Catchy Comedy

Catchy Comedy
Type
CountryUnited States
Broadcast area
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois
Programming
Picture format720p (HDTV; widescreen)
Ownership
OwnerWeigel Broadcasting
ParentDecades LLC
Key people
Sister channels
History
FoundedOctober 21, 2014; 9 years ago (2014-10-21)
Launched
  • January 16, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-01-16)
  • (soft launch)
  • May 25, 2015; 8 years ago (2015-05-25)
  • (official launch)
  • March 27, 2023; 10 months ago (2023-03-27)
  • (as Catchy Comedy)
Former namesDecades (2015–2023)
Links
Websitecatchycomedy.com
Availability
Terrestrial
See List of affiliates
Streaming media
Service(s)Frndly TV, Philo

Catchy Comedy is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. The network, which is mainly carried on the digital subchannels of television stations, primarily airs classic television sitcoms from the 1950s through the early 1990s. Established in 2015, the network was previously called Decades.

Through its ownership by Weigel, Catchy Comedy is a sister network to MeTV, and is carried in 480i widescreen.

Since fall 2019, the network is carried on Fox-owned stations in 12 markets as part of a multi-year agreement with Fox Television Stations, after switching from CBS-owned stations.

History

On October 21, 2014, CBS Corporation and Weigel Broadcasting announced the launch of the network, then known as Decades, with plans to debut the network in 2015. Through its part-ownership by CBS Corporation, Decades announced that owned-and-operated stations of the CBS television network would serve as its initial charter network affiliates.

The network was the first national multicasting venture by CBS News and Stations. The group did not carry subchannels on any of its television stations prior to 2013. And at the time of the Decades announcement, only three of its stations even maintained subchannels (CBS O&Os WCBS-TV in New York City and KYW-TV in Philadelphia carried rolling news channels under the "CBS Plus" brand on their respective secondary subchannels, while independent station KTXA in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas carried MeTV on its second subchannel). In addition, CBS Television Distribution had already maintained a content distribution agreement with Weigel Broadcasting's classic television network MeTV, which sourced much of its programming from that library.

Decades logo

On January 13, 2015, Weigel Broadcasting confirmed that its Milwaukee CBS affiliate WDJT-TV would carry the network on its fourth digital subchannel. It would replace the digital news service TouchVision.

Decades officially launched at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone on May 25, 2015, with the series premiere of Through the Decades as its inaugural telecast. At the time, the network was available in over 45% of all American households with a television set.

Times for the programming are televised across all six time zones. For example, a show that begins at 8 PM Eastern Time, begins at 5 PM Pacific Time.

On March 27, 2023, Decades re-branded as Catchy Comedy, focusing on primarily classic sitcoms and sketch comedy variety shows weekdays with comedy marathons on weekends.

Programming

Decades (2015–2023)

Launch

Decades relied primarily on programming from the extensive content library owned by CBS Television Distribution, which includes the pre-2006 Paramount Television library – which CBS had acquired as a result of absorbing Paramount's syndication unit in 2006 through its split from Viacom into a separate company (CBS and Viacom re-merged to form ViacomCBS in 2019) – along with series from Desilu Productions, Bing Crosby Productions, Don Fedderson Productions, QM Productions, Spelling Television and Republic Pictures Television. Decades also carries series and movies from NBCUniversal, Warner Bros., Disney (20th Century Studios), Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lionsgate, Sonar Entertainment, the Peter Rodgers Organization, Shout! Factory, The Carsey-Werner Company and the public domain.

In an early effort to stand out from other "retro-TV" multicast services (such as MeTV and Antenna TV), the Monday through Friday schedule initially featured a block of programming based on a daily theme, with interstitial programs to highlight the theme. Each six-hour block of programming was repeated four times a day and typically included a feature film, episodes of theme related TV programs, and biographical programs featuring celebrities, actors and actresses, musicians, athletes, and public figures of interest. The theme blocks were bookended with Through the Decades, an hour-long program hosted and narrated by Bill Kurtis (who formerly served as a presenter for Chicago CBS O&O WBBM-TV and CBS News) that explores the events and news from a particular day or period in history, using archival footage that CBS owns via services such as CBS News and CBS Television Distribution's syndicated newsmagazine program Entertainment Tonight.

