Start TV

Overview

Start TV

type	Free-to-air television network
country	United States
area	Nationwide coverage: 84.74%
headquarters	Chicago, Illinois
owner	CBS News and Stations Weigel Broadcasting (both owning 50%)
parent	Start TV LLC‡R1R‡
sister channels	MeTV MeTV+ MeTV Toons Catchy Comedy Heroes & Icons Movies! Story Television WEST Dabl
key people	Neal Sabin (Vice Chairman, Weigel Broadcasting) Norman Shapiro (President, Weigel Broadcasting)
launch date	September 3, 2018
online serv 1	Service(s)
online chan 1	DirecTV Stream, Frndly TV, FuboTV, Philo, Sling TV, YouTube TV
picture format	720p HDTV master feed, can be downscaled to 480i SDTV
language	English
terr chan 1	List of affiliates
website	www.starttv.com

Start TV is an American free-to-air television network owned as a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the CBS News and Stations subsidiary of Paramount Skydance Corporation. Predominantly 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 2010s, with a focus on women-led dramas, police and legal procedurals. The network originates from Weigel Broadcasting's headquarters on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois.[2][3]

History

On July 18, 2018, CBS Television Stations and Weigel Broadcasting announced the formation of Start TV, with plans to launch the network on Labor Day of that year (September 3).[2]

Affiliates

As of, Start TV had 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 San Francisco.) 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 former Milwaukee station, WITI, never claimed the This TV affiliation in the market despite Weigel moving the This affiliation to lower-tier channel slots several times.)[10]

In October 2020, Start TV was made available on Sling TV.[11] On April 19, 2022, Start TV began airing on the Frndly TV live streaming service.[12]

Start TV

History

Programming

Affiliates

Current affiliates

External links

References