MeTV Toons is an American broadcast television network owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery . Launched on June 25, 2024, as a spin-off of MeTV , the network's programming mainly consists of classic animated content owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (including Warner Bros. , Hanna-Barbera , and pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library via Turner Entertainment unit), as well as third-party series from NBCUniversal , Sony Pictures Television , WildBrain , and Shout! Studios , dating from the 1930s to the mid-1990's.
87-625: Trademark registrations for MeTV Toons were first filed in March 2023, with originally considered names for the network being "Toon TV" or "Toony TV" (a name likely inspired by the mascot of the MeTV original program Toon In with Me , Toony the Tuna), as well as names of interstitials for the network such as 'Cartoon College' filed in December 2023. On May 1, 2024, Variety and TVLine reported Weigel
174-460: A sports talk station – in February 2014, before switching to an FM simulcast of sister station 720 WGN in December of that year). WRME-LD is licensed as a low-power television station, but operates as a radio station due to a technical anomaly with the analog VHF channel 6 frequency for television transmissions that allows the audio feed of such stations to be heard on 87.75 MHz on
261-545: A Time , and Hogan's Heroes ; although the programs that aired as part of the lineup changed occasionally. On January 1, 2005, Weigel rechristened the Chicago low-power station as WWME-CA and removed the ethnic-oriented programming that filled its late afternoon and nighttime schedule, adopting the MeTV format and on-air branding full-time. Channel 23's former ethnic programming and WFBT-CA call letters were transferred to its sister station on UHF channel 48, which used
348-542: A black and white noir block late nights. On Saturday, there are blocks of cartoons (mornings), westerns (afternoons), The Three Stooges (early evenings), Svengoolie (prime time), and sci-fi programs late evenings through the overnight hours. Sundays feature the Saved by the Bell "Sunday School" E/I block early mornings, then sitcoms all through the day into the late night hours. Despite access to program content from
435-580: A block of classic cartoons and original skits, airing for one hour on weekday mornings – premiered on January 4, 2021, and a three-hour block of classic cartoons airs Saturday mornings under the branding of Saturday Morning Cartoons . Its companion network, MeTV Plus, airs the three-hour block of classic cartoons Sunday nights under the branding of Sunday Night Cartoons , and airs Toon In With Me weeknights. As of November 2017 , MeTV has current or pending affiliation agreements with 203 television stations in over 185 television markets encompassing all 50 states,
522-629: A cartoon-loving tuna puppet, whom Bill has to take care of while Toony's owner, Goldie Fisher (Leila Gorstein ) (Seasons 1-2), is away on a world tour. As they present all of the cartoons, Bill and Toony deal with various issues in the studio, video chat with Goldie and receive useful information from game show host Mr. Quizzer (also played by Fleming). Fleming and Gorstein also play many other characters. Each episode contains five or six classic animated shorts (except for "MeTV’s Cartoon Kick-Off Show", which contains ten), and most shows end with Bill and Toony showing off drawings and photos sent in by fans via
609-595: A co-branded radio station, known as "MeTV FM", which maintains an oldies format focusing on classic music from the 1950s to the 1980s. The format change, announced on February 9, 2015, and formally commencing on February 23, coincided with Weigel's assumption of an LMA first formed in April 2012 between Venture Technologies and Merlin Media (the LMA was transferred from Cumulus Media to Tribune Broadcasting – which had operated it as
696-434: A format featuring programming aimed at the market 's ethnic demographics. The block – which initially aired for three hours daily from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., before expanding to seven hours a day (from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) by 2004 – featured a broad mix of series from the 1950s to the 1980s, which included among others The Honeymooners , I Love Lucy , Perry Mason , The Carol Burnett Show , One Day at
783-547: A hosted movie series that had been airing on WCIU since 1994, and cartoon-centered Toon In With Me . Similar to the former local MeTV and MeToo formats, the network maintains a broad variety of classic television programs, carrying approximately 60 program titles on its weekly schedule; the network's slate of programming is regularly altered at the start of its fall, winter and summer programming seasons, which respectively begin on Labor Day , New Year's Day and Memorial Day . Since MeTV broadcasts programs that it acquired through
870-548: A long-term affiliation contract. Afterwards, on September 7, 2012, another Wichita station ( KAKE ) became the Wichita MeTV affiliate, and is still around to this date. In early 2011, Bahakel Communications became the first non-Weigel station group to sign selected stations to carry MeTV on their digital subchannels, with its stations in Charlotte, North Carolina ( WCCB ) and Columbia, South Carolina ( WOLO-TV ) adding
