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TBS was the first of the Turner cable channels. Now there are five others. TBS is very different from other cable channels in a significant way: it is licensed as a local UHF station, WTBS, in Atlanta. This means that it is regulated like a broadcast station rather than a cable system and must serve the public interest, convenience and necessity. In the 1970s, Turner transformed both broadcasting and cable by taking his over-the-air Atlanta station and beaming it up to a satellite to create a "Superstation." He took WTBS, with its weak signal, and transformed it into a national television station.
Turner was able to broadcast games of Atlanta's baseball and basketball teams on TBS because he owned the teams. Over the years, TBS has developed like a network, with a mix of different programming types. It runs far fewer original programs than a network and more theatrical films. In 1985, Turner purchased one of the biggest and best movie libraries from MGM and that library has become a source of much programming on all the Turner cable channels. Turner runs more television and theatrical films than any other source in television. As of August, 1995, Turner airs over 700 films a month. TBS also runs more documentaries than the broadcast networks. Ted Turner's interest in both scientific exploration and the environment is well represented by the National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau documentaries.
TBS is also different from other cable channels because it does not have separate East and West Coast feeds. Almost all cable networks use two separate transponders on the satellite so their programming can appear "at the same time" on both coasts. The East Coast feed is used to send a program out to the East at 8:00 and the other feed sends out the same program three hours later to the West. The result is a schedule that resembles that of a broadcast network. TBS, since it also exists as an over-the-air station must send all its programs out at the same time. Therefore, the definition of prime time differs with TBS. A program that begins at 6:00 p.m. in Los Angeles is simultaneously playing at 9:00 in the East. Some programs may raise concerns because they appear too early in one time zone, but may raise less concerns for another time period.
During the two-week period TBS was monitored, it ran 15 theatrical films. Of these, six would raise concerns about violence if shown on a broadcast network. None of the films is free of violence and, in addition to the six that would raise concerns, several come very close to doing so. Most of the films have intense themes and contain a great deal of action. The six that would raise concerns on a broadcast network are the following:
The film contains 12 prolonged scenes of violence. The first scene shows an Englishman shooting at some Arabs, reloading his rifle and continuing to fire even after they are dead. Very upbeat music accentuates the violence. Other scenes are also very long and could be edited. This film ran at 8:00 in Los Angeles and 11:00 in the East.
The film stars Chuck Norris who uses some of the same martial arts skills seen in Walker, Texas Ranger. Because this film was made for the theater rather than television, the fighting scenes are more graphic and deadly than what is found on broadcast. There are approximately 15 scenes of violence. In one scene near the end, the violence, as in some other action films, does little to move the story, but instead demonstrates a "super" weapon that can kill far more excessively than necessary. Toward the end of the film, Norris shoots his adversary by launching a grenade into his chest. This film began at 7:00 in the West.
The film also contains scenes of prolonged violence, many of which do little to further the story. One scene, in which the rabid dog Cujo attacks a mother and child in their car, is overly long. The horror of this image is adequately conveyed very early in the scene. Many of the later attack scenes are long and graphic. Cujo ran at 7:30 on the West Coast.
A Jean-Claude Van Damme film, Death Warrant has close to 20 scenes of violence. The entire film is about violence. One scene shows a prisoner being strangled with dental floss and the nearly five-minute finale is a long, violent fight scene. In this final scene, a man is cut with a light bulb and fights back, kicking his opponent into an incinerator. The man emerges charred, but ready to continue fighting. Finally the bad guy's head is impaled on a spike. The scene is very long and very graphic. The movie ran at 7:05 in Los Angeles.
Although there are fewer violent scenes than in the above movies, at the end of this movie a shovel is used to knock a preacher's head off. The scene could be less graphic than it is and would raise concerns if shown on a broadcast network. It began at 7:30 in the West.
A Clint Eastwood Western, this film contains endless amounts of violence. Some of the considerable number of shootings are glorified and the shooters seem to be the heroes. This is one of the films described earlier that probably could not be edited sufficiently for broadcast network television. It began at 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Three films, Tarantulas: the Deadly Cargo, Ants and Deadly Tower, are very intense and would come close to raising concerns about violence on the networks. The tarantula and ant movies are not documentaries but rather are about those creatures attacking humans and wreaking havoc. More of the theatricals aired on TBS depend on action or violence than those monitored on the four broadcast networks.
Much of the rest of the prime time schedule is free of violence. Shows such as The Munsters and Live from the House of Blues contain no violence at all. Other prime time programs, Perry Mason and Matlock, contain some violence but raise no issues of concern. Nor did the scientific documentaries.
Because its programming airs irrespective of time zones, it is not possible to precisely define Saturday morning on TBS. Most of the morning is filled with Jacques Cousteau or National Geographic programs which, as mentioned above, do not raise any issues of concern. Of concern, however, was the running of Jean Claude Van-Damme's Kickboxer 2 at 9:00 in the morning in the West and 12:00 noon in the East. It raised particular concerns because of the West Coast time. Kickboxer 2 contained an advisory that "This movie contains violent material which may be unsuitable for children." The advisory ran at the beginning of the program and again an hour later. Even with the advisories and the later East Coast time, Kickboxer 2 is one of the most violent films to appear anywhere on television. It contains over 20 very prolonged and intense scenes of violence. There are three scenes of five, six and seven minutes in length. The film frequently uses slow motion to emphasize the violence. Without the fighting scenes there would be very little movie. There are even fighting scenes over the closing credits. It would raise concerns if shown on the broadcast networks at any time, but especially 9:00 in the morning on Saturday.
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