Christian movie producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are planning to launch a 24-hour faith and family entertainment network called Light TV next month in partnership with Fox stations and affiliates.
Although the network will develop its own original programming, Burnett and Downey plan to repackage some of their existing programmes and films from MGM to cut down on expenses. The new Christian network will reportedly feature "wholesome family and faith-based entertainment programming," according to Deadline.
Some of its programmes will include Fox's "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" and "Highway to Heaven." As for films, they will air "Rocky," "Hoosiers," "Red River," "Little Man Tate," "The Nutcracker," "Lillies of the Field," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "The Black Stallion," "All Dogs Go To Heaven," "Pink Panther," "Fame," and "Mr. Mom," to name some.
"This is the beginning of our new, multi-platform faith and family network, where the demand is greater than ever for family-friendly entertainment. As we have already seen from the success of 'The Bible' series and our 20 million social followers this audience is looking for inspiring and uplifting programming that they can watch in a trusted and safe environment on any platform," Downey said of the new network.
"With the combined experience of myself and Roma, plus MGM's family-friendly library, Light TV will become an ideal platform to reach the enormously underserved family audience," Burnett added.
They will have over a dozen major TV markets including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Earlier this year, the Christian couple was busy promoting their remake of the classical film "Ben-Hur," which is based on the novel of Lew Wallace. Unfortunately, the box office numbers for the movie starring Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell were pretty dismal.
Downey had high hopes for the film especially because it carries a positive message in this age of strife. "It is our hope and prayer in that moment of (forgiveness) that this message (inspired by the words of Jesus himself) will resonate out to our country and out to the world," Downey told the Gospel Herald.
