We take a look at the lively digi-net landscape in our new issue–specifically, how the arrival of multicast channels from the NBC Owned Stations (Cozi TV) and Fox Television Stations (Movies!) affect what was already a pretty packed entertainment channel landscape.
Cozi, showing old series and a handful of originals, debuted in January. Movies! is shooting for Memorial Day.
One leader in the space is Me-TV, with 190 affiliates covering 85% of the U.S. Antenna TV, for its part, weights in at 72 affiliates covering 62% of the nation. This TV, showing films, is a biggie in the space too.
Booming in the broader digi-net space are the likes of Bounce TV, targeted to African Americans reaching 68% of the U.S, and MundoFox, the new Spanish-language entry from Fox with 50% U.S. coverage.
Next week, Me-TV begins receiving national ratings from Nielsen.
“It’s the duopoly you don’t have to buy,” says Neal Sabin, president of content and networks at Me-TV/This TV parent Weigel. “It’s a very economical way to get another stream into the market.”
Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.