As Decades, the network's Saturday and Sunday schedules featured marathon of classic television series. Beginning on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. (ET), forty-two consecutive hours are devoted to a particular series, which is usually sourced from either the CBS Television Distribution library of shows or a show Weigel Broadcasting has a contract to carry (such as one of the shows it broadcasts on MeTV).

Airings of The Dick Cavett Show were added to the schedule February 1, 2016, within the daily themed block, as appropriate. Episodes from Cavett's late-night ABC talk show from 1969 to 1974 as well as his later interview series on PBS, USA, and CNBC were all made available for airing.

On November 1, 2016, a major change was made to the programming lineup, with the daily programming block reduced to two airings daily (one from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, the other in overnight) as the 2:00 p.m. to midnight (ET) time period was converted to a "daily binge" with a different show airing each day. During the month of November, a different "cop show" was aired each weekday.

A further shift in direction from the original channel concept came on December 5, 2016, when the network added two daily airings of the NBC series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the first breaking the daily binge in half at 6:00 p.m. (ET) and a different episode at the conclusion of the binge time block.

Through the Decades

Through the Decades, hosted by Bill Kurtis, is a retrospective-type show on the American TV channel Decades. Each day's edition of the show features events that happened on that date in history.

The show debuted in September 2016. After the network rebranded to Catchy Comedy on March 27, 2023, the program was no longer shown.

2017–2023

In 2017, the theme and binge programming on weekdays was stopped altogether and the network became mostly sitcom focused, featuring the "Television Across the Decades" block, where comedies from the 1950s through the 1980s air weekdays from mid-morning into early evening, and late evenings through the overnight hours featuring the "Smart Comedy" block – highlighted by classic sitcoms such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Cheers, Taxi, The Honeymooners, and The Abbott and Costello Show.

While the bulk of the lineup was primarily sitcoms, there were deviations – most notably in prime time – which featured the classic variety program The Ed Sullivan Show, Through the Decades and The Dick Cavett Show. Also, the weekend binge marathons continued, with a single series (regardless of genre) airing for 42 hours straight on Saturdays and Sundays.

The final program to air under the Decades name was The Mod Squad, which was the featured show of the March 25–26, 2023 weekend binge.

Catchy Comedy (2023–present)

At 6 a.m. Eastern Time on March 27, 2023, Decades changed its name to Catchy Comedy, focusing primarily on sitcoms (with some variety shows featuring sketch comedy thrown in), with the series premiere episode of Full House as the first program shown.

The weekend "binge" marathons carried over, but now are strictly comedy focused.

The only deviation from comedy programming comes from the network fulfilling their FCC obligations by airing E/I programming Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon (ET).

Affiliates

As of May 2015, Decades has current or pending affiliation agreements with 35 television stations covering at least 44% of the United States. Weigel Broadcasting handles the responsibility of affiliate distribution to stations outside the core CBS O&O group.

Decades is offered to stations on a barter basis, in which the network and the local affiliate will share the responsibility of selling advertising inventory and split the allocated hourly commercial time. CBS affiliates and their owners hold the right of first refusal to carry the network in their local market, before it is offered to other network-affiliated stations. The network is also available on local cable television providers (most likely through their digital cable tiers, as is the case with most multicast networks) and other multichannel television in the United States at the discretion of the affiliate's parent station.

CBS Television Stations initially planned to launch Decades on all 16 CBS owned-and-operated stations (including two that operate as satellite stations of Minneapolis O&O WCCO-TV). Not all of the CBS Television Stations outlets were announced to carry Decades initially, as CW owned-and-operated stations in markets where CBS Corporation does not own a CBS Television Stations (such as WTOG and KSTW) were originally excluded from its initial list of affiliates. The standalone CW O&Os were later added as charter stations by late April 2015. In the Chicago market, where CBS Television Stations and Weigel Broadcasting each own television stations, the network was carried on CBS O&O WBBM-TV, instead of one of Weigel's three stations in that market – WCIU-TV, WWME-CD and WMEU-CD. (A similar situation existed in that market with Movies!, in which WPWR-TV – owned by Weigel's partner in that network, Fox Television Stations – carries the network in lieu of any of Weigel's outlets.) Conversely, Weigel-owned WBME-CD carries the network in the Milwaukee market. WMYS-LD in South Bend, Indiana is the other Weigel-owned station to carry the network.

