Starting on Monday, March 28, Frndly TV subscribers will begin to have access to five new channels from Weigel Broadcasting Co. Joining the low-cost streamer will be Weigel’s MeTV, H&I (Heroes & Icons), DECADES, Start TV, and the new Story Television national network.
Despite adding the five new channels — which will bring Frndly TV’s offerings up to over 35 networks — the service’s three pricing tiers will remain the same, starting at $6.99 per month. Last week, the streamer’s co-founders Andy Karofsky and Michael McKennateased that they would be announcing new channels soon, but keeping the focus on offering a budget-conscious option to consumers.
“It’s been a core tenet to our strategy since we launched,” Korofsky said, “this idea of delivering high-quality, affordable service. It takes a lot of effort and discipline around the entire business to manage our cost structure, but we do a really good job of it. We’re still a small company. We have around 40 employees and a large number of those employees are in our customer service group.”
METV and Story Television will launch on Frndly TV on Monday, with the other three networks premiering in the coming weeks. MeTV is the home of some of television’s most iconic shows, including “The Andy Griffith Show,” all five original Star Trek series, “Leave it to Beaver,” the original “Perry Mason,” and much more. Start TV focuses on women-led procedural dramas including “Cagney and Lacey,” “Medium,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Cold Case,” and others.
Heroes & Icons and DECADES will join Frndly TV on April 19 and Start TV will be added to the streamer soon thereafter. Action network H&I airs shows like “Nash Bridges,” “Walker Texas Ranger,” “Baywatch,” and “MacGyver” during the day before turning primetime over to the five original Star Trek series: “Star Trek,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.”
Weigel refers to DECADES as a pop culture time capsule, offering original programming and world-class sitcoms, talk shows, and variety series featured by decade. The network airs classic shows including “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “Petticoat Junction,” “I Love Lucy,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and more.
Story Television, which officially launches on Monday in conjunction with the Frndly TV debut, will feature historically focused programming, with each day specifically programmed around specific genres and themes.
In addition to the newly added Weigel channels, Frndly TV also airs A&E, Hallmark Channel, The History Channel, INSP, Lifetime, Hallmark Movie & Mysteries, Game Show Network, [GAC Family], The Weather Channel and more. Customers also have access to on-demand content via the streamer, including the full libraries of Dove Channel and Curiosity Stream.
Frndly TV
Frndly TV is a live TV streaming service with over 40 channels for $7.99/month. Each plan is designed to provide a skinny bundle of family-friendly channels at a reasonable price. The service will appeal most to fans of Hallmark channels. It does not offer news, sports, or local channels.