Start TV explained

Start TV
Type:	Free-to-air television network
Country:	United States
Area:	Nationwide coverage: 80%^[1]
Headquarters:	Chicago, Illinois
Owner:	Start TV LLC^[2]
Sister Channels:	MeTV MeTV+ MeTV Toons Catchy Comedy Heroes & Icons Movies! Story Television Dabl
Online Serv 1:	Service(s)
Online Chan 1:	Frndly TV, 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

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 Global. 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.^{[3] [4]}

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).^[3] The network initially debuted on the subchannels of five of Weigel's TV stations, three stations owned by Bahakel Communications, 17 CBS TV stations,^{[5] [6] [7]} 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.^[8] 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. Varietys 2019 Nielsen ratings list showed that Start TV averaged 114,000 viewers in prime time, up 65% from the 2018 average.^[9]

Programming

Similar to its male-targeted sister network Heroes & Icons (H&I), Start TV airs legal/police procedurals and various other dramas - but instead targeting a female audience, featuring shows led by/centered around women. The network features series from the 1980s to the 2010s,^[8] and runs a uniform programming schedule with shows airing mainly at the same time seven days a week. Start TV also has a one-hour block of E/I children's programming on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Eastern Time in order to fulfill FCC obligations.

Affiliates

, Start TV had affiliation agreements with television stations in 27 media markets encompassing 20 states, covering 45.52% of the United States.^[10] 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.

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.)^[11]

In October 2020, Start TV was made available on Sling TV.^[12] On April 19, 2022, Start TV began airing on the Frndly TV live streaming service.^[13]

Current affiliates

City of license/market	Station	Virtual channel	Physical channel	Primary affiliation	Owner	Date of affiliation	Replaced
Alabama
		22.3	18			September 3, 2018	Heartland
Alaska
		2.3	10	NBC
Arizona
Phoenix		32.1	40	-	Weigel Broadcasting	January 1, 2023
		45.5	26			2019^[14]
		18.4	19
California
		53.4	6		My Central Valley, LLC	2022
		2.2	31			September 3, 2018	Decades
		13.2	25
		5.2	29
Colorado
		4.2	35	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
Connecticut
	WHCT-LD	35.3	35	MeTV	Weigel Broadcasting	September 30, 2020
District of Columbia
		5.3	36			May 2022	MeTV
Florida
		44.2	19		CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		4.2	22	CBS
		6.4	26			December 2018
		4.3	18	Independent		2019	This TV
		5.4	12	NBC		2020	Ion Mystery
Georgia
		69.2	36	Independent	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		54.6	24	Fox	American Spirit Media, LLC	September 28, 2022
Hawaii
		4.3	20			October 2018
Idaho
	KRID-LD	22.6	22		Idaho TV 22	September 3, 2018	Untamed Sports TV
Illinois
		2.2	12	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
	WMEU-CD	48.2	18	Independent			Independent
	WFBN-LD	35.3	35
Indiana
	WZDS-LD	5.2	18	Heroes & Icons	Weigel Broadcasting
		33.5	34	The CW	Gray Television
		47.1	36	-	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		18.5	11	CBS		March 1, 2024
	WCWW-LD	25.2	25	The CW	Weigel Broadcasting	September 3, 2018	This TV
Iowa
		6.5	17	NBC	Gray Television
	KDIT-CD	45.3	17	Catchy Comedy	Weigel Broadcasting
		20.4	25	TCT	TCT	November 2023	Laff
Kansas
		13.4	13	CBS	Gray Television	February 28, 2019
		33.4	12	The CW	Gray Television
Kentucky
		21.2	8	Independent	Evangel World Prayer Center
Louisiana
		41.3	26		Delta Media Corporation	May 7, 2021
		50.4	17	MeTV	Delta Media Corporation	May 7, 2021
		11.4	11	MeTV	Legacy Broadcasting	February 2019
		8.6	29	Fox	Gray Television	June 1, 2021
	KPXJ	21.3	32	CW	KTBS, LLC	March 1, 2021
Massachusetts
		4.2	20	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		33.3	20	CBS	Gray Television
Michigan
		62.2	21	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		12.4	12	ABC	Allen Media Broadcasting	August 30, 2019
		13.9	13	ABC	TEGNA
		19.4	19	MeTV
		26.2	17		Freelancer Television Broadcasting, Inc.			Antenna TV
Minnesota
		27.5	27	TCT	TCT	November 2023	Twist
		4.2	32	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
	KCCW-TV	12.2	12
Mississippi
		15.3	15		Gray Television
Missouri
	KNLC	24.6	14	MeTV	Weigel Broadcasting	September 3, 2018
Nebraska
		10.2	10	CBS	Gray Television
		6.5	22	NBC	Gray Television	February, 2019
New Mexico
		15.2	15	MeTV	Telemundo Station Group (NBCUniversal)	June 1, 2020	New Subchannel
New York
		13.3	12	NBC	Hubbard Broadcasting	June 1, 2019	Heroes & Icons
		67.6	7	MeTV			New Subchannel
		2.2	36	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		10.3	10	NBC
Syracuse	WTVU-CD	22.4	25	Cornerstone TV	Rennard Comm. Corp.
North Carolina
		18.5	18	The CW	Bahakel Communications	September 3, 2018
		5.3	17	NBC	Capitol Broadcasting Company	June 4, 2019
Ohio
		55.5	30	Independent	Winston Broadcasting Network	December 1, 2018
		25.4	28	Telemundo	Elliot Block	December 30, 2019	Heroes & Icons
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City	KTUZ-TV	30.6	29	Telemundo	Tyler Media Group
		41.3	34	MyNetworkTV	Imagicomm Communications	October 1, 2020
Pennsylvania
		3.2	30	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
		2.2	25
		12.4	12	NBC	Lilly Broadcasting
South Carolina
		25.2	7	ABC	Bahakel Communications	September 3, 2018	This TV
		43.3	36	Fox		2019
Tennessee
		39.4	25	Independent
		19.5	19		Holston Valley Broadcasting Group	October, 2019
	WJFB	44.3	25	MeTV	Weigel Broadcasting	September 2020
		30.3	31	The CW	Tegna, Inc.
Texas
		11.2	19	CBS	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
	KQSY-LD	30.2	30	Heartland	Channel 7 of Corpus Christi, Inc.	Fall 2020
		2.2	35		Graham Media Group	December 1, 2018 (Originally on 2.4 until March 29, 2021)
		12.5	12	ABC		January 2019
		46.3	17	The CW	Gray Television	January 2, 2019
Utah
Cedar City (Salt Lake City)	KCSG	8.3	14		Weigel Broadcasting	September 3, 2018
Vermont
		3.4	20	CBS	Gray Television	March 1, 2019
Virginia
		10.4	34	NBC	Graham Media Group	2019
		65.5	11	CW	Gray Television	2022
Washington
Tacoma (Seattle)		11.2	11	Independent	CBS News and Stations	September 3, 2018	Decades
	KVOS-TV	12.5	35		Weigel Broadcasting
		35.4	14	ABC	Morgan Murphy Media
West Virginia
		6.5	17	NBC	Gray Television
		10.3	13	FOX	Gray Television
Wisconsin
		13.5	38	NBC	Gray Television
		2.5	23	ABC		February 1, 2019^[15]
		15.5	19	NBC		June 1, 2020
	WDJT-TV	58.5	29	CBS	Weigel Broadcasting	September 3, 2018
	WYTU-LD	63.2	16

