103-421: Scripps Networks, LLC , formerly known as Katz Broadcasting , is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a division of the E. W. Scripps Company . The company owns (as of 2024) eight broadcast television networks , nine FAST streaming networks and a streaming service that each carry programming with specified formats targeted at individual demographics. Originally, Katz sold
206-426: A "K" call-letter will generally have their subchannels identified with an "N" (.2), "O" (.3), "Q" (.4), "R" (.5) or "S" (.6). For example, if the call letters are WFRC and the station broadcasts on channel 10, then the 10.2 subchannel is identified as EFRC, 10.3 is GFRC, 10.4 is HFRC, 10.5 is IFRC and 10.6 is JFRC. If the call letters are KFRC and the station broadcasts on channel 10, then 10.2 is identified as NFRC, 10.3
309-654: A 1080i high definition main feed; this changed in 2013 with the addition of dedicated local news channels on CBS O&Os in New York City and Philadelphia (the company later announced the creation of Decades , a multicast network part-owned by CBS which aired on all CBS and CW owned-and-operated stations from 2015 to 2018). It is possible for stations to carry more than two subchannel feeds in HD, at least nominally. Actual picture quality may be comparable to DVD video. Some examples of stations broadcasting in this format are: Outside
412-550: A 32% stake in Paxson. On December 4, 2001, it was announced that Paxson had filed with the FCC an arbitration to block NBC's acquisition of Telemundo . In September 2002, it was announced that Paxson's arbitration against NBC was denied. On November 13, NBC requested a redemption of its investment in Paxson of $ 549.2 million. In August 2004, NBC Universal filed a lawsuit against Paxson. On November 7, 2005, to settle several lawsuits between
515-471: A CW affiliate) and had to mostly rely on stations in Pittsburgh (and to a lesser extent Columbus and Youngstown, Ohio ) to view programming from other networks. However, the advent of digital television allowed WTRF to launch two digital channels (one as a primary Fox/secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate, the other affiliated with ABC) while still carrying CBS programming in full on its main signal (WTOV later took
618-524: A CW affiliate), as the additional educational content these separate stations once provided can now be carried by multiple subchannels of a single parent station. Subchannels also allow some educational stations to devote an entire channel to telecourses , which are recorded by instructors and students for later use, allowing the station's main channel to air a generalized schedule in the morning and overnight hours . Subchannels and transmitter reconfigurations have been used to temporarily restore service from
721-465: A Court TV brand extension. Following Scripps' acquisition of Ion Media in 2021, the Katz-owned networks were moved over to the subchannels of Ion -owned stations beginning February 27, 2021. On March 2, 2021, Scripps announced that it would launch two new complementary multicast networks, Defy TV and TrueReal , in the aftermath of Scripps' acquisition of Ion Media and television transmitters across
824-621: A Katz-owned network, some will be offloaded to the Ion stations to free up limited spectrum capacity during the ATSC 3.0 transition. Several of the Ion Plus full-power stations paired with Ion Television stations were also concurrently sold off to Inyo Broadcast Holdings in order to alleviate local ownership conflicts and national cap issues related to Scripps' purchase of Ion Media under the FCC's regulatory station ownership limits. In October 2021, Scripps notified
927-615: A deal with Liberty Media to bring the QVC and HSN networks to most of its Ion Television O&O stations throughout nationwide on digital subchannels X.5 and X.6. In December 2013, the United States bankruptcy court approved a plan by creditors of Roberts Broadcasting to transfer East St. Louis -based WRBU and its sister stations, WZRB in Columbia and WAZE-LP in Evansville, Indiana , to
1030-777: A duopoly outright. In the latter scenario, the station whose programming is on an LMA station is moved to a subchannel of a station that is owned outright by the station that own the non-licensed assets of other stations. Many companies such as Sinclair Broadcast Group (via Cunningham Broadcasting , Deerfield Media , & Howard Stirk Holdings ), Nexstar Media Group (via Mission Broadcasting & Vaughan Media ), and Gray Television (via American Spirit Media & SagamoreHill Broadcasting ) have been doing this, partially due to regulation pressure. Networks dedicated to sports programming have been launched specifically for use on digital subchannels. Until 2010, CBS affiliates often subdivided four temporary subchannels in order to show all of
1133-509: A family entertainment lineup of drama shows, movies, first-run shows, wildlife shows, sitcoms, and talk shows. The most expensive station acquisition was WBIS in New York City. The city government had sold this station to Dow Jones & Company and ITT in 1996 for nearly US$ 200 million. In January 1997, Dow Jones launched a business format called S+ during the day and a sports channel after 7 pm and on weekends. Dow Jones/ITT lost money on
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#17328594364431236-457: A few multicast channels that have broadcast familiar sports programs: Bounce TV , for instance, carried college football from historically black colleges and universities until 2013. In January 2016, Sinclair Broadcast Group launched a 24-hour feed of its American Sports Network sports syndication service on subchannels of ten stations owned and/or operated by the group; the ASN multicast network
1339-487: A free over-the-air network, as well as being available on streaming platforms, starting October 1. The network would be available over-the-air on Scripps-owned Ion Television stations, along with some traditional Scripps stations without an Ion sister station and the former Ion-owned stations transferred to Inyo Broadcast Holdings, along with offering the network to other station groups. It also announced plans to relocate Newsy's national headquarters to Atlanta. In advance of
