Fox Television Stations has agreed to carry Weigel Broadcasting’s Heroes & Icons digital broadcast network on its stations in 11 major markets.
The deal puts the network, which features action, adventure and sci-fi dramas, in 52% of the U.S., with 49 affiliates covering 29 million homes.
Next year, H&I will be the first network to air all five Star Trek franchises.
Fox also carries Weigel’s Movies diginet on the secondary digital channels of some of its stations, as well as the game show channel Buzzr, from FremantleMedia.
“This is a great addition to our D2 portfolio. Like Movies! and Buzzr, H&I will provide viewers in our markets with another compelling, fun choice. And nobody executes this stuff better than Weigel, so I’m happy to be expanding our business relationship with them,” said Frank Cicha, senior VP of programming for the Fox Television Stations
Fox will launch H&I in the fourth quarter in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Detroit, Tampa, Orlando and Charlotte.
“H&I has found a fantastic home with our 'Movies!' Network partner, the Fox Television Stations,” said Neal Sabin, vice chairman of Weigel Broadcasting. “Among the programming highlights H&I will bring to its affiliates in 2016 is the presentation of all five Star Trek franchises. For the first time, all five series will be seen on one network simultaneously. It’s a terrific way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original series, and a fantastic opportunity for our affiliate partners, including the Fox Television Stations.”
Other series on H&I include Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Hunter, The Commish, Wiseguy and 21 Jump Street.
Weigel also operates MeTV, which it says is the most widely distributed diginet, and, with the CBS Television Station Group, the new Decades Network.
