Launched May 2009 (2009-05) Picture format 1080i (HDTV) Language American English | Owned by Entertainment Studios Country United States Broadcast area United States | |
Entertainment Studios Networks is a group of seven high definition cable networks operated by Entertainment Studios Inc. The networks were launched in May 2009 through a deal with Verizon FIOS and have since expanded to Sky Angel and the Roku streaming player. and Boxee The six networks include ES.TV, Cars.TV, Pets.TV, MyDestination.TV, Recipe.TV, Comedy.TV, and Justice Central (carried on AT&T U-verse and Verizon FIOS). All the shows appearing on the networks are produced and distributed exclusively by Entertainment Studios.
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Racial Discrimination lawsuit
On December 3, 2014 a $10 million racial discrimination lawsuit was filed against AT&T and DirecTV by the National Association of African American Owned Media (NAAOM) for allegedly violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866. NAAOM is headed by Entertainment Studios vice-president Mark DeVitre. The lawsuit claimed that Entertainment Studio Networks were denied carriage by the two providers on racial concerns. In December 2015, AT&T and DirecTV (by then part of AT&T) reached a settlement with ES to carry the networks, with Comedy and Justice Central carried on DirecTV, and Comedy, Recipe, ES, MyDestination, Cars and Pets added to U-verse, along with Justic Central's existing carriage. The same type of lawsuit, this time for $10 billion, was filed against Charter on January 28, 2016, which seeks carriage as part of Charter's merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks into the front-facing Spectrum brand.