Charge! (TV network)

Last updated
Charge!
Charge! Logo 2020.svg
Type Digital broadcast television network
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaNationwide, via OTA digital TV
(estimated coverage 64.42%), [1] Stremium, and Stirr.
Affiliates List of Charge! affiliates
Headquarters Hunt Valley, Maryland
Programming
Language(s) English
Picture format 480i (SDTV, widescreen)
Ownership
Owner Sinclair Broadcast Group
ParentSinclair Television Group, Inc.
Key people
  • David Amy (vice chairman, Sinclair Broadcast Group)
  • Christopher Ripley
  • (president/CEO, Sinclair Broadcast Group) [2]
History
LaunchedFebruary 28, 2017;6 years ago (2017-02-28)
Replaced The Works
Links
Webcast Watch live
Website watchcharge.com

Charge! is an American digital broadcast television network owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The network features action- and adventure-based programming sourced primarily from the MGM television and film library.

Contents

The network is also available via a website stream for mobile devices (internet sourced) broadcast networks and via streaming service Stirr.

Background

The original logo for Charge!, used from February 28, 2017 to April 2, 2020. Charge! network logo.png
The original logo for Charge!, used from February 28, 2017 to April 2, 2020.

Sinclair Broadcast Group had already put three digital broadcast television networks on the air. The first was with MGM, the science-fiction network Comet, which was launched in October 2015. [3] American Sports Network, Sinclair's sports programming arm (now the framework for Stadium), was broadened to include full network operations on January 11, 2016. [4] Sinclair started TBD, a network targeting millennial audiences, which commenced operations on February 13, 2017, in a soft launch. [5]

History

Charge! was formally announced by Sinclair and MGM on January 17, 2017. [3] The network debuted on February 28, 2017, at 10 am (ET) with an airing of the 1978 film Here Come the Tigers . [6] [7] Stations carrying The Works replaced the network with Charge. [8]

As of 2020, along with sibling network Comet, Charge! is now owned-and-operated by Sinclair as MGM sold their operation stake in the two networks. [9]

Programming

Charge! currently provides up to 18 hours of programming to its owned-and-operated and affiliated stations on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time and weekends from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The remaining vacated hours are occupied by paid programming.

Programming on Charge! is sourced primarily from MGM's library of films and TV series, expressed by Sinclair's press release announcing the launch as "one of the deepest libraries of premium action-themed content in the world." Titles indicated as airing on Charge! include the TV series In the Heat of the Night and The Magnificent Seven , the Rocky and James Bond film series, and other motion pictures including Platoon and Dances with Wolves . [3] The channel has a similar demographic to rival networks Heroes & Icons and Start TV.

Ring of Honor Wrestling , the weekly professional wrestling television series produced by the Sinclair-affiliated promotion Ring of Honor, began airing on the network from July 9, 2017, to 2019. The series was previously syndicated to sibling broadcast network Comet. [10]

On April 6, 2020, Charge! began airing Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider [11] in addition to their line-up consisting of CHiPs and Walker, Texas Ranger . In the fall of 2020, Charge began airing Hunter , and CSI: Miami in June 2021. Walker, Texas Ranger would later be taken off the air due to a schedule change. Charge recently began airing The Commish and CSI: NY in late 2022, Without a Trace and Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2023.

Affiliates

At its outset, Sinclair slated the launch of Charge! to primarily take place on digital subchannels of stations it owns or operates. Other Sinclair stations will likely add Charge! during Spring 2017 (and also used it to replace Grit and Ion Mystery when their carriage agreements with Sinclair expired in January 2018), and Sinclair will continue to offer the network to stations outside its geographic footprint (the company projects Charge to reach over 50% of the U.S. by the end of 2nd quarter 2017). [6] As of February 12, 2019, there are 56 affiliates of which 49 have the network on the air and 7 that have committed to broadcasting the network. [1] It was announced that YouTube TV will add Charge! to their lineup on June 1, 2023.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Stations for Network - Charge!". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ Mirabella, Lorraine (November 11, 2016). "Sinclair Broadcast shuffles top management in second round of changes". Baltimore Sun. Baltimore Sun Media Group. Retrieved December 28, 2016. On Friday the company said Chief Operating Officer David Amy, who has served in that role and as executive vice president since 2014, will become vice chairman and oversee human resources, corporate marketing and the networks group.
  3. 1 2 3 Evans, Greg (February 17, 2017). "Sinclair & MGM To Launch Charge! Action Network; 'Rocky', James Bond In Lineup". Deadline. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  4. ↑ "ASN launches 24/7 broadcast network on Monday". americansportsnet.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Herbert, Geoff (February 15, 2017). "Syracuse gets first look at new TV network 'for people who love the internet'". syracuse.com. Syracuse Media Group. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Buckman, Adam (January 17, 2017). "MGM, Sinclair Unwrap New Action Diginet". TV News Check. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  7. ↑ Bouma, Luke (March 3, 2017). "Three New Over-the-Air TV Networks Recently Launched". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  8. ↑ Stilson, Janet (July 18, 2017). "Optimistic Outlook On Multicast's Prospects". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved July 19, 2017. And it also rebranded a classic TV diginet, The Works. It's now called Charge! and has narrowed its retro focus to action-adventure.
  9. ↑ "Sinclair Pushes Its 'Stack' of Digital Over-the-Air Nets". 4 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Ring of Honor TV Show Moving To CHARGE!". www.rohwrestling.com. July 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Why Action TV Peaked in the 1980s". 23 March 2020.
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