American digital multicast television network
Television channel
Charge!
is an American
digital broadcast
television network
owned by the
Sinclair Broadcast Group
. The network features action- and adventure-based programming sourced originally from the
MGM
television and film library.
The network is also available via a website stream for mobile devices (internet sourced) broadcast networks and via streaming service
Stirr
.
Background
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Stations for Network - Charge!"
.
RabbitEars.Info
. Retrieved
February 12,
2019
.
- ^
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.
- ^
a
b
c
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
.
- ^
"ASN launches 24/7 broadcast network on Monday"
.
americansportsnet.com
. Archived from
the original
on 30 January 2016
. Retrieved
8 January
2016
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
a
b
Buckman, Adam (January 17, 2017).
"MGM, Sinclair Unwrap New Action Diginet"
.
TV News Check
. NewsCheckMedia
. Retrieved
March 1,
2017
.
- ^
Bouma, Luke (March 3, 2017).
"Three New Over-the-Air TV Networks Recently Launched"
.
Cord Cutters News
. Retrieved
March 6,
2017
.
- ^
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.
- ^
"Sinclair Pushes Its 'Stack' of Digital Over-the-Air Nets"
. 4 June 2021.
- ^
"Ring of Honor TV Show Moving To CHARGE!"
.
www.rohwrestling.com
. July 7, 2017.
- ^
"Why Action TV Peaked in the 1980s"
. 23 March 2020.
External links
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