On January 9, 2015, Decades reached its first affiliation agreement with a station outside the core CBS Television Stations, through a deal with Media General for its Green Bay, Wisconsin ABC affiliate WBAY-TV (which was previously affiliated with CBS from 1953 to 1992). WBAY planned to carry the marathon blocks on its third subchannel as a replacement for the Live Well Network. However, on January 13, as a result of Walt Disney Television's decision to temporarily continue Live Well Network's national operations, WBAY announced that its 2.3 subchannel would not switch to Decades until after LWN's new March 2015 shutdown date. It eventually picked up Ion Television as part of a group deal with WBAY owner Media General to carry the network in markets without an Ion station. When the E.W. Scripps Co. purchased the Ion Television network in 2020, Ion moved to a newly-assigned digital subchannel, 26.5, on competitor WGBA-TV. A few days later, WBAY-TV started airing Decades on channel 2.6.

On September 3, 2018, Decades was replaced on CBS-owned stations with Start TV, a new Weigel-owned diginet focusing on crime dramas with female leads. Weigel maintained its commitment to Decades, with the company's owned-and-operated stations taking over in Los Angeles and Chicago. When it began airing on Fox-owned television stations, Decades moved to KTTV in Los Angeles. In Chicago, Decades continues to be seen on Weigel-owned WMEU-CD and WCIU-TV.

On April 19, 2022, Decades began airing on the Frndly TV live streaming service.

List of current affiliates

City of license/market Station Affiliate Virtual
channel
(RF)
Owner Launch date Notes

Alaska

Anchorage KDMD Ion 33.9 (32) Ketchikan Television December 2020

Arizona

Phoenix KUTP MyNetworkTV 45.4 (10) Fox Television Stations October 2019 Previously on KASW from 2015 to 2018

Arkansas

Fort Smith KFLU-LD The Country Network 20.3 (35) DTV America March 2017

California

Fresno-Visalia KFAZ-CA Charge! 8.2 (18.2) Cocola Broadcasting
Los Angeles KPOM-CD 14.1 (27.3) Weigel Broadcasting May 26, 2022 Previously on KCBS-TV 2/3/15 to 9/2/18
KTTV Fox 11.4 Fox Television Stations
SacramentoStocktonModesto KOVR CBS 13.5 CBS News and Stations August 2023 Previously on 13.2 from 2/3/15 to 9/2/18
San FranciscoOaklandSan Jose KAXT-CD 1.2 (22) Weigel Broadcasting April 2019 Previously on KPIX-TV 2/9/15 to 9/2/18
San JoseOakland-San Francisco KICU-TV Independent 36.4 Fox Television Stations late 2019 Previously on KPIX-TV 2/9/15 to 9/2/18.

Channel 36.4 was previously Heroes & Icons (H&I).

Colorado

Denver KCNC-TV CBS 4.5 (35) CBS News and Stations August 2023 Previously on 4.2 from 1/23/15 to 9/2/18
Glenwood Springs, Colorado KREG-TV H&I 3.5 (23) Weigel Broadcasting

Connecticut

Hartford and New Haven WHCT-LD MeTV 35.5 Weigel Broadcasting September 30, 2020

District of Columbia

Washington, D.C. WDME-CD MeTV 48.3 (20) Weigel Broadcasting Previously on WRZB-LD until April 2022

