Is LAFF gonna go broke or have a name change?

[Hawkee]

With the news that 3rd Rock From The Sun will be moving to COZI this fall I wonder what the future will hold for LAFF? Because since LAFF and COZI are owned by the same company it tells me that LAFF will go broke in the future and LAFF will be known as COZI 2. If That 70's Show moves to COZI as well will this be the end of LAFF?
Bestie

[BigManMike]

They are not owned by the same company. Laff is owned by Katz Broadcasting, who also owns Bounce, Grit, Court TV, and Court TV Mystery. Once Ion bought them, many of them moved to sub channels on the ion stations. Cozi is owned by NBC Universal.

[icecream]

LAFF totally removed 3rd Rock from the Sun from their lineup a few months ago, it did not do well for them. Like others have said, they aren't owned by the same company as Cozi. I very much doubt LAFF will go broke.

[Svenfan1234]

Don't forget The Drew Carey Show will be on Rewind in 2022 when it was a mainstay on Laff. The problem I think with Laff is that they don't renew the rights to their shows that have obviously expired and another problem is they haven't yet gotten the rights to any shows that have expired from a network like Antenna. The lack of variety I think is what will get them in the future. I don't think they'll shut down, but I do think they've gone downhill since Katz was bought. At least not yet shut down.

[icecream]

LAFF gets major props in my book being good to Home Improvement when no other network has. Even being downgraded some when How I Met Your Mother came, Home Improvement still has good blocks at watchable times 7 days a week.

[icecream]

The Drew Carey Show sucks, I won't be watching Drew Carey and Suddenly Susan when they come to Rewind (assuming I even get the channel). I would much rather have seen Boy Meets World, Sister Sister, or Major Dad join Rewind. Or Dave's World, it would have been a good companion of Night Court stars with The John Laroquette Show.

[SarahBellum]

Laff will either need to get some new shows or else go in a different direction. The only show I watched on Laff was Spin City, but they got rid of it a while back.

[AKA]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

The lack of variety I think is what will get them in the future.

I agree with this. My local CBS affiliate replaced Decades a few years ago with Laff, and it was a definite downgrade. It’s always the same handful of overplayed shows in marathon sessions. I’ve been hoping another station would pick up Decades, but so far no one has.

[icecream]

I agree Decades is a lot better than LAFF. I would like Decades to get a local affiliate and put on my cable lineup, along with MeTV being put on that lineup. However, I would not want them replacing LAFF with that being the best channel for Home Improvement. I would gladly give up my Bounce, Grit, and whatever useless true crime affiliates are on 249 and 1168 (1168 used to be Escape when they were good to Without a Trace, that sadly didn't last). Plus with Antenna TV soon splitting into two channels, I will want both of them.

[Svenfan1234]

Also, I want to say that LAFF launched when it was solely owned by Katz and they weren't owned by anybody else. In 2017, Katz was acquired by Scripps and since then it really hasn't been the same after that. They've lost their variety of shows that they used to have. If they keep on repeating Home Improvement, That '70s Show, & How I Met Your Mother, who knows how much longer they would be on the air without adding anything new. Like I said before, I think the lack of variety will come back to get them in the future if they refuse to add anything new.

[icecream]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

Also, I want to say that LAFF launched when it was solely owned by Katz and they weren't owned by anybody else. In 2017, Katz was acquired by Scripps and since then it really hasn't been the same after that. They've lost their variety of shows that they used to have. If they keep on repeating Home Improvement, That '70s Show, & How I Met Your Mother, who knows how much longer they would be on the air without adding anything new. Like I said before, I think the lack of variety will come back to get them in the future if they refuse to add anything new.

How I Met Your Mother was just added last year, it hadn't aired at all on LAFF before September 2020. According to Jim was added the year before that, I think early in 2019. They are adding new shows, just not ones you like. I didn't think much of LAFF when I first got them, of course part of that was replacing Antenna TV which I got a new affiliate for a few months later. But LAFF really improved when Home Improvement became their flagship show, that all time classic runs circles around so-so shows like Drew Carey and Empty Nest that used to air. And they still air a good, rare show Grace Under Fire that I doubt other networks would touch.

[favoriteshow]

Not that Laff is a really salable asset for Katz, but it'd be ideal from a programming perspective if Laff was in the same family with Antenna TV and Rewind TV.

Rewind TV would focus on dramas, Laff on newer comedies, Antenna on older comedies, and it'd be competitive to Weigel's digitnets.

[Svenfan1234]

Originally Posted by icecream

How I Met Your Mother was just added last year, it hadn't aired at all on LAFF before September 2020. According to Jim was added the year before that, I think early in 2019. They are adding new shows, just not ones you like. I didn't think much of LAFF when I first got them, of course part of that was replacing Antenna TV which I got a new affiliate for a few months later. But LAFF really improved when Home Improvement became their flagship show, that all time classic runs circles around so-so shows like Drew Carey and Empty Nest that used to air. And they still air a good, rare show Grace Under Fire that I doubt other networks would touch.

My point is they barely add any new shows and that will come back to get them in the long run. Empty Nest was probably the best show they had and they dumped it so that also came back to get them because that was a very poor move they made. They also only add one new show a year, maybe two, but that rarely happens. That isn't good for any channel not to have a good variety.

[AMackII]

I think neither of them at the moment

[SarahBellum]

Initially, didn't they air comedy movies in addition to sitcoms? Maybe they need to do that again to add a little variety to their schedule.