CBS Television Stations to Launch Retro Digital Channel in the U.S.

NEW YORK/CHICAGO: The CBS Television Stations group has teamed up with Weigel Broadcasting to launch Decades, a new U.S. entertainment service featuring classic content for distribution across local TV stations' digital subchannels.

The diginet will cull its content from a library of more than 100 classic TV series, including I Love Lucy, Star Trek, Happy Days and Cheers. It will also feature a selection of theatrical and made-for-television movies and footage of historical news events from the archives of CBS News and Entertainment Tonight.

In addition to being available as an over-the-air broadcast channel, Decades will appear on numerous local cable systems and other mutlichannel video programming distribution services along with the stations' primary channels.

“Decades is the most ambitious and creative subchannel programming service that has ever been created,” said Peter Dunn, the president of CBS Television Stations. “We are thrilled to partner with Weigel Broadcasting, the leaders in this space, to make smart use of our stations’ spectrums and our companies’ considerable programming assets. This service will be a tremendous new business for CBS and all of the other stations across the country that participate, regardless of their primary network affiliation.”
 
Norman H. Shapiro, the president of Weigel, added, “Decades takes the digital broadcast network platform to a new level. Viewers will ‘Relive, Remember & Relate’ to the events that touched their lives and generations past. The events, themes and programming possibilities are endless. We are truly honored to be chosen as the company to develop the CBS Television Stations’ diginet product, and look forward to the launch of Decades next year.”