After NBCUniversal shut down NBC Weather Plus in December 2008, the company's flagship television stationWNBC in New York City replaced Weather Plus' successor, automated local weather service, NBC Plus, on digital subchannel 4.2 on March 9, 2009, with NBC New York Nonstop, a channel that featured a mix of locally produced news and lifestyle programming. In June 2010, NBC Local Media appointed former WNBC general manager Tom O'Brien in the newly created position of executive vice president of Nonstop Network. In October, WNBC sister stations WCAU and WRC-TV respectively launched their own versions of the Nonstop channel in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. markets. Chicago's WMAQ-TV launched its own local version in November 2010. NBC's three owned-and-operated stations in California collaborated to launch the only regional Nonstop channel, NBC California Nonstop, in January 2011; Nonstop channels were also launched by KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth and WTVJ in Miami that same month. Each station's Nonstop subchannel carried eight hours of locally produced programming, along with core programming from affiliated production company LXTV.
Cozi TV
NBC Station hired in October 2011 Meredith McGinn as a vice president to leading the development and launch of the network. On November 3, 2011, NBC Owned Television Stations announced that its seven local Nonstop subchannels would become a single national network under the proposed name NBC Nonstop Network ; the format of the national network was originally planned to feature a format similar to the local Nonstop channels, which would have placed the network in direct competition with the Live Well Network. An NBC executive indicated that the independently formatted Nonstop channels were performing well, but needed separate programming. NBC stated that the network would carry reruns of classic television series during daytime hours and lifestyle programming at night, and that local stations would be able to preempt the national Nonstop Network programming to carry their own local content. By July 2012, it was announced that NBC was considering using a different name for the national network, with "Bob TV" among the names being put under consideration. On October 17, 2012, Time Out Chicago reported that NBCUniversal would launch a new classic television network called Cozi TV. This turned out to actually be the new name of the retooled national version of NBC Nonstop. NBC soft launched Cozi TV on its owned-and-operated stations as well as some charter affiliates on December 20, 2012; the network officially launched on January 1, 2013. McGinn was promoted to senior vice president of Cozi TV and LXTV in July 2013.
Programming
Cozi TV permits its local affiliates the option of preempting up to 13 hours of the network's programming each week in order to carry newscasts or other locally produced programming; this is a remnant of the format originated by NBC Nonstop, in which most of NBC's O&Os carried additional newscasts on their Nonstop subchannels. The network also carries The More You KnowE/I block which airs on NBC Saturday mornings from Litton Entertainment on late Sunday mornings to allow their affiliates to be freed of commitments to purchasing E/I programming off the open market.
Affiliates
NBCUniversal broadcasts Cozi TV in most markets served by a station owned by the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations group, either on subchannels of NBC or Telemundo stations. The network is also available on the digital subchannels of other television stations, primarily those affiliated with NBC. The network is available to stations on a barter basis, in which Cozi TV and its affiliates split the responsibility of selling advertising inventory as well as the commercial time allocated each hour. The network soft-launched on NBC and Telemundo owned-and-operated stations in most markets. The network's initial affiliates outside of the core NBC O&O group included KAIL-TV in Fresno, California, KVOA in Tucson, KSNV-DT in Las Vegas and eight Texas stations owned by London Broadcasting Company, with a total initial reach of 26% of U.S. television households. By July 2013, the network's reach had expanded to 42% of the U.S., through affiliation deals with WMFP in Boston, KUBE-TV in Houston and the E. W. Scripps Company's KSHB-TV in Kansas City. On June 2, 2014, Cozi TV's programming was made available on AT&T U-verse channel 578 and Dish Network channel 82 on a part-time basis, through a deal with LeSEA Broadcasting's Family Entertainment Television network. LeSEA's relationship with Cozi TV was extended to its stations on June 17, 2014, when it signed an affiliation deal to carry the network on its stations in South Bend, Honolulu, Colorado Springs, Tulsa, St. Croix and New Orleans ; the network also announced a deal with OTA Broadcasting, LLC to affiliate with KFFV in Seattle and WEPA-CD in Pittsburgh. Both deals expanded the network's reach to 60% of the U.S. The deals expired on June 26, 2017; with WEPA-CD going off the air shortly afterwards due to that station selling its spectrum; ABC affiliate WTAE-TV picked up Cozi TV on January 8, 2018, replacing This TV. FETV now carries its own schedule of acquired programming.