957-443: A major subchannel network (Weigel and CBS would later partner to create Decades, a similar classic television-focused network that launched on May 25, 2015 ). On August 31, 2022, 12 affiliates owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and 4 affiliates owned by the E. W. Scripps Company dropped their affiliation with MeTV. MeToo was a companion programming format, which launched on March 1, 2008, on WMEU-CA in Chicago as an extension of
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#17327802185831044-613: A network-televised sports event is delayed or postponed due to inclement weather as well as during the Christmas season to provide supplementary holiday-themed programming. Two of MeTV's subchannel-only affiliates – WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee (which primarily affiliates its 7.3 subchannel with CBS ) and WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas (which primarily affiliates its 13.2 subchannel with MyNetworkTV ) – carry its programming on
1131-486: A quality source of its signal), Weigel-owned ABC affiliate WBND-LD (channel 57) in South Bend began carrying MeTV on its 57.2 subchannel on December 15, 2010. On April 1, 2013, Nielsen began to tabulate national viewership for MeTV, including the network in its prime time and total day ratings reports. In February 2016, the network began to transmit its master feed in 16:9 widescreen standard definition (which
1218-405: A recently deceased actor or actress with a marathon showcasing episodes of their past television roles (either those that the performer had starred in as a regular or appeared as a guest star) to which MeTV has access to broadcast through its distributors, pre-empting episodes originally scheduled to air that day; however, these have aired in a significantly decreased usage since the discontinuance of
1305-543: A second season beginning in October 2022. Toon-In With Me showcases classic animated theatrical shorts from the Golden Age of American Animation . Most of the cartoons shown are from Warner Bros. or subsidiaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery , such as Turner Entertainment Co. This includes the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons made by Warner Bros. cartoons , cartoons originally made by
1392-555: A secondary basis while nominally serving as an affiliate of a major broadcast network due to the lack of enough available stations in their markets for a standalone main channel affiliation (though despite the 'secondary' status, these stations still carry the majority of MeTV's broadcast schedule). One other affiliate, WBBZ-TV in Springville, New York (which serves the Buffalo market), operates as an independent station carrying
1479-532: A small number of stations air select programs from the network along with their regular general entertainment schedules, with a few carrying the network in high definition . The network is also available nationwide on DirecTV and DirecTV Stream , free-to-air C band satellite via SES-1 in the DVB-S2 format, and in some markets on AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS and cable television through cable TV providers nationwide. As of March 28, 2022, MeTV
1566-418: A subchannel for The CW to replace XETV-TDT 's affiliation. Like former sister network This TV , many of MeTV's affiliates (some of which replaced This TV with MeTV, after the former was partially acquired by Tribune Broadcasting) include regional descriptors reflecting the station's primary broadcast area underneath the logo bug displayed during the network's programming (these descriptors are also used in
1653-527: A two-hour block of the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell (which has long been used to meet E/I – or educational and informative – requirements, including by the original Chicago MeTV on WWME-CA prior to the national network's launch, and the TNBC block it formerly anchored) on Sunday mornings. In September 2013, MeTV began customizing its weekend morning lineup in order to allow its affiliates to choose between running both Saturday and Sunday E/I blocks, or running
1740-427: Is a "complimentary offering for ad-supported streaming services". Broadcast affiliates include those owned by Weigel itself, as well as those operated by Cox Media Group , Bahakel Communications , Hubbard Broadcasting , Allen Media Group and Gray Television . Frndly TV and Philo , two over-the-top MVPD services that carry all of Weigel's other networks, added the network on launch day. The programs featured on
1827-433: Is a Chicago-based voice-over artist, who has served as MeTV's staff announcer since its existence as a local programming format on WWME-CA and WMEU-CA, prior to its establishment as a national network; longtime voice-over artist Richard Malmos, who has been the continuity announcer for Weigel's flagship station WCIU since December 1994 (and is also known as the continuity announcer for many stations owned by, among other groups,
