Type Private Number of locations 5 CEO Dave Morgan (1987–) Founded 1988 | Industry Television Area served Worldwide Founder Dave Morgan | |
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Genre Television Programming
Educational entertainment Services distribution
media sales Headquarters Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, United States Profiles | ||
Million to one productions ampersand media litton entertainment 2011
Litton Entertainment (formerly Litton Syndications) is an American media and production company based in Charleston, South Carolina, with four additional offices in Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Burbank, California. Many of Litton's programs comply with federally mandated educational and informational requirements.
Contents
History
The company was founded in 1988 by President and CEO Dave Morgan in Baltimore. Its first syndicated productions were a series of one-off, sports-related specials. The programs were bought from other companies.
In the 1990s, seeing a growing market for educational programs due to the enactment of the Children's Television Act, requiring television stations to air a weekly quota of educational programs, Litton began to syndicate Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures. In 1993, the company was moved to Charleston. Most programs were produced in Burbank, California.
Adding to its outside syndication library that included Baywatch in May 2007, Litton purchased from Peace Arch Entertainment Group syndication rights to 85 movies in the Castle Hill library. The low budget films were bundled into 4 groups and was the company's first move into syndicating movies. By 2008, LE had syndicated rights to three off-MTV shows, Cribs, Pimp My Ride and Date My Mom, while adding that year, Storm Stories, off The Weather Channel. Being in Fall 2009, Litton offered first run show Street Court.
In January 2011, Litton agreed to distributed Tribune Broadcasting's WDCW show, Direct Access, to stations including other Tribune stations and Weigel's WCIU-TV. Direct Access is a hip hop music entertainment show hosted by Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan.
In May 2011, following the announcement of plans to discontinue the ABC Kids Saturday morning block, Litton reached a deal with ABC's affiliate board to syndicate a block of live-action, E/I-compliant programming, known as Litton's Weekend Adventure. The block premiered on September 3, 2011.
On September 28, 2013, Litton introduced its second Saturday morning network television block, CBS Dream Team, for CBS; focusing on teenagers 13 to 16 years old, the block replaced CBS's previous block, Cookie Jar TV. Recipe Rehab was one preexisting program Litton moved over from its ABC block.
The company planned to double its productions by adding production facilities in South Carolina. Litton began renting and renovation a North Charleston studio used with "The Inspectors" being its first show produced there. LE's first movie production in that studio will be "Ivy League Farmer", with filming beginning in September. Additional, Litton planned to build its own studio complex with multiple stages some where in the state. Most of Litton's productions should move there too.
In 2014, Ocean Mysteries With Jeff Corwin won two Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Outstanding Travel Program and Outstanding Directing in a Lifestyle/Culinary/Travel Program. On October 4, 2014, Litton introduced its third Saturday morning block, One Magnificent Morning, for The CW, replacing Saban Brands' Vortexx block,which also marked the end of Saturday morning cartoons on terrestrial television in the United States.
For the 2016-17 season, Litton launched two additional E/I programming blocks. On April 27, 2015, Litton announced Go Time, a syndicated block of E/I programming made up of older programming from Weekend Adventure and Dream Team. On February 24, 2016, Litton and NBC announced The More You Know, which launched on October 8, 2016, replacing NBC Kids.
On January 6, 2017, Hearst Television (a former employer of company founder Dave Morgan) announced that it had acquired a majority stake in Litton for an undisclosed amount, a deal closed on February 1. On January 25, Litton and Tribune Media announced a deal for the 2017-18 season where they will provide E/I content for Tribune's Antenna TV network.
Divisions
Litton has five operating divisions:
Programming blocks
Go Time
Go Time is a syndicated E/I-compliant block launched separately from the networks. The block has 80 percent clearance in the US.
The block is three hours in length. Sony Pictures Television is the block's exclusive advertising sales representative.
On April 27, 2015, Litton announced the launch of Go Time syndicated E/I-compliant block to premiere during Fall 2016 with CBS-owned independent stations as the launch group. Litton reached subsequent deals with other station groups such as Gray Television and Sinclair Broadcast Group to carry the block.
Station groups carrying the block are 5 CBS Television Stations (WLNY-TV, KCAL-TV, KTXA-TV, WSBK-TV and WBFS-TV), Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Cowles Company, Cox Media Group, Media General (now Nexstar Media Group), Meredith Corporation, News-Press & Gazette Company, Northwest Broadcasting, E. W. Scripps Company, Tribune Broadcasting and Weigel Broadcasting.