History Main / AdoredbytheNetwork

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept ''The Simpsons''[='=] annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire postseason is now cable-only: as of 2014, when their current contract was signed, the Fox Sports 1 channel splits the Division Series and League Championship Series with Creator/{{TBS}}, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games still shown on "Big Fox" being the World Series and the first game of whichever LCS Fox Sports 1 is covering.

** Spanish public channel Teledeporte is even worse than Eurosport. Not only they broadcast lots and lots of tennis matches but, when tournament day is over, they rerun the same matches you have previously seen. In occasions, they even have show delayed official matches of Spanish national teams (Handball, Hockey, Waterpolo...) to broadcast a live first-round tennis match between two unknown non-Spaniard players. So, it's not strange that many people give the channel the nickname ''Tele Tenis''.

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept ''The Simpsons''[='=] annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire postseason is now cable-only: as of 2014, when their current contract was signed, the Fox Sports 1 channel splits the Division Series and League Championship Series with Creator/{{TBS}}, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games still shown on "Big Fox" being the World Series and a simulcast of the first game of whichever LCS Fox Sports 1 is covering.

* Professional sports in general. Immensely popular, sure, but try to imagine what it's like for people who don't like sports to have a program you have no interest in that can preempt the shows you DO want to watch seemingly at any time, rarely ends at the scheduled time (sometimes causing the next show to begin "in progress" or be skipped entirely), and when it does end and you think your show is about to start... here comes the ''post-game show.'' And then the other networks [[NoHoperRepeat only run reruns against it]] because they don't want to have to compete with the show "everyone" is watching. For that, you can blame [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game Heidi]].

* [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Football]] in the United States. If it's autumn and your network carries the NFL, expect a pop-up ad or commercial every five minutes reminding you when the next game is and who's playing. Even when it's a general sports station like Creator/{{ESPN}}, the NFL will be promoted far more than anything else it carries. Those above problems with preemption? Baseball fans have the same problem when they're waiting for the World Series to start and Fox won't cut away from James Brown and Terry Bradshaw yukking it up...

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept ''The Simpsons''[='=] annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of 2014, when their current contract was signed, the Fox Sports 1 channel splits the Division Series and League Championship Series with Creator/{{TBS}}, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games still aired on "Big Fox" being the World Series and a simulcast of the first game of whichever LCS Fox Sports 1 is covering.

** In the late 90s, this seemed to be the reverse case for Blizzard, with all their efforts directed towards Starcraft + Expansions, and Diablo 2 + Expansions. Other than an upgraded re-release of ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' that allowed you to play on Battle.net, ''Warcraft'' wasn't getting much love until ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' was finally released.

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept ''The Simpsons''[='=] annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of the most recent contract in 2014, the Fox Sports 1 channel splits the Division Series and League Championship Series with Creator/{{TBS}}, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games still aired on "Big Fox" being the World Series and a simulcast of the first game of whichever LCS Fox Sports 1 is covering.

* [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Football]] in the United States. If it's autumn and your network carries the NFL, expect a pop-up ad or commercial every five minutes reminding you when the next game is and who's playing. Even when it's a sports station like ESPN, the NFL will be promoted far more than anything else it carries. Those above problems with preemption? Baseball fans have the same problem when they're waiting for the World Series and Fox won't cut away from James Brown and Terry Bradshaw yukking it up...

* [[CanadaEh For Canadian sport networks]], [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey hockey]] is the most aired sport on Sportsnet, TSN (The {{Expy}} of Creator/{{ESPN}}) and Creator/{{CBC}}. [[SeriousBusiness This really shouldn't be much surprise in Canada]]. Moreover, there are network favourites among the teams. Before ''Series/HockeyNightInCanada'' switched to an early/late game doubleheader broadcast in 1995, if you wanted to see any Canadian team aside from the Maple Leafs or the Canadiens, you either had to hope they were playing in Toronto or Montreal, or that they made the playoffs and Toronto or Montreal weren't playing that night. The absurdity of this is indicated by the fact that in the mid-1980s, when Usefulnotes/WayneGretzky and the Edmonton Oilers were the best team in the league, it was almost impossible for someone in Eastern Canada to ever see them on TV.