Florida

Gainesville, Florida WOGX Fox 51.4 (31) Fox Television Stations Coming soon (per Decades website)
Jacksonville WJAX-TV CBS 47.3 (19) Cox Media Group June 1, 2015
MiamiFort Lauderdale, Florida WFOR-TV CBS 4.5 (22) CBS News and Stations July 4, 2023 Previously on 4.2 from 3/7/15 to 9/2/18
Orlando, Florida WKMG-TV CBS 6.5 (26) Graham Media Group December 12, 2016 Previously on 6.3 from 2016 to 2019
St. PetersburgTampa WTOG Independent 44.5 (19) CBS News and Stations July 2023 Previously on 44.2 from 3/7/15 to 9/2/18

Georgia

Atlanta WAGA-TV Fox 5.5 (27) Fox Television Stations Coming soon Previously on WUPA 5/8/15 to 9/2/18
Toccoa, GeorgiaAthens, Georgia WGTA MeTV 32.3 (24) Marquee Broadcasting

Idaho

Boise, Idaho KRID-LD H&I 22.4 (22) Idaho TV 22 July 1, 2017
Idaho Falls, Idaho KPVI-DT NBC 6.2 (23) Imagicomm Communications January 13, 2016

Illinois

Chicago WCIU-TV The CW 26.6 Weigel Broadcasting September 3, 2018 Previously on WBBM-TV 1/29/15 to 9/2/18
WMEU-CD Independent 48.4 (18) 2017 Simulcast of WCIU-TV 26.6

Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana WBXI-CD Start TV 47.2 (36) CBS News and Stations
South Bend, Indiana WMYS-LD MyNetworkTV 69.3 (28) Weigel Broadcasting Previously TouchVision
Evansville, Indiana WZDS-LD H&I 5.4 (18) Weigel Broadcasting

Kansas

Wichita, Kansas KSCW-DT The CW 33.2 (12) Gray Television Sister station to KWCH-DT, in which KSCW does not have a separate website and is instead integrated with KWCH-DT's website

Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky WTVQ-DT ABC 36.8 (27) Morris Multimedia
Louisville, Kentucky WBNA Independent 21.5 (8) Evangel World Prayer Center Replaced Retro TV

Maine

Bangor, Maine WABI-TV CBS 5.3 (13) Gray Television October 1, 2015

Maryland

Baltimore WJZ-TV CBS 13.5 CBS News and Stations Coming Soon Previously on WJZ-TV 13.2 until 9/2/18

Massachusetts

Boston WBZ-TV CBS 4.5 CBS News and Stations October 2023 Previously on WBZ-TV 4.2 as Decades 2/26/15 to 9/2/18

Michigan

Detroit WJBK Fox 2.5 (7) Fox Television Stations October 2019 Previously on WWJ-TV 2/10/15 to 9/2/18
Kalamazoo, Michigan WLLA 64.4 Christian Broadcasting Ministries

Minnesota

MinneapolisSaint Paul, Minnesota KMSP-TV Fox 9.6 (9) Fox Television Stations Oct 16, 2019 Previously on WCCO-TV 2/10/15 to 9/2/18

Missouri

St. Louis KNLC MeTV 24.5 (14) Weigel Broadcasting

Nevada

Las Vegas KHSV MeTV 21.6 (2) Howard Stirk Holdings June 1, 2022 Displaced from channel 21.2 by H&I

New Mexico

Albuquerque KOB NBC 4.7 (26) Hubbard Broadcasting November 23, 2021 Previously on 4.4 from May to October 2021; replaced Newsy on 4.7
Farmington KOBF 12.4 (12) April 30, 2021
Roswell KOBR 8.4 (8)

New York

Albany, New York/Pittsfield, Massachusetts WNYA MyNetworkTV 51.3 (7) Hubbard Broadcasting December 31, 2015
Buffalo, New York WBBZ-TV Independent 67.7 (7) Philip A. Arno July 1, 2020
New York City WNYW Fox 5.5 (27) Fox Television Stations October 2019 Previously on WCBS-TV 1/16/15 to 9/2/18
Olean WVTT-CD/WVTT-CD This TV 25.2 DTV America June 1, 2018 Affiliation agreement signed under Vision Communications ownership
Rochester, New York WBGT-CD MyNetworkTV 46.5 Vision Communications June 1, 2018
Saranac Lake, New York WYCI MyNetworkTV 40.2 (34) Gray Television 2018
Syracuse, New York WTVU-CD Cornerstone TV 22.5 Rennard Comm. Corp. 2021

