• Advertising Age, Thursday, April 2, 2009 9:15 AM

TV Guide Channel, which made its name with a scroll guiding viewers to shows on other networks, wants to ditch the scroll and point viewers to its own programs.

The network, which sold to indie movie studio Lionsgate in January, is planning to add original programming and possibly change its name. Lionsgate is eager to transform its new acquisition from a utility for basic cable into a venue for entertainment programming, and to expand its ad base from endemic "tune-in" advertising to major mass marketers.

President Ryan O'Hara says the network is considering different branding options based on a programming lineup cobbled together from shows bought from Lionsgate or other studios, or developed on their own. "We will be entertainment driven at our core," he says.

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