Start TV


Start TV is an American free-to-air television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. 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 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.

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. The network initially debuted on the subchannels of five of Weigel's TV stations, three stations owned by Bahakel Communications, 17 CBS TV stations, 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. Start TV officially launched on September 3, 2018, at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the pilot episode of Touched by an Angel 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.

Programming

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. It also has a uniform programming schedule with shows airing mainly at the same time seven days a week, along with some marathons. 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.

Current programs

Source:

E/I programming

, Start TV has affiliation agreements with television stations in 27 media markets encompassing 20 states, covering 45.52% of the United States. The network is carried on the digital subchannels of television stations in most of its markets, 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. Bahakel Communications also contributed stations to serve as charter affiliates.
In South Bend, Indiana and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the network displaced This TV on WCWW-LD2 and WYTU-LD3, effectively leaving that network without an affiliate in either market.

Current affiliates

Alabama

Arizona

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin