV, airing more local news programming time when MBN is off the air outside Friday through Sunday.

MTC officially launched in the "Come Along to The Best of MBN" grand launch program on April 12, 1986 and formalized the network's current original name, MBN (short for Mein Broadcasting Network), with WGDM-TV (channel 8) being the network's first affiliate. Roberto then explained the station's official name, which is to indicate the 3 parts that exist on the network, namely "M" to represent the television network owned by Mein Corporation, with "B" for the previous former owner, Central Broadcasting America, and "N" for three stations owned by the network, are essentially stations in the New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit markets. MBN then completed the purchase of a 75% interest in CBA in December 1986, resulting in these 3 stations becoming permanently owned and operated MBN stations.

The network's official launch also saw the expansion of its programming into primetime, inaugurating its Friday night lineup with the premieres of America Novela and Movie Central. Several new shows per week were added over the coming weeks, with the network's first dramas Marina in America and Beyond K-Pop, as well as the comedy program OKTV launching to complete its Friday schedule. On January 8, 1987, the network entered the new year by launching both its Saturday and Sunday schedules with the premieres of The News Tonight and 90 Seconds (both of which were arguably the forerunners of MBN News' presence in 1995). MBN then added another 3 series to its Saturday and Sunday lineup for the next three weeks with series City Tower, drama Just Love, and current affairs Agenda. From its launch until 1988, MBN programs were mostly KNLA and WNNY productions, with some syndicated programming from independent productions.

However, as 1988 entered, MBN began to acquire old programs aired by UWN which included Griselda, The Eye, Doraemon, and The Littles. Also, in July 1988, MBN persuaded the News Corporation's Baltimore station WBBC-TV (channel 7, now WFAC-TV) to become an affiliate of the network until it was outright purchased by the network in December of the same year.

1990s
In February 1990, the network entered its new year of profitable programming finance thanks to the network's first syndicated program, The Presentation, which featured attendees presenting to clients and audiences. The success of The Presentation was apparently also a move by MBN to expand on its programming expansion by launching its Wednesday lineup that same day, which also included American Glamor and Evening Sports News during the 1990–91 television season.

Shortly thereafter, Roberto immediately left MBN to return to CEO of Mein Corporation through his official announcement on April 5, 1990, resulting in the network deciding to recruit Sin-Kwang Ryoo (former president of entertainment UWN from 1978-1987) as president of entertainment and CEO of MBN. MBN also appointed Barbara Davies of UWN and Steve Williams of the former WNNY board of trustees from 1975, to serve as presidents of the respective MBN Television Stations division and MBN board of trustees. The three officially took over the post on April 15, 1990, the same year that MBN began its major restructuring, which saw MBN programming become available on most stations as a secondary affiliate in emerging markets.

As a result of the restructuring, MBN ordered its various affiliates including network-owned stations to provide local news programming, to compete with longstanding local news outlets on established stations. The network's dedicated local news service, MBN NewsCenter, was launched in July 1991 as the network's news program produced by the WNNY news department as MBN did not have its own news department until 1995. Also as a result of this, 2 stations belonging to the network began to expand their news programming hours to fill the vacant schedule, while WBBC-TV began producing their first local news in September of that year.

Kwang Ryoo launched their own network standard since 1992, which is called the MBN Quality Standard, in which the 4-6 pm program is filled with local news provided by each affiliate, the primetime program is filled with novela programs obtained through a partnership with TV Globo, and the Saturday-Sunday morning program from 4-5:30 am is filled with children's programming blocks. However, the standard was dropped following criticism from Mein Corporation executives and complaints from the audience, so the standard was canceled in February 1992. The only success, however, were the 4-6 pm program slots filled with local news programming by each affiliate, allowing MBN to continue to compete with other stations.

Following the cancellation, MBN reverted to their traditional format, while acquiring syndicated programming rights for other networks such as Entertainment Tonight, Law & Order, Wheel of Fortune, Hollywood Squares, and The People's Court to fill their existing network-only The Presentation syndicated programming schedule. The five syndicated programs were then added to the network's Tuesday lineup schedule, which also received two additional evening programs through Kabayan and Day by Night. MBN achieved its first major change in 1994, when the network struck a deal with rival Fox Broadcasting Company to share NFL programming when Fox had just won its bidding rights from the National Football Conference in 1993. The presence of NFL programming, along with some strong syndicated programming, resulted in MBN being the only Mein-owned network to enter 28th place in the Nielsen rankings.

Another major change to the network came in 1995, when Kwang Ryoo stepped down as president of MBN after being appointed to the supervisory board of Mein Corporation and Jacob Morris took over as president of MBN entertainment from Kwang Ryoo. Under Morris, MBN finally succeeded in setting up its first news department of its own, named MBN News which was launched on January 24, 1995, shortly after Morris took over the post on the same day. The network's first sports department and another MBN department, MBN Sports, were launched 2 years later in June 1997 through a joint venture between MBN and NBC (which operated through a marketing agreement). Also under Morris, MBN produced their first in-house programming in June 1995 through Rated K, Dateline with Gerald Anderson, The Friends Zone, Table of Two, and The Carlos Show, ending WNNY and KNLA-produced programming after 9 years of producing MBN programming. This in-house program will then become the network's additional program in the Sunday lineup.