1442-416: A game show titled The Reel to Reel Picture Show , sitcoms Dave's World , Here's Lucy and The Hogan Family , and some movies. The network ran weekdays from noon until 1 am. Due to low ratings and mounting financial costs, PAX TV soon reduced its hours. In 1999, they were reduced to between 3 pm and midnight, and in 2002, they were reduced again to 6 pm to midnight. In September 1999, NBC bought
1545-510: A joint venture with its Fox Television Stations division, to create a larger station group in an effort to counter Sinclair Broadcast Group and their proposed purchase of Tribune Media . The proposal also included the possibility for as many as 26 stations owned by Sinclair or Tribune to be switched from Fox after existing affiliation contracts expire. It has been argued that this deal was intended to place pressure on Sinclair to abandon its acquisition, lest it potentially lose Fox affiliations to
1648-726: A large market area. This is used to duplicate network service for stations that are part of duopolies , where transmitters scattered through a large geographical area allow multiple networks and channels to be carried. The most prominent example is the Granite Broadcasting Corporation 's virtual quadropoly in Duluth, Minnesota , which consists of two separate full-power stations, NBC affiliate KBJR-TV and CBS affiliate KDLH , which combined carry three subchannels (two affiliated with major networks – CW Plus affiliate "Northland CW 2" on KDLH and MyNetworkTV affiliate "My9" on KBJR – and
1751-456: A low-power or Class A station or by a cable television channel. Often, the owner of a full-power television station acquires or already owns a low-power secondary station in the same market to carry another network. The use of a digital subchannel on a full-power television station as a replacement for low-power station greatly increases the available coverage area for its programming. Because of interference issues that stations transmitting on
1854-563: A main channel affiliation may not be available. Other stations have launched subchannels with an independent station format on their DT2 signals (such as WTTV in Indianapolis , Indiana – a market with enough commercial stations able to support affiliations with all six networks and a standalone independent, although the seventh (WTTK) instead acts as a WTTV satellite – which converted its 4.2 subchannel as an independent station in January 2015 as
1957-599: A market at one time (outside of Los Angeles, where if the Rams and Chargers play at the same time, Fox is allowed to broadcast the second game on MyNetworkTV affiliate KCOP-TV , or CBS on independent KCAL-TV , depending on the game's carrier that specific week); all four of the major sports leagues (the NFL , the NBA , Major League Baseball and the NHL ) have out-of-market sports packages that require
2060-465: A multi-network agreement with Nexstar Broadcasting Group and operated affiliated TV station companies that would bring all three Katz-owned networks (as well as Bounce TV) to stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar in 54 markets, jumping national coverage of both Escape and Laff to 85% and Grit's coverage to 93%. On August 1, 2017, Scripps announced the purchase of Katz and its three networks plus Bounce which Katz operates, for $ 292 million, acquiring
2163-511: A multi-network agreement with the Meredith Corporation that would add all three Katz-owned networks to Meredith-owned stations in five markets, boosting Laff's national coverage to 50%, Escape's to 58%, and Grit's to 78% of all U.S. television markets. Escape and Grit switched from direct response advertising as a meter of viewers to Nielsen rating C-3 late 2015 with Laff expected to follow suit. On June 15, 2016, Katz Broadcasting signed
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#17328594364432266-456: A pay television subscription and generate significant revenue for the leagues. Most sports programming on digital subchannel broadcasters has been relegated to low-budget content such as amateur athletics, extreme sports, and hunting and fishing programming geared toward outdoorsmen, though minor league baseball , American Hockey League hockey and other minor league sports may also be seen. Prominent team sports programming on digital subchannels
2369-413: A period digit (".xx"). Simultaneously, the suffix indicates that a television station offers additional programming streams. By convention, the suffix position ".1" is normally used to refer to the station's main digital channel and the ".0" position is reserved for analog channels . For example, most of the owned-and-operated stations / affiliates of Trinity Broadcasting Network transmit five streams in
2472-494: A promotional video to the social media presences of Ion Plus and Defy TV that the latter would be wound down at the end of June as its programming moves to another unrelated network, Dare, launching on July 1, with Ion Plus returning to over-the-air availability on Defy TV's channel spaces. The A&E programming on Defy would move to an unrelated network named Dare, owned by Free TV Networks . Free TV Networks purchased Defy TV's branding from Scripps Networks and launched Dare under
2575-561: A result of owner Tribune Media selling the local rights to the CW affiliation that was to move from its main feed on 4.1 to Media General -owned WISH-TV , whose CBS affiliation was assumed by WTTV). Digital subchannels are also used to relay stations beyond their traditional signal coverage areas to reach an entire market. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Minnesota , many of these stations are on duplicate frequencies to cover
2678-411: A sector traditionally lacking subchannels, digital cable television provider Music Choice packages its nearly 50 music channels (including Music Choice Play ) as digital subchannels of one channel. This is possible as the only information sent over each channel are audio feeds and a still slide which rotates every 20 seconds, displaying an advertisement and information about the current playing song on
2781-547: A service known as DTV radio , in which the audio of a commonly owned broadcast radio station is simulcast over a subchannel (for instance, KPJK in San Mateo, California broadcasts former FM sister KCSM on its DT3 signal). WANN-CD in Atlanta offers six radio stations owned by iHeartMedia , in addition to ten television channels. Non-broadcast content, subscription television channels or datacasting operations unrelated to
