LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Hollywood power couple Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are launching a faith-and-family entertainment broadcast network next month.
Light TV will air on Fox stations and affiliates and capitalize on MGM’s film and TV library.
According to a release Wednesday, the round-the-clock network will feature “wholesome family and faith-based” properties, including the films “Rocky” and “Fame” and the TV series “Highway to Heaven.”
Reality TV producer Burnett is known for shows including “The Apprentice,” ”The Voice” and “Survivor” and Bible-based miniseries. He is president of MGM Television and Digital.
His wife, who starred in “Touched by an Angel,” is president of LightWorkers, Media, a division of MGM.
Light TV will launch in December in more than a dozen major TV markets including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Recently, Burnett was drawn into presidential politics because of President-elect Donald Trump’s former role as host of “The Apprentice.” The release of “Access Hollywood” audio tape from 2005 with vulgar Trump comments about women led to calls for Burnett to make public any unaired material that might be of interest in the campaign.
But MGM said in October that it owns the reality show, not Burnett, and could not unilaterally release any unaired, archived material due to existing contractual obligations.
In the same joint statement, Burnett said he has never been a supporter of Trump’s candidacy. He said he felt compelled to issue that statement because of what he called “false media reports” about his supposed support. He said that he and his wife “reject the hatred, division and misogyny” that have been “a very unfortunate part” of Trump’s campaign.