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#17327802185831914-497: Is also hosted by Toony (voiced and performed by Kevin Fleming). His co-hosts are Blob E. Blob, a puppet blob fish DJ who speaks in sound effects, and Trevor Ground, an undead video store clerk (performed by Steven Fleming) In the series, Sventoonie and his guests provide breakdowns and commentary of a condensed edit of a horror movie from the set of Svengoolie . On July 16, 2022, MeTV announced that Sventoonie would be renewed for
2001-406: Is also the preferred aspect ratio for sister networks Heroes & Icons and Decades), after conducting beta-testing in the format on WWME-CD months earlier. Although most affiliates continue to carry the MeTV feed in the 4:3 format due to technical considerations regarding transmission of their primary channel in high-definition and/or carriage of other subchannels, the switch to a widescreen feed
2088-426: Is an American live-action / animated anthology television series created by Neal Sabin for MeTV and MeTV Toons . It previously also aired on MeTV Plus until the launch of MeTV Toons. A special preview episode aired on January 1, 2021, with the main series officially debuting on January 4, 2021. The show is hosted in live-action segments by Bill, MeTV's "cartoon curator", along with his puppet friend, Toony
2175-630: Is available on the streaming service Frndly TV . As of August 9, 2022, MeTV is available on another streaming service Philo . MeTV's operations are located in Weigel Broadcasting's corporate headquarters on North Halsted Street in Chicago , Illinois . MeTV was originally developed as a programming block that launched on January 6, 2003, on Class A television station WFBT-CA (channel 23) in Chicago , Illinois , an independent station owned by Weigel that otherwise maintained
2262-626: The Cleveland, Ohio market, WOIO-DT2 , also carries MyNetworkTV, though as a non-prime contractual burn-off in the graveyard slot in lieu of sister station WUAB , which switched to The CW in 2018. On January 7, 2011, KCTU-LD in Wichita, Kansas became the first television station not owned by Weigel to carry the MeTV network. However, KCTU's affiliation with the network lasted only about one week, as that station's owner, Great Plains Television Network LLC, and Weigel could not come to terms on
2349-505: The FM band (with a visual station identification slide used on the station's television broadcasts to fulfill FCC licensing requirements). In May 2017, it was announced that Weigel had partnered with Envision Networks, now Sun Broadcast Group , to syndicate the MeTV FM brand and format as a radio network , with Weigel handling programming and Envision handling distribution. The company cited
2436-716: The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (ie. Tom and Jerry , Droopy , Barney Bear , Screwy Squirrel , George and Junior , Happy Harmonies and other one-shot shorts) as well as the Popeye the Sailor shorts from Fleischer and Famous Studios originally released by Paramount Pictures (under licensed with King Features Entertainment for the original comics). On some occasions, they also showcased two theatrical cartoons of Paramount's Superman series (licensed from WB's subsidiary company, DC Comics , for
2523-651: The Saginaw - Bay City - Midland radio market), affiliated with MeTV FM at its relaunch as WJMK , using the call sign vacated by one of MeTV FM's Chicago competitors, which had changed its call sign to WBMX . On May 3, 2021, it was announced that Weigel would launch MeTV Plus (MeTV+), a new 24/7 digital network that extends the brand and expands the audience of MeTV. The new channel launched on Saturday, May 15 on WCIU-TV 26.5 Chicago, Illinois and KMOH-TV 6.3 Kingman, Arizona, later spreading to other Weigel stations. In September 2021, MeTV Plus expanded their carriage beyond
2610-505: The Sinclair Broadcast Group ). Unlike other digital multicast networks such as former sister network This TV and competitors Antenna TV and Rewind TV, MeTV does not usually run day-long marathons of its programs on major national holidays. Instead, the network airs holiday-themed episodes of its shows on occasional holidays (such as Halloween , Thanksgiving and Christmas ) as part of its regular schedule, which air in
2697-564: The Universal Television library (including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys , Xena: Warrior Princess , Miami Vice , Quantum Leap , and The Incredible Hulk ), with syndication restrictions imposed on the original English-language versions resulting in some of the programs being made available to the station only in Spanish. Weigel expanded the format to its station on UHF channel 48 on March 1, 2008 – which adopted
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2784-406: The fine print notation " On most MeTV stations " at the end of its program promotions regardless of whether a program or block is specifically promoted, typically during the timeslot card. Additionally, stations may also air select MeTV programs that are recorded in advance on their main channels in order to fill unprogrammed time slots or for use as a backup source of programming in the event that
