TV NETWORK LAUNCH
Escape will debut at noon Monday on channel 34.4 if you are using a digital over-the-air antenna. It is not yet available on any of the local cable or satellite networks. (In other words, you won’t find this channel on systems such as U-verse, Comcast, Dish and DirecTV.)
Two Atlanta-based free over-the-air broadcast channels launch on Monday, one targeting women called Escape and one targeting men dubbed Grit.
Escape will be available locally on 34.4 (WUVG), a Univision-owned channel. Grit has not yet found a home in Atlanta.
“We’re actively involved in conversations with several local stations and their corporate groups and expect that Grit will be carried in Atlanta soon,” said a spokesman for Atlanta-based Katz Broadcasting, which owns and operates the stations.
Grit (“television with backbone”) will launch in 50 markets Monday with a heavy dose of films starring John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. Escape, with the slogan “slip away,” will start in 35 markets.
Escape will open with the sultry 1981 film “Body Heat,” starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner.
“Kathleen Turner contemporized the femme fatale in ‘Body Heat’ and her steamy performance is the consummate way to seductively introduce viewers to Escape, which will feature daring and sexy stories of crime, justice and mystery,” said Jonathan Katz, president and CEO of Katz Broadcasting.
Like most startup networks, Escape will rely heavily on older films.
Some of Escape’s early offerings include the 1993 Nicole Kidman thriller “Malice,” dark 1995 drama “Copycat” starring Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, and 1992 neo-noir thriller “Final Analysis” featuring Kim Basinger and Richard Gere.
Escape’s prime-time lineup also will include true crime series such as “Snapped,” which debuted on Oxygen in 2004; “Unsolved Mysteries,” which has aired over the years on different networks; and “Forensic Files,” which originally aired new episodes between 1996 and 2011, mostly on Court TV.
When television in 2009 converted to a fully digital mode, it opened up space on the broadcast dial for new digital subchannels.
WSB-TV’s subchannel, for instance, is called ME-TV and runs classic series such as “Adam 12,” “M*A*S*H” and “Gilligan’s Island.” On WATL-TV’s third subchannel, Antenna TV plays repeats of “All in the Family,” “Green Acres” and “Good Times.”
Katz said he looked for holes in the over-the-air digital channel marketplace and found no channels targeting gender-specific audiences.