* [[CanadaEh For Canadian sport networks]], [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey hockey]] is the most aired sport on Sportsnet, TSN (The {{Expy}} of Creator/{{ESPN}}) and Creator/{{CBC}}. [[SeriousBusiness This really shouldn't be much surprise in Canada]]. There are network favourites. Before Series/HockeyNightInCanada switched to an early and late game broadcast in 1995 if you wanted to see any Canadian team aside from the Maple Leafs or the Canadiens, you either had to hope it they were playing in Toronto or Montreal, or that they made the playoffs and Toronto or Montreal weren't playing that night. The absurdity of this is indicated that in the mid-1980s when Usefulnotes/WayneGretzky and the Edmonton Oilers were the best team in the league, it was almost impossible for someone in Eastern Canada to ever seen them on TV.

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept ''The Simpsons''[='=] annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of the most recent contract in 2014, Creator/{{TBS}} and Fox Sports 1 split the Division Series and League Championship Series, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games still aired on "Big Fox" being the World Series and a simulcast of the first game of whichever LCS [=FS1=] is covering.

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept ''The Simpsons''[='=] annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of the most recent contract in 2014, Creator/{{TBS}} and Fox Sports 1 split the Division Series and League Championship Series, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games aired on "Big Fox" being the World Series and a simulcast of the first game of whichever LCS [=FS1=] is covering.

** This was actually lampshaded by on the Series 16 premiere of ''Series/TopGearUK'' in January 2011:
-->'''Jeremy Clarkson:''' Can I just say how nice it is to be back where we belong? Creator/{{BBC}}2, 8:00, Sunday night. Unless of course somebody's organized a snooker tournament, in which case, happy Easter!

* Since (re-)acquiring the rights to NBA coverage in 2002,[[note]]ESPN also aired NBA games in 1982–84[[/note]] ESPN has [[https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/espn-nba-finals-coverage-contract-tv-shows-deal/10x2uz354ndr41pnyg8sqadm5l devoted a very large amount of its programming to the league]]; not just actual game coverage, but NBA discussions on its studio shows, plenty of in-game promos on other events, etc. As you might expect, this tends to draw considerable criticism from viewers who aren't NBA fans.

* Professional sports. Immensely popular, sure, but try to imagine what it's like for people who don't like sports to have a program you have no interest in that can preempt the shows you DO want to watch seemingly at any time, rarely ends at the scheduled time (sometimes causing the next show to begin "in progress" or be skipped entirely), and when it does end and you think your show is about to start... here comes the ''post-game show.'' And then the other networks [[NoHoperRepeat only run reruns against it]] because they don't want to have to compete with the show "everyone" is watching. For that, you can blame [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game Heidi]].

* Football in the United States. If it's autumn and your network carries the NFL, expect a pop-up ad or commercial every five minutes reminding you when the next game is and who's playing. Even when it's a sports station like ESPN, the NFL will be promoted far more than anything else it carries. Those above problems with preemption? Baseball fans have the same problem when they're waiting for the World Series and Fox won't cut away from James Brown and Terry Bradshaw yukking it up...

* Since (re-)acquiring the rights to NBA coverage in 2002,[[note]]ESPN also aired NBA games in 1982–84[[/note]] ESPN has devoted a ''very'' large amount of its programming to the league; not just actual game coverage, but NBA discussions on its studio shows, plenty of in-game promos on other events, etc. As you might expect, this tends to draw considerable criticism from viewers who aren't NBA fans.

* Creator/{{NBC}} (and its related networks) have been the exclusive U.S. television home for the Summer UsefulNotes/OlympicGames since 1988, and for the Winter Games since 2002. They're contracted to keep airing them through at least 2032.