2884-542: A single SD subchannel which simulcasts that station's primary channel. There have been a number of issues surrounding the introduction of digital subchannels in Australia. The first subchannels launched by the ABC – ABC Kids and Fly TV – closed after less than two years in operation in 2003 as a reaction to budget cuts by the conservative Howard government under Communications Minister Alston and low viewership (partly due to
2987-404: A single signal. The practice is sometimes called " multicasting ". The ATSC digital television standard used in the United States supports multiple program streams over-the-air, allowing television stations to transmit one or more subchannels over a single digital signal. A virtual channel numbering scheme distinguishes broadcast subchannels by appending the television channel number with
3090-523: A station that is unable to broadcast for technical, weather-related, or other reasons using the facilities of another. This use dates to the early days of digital television: in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, which destroyed the primary TV transmission site in New York City, WWOR-TV was broadcast as a subchannel of co-owned WNYW-DT . Competing stations in a market have even offered each other support; in 2009, Weigel Broadcasting offered
3193-457: A subchannel and air network programming on the other. Thus, the station can accommodate viewers wanting to watch either regular programming or news coverage. Some sports leagues, most notably the NFL, have strict rules against their game broadcasts airing on a subchannel. The first major nationally distributed general entertainment digital multicast television network , or diginet, for use on subchannels
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3296-563: A subchannel. One notable experiment involving digital subchannels in Mexico was undertaken by TV Azteca , which used its three muxes in the Mexico City area to broadcast a service called Hi-TV, featuring several channels encoded in H.264 MPEG-4 encoding, which while available in the ATSC standard is not common on TV sets. This use of subchannels as pseudo-restricted signals within non-restricted channels
3399-673: A trio of private equity companies (Black Diamond Capital Management, Avenue Capital Group, & Trilogy Capital) purchased a 62.5% controlling stake in Ion Media Networks from the Ion Media Liquidating Trust (the legal entity selling the stake) through their partnership, Media Holdco L.P. (43.7% owned by Black Diamond via its BD Ion Media GP Holdings subsidiary; 15.8% by Trilogy via its Trilogy Ion, LLC subsidiary; & 40.5% by Avenue via its Avenue Ion Holdings LP subsidiary). The remaining 37.5% of Ion Media Networks remained with
3502-725: A trust with Ion Media Networks (a creditor in Roberts' chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which it filed for in 2011) as its beneficiary, with Roberts' attorney subsequently stating that Ion Media Networks would purchase the three stations. The deal is complete on February 10, 2014, and both WZRB and WRBU became Ion stations. Also in December 2013, Black Diamond purchased Avenue & Trilogy's stakes in Media Holdco, placing Black Diamond as Media Holdco's sole shareholder. As of November 2014, Media Holdco's majority equity stake in Ion Media Networks
3605-527: Is OFRC, 10.4 is QFRC, 10.5 is RFRC and 10.6 is SFRC. Although digital television services in Canada use the same ATSC technology as the United States, none of the stations currently broadcasting a digital signal transmit any subchannel other than a possible HD service or a standard definition simulcast of the main channel. Unlike the FCC in the United States, the body that governs Canadian broadcasting licenses,
3708-460: Is a subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company that operates the linear broadcast networks Ion Television and Ion Plus . Prior to its acquisition by Scripps, the company owned and operated over 71 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group, Ion Media Television), and also operated Qubo and Ion Shop. After being operated as a private company since it entered and emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, it
3811-403: Is at 85%, leaving the company's senior investors from previous rounds of financing with a minority stake of 15%. On April 20, 2017, Ion Media Networks, through its website, announced a name change to "Ion Media" (with the company still legally operating as "Ion Media Networks"). On August 2, 2017, it was reported that 21st Century Fox was proposing that Ion Media contribute its stations into
3914-523: Is believed to have the most feeds of any individual over-the-air broadcaster, offering twelve video and several audio feeds (all transmitted in standard definition). WANN-CD in Atlanta , Georgia, with ten video and ten audio feeds, comes at a close second. Several cable-to-air broadcasters, such as those in Willmar, Minnesota and Cortez, Colorado , have multiplexed more than five separate cable television channels into subchannels of one signal. Operating in
4017-542: Is broadcast in Wales instead of Channel 4 HD). In the United States, digital subchannels have been used to provide programming from multiple major networks on a single television station. This has become prevalent since the late 2000s in smaller markets that have as few as one or two commercial stations, which during the era of analog television, would not have been able to carry the complete programming lineups of all four major commercial networks (CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox) because of
4120-491: Is divided. Therefore, station managers and broadcast engineers could run any of the following scenarios using one 6 MHz channel (note that the actual bitrate moves up and down, due to usage of variable bitrate encoding): With improvements in MPEG encoding, and tighter VBR encoding, more subchannels can be combined. 1×720p + 3×480i is becoming more common. For a frame rate of 30 p or 60 i , uncompressed DTV channels have
