Start TV

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).[2] The network initially debuted on the subchannels of five of Weigel's TV stations, three stations owned by Bahakel Communications, 17 CBS TV stations,[4][5][6] and three CW owned-and-operated stations.

Weigel indicated that CBS suggested the idea for the network to allow more modern programming not being carried by cable networks or streaming services to find a place to air.[7] Start TV officially launched on September 3, 2018, at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the pilot episode of Touched by an Angel ("The Southbound Bus") as its inaugural broadcast. Variety 's 2019 Nielsen ratings list showed that Start TV averaged 114,000 viewers in prime time, up 65% from the 2018 average.[8]

As with its male-targeting sister network Heroes & Icons, Start targets a female niche with a more recent focus than MeTV, carrying a number of police procedurals and legal procedurals led by women. The network features series from a narrower timeline and focuses on more recent content than Decades, its sister network.[7] It also has a uniform programming schedule with shows airing mainly at the same time seven days a week, along with some marathons.[2] Start TV 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.

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.[9] 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.[2]

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.)[10]

• Official website