Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate And Gray Television Team With Free TV Networks, A New Programmer With A Presence On Broadcast TV And Streaming
deadline.comFree TV Networks, a new programming entity with a presence in both over-the-air broadcast and streaming, has enlisted Warner Bros.
Discovery, Lionsgate and Gray Television as partners and suppliers. The new company is founded and led by Jonathan Katz, who gained attention a decade ago by creating multicast networks, or “diginets” using spectrum made available via the TV industry’s conversion to high-definition signals during the 2000s.
That portfolio of networks, including Bounce, Escape and Grit was acquired in 2017 by E.W. Scripps for $292 million. The first channels from Free TV will be networks centered on African-American programming and Westerns.
Launching New Year’s Day as a diginet, the flagship brand will be The365 (tagline: “Black, All Day, Every Day”). It will cater to African-American viewers with a lineup of movies and series likeWarner Bros.’ I Am Legend, Purple Rain and Queen Sugar along with Lionsgate titles like Crash, Monster’s Ball, Jackie Brown, Madea’s Family Reunion and Dear White People.
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