In the 1996-1997 television season and into early January 1996, the network entered the new year by unveiling its Thursday primetime lineup. Thursday's primetime schedule is marked by premieres of The Late Show (which was a replacement for Dateline with Gerald Anderson, unrelated to Fox's 1986-1988 The Late Show), What's Next?, Sunrise (the network's first breakfast program, which is now Good Day America), Hey Hey It's Monday, and The Block while also getting additional syndicated programming such as Extra, Jeopardy!, LIVE at the Red Carpet, The Price Is Right and programs dramas that have aired on any network through Santa Barbara and Young Doctor Malone. Then in February 1996, Rated K (which had Dewi Sanchez as host) changed its name to A Public Affair and MBN launched additional evening programming lineups on Thursday with Mara Clara (the first Filipino drama aired by MBN), Junior TV, First Night, Talking Point, and NewsFlash.

In August 1996, MBN aired the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color while filling in additional primetime programming nights with their debut premieres, such as In Living Memories, For Real, For Real, The Group Project, If You Ask Me, and Assumptions About Me. Other new programs are also being launched in series (such as Lit & Loaded, Code Switch, LDP Series, and Love and Match), news and current affairs (Facts First, MBN Evening News; Weekend Edition, HARDcast, Kelly Anderson Tonight, Meet the Nation, and Global Business at Sunday), and drama-soap operas (Hidden Love, First Night, Golden Generations, The Clube, E-Team, and Amazing Island).

In July 1998, MBN moved their drama and soap opera programming to the Friday line-up as an extra programming while launching a new identity and logo, which was made similar to the ITV logo, designed by English & Pockett which portrays the network as television from the heart of life. But entering December 1998, local media owners New Network Television and Western Communications bought 50% and 30% ownership of the network, respectively, leaving Mein Corporation with the remaining 20% ​​ownership. The 6 stations affected by the two companies' purchase of MBN immediately took over MBN affiliations in January 1999, with KSCA-TV being the last independent station to become an MBN affiliate in May 1999. Mein Corporation closed in April 1999 after financial problems as a result of lost advertising revenue on MBN, led to the 20% stake being transferred to Media Broadcasting America.

In January 1999, Jacob Morris left his post as president of MBN to become president of UWN entertainment, handing over his position at MBN to the successor, Xoblox Xima (born in Jakarta, who was president of Sky Network Indonesia from 1997-1999) who took over his position on 2 February 1999 as president of entertainment and CEO of MBN. Under Xima, MBN greatly expanded its in-house programming to their additional all 6 week (Tuesday-Sunday) programming, which saw the debut of programs such as MeinCast (now Mayacast Tonight), GenZ, A Color of America, MBN Kids (a children's programming block that airs Saturdays and Sundays), This Evening (which now Later Monday), and Facts First. MBN also launched Worklife in June 1999, a talk program discussing family lifestyles and women's aspirations.

2000s
MBN celebrates the New Millennium 2000 and, as the network's sweetest gift under Xoblox, officially unveils its Monday night lineup, completing its program expansion to all seven nights. New programs included in Monday's lineup debut include World Business, Outside the World, Top of The Hour, and Head to Head including the comedy drama Karan's Dinner and soap opera From the School Window. GameZone, a program covering the latest gaming news, was also launched in July 2000 along with the launch of Radar America and Panorama. 5 days later, on January 6 of that year, Davies stepped down as division president of MBN Television Stations, with Lesbi Sully taking his place the following day and changing the division's name to the current MBN Broadcasting Station.

In July 2000, New Network and Western collaborated to launch the network's new in-house programming, Newswatch 24/7 and Gerald Anderson Tonight (as replacement for Dateline with Gerald Anderson). MBN is also airing the comedy program MADtv from Fox through a schedule agreement, whereby MBN will only air it on Saturdays at 8:30 p.m.

In October 2002, New Network and Western merged to become Mein Corporation, resulting in MBN returning to its former ownership after a 3-year hiatus. The merger of the two companies also resulted in 6 stations affiliated with MBN becoming stations wholly owned and operated by MBN. This merger moves also resulted in Xoblox Xima stepping down as president and CEO of MBN to become the first president of Mein Corporation to reopen on the same day, and Heather Zwicky who was president of New Network at the time being appointed to become president of entertainment and CEO of MBN.

Zwicky then invested in producing an entirely different MBN schedule from the 1990s, which began with the network launching Rewind Movies as a program showing classic films and as its premiere episode re-runs the film from 1939. MBN later moved its syndication programming to the "MBN Syndication's Program" package for the owned-and-operated stations, filling the vacant schedule with the series Proud as an America, Filipino series Chika Chika Chicks and Palibhasa Lalake via English dubs, as well as the news program MBN News Patrol and soap opera Melrose Place ever aired by Fox.