Roblox Networks Television, known better as Roblox Networks or RN, is a Robloxian television corporation, originally owned by SuperLemonade (formerly newcastlefan118), then as of early 2012 co-owned by him and BenzBot. RN owns and operates five channels and several internet properties.
History
Roblox Networks started in 2008, although co-owner newcastlefan118 (now SuperLemonade) likes to say that it started in 2009, due to his inactivity in the first year of RN. On November 5, 2011, rTV Networks owner BenzBot started doing work for RN, and a few months later, he was co-owner of RN, which had three channels at the time: RN1, RN2, and RN3. RN1 broadcasted for about two weeks, Thursday through Saturday, in August 2012. RN1 was planning on broadcasting again in January 2013, but the plans were scrapped. August 2012 was the only time in RN's history where any of the group's channels had broadcasted. In March 2013, RN1 and RN2 were consolidated and rebranded as RN, focusing on a teenager audience, like RN2, while still keeping some traits of generalist RN1. On Febuary 23, 2014, RN got a 41 percent stake in Gavent Television Group's (later rTV Networks Gavent's, now Gavent Networks') channel Flickz.
Units
RN runs four television properties and several internet presences.
Current properties
RN
- Main article: RN
Owned from: March 2013 - present
RN is RN's flagship channel, which started as a teen channel but slowly became more generalist as time went on. The lineup remains generally unchanged from that of its predecessors, RN1 and the old RN2, as the channel just combined the two channels' programs. Programming planned includes Newcastlefan, Everybody Talks, Daybreak, @TheIronCafe, and OD.
RN2
- Main article: RN2
Owned from: November 2011 - March 2013, January 2014 - present
RN2 was originally an offset channel to RN1, aiming slightly less general than RN1, but later, after the merger with RN3 in May 2012, became a teen-aimed channel. Programs featured in its later incarnation included Invention of the Day, The Random Show, and The MVC2 Show. RN2 shut down in March 2013, never broadcasting, but merged with RN1 to become RN.
On January 11, 2014, RN2 was revived under its pre-closure format. Programming originally merged into RN will be spun-off once again onto RN2, namely Dragonclan and Extremes.
RN3
- Main article: RN3
Owned from: May 2010 - May 2012, January 2014 - present
From May 2010 - November 2011, RN3 was a music focused channel, which was planned to broadcast shows such as RobloxLIVE, ListenLife, and HIT20 Chart.
Following the start of RNTV's co-ownership with BenzBot, RN3 became a vibrant, vivacious channel aimed at teenagers. RN3's attitude was bright, loud, and extreme. Programming on RN3 included Extremes, Newcastlefan Extra, and Dragonclan. In May 2012, the channel shut down without ever broadcasting, and merged with the old RN2, which has kept that format for its relaunch.
On January 11, 2014, RN3 returned under a new format. The channel will now feature repeats of recent episodes of series from RN and RN2, offering viewers a second chance to see new episodes, should they miss them on the program's home channel.
MixTV
- Main article: MixTV
Owned from: October 26, 2013 - present
MixTV is an upcoming music and entertainment channel from Roblox Networks (with a possible co-ownership stake by rTV Networks), aimed at the same teenage audience as RN. The channel will feature mostly music videos, charts countdowns, and popular music. The channel will also feature a nightly three-hour block of RN and rTV Networks encores under the name MixPrime.
Anytime
Owned from: November 2011 - present
Anytime, formerly RN Anytime is simply the name for RN's on-demand service. RN Anytime will also be included in roTV's on-demand service, roPlay. RN Anytime will be accessible at rnanytime.tk or through the other RNTV sites. During the period where RN was only one channel, there were talks of merging it into the main RN site. It now seems that the site will stay separate, and is currently downplaying its relation to RNTV, in order to make it seem more attractive to other networks' brands and programs.
rntv.tk
This is RN's website and main online hub. Originally the corporate site (while RN1, RN2, and RN3 had their own domains, rnone.tk, rntwo.tk, and rnthree.tk, respectively), it has now become the main landing page for RN, with the corporate area moving to a subdomain.
rntwo.tk / rnthree.tk
rntwo.tk and rnthree.tk have been revived as the URLs for RN2 and RN3, respectively.
mixroblox.tk
mixroblox.tk is the URL for MixTV, and, in addition to including links to the network's MixPrime programs and other content, it will have a heavy focus on music, similar to the channel itself, with music videos, US and UK charts listings, and more.
RN Digital Productions
- Main article: Mix Productions
RN Digital Productions, formerly Ya! Productions & Mix Productions, is the main production arm of RNTV and was launched in 2011 to produce and edit Newcastlefan. In July 2013, the company also began to produce place reviews program PlaceView, and as of July 2015 become the main production arm of RNTV.
Previous properties
RN1
- Main article: RN1
Owned from: November 2011 - March 2013
RN1, stylized as rn1 or rnone (on-screen), was RN's main channel before the rebranding as RN in March 2013. RN1 was a general entertainment channel, similar to rTV. Programs featured included Newcastlefan and The BenzBot Show. The channel actually aired for two weeks in August 2012. The channel's Livestream URL, rn_one, is now being used by RN.
RN Music
- Main article: RN Music
Owned From: May 2010 - September 2011
From May 2010 - September 2011, RN Music was an online service that offered music-related webshows, as well as chart updates and music videos, provided by VEVO. The service shut down on 27th September 2011, as part of the Roblox Channel rebrand. The idea of a Robloxian music channel, however, has been recreated in the form of MixTV.
Flickz
- Main article: Flickz
Owned From: 2014 - 2016
From 2014 onward, RNTV had a 14% stake in the Flickz network, with the majority owned by Gavent Television Group. In February 2016, when AGavent decided to revive Flickz, RN disassociated itself with the channel, resulting in its return to full ownership by Gavent Networks.
Upcoming channels
On December 21, 2014, BenzBot and SuperLemonade discussed the consolidation of RN into simply the sole RN brand. It was announced that MixTV would be relaunched as RN4 and a new channel, RN5, offering RN programming at times better for US audiences, would launch in spring 2015. As of September 2015, the RN4 rebrand has been shelved, and the RN5 American channel launch is up in the air.
Notable Events
Anniversaries
In a similar style to the rTV Networks, RN has released a special anniversary logo for its anniversary, which, like rTVN's, is in July.
3rd Anniversary (2012)
In 2012, RN celebrated it's third anniversary with a special group logo. This involved a plan to launch 3 new shows, yet only one of them is still under consideration.
RN's fourth-anniversary logo, used in 2013.
4th Anniversary (2013)
2013 marks RN's fourth (actually fifth, but due to the inactivity of 2008, that year doesn't count) anniversary, and to mark the occasion, RN released this logo on the group page (left), with the message:
"Celebrating 4 years of rebranding, talk shows, mergers, alliances, experience, livestreams, and best of all, fun."
The logo was taken down and replaced with the regular group logo on August 2, 2013.
September 2013 Temporary Retirement
On September 14, 2013, newcastlefan118 announced that he would be temporarily quitting Roblox, and that the group's operations would be shifting to co-owner BenzBot for the time being.
BenzBot has done the same thing with his group in the past: when he went on some of his longer hiatuses, he placed newcastlefan118 and Flunken in control of major day-to-day operations, and the two acted as chief operating officers (COOs) for the rTV Networks until BenzBot returned. Now, the role is solely newcastlefan's job when BenzBot goes on a hiatus.
On October 24, 2013, newcastlefan118 changed his name to SuperLemonade, and he has announced his name change in various Roblox places (including the group) accordingly. It seems as of the name change that his retirement has ended.