Zircon Television Network

The Zircon Television Network was a Hopelandian broadcast television network operating between October 1, 1953 and August 3, 1956. It was famous for its lack of money to keep itself on air and its short shelf life in the Hopelandian television industry, being compared to the DuMont Television Network.
==History==
The Zircon Corporation was one of Hopeland's thriving businesses in the post-war period. Zircon was aware of the situation that television was being developed and wanted to sign up to create a television network. Although the network was founded in 1950, there wouldn't be any broadcasts until 1953. Part of the reason why was because of a TV license freeze in 1949, which only allowed limited yet commercial licenses.
Zircon got two licenses in Albany and Palmerston and created affiliates in Garden City and New Cardiff in 1952. The main station, HWZN-TV, would produce programming to be shown on a coaxial cable feed that would stretch throughout the eastern half of the country. On September 1, 1953, HWZN signed on as an independent station, promoting what the new network would be.
Zircon started broadcasts on its four stations on October 1, 1953, with HWZN being the only station built and signed on by Zircon. The Palmerston, New Cardiff and Garden City stations were all independent stations in the weeks before the network founded. The first program shown on the network was the Annual Diamond Gala Ball, live from Albany, also serving as an on-screen celebration for the launch of the new network, and was broadcast live to six television stations fed by the coaxial cable link.
HXP-TV went on to become the network's largest affiliate. It produced programming for the network even though it was owned by the New Cardiff Unity.
Zircon broadcast two hours of primetime programming every evening plus a newscast at 7:45pm, the Zircon Television News.
The network took advantage in a series of innovations during its brief run on air. Among the most noteworthy was the first regular broadcast of HNFL matches from start to finish in 1954. The network did manage to create a high number of popular television series, including Adventures in Danger, and the filmed Bensonian series Captain Sentry, the first Bensonian television series to air in Hopeland, later a success in first-run syndication nationwide.
===Bankruptcy===
The first signs of ZTN's death knell were the negative profits Zircon was having in the media industry, coupled by the growth of the other networks and the slots the federal government applied for the then-Hopelandian Educational Television.
==Branding==
Zircon had a cavalier approach at branding the network. Until the end of the 1954 television season, the network logo consisted of the word ZIRCON in all-caps and often in a serifed typefont. By late 1954, a new corporate logo for the corporation was unveiled, a white Z inside a black circle. An animated production endtag was made featuring the three lines decreasing in size and making the Z in the logo.
Zircon's most iconic slogan was used during its last year on air: "Turn Zircon On". Believed to be one of the most "appalling" slogans ever made for a television network, it tried keeping Zircon profitable and on air.
==Network==
The center of the network was HWZN-TV, now HWAN-TV, on channel 5 in Albany. The network though its history had two O&Os and many affiliates. Most stations were technically secondary affiliates of the existing commercial networks at the time.
==Programming==
Zircon was unique among the television networks of its time as its programming did not match its radio counterpart.