TCA16: WGN America Sets Ad-Free Debuts for ‘Outsiders,’ ‘Underground’

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Pasadena, Calif. -- WGN America's two new drama series, Outsiders and Underground, will premiere commercial free, the network said Friday at its Television Critics Association press tour event.

Outsiders, which follows a tight knit family defending their land atop a mountain, debuts Jan. 26, while Underground – which tells the story of revolutionaries of the Underground Railroad – bows March 9, according to network officials.

“We will air the series premieres of each show commercial free in order to give viewers a pure and uninterrupted introduction to these two very different words,” said WGN president and general manager Matt Cherniss.

Cherniss added that WGN America will stream the first three episodes of Outsiders and Underground on OTT service Crackle, Facebook as well as WGN America and Sony Youtube channels after their respecitve premieres on the network.

WGN America also announced it will launch on Cablevision on Jan 16, extending its distribution to 80 million homes.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.