2871-423: The "MeTV Christmas Conundrum" stunt block, along with airing Christmas episodes of its programs from late Christmas Eve through Christmas night (this was repeated in 2015, albeit in an earlier prime time slot, featuring Christmas-themed episodes of series feature on the network's schedule and other shows from its program distributors that were not part of the regular lineup). The network occasionally pays tribute to
2958-571: The "MeTV Sunday Showcase" block in September 2012. MeTV premiered its first original series since the introduction of Svengoolie , a reality show called Collector's Call , in 2019, later with more original series in 2021, Toon In with Me and in 2022, Sventoonie. The network's schedule is a mix of programming ranging from the 1930s to the 1990s. Weekdays feature Toon In with Me (mornings), crime/legal dramas (late mornings), westerns (afternoons), sitcoms (evenings through prime time), and
3045-561: The 16:9 format; most other programming to which Me-TV has only obtained 4:3 prints are presented in an anamorphic 14:9 format. According to Nielsen, MeTV averaged 719,000 viewers in prime time for 2019, a 2% increase over 2018. MeTV's program schedule relies primarily on the extensive library of television programs that are currently owned by CBS Media Ventures and 20th Television (the latter now part of Disney-ABC Domestic Television ), along with select programs from other distributors. The only original programs on MeTV are Svengoolie ,
3132-401: The 1930s through the 1990s. The concept began as a 1950s to 1980s programming block on Chicago's WFBT-CA in 2003, growing until becoming a national network in 2010. Since 2010, the network has spun off six sister networks: MeTV+ , the action/adventure-oriented Heroes & Icons , the comedy-oriented Catchy Comedy , the film-centered Movies! (joint venture with Fox Television Stations ),
3219-572: The 1948 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer short by Max Fleischer produced for the Jam Handy Organization , which is also in the public domain. MeTV#MeTV+ MeTV , an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television , is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting . Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television programs from
3306-459: The 1970s to the 1990s. Until September 2013, the network also aired Laurel and Hardy movies and shorts Sunday mornings. MeTV's weekly showing of Columbo on Sunday nights had been the only program that appeared regularly in any feature length form. For a brief period in the 2010s, MeTV aired reruns of several NBC Mystery Movie series (including Columbo ) as part of a daily late night block called "The MeTV Mystery Movie". Columbo departed
3393-415: The Bell to reach their weekly E/I requirements). The network moved its children's programming to Sunday mornings in October 2016 for more classic television programming on Saturday morning including The Little Rascals and three additional hours of westerns. Starting on October 2, MeTV’s educational/informational block on Sunday mornings was overhauled with the addition of Beakman’s World and Bill Nye
3480-528: The Canada-based Cookie Jar Entertainment (now WildBrain). The national MeTV network launched in December 2010. As with This TV, MGM handled distribution of the network to prospective affiliate stations. As part of the standardization with the new network, Chicago's local version of MeTV was integrated with MeToo, combining a selection of comedy and drama programming that had respectively been featured on WWME and WMEU onto
3567-604: The Chicago outlets (some of which aired in different timeslots than on WWME and WMEU), as well as certain programs that were exclusive to the Milwaukee service. The following month on April 21, Weigel moved the MeTV programming to its dedicated full-powered channel – WJJA (channel 49) in Racine , a Jewelry Television -affiliated station that the group had recently purchased from Kinlow Broadcasting and had its call letters changed to WBME-TV on April 29. It later began transmitting
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3654-520: The District of Columbia, and the border regions of Canada, covering approximately 92.54% of the United States; this makes MeTV the largest subchannel network by population reach percentage (a distinction once held by former sister network This TV), and the seventh largest commercial broadcast television network in the U.S.-based on total number of affiliates. Of these affiliates, 24 stations carry
3741-473: The Family , The Honeymooners , and Frasier ), while MeToo on WMEU began running only off-network drama series. On March 1, 2008, Weigel expanded the MeTV format to Milwaukee , Wisconsin , where it began airing on the third digital subchannel of the group's CBS affiliate in that market, WDJT-TV (channel 58). The Milwaukee version of the service featured much of the same programming as that aired on
3828-450: The Lost during the 2013 Christmas season; the shows became part of the regular Saturday morning lineup on December 28, 2013, as part of an hour-long block called "Sid & Marty Krofft and Me". As of Fall 2019, MeTV's E/I programming obligations are covered by the weekly three-hour Sunday morning Saved by the Bell "Sunday School" block (7-10 a.m. ET). In addition, Toon In With Me –
