TRIBUNE BROADCASTNG PAYS HOMAGE TO TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF YESTERYEAR

These days it seems that it's all the rage for networks to produce original television programming that takes the viewer back to another time and another place.  No doubt, the catalyst for much of this was AMC's incredibly successful Mad Men, and it was just a matter of time before other networks tried to cash-in on this craze.  Just two months ago, ABC premiered Pan-Am to somewhat favorable reviews, and NBC rolled-out The Playboy Club, which was disastrous.  Both shows, like Mad Men, are set in the 1960s and try their best to take the viewers back in time.  Even the cable network, Starz, is set to air Magic City- a drama set in 1959 Miami Beach- early next year. 
In their own way, Tribune Broadcasting (owned by The Tribune Company) also debuted their answer to the retro-television craze.  On January 1, 2011, Antenna TV went on the air.  Rather than airing original content, the goal of Antenna TV is devote 24 hours a day to television programming from decades ago.  As I type this, All in the Family is on, and Maude will air next.  It's like being stuck in 1975.
One look at the logo for Antenna TV (above) or at their website (ANTENNA TV), and it's easy to see what the personality of this channel is.  In a time when everyone talks of HDTVs and the difference from 720 to 1080, the idea of Antenna TV appeals to those who simply wish to watch television programming from a simpler time (complete with grainy quality, acting that is often times hokey, and strange fashion trends). Even the voice of the Antenna TV spokesperson (you'll hear him greet you when visiting the website) has a booming timber that sounds as though he could be narrating a trailer during the coming attractions at a movie theater in the 1970s or 1980s. 
There's of course nothing unique about a television network airing reruns of programs that are thirty or more years old (TV Land has been doing this for years), but Antenna TV is different in the sense that it is made up entirely of this type of programming; they seem to have no desire in producing original programming.  Of course, the irony in watching these programs now is that one doesn't mind missing an episode of something thanks to that modern invention, the DVR (just in case you aren't awake at 1:00 am to watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents, why not set the DVR to record it?).
Personally, there are few television shows from back in the day that I would actually care to watch, but there is certainly a market for Antenna TV these days.   It's likability factor is tremendous I would think, and much of it is thanks to the "retro-craze" that we see in popular culture and, of course, in some of the aforementioned television programs that embrace what our country was like fifty years ago.  There are those who would love to go back in time, and while Antenna TV is by no means a time-machine, it can provide some with a brief, nostalgic getaway.
I also think that much of the modus operandi of Antenna TV is in keeping with the traditional values that the more conservative, right-wing faction of the Tribune Company represent.  One can almost hear those who complain about the incessant violence, sex and language in modern television programs singing the praises of the type of shows aired on Antenna TV and how they weren't nearly as graphic as what is on television these days (Alfred Hitchcock Presents may have had moments of violence, but it's nothing compared to bodies being dismembered on Dexter).
Kudos to Tribune Broadcasting for knowing their audience and having an idea for what the public wants.  And while much of the Tribune "brand" prides itself on being on the cutting-edge of multimedia (let's not forget this is the same company that owns dozens of popular websites that see millions of viewers every month), it's a wise move for them to embrace the past and create another outlet that caters to a specific demographic.