rTV was a Robloxian general entertainment television channel owned by rTV Networks. It was launched on July 1, 2011, and it features a lineup mostly comprised of original series, such as @TheIronCafe, Roblox is Off Their Rockers!, Placejumping, and Gavent. It also airs Roblox Networks Television's Newcastlefan . The channel was completely free to view, and could be viewed through its Twitch stream, and on its website. It was additionally available on the roTV, Televise, Futura, and TCA Player services.
Predecessors[]
rTV was not the first venture by rTV Networks owner BenzBot. He created two attempts at Robloxian television broadcasting prior to the launch of rTV.
BloxTV[]
In November 2010, a few months after BenzBot joined Roblox, BenzBot ran a venture called BloxTV. The channel never fully got off the ground, and it was closed before the end of that year. The logo from BloxTV still stands at the current rTV Networks HQ & Studios.
False buyout[]
On August 4, 2013, AwesomeGavent, CEO of AGTV Networks (later Gavent Television Group, now rTV Networks Gavent), falsely reported that he bought and rebranded BloxTV, and made it a division of his company, when rights to the name had not been discussed with BenzBot. In the early hours of August 5, 2013, the name was discussed, and the channel launched as Blox, a co-ownership between rTV Networks and AGTV Networks (further explained in the Blox article).
Blox News[]
Old Blox News logo
Blox News (now more commonly referred to as "Blox News Channel") predates rTV by several months, despite being later incorporated into the rTV Networks. The precursor Blox News acted as part general entertainment channel, part news channel, with news broadcasting being the major focus, as it is now. Programming on this early version included a show called Bloxcenter and the flagship news program, which only made three episodes in its entire pre-rTVN run, one in October 2010, one in April 2011, and one more, which had been lost. As of late 2013, all three episodes have now been lost.
History[]
The first rTV logo, used in the first month of the channel.
The rTV livestream as it looked during July 2011.
Launch[]
rTV came to fruition in the last weeks of June 2011, with programming hastily made.
The channel launched on Friday, July 1, 2011 at 4:00pm ET with a small roster of programming. The slogan was The Best Roblox Television: We Know Roblox, an edited version of Retro Television Network's current slogan at the time. An animated GIF was made with this slogan, as shown in the screenshot at left, where Telamon (now Shedletsky) popped up in his classic (and most famous) outfit in the middle of the sentence, before going back down again and allowing the second half of the phrase to appear.
Branding was simply the rTV logo above on a black background with Gill Sans Bold displaying program information. rTV broadcast for one day, and went into hiatus on Saturday, July 2.
First relaunch[]
The second rTV logo.
On Thursday, August 8, 2011, the channel relaunched with a new branding and Museo and Gliscor Gothic as its fonts. Gliscor Gothic was later dropped, but Museo (later along with its Sans and Slab variants) would be used in rTV branding (and parent rTV Networks' brand design) for the next six and a half years. The channel aired for a day or two before going on hiatus again around August 10.
The channel received its current logo in early 2012 and a new branding that has yet to launch on air. Since the August 8, 2011 broadcast, rTV has not had an official broadcast.
Modern relaunch[]
The previous logo, used from September 2013 until January 2019.
rTV has been working towards an eventual relaunch for years since the August 2011 broadcasts. On August 10, 2015, as the fourth anniversary of those broadcasts passed, BenzBot announced a plan to launch most of the rTV Networks and combat the continuing period of inactivity throughout the company. At the time, he announced a staggered plan of channel launches, starting with rTV and Rnetwork, and continuing with roTV-exclusive channels rTV2 and rTV Max. BenzBot has said that he hopes to launch the first pair of channels in early 2016.
2019 redevelopment and dormancy[]
On January 18, 2019, rTV received a new logo, as part of the wider rebranding of rTV Networks as a whole. The new rTV logo maintains many of the same visual features as the previous logo, but applies them to a new geometric sans design. The new logo is meant to be cleaner, more modern, and easier to read in smaller sizes (such as in the logos of rTV Max or rTV3 GT, for example) than the previous logo. In addition to the new logo, rTV is set to get a visual refresh upon its relaunch, which is currently set to be in spring 2019.
RTV has not broadcast since 2019, and no updates have been made since then, so it is likely defunct.
Programming[]
Summer 2011[]
rTV aired or planned to air a number of series during 2011 that were later canceled for one reason or another. The majority of the programming canceled were programs from the pre-rTV Blox News.
- FlashTable: Impromptu roundtable program, meant to discuss Robloxian issues. Five epsiodes were filmed, but none of them met their purpose or worked out, as most of the time, the host of the show was banned from the game (Insert Wars games were chosen as venues).
- The Xperiment: Show experimenting with different insane ideas. The program aired one episode, but it didn't have enough ideas to continue. The only episode of this program produced from 2011 is still available on rTV's video on demand service.
- The Tuhsury Show: The talk show of tuhsury13067, originally on pre-rTV Blox News. One episode was filmed and aired after the August 2011 relaunch, but the show was cancelled due to inactivity.
- Rev It Up with rev2010: rev2010's talk show, originally on pre-rTV Blox News. One episode was filmed and aired, but the show was cancelled due to inactivity. The only episode produced of this program in 2011 is still available on rTV's video on demand service.
- Derp It Up with Frankmer9: Frankmer9's talk show, a spin-off of Rev It Up. Originally broadcast on pre-rTV Blox News. The program was cancelled due to inactivity.
- The Best Show Ever with xGoldenAge50x: Variety show hosted by xGoldenAge50x. The program was cancelled due to inactivity.