3915-561: The Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power , along with Gumby and Mr. Magoo animated shorts; the block officially ended on October 6, 2012, rendering Vortexx (which replaced Toonzai in 2012) and Cookie Jar Toons/This Is for Kids as the only children's blocks on a broadcast network without a strictly-E/I lineup. MeTV began airing the cult classic Sid & Marty Krofft productions H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of
4002-746: The MeTV concept national and turn it into a full-fledged network with a standardized schedule, available to any station that wished to affiliate. As a result, MeTV would compete fully with the Retro Television Network and the then yet-to-launch Antenna TV , while complementing successful then-sister network This TV, which carried library product from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (with a limited number of classic television series featured alongside its movie-dominated schedule) and – until Tribune Broadcasting took over Weigel's operational interest in This TV on November 1, 2013 – children's programming from
4089-488: The Mysterons . The network runs original interstitial series which animation historian Jerry Beck helped produce. Bob Bergen , the modern voice actor for Porky Pig , is the promotional announcer for the network. The network is available on the following OTA stations as well as the paid streaming services Frndly TV and Philo . Bold is for owned and operated stations. Toon In with Me Toon In with Me
4176-468: The Planeteers . The channel follows a similar format to the formative years of Warner Bros. Discovery's Cartoon Network and Boomerang . Officials at Weigel said MeTV Toons will be distributed in three forms: as a broadcast channel available in many cities through over-the-air television and on cable, and as a streaming channel that will be distributed across subscription-based services. Also planned
4263-539: The Science Guy , the latter acquired from Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution . Saved by the Bell also continued to air on the station on Sunday mornings (as it still does). MeTV also previously ran a children's program block on Saturday mornings called "AniMeTV" (which despite how the name – due to the network's use of the "Me" moniker as a branding avenue for its blocks – makes it appear, aired no Japanese-originated anime programming), that
4350-535: The Tuna. Each episode contains four to six animated shorts taken from classic series including Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies , Tom and Jerry , Betty Boop , Popeye , Color Rhapsody , Woody Woodpecker , and many others. Unlike previous anthology series or reruns of these classic cartoons, many of these airings are remastered from their original negatives. Many of these remastered shorts have not been released on home media or streaming, making these airings
4437-620: The Universal Television, CBS Media Ventures and 20th Century Fox libraries, movies have a relatively limited presence on MeTV's weekly schedule. The network airs the Rich Koz -hosted horror and sci-fi film showcase Svengoolie , which is syndicated by sister CW-affiliate station WCIU-TV, on Saturday evenings. From September 2013 to January 2014, MeTV aired a prime-time film block on Friday evenings, "The MeTV Made for TV Movie", which showcased made-for-television films from
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#17327802185834524-510: The W48DD call letters prior to the format change. On August 4, 2007, WWME launched a weekend morning block that primarily featured Spanish dubs of select classic series, "Sí! MeTV" (the first two parts of the moniker were based on the phrase "see me", although "Sí" is the Spanish word for "yes"). Most of the programs carried as part of the "Sí! MeTV" lineup – which ran on the station until its discontinuation on January 25, 2009 – were sourced from
4611-564: The WMEU-CA call letters at that time – under the "MeToo" extension brand, with the two low-power stations also being broadcast locally on separate digital subchannels of Weigel's flagship station WCIU-TV (channel 26). The two stations eventually carved out their own identities, culminating in a format shift on September 14, 2009, when WWME began to exclusively carry off-network sitcoms (such as I Love Lucy , Leave It to Beaver , The Andy Griffith Show , The Bernie Mac Show , All in
4698-874: The characters), plus one Private Snafu WWII instructional cartoon from the WB Cartoons studio (in the public domain ). Outside of Warner Bros, Toon In With Me also showcased cartoons owned by other studios such as Amazon's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (ie. DePatie-Freleng cartoons: The Pink Panther , The Inspector and Roland and Rattfink ) from May 2021 to May 2023, Sony 's Sony Pictures ( Screen Gems ' Color Rhapsodies ), Paramount Global 's Paramount Pictures (under Melange Pictures, LLC ) ( Max Fleischer 's Betty Boop and Color Classics ), and Comcast 's NBCUniversal ( Walter Lantz 's Woody Woodpecker , Andy Panda , Chilly Willy , The Beary Family , plus many other color 30s-70s cartoons from his studio). During Christmas seasons, they also showcased