Former affiliates

Market	Station	Channel	Current owner	Years of affiliation	Notes
Baxley		34.10		2019–2020
Cedar Rapids		9.5		2019–2021	Dropped due to lack of bandwidth when KCRG began broadcasting The CW in HD
New York City		55.4		2021	Replaced by HSN
Tulsa		41.5		2020–2021	Replaced by This TV

Notes and References

1. Web site: RabbitEars.Info .
2. Web site: Start TV . Start TV . © 2020 START TV LLC.
3. Web site: Weigel To Launch 'Start TV' Female Diginet. Mark K. Miller. TVNewsCheck. TVNewsCheck Media. July 18, 2018. August 28, 2018.
4. Web site: Weigel to launch Start TV digital network with CBS Television Stations. Robert Feder. RobertFeder.com. July 19, 2018. August 28, 2018.
5. Web site: TV News Roundup: Netflix Offers First Look at 'Narcos: Mexico,' Trailer for Rev Run's 'All About the Washingtons'. Tara Bitran. Variety. Penske Media Corporation. July 18, 2018. August 28, 2018.
6. Web site: Weigel Broadcasting Co. to launch new 'Start TV' network in association with CBS television stations. Melissa Hudson. WBND-LD. Weigel Broadcasting. July 18, 2018. August 28, 2018.
7. Web site: Start TV Diginet To Showcase Strong, Resourceful Women. Phil Kurz. TVTechnology. Future plc. July 30, 2018. August 28, 2018.
8. News: New over-the-air TV channel, Start TV, to focus on shows with strong female leading characters . Chris Foran. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gannett Company. July 19, 2018. August 29, 2018.
9. News: Schneider . Michael . Most-Watched Television Networks: Ranking 2019's Winners and Losers . March 6, 2020 . . 26 Dec 2019.
10. Web site: Stations for Network - Start TV. RabbitEars. August 28, 2018.
11. News: TV channel-surfing: Start TV and Justice Milwaukee are in, This TV's out, and Movies! is moving. Chris Foran. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gannett Company. August 27, 2018. August 28, 2018.
12. Web site: Watch Start TV Online. Sling TV. October 23, 2020.
13. Web site: 2022-03-28 . Frndly TV Will Add Five New Channels to Its Live Streaming Lineup . 2022-03-28 . Cord Cutters News . en-US.
14. Start TV - Where to Watch https://www.starttv.com/wheretowatch/#AZ
15. News: WBAY TV-2 adds H&I and Start TV to channel line up. January 25, 2019. January 25, 2019.