Christian TV producer Total Living Network, which sold its Aurora studio complex in a leaseback deal last December, is aggressively retooling for a transition to producing short-form content for the Web and mobile devices.
“Within 90 to 120 days we’ll have taken the first steps into moving from Internet as a support for broadcast and cable, to being its own entity,” says TLN founder Jerry Rose.
“By the end of the year we’ll be very active.”
TLN is in the process of repackaging much of it catalog of original programs — including “Aspiring Women,” “On Screen,” and “Significant Living” — into one-to-seven minute segments.
The Internet programming push is driven by a threefold revenue model: ad sales, sales of products including books and magazines published in-house and products from affiliated companies, and private donations.
In December, TLN sold its studio to Oklahoma City-based Christian retailer Hobby Lobby, leasing back the facility for an extendable five-year term.
Driven by the economic downturn, a growth in location shooting and the reduced space needs due to technological change, Rose says TLN had been internally discussing the possibility of a sale for over a year before entering talks with Hobby Lobby that lasted another year.
“We had the building purposefully built to manufacturing specifications so it could have multipurpose uses,” Rose says.
“The marketplace is changing radically and rapidly and we wanted to make sure as our production needs changed that we looked to the future and wouldn’t be locked into something we didn’t need.”
TLN also owns a broadcast studio at its station KTLN in San Rafael, California. They’ve used their larger Aurora studio much less in recent years. Job Search Network Television buys most of the time in TLN’s large studio and some in the smaller studio, as well as leasing office space at TLN.
When Rose founded Ch. 38 in 1976 it was one of the country’s first Christian TV broadcasters. He sold the station to Paxson Communications for $120 million in 1998.
In 2004, TLN moved from its three-studio River West facility into a newly-built 40,000-sq. ft., $18 million complex on 38 acres in Aurora, with two HD studios, one 4,800-sq. ft. and the other 2,400-sq. ft.
The company produces nationally syndicated shows and programs for Comcast Channel 138 and a dedicated VOD channel in Chicago, a TLN satellite station, KTLN, KEEN in Las Vegas, and networks in Europe and the Middle East.
TLN has 25-30 employees, Rose says, down by about 10 from a year ago. “I don’t see that growing that much,” he says. “We’re looking to stay lean. Everybody on our staff is cross-trained to handle multiple responsibilities.”
Total Living Network is at 2880 Vision Court, Aurora. Call 630/801-3839 or see