4785-583: The children's lineup on one weekend day and a three-hour block of classic series in place of the children's programs on the other, allowing stations to fulfill educational programming quotas by running the minimum three-hour requirement or an overall total of six hours of E/I content (this was reconfigured in January 2015 to allow stations the option of pre-empting the last two hours of the Saturday E/I block to carry only Green Screen Adventures and Saved by
4872-457: The customized station identifications shown at the top of each hour between programs or during commercial breaks, which differ from the silent lower third in-program IDs seen on This TV). Some stations either display customized logos using adapted versions of their current logo with the subchannel number below the main MeTV logo bug (such as WPXI in Pittsburgh ) or in order to fit in with
4959-425: The drama-oriented Start TV (joint venture with CBS News and Stations ), the history/documentary network Story Television , and the classic cartoon-centric MeTV Toons (in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery ). MeTV is carried on digital subchannels of affiliated television stations in most markets; however, some MeTV-affiliated stations carry the network as a primary affiliation on their main channel, and
5046-525: The entire schedule, some affiliates regularly pre-empt certain network programs in order to air morning and/or prime time newscasts produced by the station specifically for the subchannel or public affairs programs (such as with WLKY-TV in Louisville and WBAL-TV in Baltimore ); this has become particularly more common since September 2015, when other Hearst Television-owned stations in markets where
5133-593: The first time some of the cartoons are seen remastered and restored in HD. Toon In with Me harkens back to locally produced children's programs that aired from the 1950s through the 1990s, with a live-action host, comedy and puppet segments in between classic cartoons. The show is hosted from the MeTV studios by Bill the Cartoon Curator (played by Bill Leff). His co-host is Toony (puppeteered by Kevin Fleming ),
5220-798: The group does not maintain a duopoly (as is the case with WBAL and WLKY, which launched theirs earlier) gradually began launching prime time newscasts on their MeTV-affiliated subchannels. Some of the major network affiliates that carry MeTV full-time (such as WBAL, WLKY and WCVB-TV in Boston ) use the affiliated subchannel as a buffer during network sports coverage, breaking news or severe weather coverage situations to carry regularly scheduled network and/or syndicated programming seen on its main channel. Some affiliates may also preempt select MeTV programs to air infomercials (such as with WZME in Bridgeport, Connecticut pre-2021, which pre-empted much of
5307-480: The latter station's schedule under the MeToo brand as a locally programmed service. In the Chicago market, the national MeTV is carried on WCIU subchannel 26.3 and WWME-CA (the latter of which serves as its flagship station, and through its ownership by Weigel, an owned-and-operated station of the network); the new MeToo moved to WCIU subchannel 26.4 and remained on WMEU-CA. Low-powered WBME-CD in Milwaukee carries
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#17327802185835394-581: The launch of sister network Movies! on May 27 , 2013, which took the 49.3 channel slot that had been proposed to carry the Milwaukee MeToo service. After Movies! moved to a newly created second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WISN-TV (channel 12) in August 2014, WMLW-DT3 became a charter affiliate of Heroes & Icons. Through a local marketing agreement with owner Venture Technologies Group, Weigel operates WRME-LD (channel 6) in Chicago as
5481-481: The local MeTV format on sister station WWME-CA. It initially maintained a wide selection of off-network sitcoms and drama series from a variety of distributors (similar to WWME's locally exclusive MeTV format, but differing from the limited distributor output of the present-day national MeTV network). Initially, WMEU maintained a similar programming schedule as WWME; however by the fall of 2008, their formats were modified to feature one station focusing mainly on sitcoms and
5568-652: The main MeTV network in the morning hours (such as Looney Tunes , Merrie Melodies , Tom and Jerry , Popeye , and Woody Woodpecker ) also air on MeTV Toons. In addition, the network's programming features cartoons not seen on the MeTV block (such as Scooby-Doo , Yogi Bear and Casper the Friendly Ghost ) and classic anime titles (such as Speed Racer and Marine Boy ). MeTV Toons also airs various UK-produced Supermarionation programs overnight, such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and
5655-410: The national feed of MeTV in its entirety on digital channel 41.1; as a full-power station, prior to an August 2012 license swap that saw sister independent station WMLW move to full-power channel 49, while WBME moved to low-power channel 41 (the latter of which resulted in MeTV returning to its former secondary 58.2 slot to allow the latter to reach the entire market and to provide cable providers with
5742-435: The national network on December 15, 2010, WMEU concurrently reverted to a general entertainment format – combining some of its existing inventory of drama programming with a selection of comedy programs aired by WWME prior to MeTV's format-to-network conversion; however it continued to carry a mix of both classic and recent programs, resulting in the local MeToo channel airing a broader variety of programming than that provided by
