If you love watching 80s and 90s shows, there’s a new subchannel for you to tune in to. On September 1, Nexstar will launch Rewind TV, a digital subchannel focused on the classics. The subchannel will be the home to shows like “The Drew Carey Show,” “Murphy Brown,” “The Facts of Life,” “Growing Pains,” “Wings,” “Sabrina The Teenage Witch,” “Who’s the Boss,” and “Family Ties.”
When Rewind TV launches in September, it will be available via digital subchannels on TV stations in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Starting out, 50 million homes, or roughly 40% of TV households, will have access to Rewind TV.
In addition to Rewind TV, Nexstar owns Antenna TV, which is one of the oldest digital broadcast networks. Nexstar acquired Antenna TV from Tribune Broadcasting. While Rewind TV focuses on content from the 80s and 90s, Antenna TV will offer shows from the 60s and 70s. This is the company’s approach to keeping up with the demand for more streaming services and digital multicast channels. Instead of taking the same route as other services and channels, Nexstar wants to focus on older content.
“This year marks Antenna TV’s 10-year anniversary, and it continues growing and finding new audiences,” said Sean Compton, president of Nexstar Media Inc.’s Networks Division. “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.”
Other multicast networks owned by local TV station groups have become popular in the current market. They can be viewed without a pay-TV subscription, which has resulted in some of them reaching 90% of households in the U.S.
Scripps has plans to launch Newsy later this year. Tegna launched a women-oriented multicast network, Twist, this month. Digital channels are proving to be successful for these companies, so it won’t be a surprise when other multicast networks launch in the future.