4223-537: Is only carried by the stations of non-commercial networks SBS Television and ABC Television ). Each network currently has at least one HD sub channel. All networks use their HD subchannel to provide a simulcast of their primary channel or their multichannels. Inclusive of their primary standard definition channels (ignoring HD): Community television stations in Melbourne ( C31 ) and Adelaide ( C44 ) also broadcast digital signals, however they typically only broadcast
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4326-509: Is rare; the general trend for sports programming tends to eschew the free-to-air model that digital subchannels use, and the cost of rights fees for most sports requires that they air on channels that air on cable and satellite television services and thus can recuperate costs through retransmission consent . Channels such as Sportsman Channel (and the now-defunct Universal Sports ) that began as digital subchannel networks now operate as cable and satellite-exclusive services. There are nonetheless
4429-591: The ATSC-M/H standard. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers all subchannels carried by a single station to have the same call letters for legal identification purposes. However, within the broadcast sales industry, to differentiate subchannels, the initial letter of a call sign changes per subchannel. As per Nielsen , digital stations identified with a "W" call letter will generally have their subchannels identified with an "E" (.2), "G" (.3), "H" (.4), "I" (.5) or "J" (.6). Digital stations identified with
4532-494: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), requires stations to file license amendments in order to be considered for permission to carry digital subchannels (this differs from the commission's rules for premium cable television services, which allow the addition of multiplex channels consistent with the service's license requirements without the need to amend the license). On August 17, 2012,
4635-706: The Federal Communications Commission that it had closed the local facilities of the Ion Media stations (with those in duopoly markets having their operations consolidated with the existing Scripps commercial station), and consolidated the regulatory 'studios' for all of the stations at Scripps Center in Cincinnati . The FCC had repealed the Main Studio Rule in 2019 requiring a facility for each station in their local market, and for all intents and purposes,
4738-640: The Traverse City - Cheboygan market in Upper Michigan, NBC affiliate WPBN/WTOM also simulcasts sister station WGTU/WGTQ , providing that station's ABC programming to the entire market; CBS affiliate WWTV/WWUP carries its Fox-affiliated sister WFQX/WFUP on their DT2 subchannel to expand their coverage area further north into the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula. In many cases, these "new" channels are existing secondary channels that were carried by
4841-1006: The Washington, D.C. area, MHz Networks is available as ten subchannels transmitted by two stations, with their virtual channels mapped uniformly, making them appear as if they are transmitted by one station. In some U.S. states, statewide educational, cultural or public affairs services are carried on a digital subchannel of a PBS member station or network (such as the Minnesota Channel , PBS Wisconsin 's Wisconsin Channel, or New York State broadcaster ThinkBright TV ). The use of subchannels has also allowed educational television broadcasters to sell off former secondary PBS analogue stations to commercial broadcasters (such as WNEQ in Buffalo , which its sister station WNED-TV sold in 1999 to LIN TV (now owned by Nexstar Media Group ) to become WNLO , now
4944-486: The "Ion" brand now more established regarding procedural dramas in general, including Ion Mystery's overall programming, whereas Court TV is more associated with its news division. On March 10, 2023, Scripps announced that TrueReal would shut down on March 27 of that month, merging its programming with that of Defy TV. After its closure, Scripps will lease the open spectrum on its owned and operated stations to Jewelry Television . On June 17, 2024, Scripps quietly posted
5047-599: The CRTC gave approval to Leamington, Ontario community station CFTV-TV to broadcast four local subchannels on its digital signal, making it the first station in Canada to launch original content on its multiplex channels. Some Mexican TV stations use digital subchannels as they are used in the United States. The Sistema Público de Radiodifusión del Estado Mexicano , a public broadcaster, operates 26 multiplexed transmitters throughout Mexico carrying five to six public television services, while XHTRES-TDT carries Imagen Radio audio on
5150-458: The DVB format) is used, and was specifically designed with physical RF segments that could be split to use for different subchannels. In Brazil , a digital subchannel is only allowed to the public and educational stations. As the amount of data which can be carried on one digital television channel at one time is limited, the addition of multiple channels of programming as digital subchannels comes at
5253-551: The Fox affiliation for its second subchannel in September 2014). Upon their launches in September 2006, The CW and MyNetworkTV were among the first conventional networks to actively utilize subchannel-only affiliations in markets where a standalone station is not available to affiliate with; this is particularly true of The CW's small-market feed, The CW Plus , which originally consisted mostly of cable-only affiliations (by way of inheriting
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#17328594364435356-464: The Ion network under bankruptcy for the second time, saying it had reached an agreement with holders of 60% of its first lien secured debt that would extinguish all of its $ 2.7 billion in legacy debt and preferred stock and recapitalize the company with a $ 150 million new funding commitment. It emerged from bankruptcy in December, under the ownership of its bondholders & secured lenders/first lien holders, wiping out Citadel's ownership. In late 2009,
