Network to show ‘real America’

The heartland gets a voice soon.

The America Channel, a new reality TV network that will showcase the mettle and moxie of everyday Americans, is in final preparation to broadcast stories from Main Street rather than Hollywood, Manhattan or a fabricated survival camp.

Doron Gorshein, a former CNN and EchoStar executive, founded the Orlando-based network in July as a foil for the outlandish, sensational or celebrity-driven programming typical of reality-based fare.

“That type of thing just does not resonate with the real America. There’s been a huge hole in the TV landscape — up until we came along,” Mr. Gorshein said Friday. “We’re turning the cameras on America, and the product is going to be authentic.”

Three production companies — including CBS News and Florida-based Greystone, which has worked with Arts & Entertainment Television, the History Channel and others — have signed on to produce shows with “three core themes: community, connectivity and real people,” Mr. Gorshein said.

Programming includes “American Stories,” which highlights ordinary Americans who have “accomplished extraordinary things,” and “Road Trip,” which follows a pair of 20-something drivers in search of “the American spirit along the way,” Mr. Gorshein said.

No news programming is planned, though there will be a media analysis of how the country is portrayed by the foreign press.

The roster also includes a showcase of people with unusual or offbeat jobs, reports from colleges, and “Personal Quest,” which profiles a few rugged individuals determined “to make their own American dream come true.”

The channel is geared to a shift in culture that has become particularly evident since the September 11 attacks, Mr. Gorshein said.

“The 1990s found us focused on the ’tangibles’ like stock market and salary. Now, we’re attuned to the ’intangibles’ — family, community, a sense of belonging,” he said. “I’m convinced we’ve made a quantum leap in recent years.”

The network recently polled 600 cable and satellite TV viewers and found that 58 percent said “television does not reflect the real America.” Eighty-eight percent said connecting with other Americans was of “tremendous importance,” and 63 percent said they longed to learn more about “the everyday lives” of fellow citizens.

Nearly half said it was difficult to find TV content that “really speaks to me.”

Mr. Gorshein expects the network to be on the air by fall and has signed up an Ohio-based cable provider to carry its programming. The America Channel will aim for distribution in 5 million homes, reaching 25 million in three years and 50 million “at maturity” in five to seven years.

“My own feelings that America is weary about questionable content have been confirmed by many people, including lawmakers in Washington,” Mr. Gorshein said.

“High-quality, family-friendly programming on an independent network could be a solution to all those concerns and all that chatter about decency, localism and free competition.”