Ohio

Cincinnati WBQC-LD Telemundo 25.6 (28) Gray Television
Cleveland WOCV-CD Catchy Comedy 35.1 (27) Weigel Broadcasting November 1, 2022 Previously on WBNX-TV 55.6 (17)
Columbus WCBZ-CD Ind. 22.5 (18) Columbus Broadcasting Corp. January 1, 2020 Previously on WBNS-TV 10.3 (21)

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City KUOK Univision 36.4 Tyler Media Group 2023
Tulsa KUTU-CD 25.5

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia WDPN-TV MeTV 2.6 (2) Maranatha Broadcasting Company September 3, 2018 Previously on KYW-TV 1/16/15 to 9/2/18
Pittsburgh KDKA-TV CBS 2.5 CBS News and Stations 2023 Previously on 2.2 from 2015 to 2018
Johnstown-Altoona WTOO-CD Heroes & Icons 50.3 (22) Sonshine Family Television, Inc.

South Carolina

Columbia WLTX CBS 19.3 (15) TEGNA Inc. April 1, 2020 Previously Antenna TV
Greenville-Spartanburg WDKT-LD GEB Network 31.6 (15) CAROLINA CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING

Tennessee

Jackson WYJJ Court TV 27.6 (27) HC2 Holdings
Lebanon/Nashville WJFB MeTV 44.4 (25) Weigel Broadcasting
Memphis WQEK-LD Cozi TV 36.2 (30) HC2 Holdings Previously on WHBQ-TV

Texas

Austin KTBC Fox 7.5 (7) Fox Television Stations
Dallas- Fort Worth KAZD Simulcast of Spectrum News 1 55.6 (31) Weigel Broadcasting May 14, 2021 Previously on KTVT 2/3/15 to 9/2/18 and KDFW 2019 to 5/14/21
Fredericksburg/San Antonio KCWX MyNetworkTV 2.4 (5) Corridor Television, L.L.P. February 3, 2020
Houston KRIV Fox 26.2 (26) Fox Television Stations November 29, 2020 Previously on KTXH from 2015 to 2020
Odessa/Midland KWWT MeTV 30.3 (22) JB Broadcasting 2018

Utah

Cedar City/St. George KCSG H&I 8.2 (14) Weigel Broadcasting November 27, 2017 Previously Back Country TV

Washington

Bellingham KVOS Univision 12.4 (35.4) Weigel Broadcasting added January 17, 2018
TacomaSeattle KFFV MeTV 44.4 (16) Weigel Broadcasting September 3, 2018 Previously on KSTW 5/9/15 to 9/2/18

Virginia

Danville/Roanoke WZBJ-CD MyNetworkTV 24.3 (19) Gray Television September 1, 2018

West Virginia

Charleston/Huntington WVAH-TV 11.1 (24) Sinclair Broadcasting February 1, 2021 Previously Fox

Wisconsin

Crandon WMOW The CW 4.3 (13) Allen Media Broadcasting September 2, 2015 Previously This TV
Green Bay WBAY-TV ABC 2.6 (23) Gray Television November 1, 2021 Previously Ion Television

(Decades was originally planned to replace Live Well Network on WBAY-TV 2.3 in January 2015, before those plans were aborted.)