5459-625: The United States broadcast their main channel in high definition and up to three standard definition subchannels; however, a few reconfigure their digital channels depending on daypart, carrying four standard definition channels during the daytime, reducing them to one HD and one SD channel at night due to technical limitations at the station's level that may prevent it from carrying PBS programming in HD full-time and maintain multiple full-time subchannels like other member stations. PBS stations often carry additional national channels such as PBS HD ( PBS Satellite Service ), PBS Kids , World , and Create . In
5562-678: The United States ;– especially in Europe ;– high-definition feeds are rarer, and most countries only provide a single high-definition service for each broadcaster. For example, in France , there are only five HD services: one each for TF1 , France 2 , Canal+ , M6 and Arte ; in the United Kingdom , four HD services are currently transmitted over terrestrial frequencies: BBC One HD , BBC Two HD , ITV HD and Channel 4 HD ( S4C Clirlun
5665-422: The United States. The channels are part of Scripps's strategy to increase penetration among cord cutters that do not have traditional pay TV packages. Both services launched on July 1 with 92 percent national coverage, mostly on Ion transmitters but also on subchannels of some Scripps local TV stations and by agreement with other station groups. On April 6, 2021, Scripps announced that it would expand Newsy into
5768-896: The buyer, revealed in an October 2020 FCC filing to be Inyo Broadcast Holdings , has promised to maintain the stations' Ion Television affiliations after the purchase. However, the number of stations to be sold increased according to a Public Applications Report from the FCC on October 16, 2020, and although unconfirmed, it is possible that Scripps could still operates at least some of these stations. Whether or not that pans out remains to be seen. As of October 17, 2020, 27 stations are likely up for sale; however, three of those stations in Philadelphia , San Francisco and Minneapolis are predicated and contingent upon whether Scripps can complete its sale of New York City's WPIX to Mission Broadcasting (to be operated by Nexstar Media Group ) in time before these transactions are finalized. If WPIX
5871-480: The case for certain local stations. The IFT enforces minimum bitrates for digital television channels, and as such it is not possible for a station to broadcast two HD feeds in MPEG-2 encoding. Most HD feeds are provided in 1080i with all subchannels in 480i standard definition. Australian digital subchannels are currently divided between high definition (HD), standard definition (SD) and radio subchannels (the latter type
5974-398: The clear) in selected cities to stream a limited number of "cable" channels to its subscribers for an additional fee to supplement its otherwise free digital video recorder (DVR) service allowing recordings of local broadcast channels and free and subscription internet content. Digital television supports multiple digital subchannels if the 19.39 Mbit/s (megabits per second) bitstream
6077-411: The company and NBC Universal, Lowell Paxson granted NBCU an 18-month transferable option to purchase his shares of the company in an agreement which, if activated, would also trigger a sale of the rest of the company. If Mr. Paxson's shares of the company weren't sold in the option window, the company was obligated to buy them back from Mr. Paxson. Concurrent with this deal, Mr. Paxson left the company, and
6180-1141: The company began to purchase stations on the outer fringes of large television markets. In 1994, Paxson acquired its first television station, ABC affiliate WPBF in West Palm Beach, Florida . The company divested itself of both the radio group and major-network affiliated television stations in 1998, focusing on building its own independent TV network, "PAX TV". The company focused on acquiring UHF television stations. Some of these stations are out-of-market stations, such as WPXD in Ann Arbor, Michigan (45 miles (72 km) from Detroit), KXLI in St. Cloud, Minnesota (60 miles (97 km) from Minneapolis), WTLK in Rome, Georgia (45 miles (72 km) from Atlanta), WPXJ in Pavilion, New York (45 miles (72 km) from both Buffalo and Rochester , New York), and WAYK in Melbourne , Florida (60 miles (97 km) from Orlando ). Still in some markets
6283-601: The company bought low-rated stations that had the same type of signals as established stations with medium to high ratings. These stations included WCFC in Chicago (religious), WTGI in Wilmington, Delaware (brokered), WAKC in Akron, Ohio (Cleveland's secondary ABC affiliate), and channel 35 in Miami (Shopping), among others. In the fall of 1997, a tentative lineup was announced, and it included
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#17328594364436386-497: The company's senior investors from previous rounds of financing. Ion Media Networks signed carriage agreements in May 2010 with Advanced Cable Communications and Comcast Colorado Springs for Qubo and Ion Life and with Blue Ridge Cable for Qubo. By 2012, Media Holdco's stake in Ion Media Networks was at 87%, with the company's senior investors from previous rounds of financing holding 13%. Sometime in 2013, Ion Media Networks signed
6489-547: The early round games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in addition to those broadcast on the main digital channel (this was superseded as a result of a new television agreement with the NCAA that took effect in 2011, which gave cable networks TBS , TNT and TruTV partial rights to the tournament). Most of the major professional sports leagues , however, have strict prohibitions against using subchannels for carrying multiple game broadcasts and only allow one game to be aired in
6592-610: The expense of having less available bandwidth for other purposes, such as the ability to transmit high definition content. A station carrying multiple subchannels will normally limit itself to one high-definition channel (or in some cases, two HD channels), with any additional channels being carried in standard definition. Because of the tradeoffs, stations owned by CBS Corporation through its CBS Television Stations subsidiary (which include owned-and-operated stations of CBS and The CW , and some independent stations ) generally opted not to carry digital subchannels and transmitted only
