MeTV’s Chicago Roots Helped Build a National Home for Classic Television

Before MeTV became a familiar presence on digital television channels around the country, its roots were in Chicago. The concept began in 2003 as a programming block on WFBT-CA, featuring shows from the 1950s through the 1980s. That local experiment eventually grew into a national network in 2010.

Today, MeTV—short for Memorable Entertainment Television—is owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting and presents itself as a destination for classic television. Its schedule draws from programs made across several decades, reaching from the 1930s through the 1990s. The network’s appeal is built around access to older television series in a broadcast environment, giving viewers a way to revisit familiar programs while introducing them to shows from earlier eras.

MeTV’s development also reflects how a local television idea can expand into a broader collection of specialized services. Since the network’s national launch, Weigel and its partners have added channels aimed at particular viewing interests. MeTV+ extends the classic-TV concept, while Heroes & Icons focuses on action and adventure. Catchy Comedy centers on comedy programming, and Movies! is devoted to films through a joint venture with Fox Television Stations.

Other additions serve different genres. Start TV, created with CBS News and Stations, emphasizes drama. Story Television focuses on history and documentaries. MeTV Toons, developed with Warner Bros. Discovery, is built around classic cartoons. WEST takes a western-oriented approach.

The original MeTV network is generally distributed through digital subchannels operated by affiliated stations. In some markets, affiliates place MeTV on their primary channel, while a smaller number combine selected MeTV programs with their regular general-entertainment schedules. That mix of distribution arrangements has allowed the network to appear in different forms depending on the local station carrying it.

For Chicago viewers, MeTV’s history is a reminder that the city’s broadcasting influence is not limited to local news or programming made for a single market. A format that started as a Chicago block became a national brand with a growing group of companion networks. Its evolution connects local television history with the continuing interest in older programs—and shows how a Chicago-based broadcaster turned that interest into a wide-ranging television lineup.

Source and reuse information This backgrounder adapts factual material from “MeTV” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeTV The adapted text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. This story has not been independently reviewed or fact-checked.

Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://cdnmetv.metv.com/LDIm4-1620832776-MeTV%20Plus%202Q21.pdf - https://www.lyngsat.com/SES-1.html - https://www.robertfeder.com/2018/03/23/robservations-chicagos-wgn-celebrate-70-years-tv/#more-17397 - https://www.rabbitears.info/search.php?request=network_search&network=Me-TV+Plus - https://www.nexttv.com/news/frndly-tv-adds-weigel-diginets-including-metv-to-streaming-service-lineup - https://help.philo.com/channel-lineup Image rights Photograph description: July 2006 Playboy Playmate , TV host and actress Sara Underwood at the 2013 Wizard World New York Experience Comic Con at Pier 36 in Manhattan, June 28, 2013. This photo was created by Luigi Novi . It is not in the public domain, and use of this file outside of the licensing terms is a copyright violation . If you would like to use this image outside of the Wikimedia projects, you may do so, only Creator: Luigi Novi. License: CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Original image page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A6.28.13SaraUnderwoodByLuigiNovi1.jpg. The image was resized for display; no other changes were made.