* Since (re-)acquiring the rights to NBA coverage in 2002,[[note]]ESPN also aired NBA games in 1982–84[[/note]] ESPN has devoted a ''very'' large amount of its programming to the league -- not just actual game coverage, but NBA discussions on its studio shows, plenty of in-game promos on other events, etc. As you might expect, this tends to draw considerable criticism from viewers who aren't NBA fans.

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, the network returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept the ''Simpsons''' annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of the most recent contract in 2014, Creator/{{TBS}} and Fox Sports 1 split the Division Series and League Championship Series, alternating between American League and National League games yearly, with the only postseason games aired on "Big Fox" being the World Series and a simulcast of the first game of whichever LCS [=FS1=] is covering.

* Due to its coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the millennium when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, Fox returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept the ''Simpsons''' annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of the most recent contract in 2014, Creator/{{TBS}} and Fox Sports 1 split the Division Series and Championship Series, alternating between American League and National League games yearly. Game 1 in the Championship Series alloted to FS1, and the World Series, are the only games that air on Fox.

* Due to the MLB post-season, there was a stretch of time starting around the turn of the century when Fox delayed the season premiere of many of its shows until after the World Series to accommodate its coverage. This meant fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'' had to wait until ''November'' to see new episodes. Starting in 2005, Fox returned to launching major shows in September -- but the Series still kept the ''Simpsons''' annual [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween Episode]] from airing until after the holiday came and went. Since 2006, almost the entire post-season is now cable-only: as of the most recent contract in 2014, Creator/{{TBS}} and Fox Sports 1 split the Division Series and Championship Series, alternating between American League and National League games yearly. Game 1 in the Championship Series alloted to FS1, and the World Series, are the only games that air on Fox.

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See also MarathonRunning (where whole marathons can be dedicated to a single show), CashCowFranchise, HollywoodHypeMachine (when this happens to actors), CreatorsPet (when this happens to characters and the fans are annoyed), RepeatingAd (when this happens to commercials), WolverinePublicity, and NetworkDecay. NetworkToTheRescue is a sure sign of this. Contrast ScrewedByTheNetwork; also sometimes the result of this trope. See also NetworkRedHeadedStepchild.

** ITV 2 airs ''Film/TheMummy1999'' and/or most of its sequels every other month. Among its other favourites are ''Film/WildWildWest'', ''Film/Catwoman2004'', and [[Film/{{Hulk}} both Incredible]] [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk films]].

* Creator/EAGames publishes a lot of games, some acclaimed indies and some big blockbuster franchises, like ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', ''VideoGame/DragonAge'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' being the biggest and most enduring of their own properties, and one of the biggest of all, '''''Franchise/StarWars'''''. But it's their sports games that they care the most about -- and among them, ''VideoGame/FifaSoccer'' is the top dog. When the development of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' was going through hurdles thanks to Bioware's unfamiliarity with the Frostbite engine, they weren't given the help of DICE, the developers who made the engine... because they were helping the ''FIFA'' team. The process repeated when ''VideoGame/Anthem2019'' -- a property EA hyped up as "their next big IP" -- faced the same issues, and EA once again instead had all staff who were familiar with Frostbite -- including those who were ''already'' working at Bioware -- moved to work on ''FIFA''. This is because ''FIFA'' is '''''huge''''' around the world, and it ''always'' outsells EA's other games. Not only that, but its microtransactions rake in ''insane'' amounts of money, to the point that EA cutting them out of ''Star Wars Battlefront II'' after backlash ''didn't affect their bottom line''.

