The 60-channel lineup will be a familiar one to those who have been keeping a close eye on the live TV streaming market. With no sports or major broadcaster support, calling it TV Essentials might be a bit of an exaggeration: It’s an entertainment-heavy mix that relies greatly on channels from Viacom. Here’s the full lineup:
A&E, AMC, American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet, AXS TV, BBC America, BBC World News, BET, BET Her, BET Jams, BET Soul, Bloomberg, Cheddar, CLEO TV, CMT, CMT Music, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, DIY, Food Network, FYI, Game Show Network, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, HDNet Movies, HGTV, History, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Logo, MotorTrend Network, MTV, MTV2, MTV Classic, MTV Live, MTVU, NewsmaxTV, Newsy, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nick Music, Nicktoons, Outdoor Channel, OWN, Paramount Network, Science Channel, Sundance TV, Teen Nick, TLC, Travel Channel, TV Land, VH1, Viceland, The Weather Channel and WEtv. Charter-owned localSpectrum Newschannels will be included in New York, Los Angeles, Tampa, Charlotte, Orlando and “other markets,”
Buried at the end of the announcement was a surprise reference to Spectrum Originals, which will be added to Spectrum TV Essentials in May. Apparently, Charter is beginning to follow Netflix and Amazon’s lead on the development of its own TV productions, albeit on a much smaller scale. The first show to be produced under the new banner is a police partner story calledL.A.’s Finest, starring and executive produced by Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union.
The merger of Charter Communications and Time Warner, which ultimately was rebranded as Spectrum, hasn’t been a smooth one, especially in New York. The company was sued by the state’s Attorney General in 2017over its internet speeds, and Charter is still working on an agreement to keep its Spectrum service running in that area after the statewithdrew its approval of the mergerin 2018.