6695-408: The following data rates in megapixels per second: For ATSC , these must be compressed into 19.4 Mbit/s total per physical 6 MHz RF channel over the air, and 38.8 Mbit/s for cable. Various forms of digital radio also allow for multiple program streams. Ion Media Ion Media, LLC (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks )
6798-553: The following format: The most of any large broadcaster in the United States, Ion Television stations transmit eight channels (in standard definition ) and the Scripps Networks subchannel services Court TV , Ion Mystery , Bounce TV , Laff , Grit , Defy TV , and Scripps News . More programming streams can be fit into a single channel space at the cost of broadcast quality. Among smaller stations, KAXT-CD in San Francisco
6901-505: The hiring announcement of Jim Weiss (a former executive at sports marketing agency CSE) as the former's senior vice president of corporate communications in August. On January 18, 2015, Katz Broadcasting announced the launch of its third specialty network, Laff , a comedy-focused network that was tapped for an April 15 debut with ABC Owned Television Stations and Scripps serving as its core charter affiliate groups. On March 24, 2015, Katz signed
7004-414: The individual channel. The audio feed and rotating stills occupy significantly less bandwidth than video feeds, leaving space for more multiplexed content. A broadcaster saves significant costs in power and bandwidth through multiplexing in comparison to the cost of operating additional analog television stations to accommodate the extra programming. In practice, operating extra stations is impossible due to
7107-561: The initial investors included some Bounce investors notably Gray Television and Al Haymon . At some point, E. W. Scripps Company also becomes an owner purchasing 5% of the company. Katz and Bounce Media share staff from the former company's launch, including Jonathan Katz (who is president and chief executive officer of Katz, while continuing as chief operating officer ) and Jeffrey Wolf (Katz's chief distribution officer and Bounce's executive vice president of network distribution). Katz and Bounce continued to share executive staff with
7210-402: The late 2010s, some station groups have started consolidating major network affiliations onto one signal if they own the non-licensing assets of those channels. Some of this was due to the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction , but most have been due to companies who use sidecar companies to create virtual duopolies via local marketing agreements when they are not legally able to own
7313-535: The license to channel 16 (which was, and still is, occupied by WINP-TV ), with channel 40 used for educational purposes. The two agreed on a purchase price, but the Federal Communications Commission had too many questions about the deal, most relating to the type of broadcast license to be operated on each channel, and it fell through. The PAX network was launched in 1998 with family dramas such as Life Goes On , Our House , Touched by an Angel , Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman , Highway to Heaven , and Bonanza ,
7416-467: The limited distribution of set-top boxes); and commercial broadcasters could not legally air a digital subchannel other than a single high-definition service until 2009. As most digital services in Europe rely on more complex methods of multiplexing, where a large number of digital channels by many different broadcasters can be broadcast on one single frequency, the concept of a subchannel is instead applied to
7519-500: The low VHF band (channels 2 to 6) often experience, some stations broadcasting on these frequencies are relayed on the subchannels of stations that are less prone to interference. An example of this is CBS affiliate WRGB in Albany, New York . While WRGB broadcasts its main digital on VHF channel 6 in high definition, CW-affiliated sister station WCWN relays a standard-definition subchannel feed of WRGB over its digital channel 45. Since
7622-482: The main television programming are also permitted by the digital television standards but are less-commonly used. USDTV was an over-the-air pay television service that used H.264 compression instead of standard MPEG-2 . Mobile DTV now uses MPEG-4 compression, which like H.264 yields a much lower bitrate for the same video quality . For example, the Sezmi TV/DVR service uses broadcast digital subchannels (not in
7725-598: The model and much of the affiliate body of predecessor The WB 100+ Station Group ). Since its launch, affiliates of other major networks have taken over the operations of cable-only CW Plus affiliates (or even outright replacing WB 100+ cable channels at the launch of The CW) and began transmitting the service over subchannels to reach viewers who do not subscribe to a pay television service. Some Spanish language networks (such as Estrella TV and Telemundo ) have also been carried on digital subchannels, either as subchannel-exclusive services or to provide programming to markets where
7828-474: The move exclusively to over-the-air distribution, Scripps began to notify traditional cable and satellite providers, along with Internet television providers, at the end of March that it would end distribution of Newsy via those means effectively on June 30, 2021. The Newsy over-the-air network launched on October 1, 2021. On February 24, 2022, the Court TV Mystery network was rebranded as Ion Mystery , with
7931-420: The network to affiliated TV stations via ad split, but by October 2015, had moved to carriage fees in exchange for the network getting the ad inventory due to greater inventory with stations adding a third or fourth subchannel. Their networks used direct response advertising as a meter of viewers before switching to Nielsen rating C-3 . Katz Broadcasting, LLC was founded on February 3, 2014, by Jonathan Katz, who
8034-479: The networks on the former Ion Media stations will be repurposed to carry the Katz-owned networks starting March 1, with the initial slate of Ion Television O&Os adding those networks following the expiration of Scripps/Katz's existing contracts with other broadcasting companies the day prior, and other stations following suit as contracts with existing affiliates expire throughout 2021 and 2022; in markets where major network affiliates operated by Scripps already carry
