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), including Swamp People , American Pickers , Ax Men , Counting Cars , UFO Hunters , Forged in Fire and Pawn Stars . [8]
KUPX-TV, branded Utah 16, is an independent television station licensed to Provo, Utah, United States, serving Salt Lake City and the state of Utah. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Fox affiliate KSTU. KUPX-TV's offices are located on Lawndale Drive in the southern section of Salt Lake City, and its transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City.
KPXD-TV is a television station licensed to Arlington, Texas, United States, serving as the Ion Television outlet for the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has offices on Six Flags Drive in Arlington, and its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill, Texas.
WPXJ-TV is a television station licensed to Batavia, New York, United States, serving the Buffalo area as an affiliate of Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station maintains offices on Exchange Street in Buffalo, and its transmitter is located in Cowlesville, New York.
KPXB-TV is a television station licensed to Conroe, Texas, United States, serving as the Houston area outlet for the Ion Television network. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains a transmitter near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County.
WPXE-TV is a television station licensed to Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Milwaukee area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV, with engineering and some master control operations run out of WTMJ-TV's Radio City facility on East Capitol Drive in Milwaukee. WPXE's transmitter is located on the WITI TV Tower on East Capitol Drive in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
WNPX-TV is a television station licensed to Franklin, Tennessee, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Nashville area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CBS affiliate WTVF. WNPX-TV's transmitter is located near Cross Plains, Tennessee.
KPXL-TV is a television station licensed to Uvalde, Texas, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the San Antonio area. Owned by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, KPXL-TV maintains transmitter facilities off Highway 173/RM Road 689 on the Medina–Bandera county line.
KMCC, branded Vegas 34, is an independent television station licensed to Laughlin, Nevada, United States, serving the Las Vegas area. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside ABC affiliate KTNV-TV. The two stations share studios on South Valley View Boulevard in the nearby unincorporated community of Paradise. KMCC uses a distributed transmission system, with the main transmitter located near Dolan Springs, Arizona, and a secondary transmitter at the KTNV studios.
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as the true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news coverage of prominent criminal cases. In 2008, the original cable channel became TruTV.
Scripps News is an American news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, 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.
Bounce TV is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Scripps Networks, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. It launched on September 26, 2011, and was promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans". Bounce features a mix of original and acquired programming geared toward African Americans between 25 and 54 years of age.
Ion Plus is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network originally launched in 2007 as Ion Life, maintaining a format featuring lifestyle programming focused on health and wellness, cooking, home decor, and travel. With expanded cable carriage, in 2019, Ion Media converted the network into a general entertainment format that matched that of parent network Ion Television, featuring day-long marathons of various drama series.
Grit is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network features classic westerns, both TV series and films.
Ion Mystery is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. It focuses primarily on mystery, true crime, and police/legal procedural programs.
Laff is an American digital multicast television network headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network specializes in comedy programming, featuring mainly sitcoms from the 1990s through the 2020s.
Scripps Networks, LLC, formerly known as Katz Broadcasting, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a division of the E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns eight broadcast television networks, nine FAST streaming networks and a streaming service that each carry programming with specified formats targeted at individual demographics.
KPKN-LD is a low-power television station, licensed to Tyler, Texas, United States, serving East Texas as an affiliate of the Buzzr and Defy TV networks. Owned by DTV America Corporation of Sunrise, Florida, it is an in-market sister station to KDKJ-LD, and shares spectrum on RF35 with KCEB.
TrueReal was an American digital multicast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, targeting women aged 25–54.
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.
Free TV Networks is an American specialized digital multicasting and advertising-supported video on demand network media company owned as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Gray Television. The company owns and operates two broadcast television networks and plans to launch four FAST streaming networks that each carry programming with specified formats targeted at individual demographics. The company was founded and is led by broadcasting veteran Jonathan Katz, who previously launched what is now the Scripps Networks division of competitor E. W. Scripps Company.