ION Television Announces Expanded Schedule

WEST PALM BEACH, April 4:
ION Media Networks will extend the schedule for its flagship channel, ION
Television, to an additional hour of entertainment programming from 5 p.m. to 6
p.m. each weekday, with three new series joining the channel’s lineup: The Steve
Harvey Show, Family Feud and Quantum Leap.

The expanded schedule will
kick off on Monday, April 7. Airing from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through
Thursday, The Steve Harvey Show
is a sitcom from Sony Pictures Television that stars comedian and nationally syndicated radio talk show host
Steve Harvey as Steve Hightower, a music teacher at a large, diverse Chicago
high school.

ION Television will debut
the 2006-2007 season of Family Feud in the 7-8 p.m. timeslot Monday through Thursday. Hosted by John O’Hurley,
who had a first-season stint on Dancing with the Stars, Family Feud pits two families against each other in a contest to name the most
popular responses to survey questions posed to 100 people. The show was
acquired from FremantleMedia North America.

ION Television has also
obtained all 96 episodes of Quantum Leap from NBC Universal. The show follows scientist Sam Beckett, played by
Scott Bakula, leaping from one point in time to another, righting wrongs and
fixing people’s problems.

Bolstered by deals with
studios such as Warner Bros., ION Television will launch the strand Total
Theatre Thursday this summer,
airing on Thursday nights from 8 to 11 p.m. The strand will feature an array of
hit feature films like Blade Runner,
Dirty Harry, Risky Business and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Other shows part of ION
Television’s lineup are The Wayans Brothers, airing from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, The
Drew Carey Show from 10 to 11 p.m.
Monday through Wednesday, and Baywatch from 6 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays.

“These programming
additions create a fun and diverse summer schedule, on a path to positioning
the network for broad audiences this fall,” said Brandon Burgess, the chairman
and CEO of ION Media Networks. “We’re committed to upgrading and expanding our
lineup as part of our promise to clients and distributors to create a network
with a leading audience value proposition.”

—By Irene Lew