Second logo for rTV3 Retro, launched as the channel's new primary logo in the fall of 2017 and intended to give the logo a shape more similar to that of rTV3 and rTV3+. The original rTV3 Retro logo would have remained as a secondary logo for the channel. The new logo's first and last public appearance was on the Twitter post announcing the closure of the channel on December 26, 2017.
rTV3 Retro was a Robloxian IRL content network co-owned by rTV Networks and Overtime Studios. The channel planned to air animated content from the 1930s to the 1990s, as well as a small selection of live-action shows. The channel was a spinoff of rTV3 and was exclusive to the roTV platform. rTV3 Retro launched on June 1, 2017, and closed on December 30, 2017.
History[]
rTV3 Retro started as a request from AGavent to work with BenzBot on a new network that would focus on classic content, from classic Disney shorts to 90s Nickelodeon cartoons, on May 26, 2017. Benz accepted the offer to work with Gavent and later made an agreement where Gavent's studio, Overtime Studios, would help supply Benz and rTV Networks with content to air, while rTVN would handle the network operations. Over the next five days, Gavent built an extensive library of classic cartoons, along with airing agreements with both JTV Networks and Lava Lamp Entertainment for airing certain shows. Finally, on June 1, 2017, rTV3 and Overtime's Twitter accounts officially announced rTV3 Retro. This was notably the first time AGavent had been involved with broadcasting a television channel since his divestiture of the properties of his former company, Gavent Networks, on March 31, 2017. (Ironically, the majority of the former Gavent Networks channels were acquired by rTV Networks, owners of parent rTV3 and co-owners of this channel; Overtime would later launch Realtalk as its first fully-owned channel since the divestiture).
In late-November 2017, AGavent left the Robloxian television industry to focus on other fields where he has interests, such as building and development. Following this, rTV Networks began to consider selling off or closing properties which didn't align with their current company strategy or that weren't already well-integrated into it. (Most of the former Gavent Networks channels which rTVN acquired in the spring of 2017 had already been rebranded and incorporated into the company's expansion.) rTVN's targets ultimately were JERK, which was sold to Lava Lamp Entertainment on December 2, 2017, and rTV3 Retro. rTVN had largely deferred management of rTV3 Retro to Overtime, given that a classic programming outlet was not in rTV3's expansion strategy (which consisted of only rTV3+, then later rTV3 GT as well; and, indirectly, rTV Fun) and that rTVN itself had little interest in running classic programming as old as rTV3 Retro's remit suggests (instead preferring programming from the 1990s and 2000s, as seen on rTV3's late-night programming block).
For much of December 2017, the future of rTV3 Retro was undecided; proposals included running the channel as a home for 1990s and 2000s content similar to what is aired on rTV3's late-night programming block, rebranding the channel to have a different or altered focus, or closing the channel entirely and focusing solely on the rest of the rTV3 channel suite. At one point, even a timeshift channel for rTV Fun was considered as a replacement for the channel space.
In the early morning hours of December 26, 2017, rTV Networks announced their decision on the future of rTV3 Retro. rTVN announced that they would be closing the channel outright on December 30, 2017. This meant that the channel would be just six months old at the time of its closure, and, additionally, had never launched. According to rTVN owner BenzBot, this was largely due to the issues previously stated; that rTVN did not have great interest in acquiring or airing the kind of classic content rTV3 Retro was set to specialize in. However, rTVN did state that it would still commit to airing classic programs from the 1990s and 2000s as part of the regular schedules of the other rTV3 channels (rTV3, in its late-night programming block, rTV3+, and rTV3 GT). Additionally, rTV Networks intends to retain control of rTV3 Retro's valuable channel slot, high within the roTV channel list; but how they intend to retain it remains unknown. The channel shut down at 11:30pm ET on December 30, 2017; the channel's holding loop was replaced by a holding slide explaining that the channel had closed. The rTV3 Retro channel space was ultimately replaced in April 2018 with a high-definition simulcast of Rnetwork.
Potential relaunch[]
A potential relaunch of rTV3 Retro, this time featuring largely 1990s and 2000s content, has been toyed with as part of the rTV3 Extended Family set of channels; the new channel would be dubbed rTV3 Retro HD in a bid to somewhat separate it from the former channel, and to continue rTV Networks' current nomenclature concerning HD-only channels. As of July 2018, there is no word if rTV Networks will pursue such a relaunch, though concerns have been raised about a potential crossover in content with rTV3 Edge HD were the channel to come to fruition.
Programming[]
rTV3 Retro was set to air content from the 1940s to the 1990s; starting with cartoons from the 1990s, progressively airing older content throughout the day until 6am ET, when the cycle will restart again, back at 90s shows. Most of the content prepared and announced for rTV3 Retro was animated (such as the classic Disney and Looney Tunes shorts). The network would have used rTVN's 24-hour broadcasting system.