5829-475: The national version of MeTV, which largely restricts its acquired programming to series that debuted prior to 1985. The MeToo format was relegated to WWME's analog signal and WCIU digital subchannel 26.4 on November 1, 2013, when WMEU was converted into a standalone extension of WCIU's "The U Too" subchannel, itself an extension of the general entertainment independent station format carried by that station's primary channel, albeit with some classic series remaining on
5916-569: The network as a formal primary channel affiliation and two are general entertainment stations that air select MeTV programs on a tape-delayed basis. In almost all of its affiliation agreements, the network's channel slot is mandatorily required to be slotted on either a station's primary channel, or its secondary digital subchannel; in San Diego, this stipulation required the move of MeTV from CBS affiliate KFMB-TV 's second subchannel, to ABC affiliate KGTV 's second subchannel upon KFMB's launch of
6003-615: The network in early March of that year. On April 4, 2011, Weigel announced affiliation agreements for MeTV with 14 broadcasting companies, most notably Hearst Television , Hubbard Broadcasting , Graham Media Group , Nexstar Media Group , Gray Television , Cox Media Group , and Tegna Inc. Also of note, in December 2013, the network moved its Dallas - Fort Worth affiliation to a newly created subchannel of independent station KTXA (replacing Greenville -based KTXD-TV , which abruptly disaffiliated from MeTV three months earlier), marking CBS Television Stations' first affiliation deal involving
6090-611: The network on November 21, 2021. From 2022 to 2023, MeTV aired Perry Mason TV movies from the 1980s/90s on Sunday nights until the program left the schedule in early February. In order to comply with educational programming requirements mandated by the Federal Communications Commission 's Children's Television Act on behalf of the network's affiliates, MeTV carried an hour-long block of Green Screen Adventures (Weigel's Chicago-based program originally meant for local viewing) on Saturday mornings and
6177-704: The network's "retro" format, a logo formerly used by the station (such as WHIO-TV in Dayton ). Others display their callsign and city of license (and in some cases, the affiliate's virtual channel number) below the MeTV bug full-time in case the full-screen ID sequence malfunctions in some manner. From August 2014 to August 2015, station identifications for MeTV were based on the motif "Thank You for Making Us America's #1 All Classic TV Network", allowing local affiliates to customize their IDs to refer to their individual viewing area (for example, "Thank You, Chicago" on WWME-CD). Although MeTV prefers that its local affiliates carry
6264-643: The network's morning and late night schedule with paid programming), locally acquired syndicated programming (such as with WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. , which aired events from the American Sports Network , a syndicated college sports distributor owned by WJLA parent Sinclair Broadcast Group, over its former MeTV subchannel on some weekends), local live sporting events (such as WTOV-TV in Wheeling, WV - Steubenville, OH which has pre-empted
6351-554: The network's programming part-time within its main channel's regular schedule, while running the full MeTV network feed on a separate subchannel. Over time however, MeTV's ratings strength and popularity have actually caused some of these split situations to end, with MeTV going full-time on two affiliates, Charlottesville, Virginia 's WAHU-CD 2 and Paducah, Kentucky 's WQWQ-LD at the start of 2019 and 2020, ending their runs as MeTV affiliates carrying MyNetworkTV and CW programming under secondary affiliation agreements. The MeTV channel in
6438-409: The other largely focusing on dramas. When WWME adopted a sitcom-intensive format for its MeTV schedule on September 14, 2009, the MeToo schedule on WMEU-CA was similarly streamlined to feature only off-network dramatic programs (such as Perry Mason , Star Trek , Star Trek: The Next Generation , The Rockford Files and The Twilight Zone ) and films. As WWME became a charter station of
6525-420: The program's normal time slot but are shown out-of-order from their regular episode rotation. Since its inception as a national network, MeTV has also aired marathons of The Doris Day Show on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas-themed specials during the month of December. In December 2014, the network aired Christmas episodes of its programs each weeknight from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, as part of
6612-469: The same channel. The station also aired public affairs programming including Racine & Me , and because of its full-power status at the time of the move of MeTV programming to channel 49, programming compliant with FCC educational programming requirements such as Green Screen Adventures (a children's program produced for Weigel's Chicago flagship station WCIU-TV ) and Saved by the Bell . On November 22, 2010, Weigel announced that it would take
