July 14, 200422 yr LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fox Networks Group on Tuesday said it would launch a reality television cable network early next year, raising the stakes in the new genre as rivals accuse Fox Broadcasting of stealing their ideas. The Fox Reality Channel will debut in the first three months of 2005 with new and repeat performances from Fox, known for shows like "American Idol" and "The Simple Life," as well as outtakes and contestant interviews, foreign adaptations of popular concepts and shows from other production companies. The network will also back up programs on the main Fox broadcast channel with extra material, it said. The Fox broadcast network has yet to comment on criticism from rivals that it has stolen their ideas for new reality shows, mounting a boxing show after NBC decided to do so and debuting "Trading Spouses," a show about parents from different families switching places, ahead of "Wife Swap" on ABC, which first came up with the idea. There are already two other reality cable channels -- EchoStar Communications Inc's Dish satellite network carries Europe's "Reality TV" in the United States, and an independent group is preparing to launch a "Reality Central" channel with new reality shows and gossip about the industry late this year. E! Entertainment Television co-founder Admin Namer is president and chief executive of "Reality Central" and said he expected Fox's rivals ABC, CBS and NBC would be wary of working with a Fox channel and would prefer to work with his own. His channel is in the process of getting deals for carriage from five of the biggest 10 U.S. carriers. A Fox spokesman said it has not named an executive to head the channel as yet. Fox is part of the Fox Entertainment Group Inc., which is controlled by News Corp. Ltd. NBC Universal is controlled by General Electric Co. and ABC is owned by Walt Disney Co.
July 14, 200422 yr Hmmm... interesting. Really disgusting, but interesting. It looks like GSN (formerly the better Game Show Network) will have some competition.
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