- The Investigator: Also called Ceruleanshadow: The Investigator in some materials. The longest surviving pre-rTV Blox News show, hosted by Ceruleanshadow. The show was cancelled on May 3, 2013, before it ever even got off the ground, due to the host of the show quitting.
Two other series were cancelled due to poor plot and planning.
2013 relaunch plans[]
In late 2013, rTV cancelled the majority of the lineup they had planned to air in 2013. Tonight is the Night, Hangin', The LOL Show, Invention of the Day, The Random Show, The Investigator, Got to Dance, and The MVC2 Show were all cancelled at that time. rTV also planned to air BBN's Late Night with thealsomechosenone, which was also removed at the time. On February 21, 2014, Roblox is Off Their Rockers!, a show originally scheduled to air on Rnetwork, then changed to be part of rTV's relaunch, was taken off of the official lineup and was put on an indefinite hiatus, but was returned to the lineup officially on November 15, 2014, to be broadcast on both rTV and Rnetwork. On February 22, 2014, Ten From 100 was cancelled and replaced with The Obby. rTV had two themed nights scheduled in its lineup for the 2013 relaunch:
Talk Thursday: Thursday night lineup featuring all of rTV's talk shows (excluding Newcastlefan, which will air on Fridays). Programming included The BenzBot Show and Gavent.
Fun Friday: Friday night lineup featuring some of rTV's lighter fare. Shows included @TheIronCafe and Placejumping.
With the cancellation of the network's Thursday night block, both theme nights were cancelled by rTV Networks.
rTV had signed a deal with Alexnatboy (or more specifically, his alt, Zappines) to air a new series, codenamed "Project Insane". The series was planned to be announced sometime between mid-July and early August 2013, according to Alexnatboy. Two actors were already tied to the show, which was approved for thirteen episodes. Touted as rTV's first PG rated show, it was cancelled at the same time as the rest of the 2013 shows without ever being produced. The show was revived in 2016, as a project for rTV Max, which is co-owned by Alexnatboy (now iRollerCoasterr) and rTV Networks.
On January 11, 2014, rTV removed Taker from its own relaunch lineup as well as that of rTV2's launch programming due to a lack of episodes available.
2014 relaunch plans[]
rTV had announced a set of eight programs to air in 2014: Gavent, Placejumping, The Obby, Flipped (formerly The Pronight Show), The Random Show, Newcastlefan, #Lemon, and @TheIronCafe. The one episode produced of The BenzBot Show was also planned to air, although it is unknown whether more episodes will be produced.
2016 relaunch plans[]
As of September 2015, rTV plans to air Placejumping, Newcastlefan, #Lemon, The Lemon Show, Gavent, Roblox is Off Their Rockers! and @TheIronCafe. The Random Show was canceled due to its sketch comedy format being "too ambitious to be feasible" at the launch, and The Obby was delayed due to questions concerning casting for the program. The BenzBot Show will no longer air on rTV's schedule. Gavent returned to the schedule in 2017 after the formation of Overtime Studios and rTV's acquisition of first-run Gavent episodes.
rTV Live and live programming on the rTV Networks[]
At the channel's 2011 launch, rTV had planned to present a weekly series live. The program, rTV Live, was canceled early due to the lack of technology necessary to broadcast the show live. Due to then-current limitations in the Livestream platform, the show would have only been able to air without graphics, and rTV wished for a graphics-laden presentation.
In late January 2014, BenzBot said that the rTV Networks have found a way to produce live programming with graphics, and a test commenced for several minutes on Blox News Channel the night of January 25, 2014. The test broadcast consisted of a card from an unused rTV branding, a live view of the screen, fake information promoting the broadcast of Blox News Britain, a fake promotional card for an rTV awards show, an rTV credits display with live video from German regional broadcaster Hessicher Rundfunk, and tests of live broadcasting and breaking news interruptions for the main Blox News program on the channel.
rTV Networks is looking for new ways to enhance their broadcasts including new live programming methods
Format and broadcasting hours[]
rTV, at its relaunch, will broadcast live Fridays at 5pm ET and weekends at 1pm ET. Originally, when the channel was broadcasting in July and August 2011, the weekday broadcast time was 4pm ET, but this was later changed to 5pm ET for better potential viewership. In fall 2013, rTVN removed the planned Thursday night broadcasts from rTV, Blox News Channel, and Rnetwork due to "scheduling conflicts". In January 2014, the network also changed from a strict weekly lineup of programs to a variable schedule format, similar to that of sister channel Rnetwork.
All programming will air at the next five-minute interval after the previous program ends, regardless of when in that interval the previous program ended. For example, if Show A ends at 5:14pm ET, Show B will start at 5:15pm ET, and if A ended at 5:11pm ET, B would still start at the same time. However, if A ended at 5:16pm ET, B would be pushed back to 5:20pm ET.
When rTV does not air live, rTV will air Reair Hours, showcasing programs previously aired on the channel, as well as archival programming. Originally, this programming was set to air during the entirety of rTV's downtime; now it is only scheduled to air after rTV's live broadcasts until a certain time of the night. On November 15, 2014, it was announced that Reair Hours would not launch until a library of episodes of various programs was constructed.
On January 23, 2016, at RTNG MediaCon Winter 2016 during an rTV Networks presentation, it was announced that rTV and sister channel Rnetwork would be returning to Thursday night broadcasts starting with the 2016 relaunch.
rTV HD[]
- Main article: rTV HD