* Creator/EAGames publishes a lot of games, some acclaimed indies and some big blockbuster franchises, like ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', ''VideoGame/DragonAge'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' being the biggest and most enduring of their own properties, and one of the biggest of all, '''''Franchise/StarWars'''''. But it's their sports games that they care the most about -- and among them, ''VideoGame/FifaSoccer'' is the top dog. When the development of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' was going through hurdles thanks to Bioware's unfamiliarity with the Frostbite engine, they weren't given the help of DICE, the developers who made the engine... because they were helping the ''FIFA'' team. The process repeated when ''VideoGame/Anthem2019'' -- a property EA hyped up as "the next big IP" -- faced the same issues, and EA once again instead had all staff who were familiar with Frostbite -- including those who were ''already'' working at Bioware -- moved to work on ''FIFA''. This is because ''FIFA'' is '''''huge''''' around the world, and it ''always'' outsells EA's other games. Not only that, but its microtransactions rake in ''insane'' amounts of money, to the point that EA cutting them out of ''Star Wars Battlefront II'' after backlash ''didn't affect their bottom line''.

* Creator/EAGames publishes a lot of games, some acclaimed indies and some big blockbuster franchises, like ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', ''VideoGame/DragonAge'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' being the biggest and most enduring of their own properties, and one of the biggest of all, '''''Franchise/StarWars'''''. But it's their sports games that they care the most about -- and among them, ''VideoGame/FifaSoccer'' is the top dog. When the development of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' was going through hurdles thanks to Bioware's unfamiliarity with the Frostbite engine, they weren't given the help of DICE, the developers who made the engine... because they were helping the ''FIFA'' team. The process repeated when ''VideoGame/Anthem2019'' -- a property EA hyped up as "the next big IP'' -- faced the same issues, and EA once again instead had all staff who were familiar with Frostbite -- including those who were ''already'' working at Bioware -- moved to work on ''FIFA''. This is because ''FIFA'' is '''''huge''''' around the world, and it ''always'' outsells EA's other games. Not only that, but its microtransactions rake in ''insane'' amounts of money, to the point that EA cutting them out of ''Star Wars Battlefront II'' after backlash ''didn't affect their bottom line''.

* {{Creator/RTE}} At one point in the early to mid 2010s ''Film/SpiderMan3'' was aired at least once every 2 weeks.

* {{Creator/HBO}} once stood for "Hey! ''[[Film/TheBeastmaster Beastmaster]]'''s On!". And it aired so often on Creator/{{TBS}} that it earned itself the nickname "[[FunWithAcronyms The Beastmaster Station]]".

*** Ever since Labor Day weekend of 2018, Paramount Channel will show ''The Breakfast Club'' not only every weekend and as a NoHoperRepeat during holidays, but to fill time during the late-night hours of the day that they cannot fill with more reruns of ''Series/{{Cops}}'' or ''Series/BarRescue''. ''Film/{{Battleship}}'' and to a lesser extent ''Film/{{Unstoppable}}'' are also given the same treatment.

* Creator/{{Freeform}}
** Freeform milked ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' marathons even more frequently than Spike did with ''Star Wars''. In almost every season of the year, there is a ''Harry Potter'' marathon. They would often take it to the max whenever another ''Harry Potter'' film was being released to theaters. In 2018, the title of ''The Harry Potter Network'' will shift to Creator/USANetwork as part of a new rights deal.

* {{Creator/HBO}} once stood for "Hey! ''[[Film/TheBeastmaster Beastmaster]]'''s On!". And it aired so often on Creator/{{TBS}} that [[FanNickname it earned itself the nickname]] "[[FunWithAcronyms The Beastmaster Station]]".

** For Oursler, there's at least one game from him in each DLC season. Season 1 had ''Pinball/{{Gorgar}}'', Season 2 had ''Pinball/PinBot'', Season 3 had ''Pinball/WhoDunnit'' and ''Pinball/JunkYard'', and Season 4 had ''Pinball/BramStokersDracula'',''Pinball/{{Cyclone}}'' and ''Pinball/JackBot''. A recent leak indicated that ''Pinball/{{Hurricane}}'' will be added during Season 5.