Start TV

Start TV

Type	Digital broadcast television network
Country	United States
Availability	Nationwide, via OTA digital TV (U.S. coverage: 45%)
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois
Owner	Weigel Broadcasting
Key people	Neal Sabin (Vice Chairman, Weigel Broadcasting)
Launch date	September 3, 2018 (2018-09-03)
Picture format	480i widescreen (SDTV) (4:3 programming adapted to 14:9)
Affiliates	List of affiliates
Official website	www.starttv.com

Start TV is an American digital broadcast television network that is owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Primarily carried on the digital subchannels of its affiliated television station in most markets, it primarily airs classic television drama series from the 1980s through the 2000s, with a focus on dramas, police and legal procedurals geared toward female audiences. The network originates from Weigel Broadcasting's headquarters on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois.^[1][2]

History

On July 18, 2018, Weigel Broadcasting announced the formation of Start TV, with plans to launch the network on Labor Day of that year (September 3).^[1] The network initially debuted on the subchannels of five of network parent Weigel's television stations, three stations owned by Bahakel Communications and seventeen CBS Television Stations,^[3][4][5] fourteen CBS and three CW owned-and-operated stations.

Weigel indicated that the idea for the network was suggested by CBS to allow more modern programming in a gap of not being carried by cable networks, nor streaming services, to find a place to air.^[6] Start TV officially launched on September 3, 2018, at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the pilot episode of Touched by an Angel (titled "The Southbound Bus") as its inaugural broadcast.

Programming

As with its male-targeting sister network Heroes & Icons, Start targets a female niche with a more recent focus in series than MeTV, carrying a number of police procedurals and legal procedurals led by women. The network features series from a narrower timeline and focus on more recent content than that from which Decades, its sister network, source their programming.^[6] It also contains a uniform schedule with programming airing mainly at the same time seven days a week, with some marathons also being part of the schedule.^[1] The network also has the standard three-hour block of children's programming on Sunday mornings between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time in order to fulfill educational programming requirements mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, sourced from Bellum Entertainment Group.

Affiliates

As of August 2018, Start TV has affiliation agreements with television stations in 27 media markets encompassing 20 states, covering 45.52% of the United States.^[7] The network is carried on the digital subchannels of television stations in most of its markets (with potential exceptions in certain areas where a future affiliate may opt to carry the network on its main feed), and is also carried on cable television providers through their digital tiers at the discretion of the affiliate's parent station in certain markets. The network initially launched primarily on subchannels of stations owned by Weigel Broadcasting and CBS Television Stations. (In many of the CBS markets, Start TV displaced Weigel and CBS's classic television network venture Decades, with Weigel assuming the local Decades affiliation rights on stations it owns in certain markets where CBS Television Stations owns a CBS and/or CW owned-and-operated station, such as Los Angeles and Chicago.) Bahakel Communications also contributed stations to serve as charter affiliates.^[1]

In South Bend, Indiana (where Weigel Broadcasting owns ABC affiliate WBND-LD, CW affiliate WCWW-LD and MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYS-LD) and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (where Weigel owns CBS affiliate WDJT-TV, independent station WMLW, MeTV owned-and-operated station WBME-CD and Telemundo affiliate WYTU-LD), the network displaced This TV on WCWW-LD2 and WYTU-LD3, effectively leaving that network without an affiliate in either market. (Weigel – which was part-owner of that network from its founding in October 2008 – had continued to hold the This TV affiliation rights for the Milwaukee market after Tribune Broadcasting assumed Weigel's interest and operational responsibilities in the network in November 2013; Tribune's Milwaukee station, WITI has not claimed the This TV affiliation in the market despite Weigel moving the This affiliation to lower-tier channel slots several times.)^[8]

References

External links

• Official website