8137-424: The new name Defy on July 1. Digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual program stream, and multiplexing to combine them into
8240-413: The operation, sold the station for about $ 225 million in May 1997, and shut down S+ that June in favor of Bloomberg Business News , Fox Sports Net and a block previewing new networks, IntroTV. Channel 31 was renamed WPXN with plans to be the flagship station of PAX TV in the fall of 1998. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , the company wanted to buy WPCB , channel 40, from Cornerstone Television , and move
8343-497: The other 95% of the company. Katz will remain based out of Atlanta, Georgia as an autonomous division of Scripps. The purchase was completed on October 2, 2017. In December 2018, Turner Broadcasting sold the rights to the brand and programming library of defunct cable network Court TV (which relaunched as TruTV in 2008) to Katz, who re-launched it as an over-the-air digital network in May 2019. On September 30, 2019, Katz Broadcasting rebranded Escape as Court TV Mystery to make it
8446-411: The purchase. The transaction, which is projected to close in the first quarter of 2021 and is subject to FCC approval, would see Ion Media and its networks combined with Scripps' Katz Broadcasting subsidiary, which already operates five specialty networks , most notably Bounce TV and Court TV . Scripps would also sell 23 of Ion Media's 71 television stations to comply with national ownership caps;
8549-524: The recapitalization of Ion. Citadel acquired the public common stock of the company, as part of the plan to take the company private. In addition, Citadel invested $ 100 million of new capital into the company to further support management's plan to revitalize the TV network. In November 2007, Ion Media Networks was taken to trial, having been sued in Federal Court by Positive Ions, Inc for trademark infringement of
8652-421: The required channel and distance separations combined with the available number of channels. Most ATSC tuners will automatically add a new digital subchannel to their internal channel map , once it is tuned to the station carrying the new channel. However, some of these will not delete the channel if the station removes it. Mobile DTV is also carried on ATSC stations, but as a separate service, according to
8755-963: The same level as in the late 2000s due to the population of entertainment-based multicast services, many local stations have used or currently use subchannels to carry continuous news or local weather content; in particular, there have been at least four networks that have been created to serve this audience: NBC Weather Plus (a service exclusive to NBC stations that operated from 2004 to 2008), The AccuWeather Channel , WeatherNation TV (which also maintains limited exclusive distribution on pay television services) and TouchVision . Locally programmed news subchannels (such as News 9 Now / News on 6 Now on KWTV in Oklahoma City and KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma or NewsChannel 5+ on WTVF in Nashville , Tennessee ) often carry rebroadcasts and simulcasts of local news programs seen on
8858-575: The same transmitter. Additionally, TV Azteca has two national services that are broadcast as subchannels in most areas, a+ and adn40 . In October 2016, the IFT put into effect new guidelines for the numbering of virtual channels. As a result, national networks use consistent numbers nationwide; SPR transmitters now use four or five major channel numbers (11, 14, 20, 22, and 45 in some areas). Prior to this, digital television stations usually used virtual channels corresponding to their former analog positions, still
8961-429: The station's main feed, in some cases displaying a ticker with news headlines and weather forecasts to provide updated information. Subchannels also allow stations to air news programs without fully pre-empting normally scheduled programing on the station's main feed. During significant breaking news or severe weather events, for instance, a station may choose to air extended news coverage on either its main channel or
9064-458: The station's own local and syndicated programming commitments, and overlapping network programs that would be tough to schedule outside of regular timeslots. A prime example is the Wheeling, West Virginia / Steubenville, Ohio market, which for decades was home to only two stations (CBS affiliate WTRF-TV and NBC affiliate WTOV-TV ; the cable-only WBWO also served the market as a WB and now as
9167-748: The team's broadcasts to over-the-air television in the home market; as part of the deal, Golden Knights games air on the second subchannel of KIVI in Boise , KSAW-LD in Twin Falls , and the Montana Television Network . In October of that year, the Arizona Coyotes moved their broadcasts to Scripps Sports, where the games air on the second subchannel of KNXV in Phoenix and KGUN in Tucson . Although not to
9270-555: The third, a local weather subchannel on KBJR). While KDLH carries the CW subchannel on their DT2 feed and KBJR carries the MyNetworkTV subchannel on its DT2 feed on their primary signals, all five channels are carried on satellite station KRII in Chisholm , providing the Iron Range region (located north of Duluth) programming from networks that were previously unavailable over-the-air. In
9373-532: The use of a subchannel to Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV when its transmitter was disabled by lightning, only for WTMJ to reciprocate the next year when flooding took Weigel's WDJT-TV out of service for three days. For five months from October 2019 to 2020, commonly operated WBBH-TV and WZVN-TV in Fort Myers , broadcast from the former's facility on one multiplex to allow for an overhaul of the latter's antenna. In rare cases, digital television broadcasters have included
9476-486: The use of the word Ion , resulting in a $ 1.7 million settlement awarded to Positive Ions, Inc. In 2008, Ion Media Networks and Comcast reached an agreement to not only continue to carry Ion Television , but also introduced two new digital networks Qubo (its block launched two years later) and Ion Life . By January 2009, Ion had another subchannel network, Urban TV, in the works with BET founder Robert L. Johnson targeted to African-Americans. In April 2009, it
