As one of the most aggressive broadcasters in developing multicast DTV channels, Weigel Broadcasting Company is getting ready to launch yet another digital channel on its Chicago flagship station, WCIU-TV “The U.” The newbie, launching in December, will be called “The U Too.”
The U Too will broadcast over-the-air on digital WCIU-TV 26.5 and 26.6 as well as analog WCUU-CA, Channel 48. The newest sister-station in the Weigel Broadcasting Co. line-up will be an extension of independent WCIU The U.
“This is a natural step for us. Just the way we brought more classic television programming to Chicago when we extended the Me-TV brand with the launch of Me-Too, we now will extend The U’s brand with The U Too. This will allow us to feature some of the The U’s signature programs in different time periods and add new programs to the schedule. We will now be able to air programming from independent producers that fits our brand as well as provide another opportunity to reach a new audience for existing and future clients,” said Weigel Executive Vice President Neal Sabin.
“We believe this will complement not cannibalize our audience. It will also allow us to sell creatively between the two ‘U’ franchises, just like we do with Me-TV and Me-Too,” said Brad Lesak, General Sales Manager for Weigel’s Chicago stations.
In addition to the over-the-air full-power digital and LPTV analog broadcasts, cable subscribers in the Chicago DMA will see The U Too on Comcast 248, RCN 35 and WOW 170. At this time, Weigel said, The U Too will not be available for Dish Network and DirecTV customers.
When The U Too launches in December, FBT, the foreign language digital stream, will no longer be available. Weigel said it is continuing conversations regarding other distribution options with the few independent producers of the foreign language productions seen on FBT.
