{{Short description|Television division of Time Inc.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox company| | name = Time Life Television | type = [[Terrestrial television|Broadcast]]<br>[[Broadcast syndication|Syndication]] | former_name = Peter M. Robeck & Co. (1958–1969)<ref>{{cite web|title=Time Inc. sets up new film division|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/69-OCR/1969-09-29-BC-OCR-Page-0075.pdf|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=32|date=September 29, 1969|access-date=May 19, 2023}}</ref> | founded = {{Start date and age|1958}}<ref>{{cite web|title=United States 1963-1969|url=https://broadwcast.org/index.php/United_States--1965-1969|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=32|date=September 29, 1969|access-date=May 19, 2023}}</ref> | successors = [[HBO Films]]<br>[[Warner Bros. Television Studios#Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution|Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution]] | founder = Peter M. Robeck | hq_location_city = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | hq_location_country = U.S. | defunct = {{Start date and age|1981}} | owner = [[Time Inc.]] (1969–1981) | parent = Time Life Films (Time Life, Inc.) | area_served = International | industry = Entertainment | products = {{Plainlist| * [[Pay television]] * [[Production company|Television production]] * Limited Markets }} | divisions = [[Home Box Office, Inc.]] | subsid = }} '''Time Life Television''' was a division of '''Time Life Films''' and was the television production and distribution arm of [[Time Inc.]] With [[CBS]], they led a partnership to export their shows overseas.
==Broadcasting== Time Life also owned several radio and TV stations in the United States beginning in the 1950s through to 1983.
By 1970, Time decided to sell its broadcasting operations and to concentrate in cable development.
Time-Life's television stations were sold to [[S&P Global|McGraw-Hill]] in early 1972 following [[FCC]] approval.<ref>{{Cite web | title=McGraw-Hill's $69 million purchase of five Time-Life TV stations is approved by FCC | magazine=Broadcasting | date=1972-03-13 | page=192 | url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/81-OCR/1981-10-19-BC-OCR-Page-0216.pdf}}</ref> Those stations included the following:
* [[KMGH-TV|KLZ-TV]] in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]] from 1954<ref>{{Cite web | title=Six stations being sold for nearly $15 million | publisher=[[Broadcasting and Cable|Broadcasting - Telecasting]] | date=1954-03-08 | pages=27–28 | url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/54-OCR/1954-03-08-BC-OCR-Page-0027.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/54-OCR/1954-03-08-BC-OCR-Page-0028.pdf | title=Six stations sold for $15 million| date=1953-03-08}}</ref> to 1972. * [[WRTV|WFBM-TV]] in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]] from 1957 to 1972.{{Citation needed | date=August 2024}} * [[WOOD-TV]] in [[Grand Rapids]], [[Michigan]] from 1957<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/Time-Life-Broadcast-32,000-Hours-a-Year.pdf | title=32,000 Hours a Year | publisher=Time Life Broadcast | website=www.americanradiohistory.com}}</ref> to 1983 when it was sold to [[LIN Broadcasting]]. * [[KERO-TV]] in [[Bakersfield]], [[California]] from 1964 to 1972.{{Citation needed| date=August 2024}} * [[KGTV|KOGO-TV]] in [[San Diego]], [[California]] from 1962 to 1972. Except for WOOD-TV, the [[E. W. Scripps Company]] owns the former Time-Life television stations today, following a 2011 deal enabling Scripps to acquire McGraw-Hill's television operations. WOOD-TV is owned today by [[Nexstar Media Group]] Except for KERO-TV, each of these television stations also had AM and FM radio operations; when most of its television stations were sold to McGraw-Hill in 1972, FCC regulations at the time required Time-Life to sell its radio stations to different parties. KERO's then-owners sold off its radio station in 1955, years before Time-Life acquired KERO-TV.
Time Life joined Sterling Manhattan Cable, owned by [[Charles Dolan]] and launched [[HBO|Home Box Office]] in November 1972, which eventually became the largest premium television service in the United States. But due to an early financial loss, Dolan eventually sold his stake of HBO to Time Inc. Time merged with [[Warner Communications, Inc.]] in 1989 to form [[Time Warner]], but the Time-Life Television assets were sold to [[Columbia Pictures Television]] in 1981,<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 13, 1981 |title=Time's Film Unit Sold to Columbia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/13/business/time-s-film-unit-sold-to-columbia.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> while HBO currently holds of its library.
===International operations=== Time Life was also a financial backer for commercial TV broadcasting outside the United States, mostly in Middle and South America. With a joint venture between CBS and [[Goar Mestre]] they backed {{ill|Proartel|es}} in Argentina, PROVENTEL in Venezuela (now [[Venezolana de Televisión|VTV]]) and [[Panamericana Televisión]] in Peru. In Brazil, they backed [[Rede Globo]], owned by the [[Marinho family]].
Time Life's investments in the United States, Middle and South America in the 1950s and 1960s were largely unsuccessful, due to the stations' owners unhappy with their agreements. The only exception was [[TV Globo]] in Brazil, owned by the Marinho family, which was financially backed by Time Life until 1970.
==Television syndication and co-production== Time Life Television was most notable as the U.S. distributor of television programming produced by the [[BBC]], including ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', taken from Peter M. Robeck & Company. Time-Life's deal with the BBC expired on April 30, 1981. The U.S. rights to ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' would be transferred to [[Devillier Donegan Enterprises]] (in a deal that followed the [[Monty Python]] troupe gaining ownership of the series months before), while the rest of BBC's output would be spun off to Lionheart Television, a distributor that would later be absorbed by [[BBC Worldwide]].
Non-BBC-related programming distributed or produced by Time Life Television, including most of the [[Talent Associates]] library, would later be transferred to HBO; these programs today would be owned by HBO Entertainment and [[Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution]], both units of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In 1973, Time-Life Television co-produced ''[[The Ascent of Man]]'' with the [[BBC]]. In 1980, this collaboration was repeated with ''[[The Shock of the New]]''. Later in the 1980s, the two co-produced the [[BBC Television Shakespeare]] series.
In 1978, the company produced an adapted and expanded version of the popular ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' magazine on [[CBS]] for a few months.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Makisan |first=George |date=March 16, 1978 |title=Phyllis being groomed for new 'People' series |pages=433 |work=[[New York Daily News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=1978-05-03 |title=CBS-TV Adds 8, Drops |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/03/archives/cbstv-adds-8-drops-7-people-with-phylls-george.html |access-date=2023-09-14 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=1978-11-09 |title=2 CBS-TV Shows Are Off |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/09/archives/2-cbstv-shows-are-off.html |access-date=2023-09-14 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Later that year, it partnered with [[Telepictures|Telepictures Corporation]] to distribute its programming to the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 19, 1979 |title=Telepictures bursts out of the starting gate |pages=56 |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]] |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/79-OCR/BC-1979-02-19-OCR-Page-0056.pdf |access-date=October 24, 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{HBO}} {{European Broadcasting Union Members}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:1968 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:1981 disestablishments in New York (state)]] [[Category:Television syndication distributors]] [[Category:Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States]] [[Category:Defunct television broadcasting companies of the United States]] [[Category:Defunct mass media companies of the United States]] [[Category:E. W. Scripps Company]] [[Category:Predecessors of Sony Pictures Television]] [[Category:BBC Worldwide]] [[Category:HBO]] [[Category:Former Time Inc. subsidiaries]] [[Category:Television production companies based in New York (state)]] [[Category:Defunct film and television production companies of the United States]]