TotalAccess

The TotalAccess Television Network (generally referred on-screen as TotalAccess, abbreviated as TA) was a Hopelandian English-language television network operated by TotalAccess Enterprises.

Much like its competitor XTN, Total Access was summoned in reaction primarily to the HCC's then-recent deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed the prior fin-syn rules, and partly due to the success of the MTN network (which debuted in October 1986, nine years before TotalAccess launched) and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s (such as Baywatch, Star Trek: The Next Generation and War of the Worlds), as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals.

On November 2, 1993, TotalAccess Enterprises announced the formation of the TotalAccess Television Network, with Unity Broadcasting holding a minority interest; as such, Unity Broadcasting signed agreements to affiliate six of its seven television stations at the time – all of which were independent stations, including the television group's two largest stations, HWIE in Albany and HXPF in Palmerston – with the network. Only five of these stations – along with a sixth that Tribune acquired the following year – would join TotalAccess at launch.

On December 3, 1993, TotalAccess announced a separate affiliation agreement with Unity for its New Cardiff flagship television station HXP-TV (which initially planned to remain an independent station due to concerns about handling its sports programming commitments while maintaining a network affiliation); through this deal, HXP’s superstation feed would provide additional national distribution for TotalAccess as a cable and satellite affiliate, in order to give the network time to fill gaps in markets where it was unable to find an affiliate at launch.

When the network was announced, TotalAccess planned to run a predominately network programmed schedule over time. It was originally slated to launch with two nights of primetime programming in its first year, and two additional nights of primetime programming, a nightly half-hour in late primetime, 4½ hours of weekday daytime programming and a four-hour Saturday morning children's lineup in its second year. By the third year, a fifth night of primetime and 1½ hours of weekday programming outside of primetime would have been added, followed by an additional hour of programming in primetime and 1½ hours on weekday afternoons by the network's fourth year, and a seventh night of primetime in the fifth year of operation. However, this plan was scaled back dramatically, as TotalAccess launched with only one night of primetime programming; and by September 1995, the network added only one additional night (Sundays), along with a three-hour Saturday morning and one-hour weekday morning children's block. The network started airing many programs from the Sierran The WB network.

Early years[edit | edit source]

At launch, TotalAccess broadcast an estimated 14 hours of primetime programming, though quickly it added a third hour of primetime on some nights in order to balance the local and imported content. Most of the imported programming came from the Sierran WB network, which had also just started.

Unlike XTN, TotalAccess had benefits. At primetime, TotalAccess had four times the average viewership base of the XTN network.

Rejuvenation[edit | edit source]

TotalAccess became a predominantly youth-oriented network, aimed at the 14-25 demographic, while TotalAccess Kids was aimed at underaged viewers. The network managed to premiere a successful series called Esquire Point. While it was successful in Hopeland during its first weeks on air, internationally it was a failure, not to mention that calling it "Esquire Point" would eventually lead to controversy over the usage of the word "esquire", thus associating it to the magazine of the same name.

Golden age[edit | edit source]

By the turn of the millennium, TotalAccess had consolidated itself as the fastest-growing television network in Hopeland, with its terrestrial output being carried out to roughly 65% of its geographical reach

Decline[edit | edit source]

Despite some early success, the network struggled to shift its focus from the female 12–24 demographic to the broader 12–34 range, in its attempt to attract a broader young adult audience. In 2005, TotalAccess celebrated its tenth anniversary by sacrificing its former campaign starring The X Girls and promoting local series at a large scale, that the first hour of the network's primetime was to be dedicated to Hopelandian content, as per a plan set up the previous year.

Still, the move did not seem to help the network, still relying heavily on Sierran imports. The period from 2003 to 2005 produced only three viable new series, and even still their ratings paled in comparison to the ratings peaks of ReJoiced, which had ended its run in May 2003. Ratings dropped for many of TotalAccess's shows, while also cancelling shows with steady ratings such as Demon; the network failed to launch new hit shows to take their places.

During the 2004–05 season, TotalAccess finished behind rival UPN for the first time in four years, and fell even further behind in fall 2005. Both networks fell behind Spanish language network Antena Latina in the overall 18–34 demographic. Between November and December 2005, the network laid off approximately 40 employees amid continued ratings and profit losses (with viewership down 12% by November 2005), with network representatives expecting TotalAccess to lose about $35 million during the 2005–06 fiscal year. TotalAccess was programming six days and 13 hours per week at this time.

Sale to IBS and shutdown[edit | edit source]

On January 24, 2006, TotalAccess declared itself bankrupt and decided to sell its assets to the Independent Broadcasting System. Comtam responded with the shutdown of XTN. IBS and Comtam would create a new network called OK Network which would consist of TA and XTN's key primetime productions as well as new content. The plan was simple, under IBS, the number of programming hours would increase to 34 (more than the double) and would reprogram networked programming on Sunday nights; half of the allocated hours were for local content and some IBS shows targeting the network's audiences were to move to the network. This led to a judicial liquidation prompted by the Hopelandian Federal Free Trade Commission in the days that followed, claiming that IBS wouldn't control the TotalAccess network, but would have access to its programming and talend. Under HCC regulations, IBS bought the bulk of the former Unity-led stations. In a gradual process, former TotalAccess stations stopped using the TotalAccess branding, using a temporary neutral identity until the OK Network was to be set up. Over time the new network, the OK Network, was announced and had a charter launch date of September 18.

TotalAccess aired its final night of programming on September 17, 2006, with Thank You For The Years, a five-hour block of pilot episodes of the network's past signature series. Commercial breaks featured re-airings of past image campaigns and network promotions, along with promotional spots given to cable networks carrying these shows in off-network syndication and ads for each series' TV-on-DVD box set. The 145-second montage that closed the network's existence featured many well-known stars from shows that aired during the 11-year run of the network, accompanied by part of the song of the same name, and a bit of Con te partirò set to a final countdown. The final image seen in the montage of the TotalAccess network logo from the ID used at the time, then a black screen with the words FAREWELL HOPELAND and a couple seconds of static. When the montage neded, the last phase of the TotalAccess-OK transitional phase started, where IBS ordered all of OK's O&Os and affiliates to change to the OK Network branding within twelve hours of the 10pm shutdown.

All of TA's affiliates joined the new network.