9579-485: The variety of channels that are produced by a single company. This can vary widely depending on the country: for example, ITV currently has four of its digital channels ( ITV1 , ITV2 , ITV3 and ITV4 ) broadcasting on one multiplexed service, while two others ( ITV2 +1 and CITV ) are each broadcast on another, separate multiplex. In Japan and Latin America (except Colombia , Mexico and Panama ), ISDB (similar to
9682-763: The venture. An analyst felt the proposed partnership was hampered by Ion Media's decision to assert must-carry status over its stations rather than retransmission consent , as Fox would be unable to immediately benefit financially from the partnership's scale , which would have included being able to collect carriage payments for all of the stations. The analyst added that Ion stations alone did not have enough leverage to negotiate with television providers, because of their limited local or first-run programming. On September 24, 2020, Ion Media agreed to be acquired by The E. W. Scripps Company for $ 2.65 billion, with Berkshire Hathaway making an investment in Scripps to help finance
9785-512: Was Retro Television Network in 2005. Several new services launched or attempted to launch in 2008, including This TV , utilizing classic TV programming and library movies. This time period also saw the launch of some of the first services for public TV stations in the United States, such as Create . The field of diginets grew throughout the 2010s. MeTV , once a local service in Chicago and Milwaukee, became nationally distributed in 2010; by 2014, it
9888-476: Was chief operating officer of Bounce TV and formerly worked at the Turner Broadcasting System . The company was announced concurrently with the announced launches of its first two networks, Escape and Grit , which were both launched that April with Univision and UniMás owned-and-operated stations run by Univision Communications as its charter station group. Besides Jonathan Katz, some of
9991-688: Was acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company and merged with its Katz Broadcasting subsidiary on January 7, 2021, creating the new Scripps Networks division to manage those assets separately from its traditional broadcast network-affiliated television stations. The company was founded in 1988 by Bud Paxson in Florida . The company purchased radio stations and a couple of television stations, eventually becoming Florida's largest radio group. The radio stations' formats included rock , contemporary hit radio , news and talk , and adult contemporary . The television stations were network affiliates of ABC and NBC . In 1993
10094-453: Was announced that Ion Media Networks was once again facing balance sheet problems. The company disclosed that it was in discussions with lenders on "a comprehensive recapitalization" of its balance sheet. That translates to an effort to restructure its considerable debt, which stands at $ 2.7 billion as of April 2009, according to The Wall Street Journal . On May 19, 2009, Ion Media Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, putting
10197-581: Was placed under investigation and litigation with authorities at COFETEL (the Federal Telecommunications Commission), involving a fine of 4,453,150 Mexican pesos . HiTV subchannels began broadcasting on an intermittent basis in 2013 and were almost completely deactivated in late 2014. Televisa and TV Azteca use subchannels in rural areas in order to ensure national network service. As a result, since 2016, many areas that formerly had only one Azteca or Televisa network now have both from
10300-972: Was sold before these transactions, then those stations will be retained. On October 20, broadcast industry website TV News Check confirmed the pending sales in a "station roundup" report outlining the stations slated to be sold, and the number being reduced to 26 again. That number, again, is cut down to 23, after Scripps was able to complete its sale of WPIX to Mission Broadcasting on December 30, 2020. As such, Scripps would keep its Ion stations in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. The transaction, which closed on January 7, 2021, saw Ion Television, Ion Plus, Qubo, and Ion Shop integrated into Scripps' Katz Broadcasting subsidiary (operator of fellow multicast networks Court TV , Ion Mystery , Bounce TV , Laff and Grit ). On January 14, 2021, Scripps announced that it would discontinue Ion Plus, Qubo and Ion Shop effective February 28, 2021. The spectrum allocated to
10403-522: Was subsequently replaced by Stadium in August 2017, following the formation of a multi-platform network venture with the Chicago White Sox's Silver Chalice unit and 120 Sports . 2023 saw the moves of two National Hockey League team broadcasts to digital subchannels, in at least part of the team's market. In May 2023, the Vegas Golden Knights and Scripps Sports announced plans to bring
10506-425: Was succeeded by R. Brandon Burgess in the role of President and CEO. In early 2006, the company adopted its current name. A few months later, Ion launched a children's brand along with NBC Universal (along its now-defunct subsidiary Classic Media), Scholastic and Canada's Corus to plan an afternoon block and a 24/7 channel in January. In May 2007, Ion, NBC Universal, and Citadel LLC reached an agreement for
10609-750: Was the most widely distributed diginet, and it remains the most watched with prime time viewership eclipsing some cable channels. Station groups also increased their presence in the space, most notably the E. W. Scripps Company 's 2017 acquisition of Katz Broadcasting, which was seen as giving the sector legitimacy. Ratings and coverage have increased as these channels seek to reach cord cutters who still use antennas to receive broadcast signals. Diginets generally are reliant on national advertising revenue and, in some cases, pay stations to be carried on their subchannels, prizing lower channel numbers. Some have obtained national distribution on paid and free ad-supported streaming TV services. Many PBS member stations around
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