Madison WKOW 27.2 (26) Allen Media Broadcasting September 2, 2015 Previously This TV
Milwaukee WMLW-TV Independent 49.4 (17) Weigel Broadcasting January 16, 2015 Previously TouchVision
Wausau WAOW ABC 9.3 (9) Allen Media Broadcasting September 2, 2015 Previously This TV

Former affiliates

Market Station Channel Current owner Years of affiliation Notes
Phoenix
(Arizona)
KASW 61.2 E. W. Scripps Company
(Was owned at the time by Nexstar Media Group)
2015-2018
Los Angeles
(California)
KCBS-TV 2.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
SacramentoStocktonModesto
(California)
KOVR 13.2 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
San FranciscoOaklandSan Jose
(California)
KPIX-TV 5.2 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Denver
(Colorado)
KHDT-LD 26.2/28.3 Syncom Media Group ?-2023 Replaced by Jewelry Television
TampaSt. Petersburg
(Florida)
WTVT 13.5 Fox Television Stations 2019-2023 Subchannel currently blank
Atlanta
(Georgia)
WUPA 69.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Chicago
(Illinois)
WBBM-TV 2.2 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Indianapolis
(Indiana)
WBXI-CD 47.1 2018 Replaced by Start TV
Sioux City
(Iowa)
KMEG 14.2 Waitt Broadcasting, Inc.
(Operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
2015-2016
New Bedford
(Massachusetts)
WLWC 28.3 Inyo Broadcast Holdings
(at the time owned by OTA Broadcasting)
2015-2017
Detroit
(Michigan)
WWJ-TV 62.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Roscommon
(Michigan)
WURO-LD 18.4 (18) Station now defunct
(was owned at the time by M33 Media LLC)
West Branch
(Michigan)
WUWB-LD 20.4 Station now defunct
(was owned at the time by M33 Media LLC)
MinneapolisSaint Paul
(Minnesota)
WCCO-TV 4.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
New York City
(New York)
WCBS-TV 2.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Charlotte
(North Carolina)
WCNC-TV 36.3 Tegna Inc. 2015-2018 Replaced by Court TV
New Bern
(North Carolina)
WCTI-TV 12.2 Sinclair Broadcast Group 2015-2018
Fargo-Valley City
(North Dakota)
KRDK-TV 4.4 Major Market Broadcasting 2015-2016
Cincinnati
(Ohio)
WOTH-CD 20.2 Station now defunct
(was owned at the time by Block Broadcasting)
2015-2018
Cleveland
(Ohio)
WBNX-TV 55.6 Winston Broadcasting 2018-2022 Deactivated after Decades moved to WOCV-CD
Columbus
(Ohio)
WBNS-TV 10.3 Tegna Inc. 2015-2018 Replaced by Dabl
Tulsa
(Oklahoma)
KUOC-LD 48.3 DTV America Corporation 201?-2023
Portland
(Oregon)
KOIN 6.3 Nexstar Media Group 2016-2019
Philadelphia
(Pennsylvania)
KYW-TV 3.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Pittsburgh
(Pennsylvania)
WOSC-CD 61.1 The Videohouse, Inc.
Memphis
(Tennessee)
WHBQ-TV 13.3 Imagicomm Communications
(was owned at the time by Cox Media Group)
2016-2018
Nashville
(Tennessee)
WJDE-CD 31.3 Word Broadcasting Network 2015-2019
Fort WorthDallas
(Texas)
KTVT 11.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Moved to KDFW 4.2 to accommodate Start TV launch in 2019
Dallas-Fort Worth

(Texas)

KDFW 4.2 Fox Television Stations 2019-2021 Moved to KAZD 55.2 to accommodate MyNetworkTV launch in 2021.
Houston
(Texas)
KTXH 20.3 2015-2020 Was the only affiliate owned by Fox Television Stations prior to 2019. Moved to KRIV to accommodate theGrio launch on January 15, 2021.
Bristol
(Virginia)
WCYB-TV 5.3 Sinclair Broadcast Group
(was owned at the time by Bonten Media Group)
2015-2017
Roanoke
(Virginia)
WDBJ 7.3 Gray Television 2015-2018
Spokane
(Washington)
KREM 2.3 Tegna Inc. 2015-2018 Replaced by Court TV
TacomaSeattle
(Washington)
KSTW 11.2 CBS News and Stations 2015-2018 Replaced by Start TV
Eagle River
(Wisconsin)
WYOW 34.3 Allen Media Broadcasting 2015-2021
Eau Claire
(Wisconsin)
WQOW 18.3 2015-2020
La Crosse
(Wisconsin)
WXOW 19.3 2015-2020

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