Type | Digital multicast television network |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Broadcast area | (64% U.S coverage) |
Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | |
Ownership | |
Owner | E. W. Scripps Company (2021–24) Free TV Networks (2024–present) |
Parent | Scripps Networks (2021–24) Free TV Networks / A&E Networks (2024–present) |
History | |
Launched | July 1, 2021 |
Replaced by | Ion Plus (Scripps version) |
Former names | Defy TV (2021–24) |
Links | |
Website | defynetworktv |
Defy (also known by its original name Defy TV) is an American digital multicast television network owned by Free TV Networks in partnership with A&E Networks, airing primarily reality shows from the latter company, having launched on July 1, 2021, with broadcast coverage of 64% of the United States.
On March 2, 2021, Scripps announced that it would launch two new multicast networks—Defy and TrueReal—in the wake of its acquisition of Ion Media and television transmitters shutting Qubo and Ion Plus down across the United States. [1] The channels are part of Scripps's strategy to increase perception among cord cutters that do not have traditional pay TV packages. [2]
The services launched on July 1 with 92% national coverage, mostly on Ion transmitters but also on subchannels of some Scripps local TV stations and by agreement with other station groups. [3]
On March 10, 2023, Scripps announced that TrueReal would shut down on March 27, merging its programming into Defy TV. [4]
On June 17, 2024, Scripps quietly announced on Defy's social media platforms that a refreshed version of Ion Plus would return on Defy TV's channel space on July 1. [5] The A&E programming library would move to a new over-the-air digital network, Dare, owned by the Free TV Networks joint venture. [6]
Shortly before the network's launch on July 1, Free TV Networks acquired the rights to the Defy branding from Scripps Networks and launched a new version of the network at 6 a.m. ET the same day, nixing its plan to launch under the originally announced Dare name. The "TV" portion of the original Defy name was removed prior to its immediate relaunch. [7]
The network's schedule is mainly made up of repeats of unscripted shows from the library of A&E Networks (mainly A&E and History channels), including reality programs : Swamp People , American Pickers , Ax Men , Counting Cars , UFO Hunters , Forged in Fire and Pawn Stars . [8] y
Ion Television is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming. It rebranded as i: Independent Television on July 1, 2005, converting into a general entertainment network featuring recent and older acquired programs. The network adopted its identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007.
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Qubo was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel", associated website with games and programs available through video on demand, and a weekly programming block on Ion Television, along with Ion Life, later known as Ion Plus.
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Scripps News is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) streaming news channel, and a former American digital subchannel network headquartered in Washington, D.C., and owned by the Scripps Networks division of the E. W. Scripps Company. It was previously known as Newsy, from its launch in 2008 until December 31, 2022.
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A digital multicast television network, also known as a diginet or multichannel, is a type of national television service designed to be broadcast terrestrially as a supplementary service to other stations on their digital subchannels. Made possible by the conversion from analog to digital television broadcasting, which left room for additional services to be broadcast from an individual transmitter, regional and national broadcasters alike have introduced such channels since the 2000s. By March 2022, 54 such services existed in the United States.
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