6699-477: The schedule for Wheeling Nailers ECHL hockey game broadcasts and local high school sporting events), or in some cases, because the local syndication rights to a particular program are held by a station other than the MeTV affiliate (such as with The Andy Griffith Show , which since the network began airing the program in September 2014, is substituted in many markets with an alternate feed of its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. ). To address these variances, MeTV includes
6786-417: The schedule. The MeToo format was discontinued outright on December 29, 2014, when it was replaced on WCIU-DT4 by Weigel's new male-targeted classic television network Heroes & Icons . Weigel Broadcasting had planned to expand the MeToo format to Milwaukee, intending to launch a similar locally programmed subchannel on WBME-TV in early 2011. However, these plans were delayed and ultimately scuttled due to
6873-483: The show's website. On Friday, June 24, 2022, Leila Gorstein left the show in the episode "Farewell Goldie", and as Leila left the show, so did a number of her characters such as Boxcar, Bill's Mom, Lorna Green, Sue P. (from Sales) and others. Sventoonie , a spin-off television series of Toon In with Me as well as the Me TV hosted horror movie series Svengoolie , premiered on Me TV on March 26, 2022. Sventoonie
6960-514: The station's signal from a new digital transmitter on the Weigel tower in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park on October 20 of that year, after WBME officially transferred its operations into the West Allis studios of WDJT and sister stations WMLW-CA and WYTU-LP . MeTV continued to be carried on digital channel 58.3 until October 30, 2008, when it was replaced by newly launched sister network This TV on
7047-425: The success of the original station (which, by then, was tied for audience share with its closest full-power competitors WJMK and WLS-FM , and by March 2018, was the 6th highest-rated station in the market), as well as the possibility of cross-promotional opportunities with MeTV television affiliates. In April 2018, Northern States Broadcasting, which just acquired purchased WHHQ AM in Bridgeport, Michigan (serving
7134-504: The syndication market, episodes of these shows are usually edited to fit into the allotted running time with commercials factored in. The network does not air a split-screen credit sequence or feature voice-overs promoting upcoming network programming during the closing credits (borrowing a format standard in local broadcast syndication). The network's continuity announcers are staff members Richard Malmos and Carol Gallagher, who both do equal share of announcing duties. Carol Gallagher
7221-513: The two stations. The streaming service Frndly TV added MeTV Plus to their lineup in October 2023. The streaming service Philo TV also added MeTV Plus to their lineup in October 2023. Affiliates MeTV+ arranges the bulk of its lineup in organized genre-based programming blocks , most of which use the "Me" moniker (in some cases, as an intentional pun) for brand unification purposes. On May 2, 2024, Weigel announced that it would be partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery to launch MeTV Toons,
7308-467: Was also working with Paramount Pictures, Amazon MGM Studios, Universal Pictures and a number of other content studios. The following day, Weigel officially announced the launch of the channel, which would take place on June 25. The channel launched with a marathon of the pilot episodes of all of its non-compilation shows, with the inaugural program at 6am Eastern/5am Central time being Captain Planet and
7395-552: Was done mainly to accommodate national and local advertisers that produce commercials exclusively in the 16:9 format and prefer not to have their advertising letterboxed into a 4:3 presentation, and stations which carry newscasts and other local programming on their MeTV subchannels that prefer to present them in widescreen. With the conversion, MeTV also began to carry remastered widescreen prints of some programs (such as Leave It to Beaver , I Love Lucy , The Honeymooners , and The Monkees ) and present its program promotions in
7482-487: Was handled by New York -based Classic Media (which, along with NBCUniversal , Nelvana and Scholastic Entertainment , previously co-owned the now-defunct digital multicast network Qubo in conjunction with Ion Media Networks , later acquired by The E. W. Scripps Company in 2021). The three-hour block premiered on April 7, 2012, to compete with The CW 's Toonzai and This TV 's Cookie Jar Toons/This Is for Kids . The block featured animated series such as He-Man and
7569-497: Was partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery on MeTV Toons, which was billed as a 24/7, free-to-air television network dedicated to broadcasting classic animated programming. This was based on a press release from Weigel, but the company failed to send notification that it was to be embargoed ; the two outlets pulled the stories upon its request. TheDesk.net, which stated its editorial policy does not honor retroactive embargoes, published its own story later that day which noted that Weigel
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