Nexstar’s Rewind TV is the latest entrant into the quickly multiplying universe of broadcast digital subchannel networks.
The new channel will launch Sept. 1 with reruns from the 1980s and ’90s, complementing Nexstar’s existing Antenna TV network. The launch will allow Antenna TV, which currently airs some shows from the ’80s and ’90s, to focus on the ’60s and ’70s.
“This year marks Antenna TV’s 10-year anniversary, and it continues growing and finding new audiences,” said Sean Compton, President of Nexstar’s Networks Division, in a news release.
“To complement Antenna TV’s strong following with Baby Boomers, we created Rewind TV to give Gen X viewers a network dedicated to their own nostalgic comedy classics,” Compton said.
Rewind’s lineup will include The Drew Carey Show, Murphy Brown, Growing Pains, Wings, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Who’s the Boss, and Family Ties. Several shows that are currently on Antenna TV’s schedule are also listed on Rewind’s website, including 227, Designing Women, Diff’rent Strokes, and The Facts of Life.
Nexstar says the network will air on “newly designated or recently vacated digital sub-channels licensed to Nexstar” reaching 40% of the country at launch but did not specify exact channel positions. Regionally, the company has stations in the Quad Cities, Des Moines, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Bismarck, Marquette, Green Bay, and La Crosse.
Rewind TV will originate from the facilities of WGN-TV in Chicago.