Country United States Former name W23BZ-D | Former names GTN | |
Owner Guardian Enterprise Group Key people Richard Schilg, President and Founder Type of business Planned but unlaunched broadcast television network | ||
.2 Network (pronounced Dot-Two Network) was the name of a planned television network designed for digital television subchannels (hence the ".2") owned by Guardian Enterprise Group. Announced in 2008, the network never ended up going to air due to financial and technical difficulties.
Contents
History
The channel was originally scheduled for launch on December 8, 2008 however, citing the planned 2009 conclusion of US digital TV transition, the launch of .2 Network was delayed until sometime in Spring 2009. 2 Network executives had announced an intention to delay the launch until the channel could reach at least 30% of US households, a milestone which at that time was predicted not to be reached until October 2009, almost a full year behind the original schedule. Ultimately, this milestone was never reached. The network's website, which from 2008 to 2010 had previews and info of the network, was reduced to a logo and telephone number as of mid-2010. As of 2011, plans for the network were "on hold."
As of April 2013, the .2 website is no longer online, and with Sony announcing the fall 2013 launch of the GetTV network featuring the Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures film library through digital subchannels on Univision and UniMas stations, all of the network's announced film and television rights (detailed below) are now with other digital subchannel networks.
Programming
.2 Network had licensing agreements with Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBC Universal, Disney, Hallmark Channel and Screen Media. 2 Network's proposed programming included Gidget, The Flying Nun, and hundreds of blockbuster movies. The .2 network was also to be a source for multiple broadcast premieres, with the prime-time line-up following a movie channel like format. Other programs were to include lifestyle-related, special-interest, and E/I programming, including Animal Rescue and Missing for its affiliated stations.
Since the announcement of .2 Network's plans, similar subchannel networks have launched, using the same programming libraries -- Antenna TV, a digital network from Tribune Broadcasting, has been receiving some of its programming from Sony Pictures since that channel launched on New Year's Day 2011. NBC Universal would also later sell rights of its programming to another similar network, Retro Television Network (RTV), but under their new Comcast ownership, removed their programming from RTV in June 2011, then signed a new agreement with Me-TV after that to provide them most of the same programming, and launched their own network with library content, Cozi TV, in January 2013. The status of .2 Network's contracts with its programming providers, including Sony Pictures and NBC Universal, are currently unknown.
Affiliates
.2 Network had confirmed carriage in the following markets:
Notes
HDTV
.2 Network had plans to offer a 720p HDTV feed to its affiliates for either the subchannel or as a cable offering, despite some engineers' skepticism at the time of carrying two HDTV channels on one DTV frequency. This has since been rectified, but most digital subchannels not associated with the largest six English-language or two Spanish-language networks continue to carry their signals solely in 480i.