Grit, Escape Diginets To Launch Aug. 18

Gary Cooper standing up for what’s right in High Noon and Kathleen Turner turning William Hurt down the wrong path in Body Heat.

These two iconic motion pictures are how Katz Broadcasting’s male-centric and female-centric over-the-air television networks — Grit (for men) and  Escape (for women) — will introduce themselves when they launch on Monday, Aug. 18, at noon ET with High Noon on Grit and Body Heat on Escape.

“Gary Cooper as Will Kane is one of the most legendary performances of an American hero in motion picture history.  High Noon is the perfect movie to launch Grit, which will be built around the classic male hero with a focus on western, war and action movies,” said Jonathan Katz, president-CEO of Katz Broadcasting.  “Kathleen Turner contemporized the femme fatale in Body Heat and her steamy performance is the consummate way to seductively introduce viewers to Escape, which will feature daring and sexy stories of crime, justice and mystery.”

After High Noon, Cooper hands the reins of Grit to John Wayne as the network presents “Seven Days of The Duke” — a weeklong, 21 movie tribute to Wayne.  Highlights of the primetime festival include Wayne’s Academy Award-winning performance in Sands of Iwo Jima, The Quiet Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Hondo, The Sons of Katie Elder, War Wagon, The Cowboys, Rio Grande, McLintock! and more.

The Duke gives way to Clint Eastwood the following as week as Grit follows the Wayne tribute with an “Eight Days of Eastwood” primetime movie festival Aug. 25-Sept. 1. Among the Eastwood classics featured: Bronco Billy, City Heat, Every Which Way But Loose, Every Which Way You Can, Firefox, The Eiger Sanction, The Rookie and more.  For complete Grit schedule click here.

After Body Heat launches the network, other initial Escape highlights include:  The Nicole Kidman thrillers Malice, co-starring Alec Baldwin and Dead Calm; Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter teaming to track down a serial killer in Copycat; Sharon Stone in Sliver; The Grifters headlined by Anjelica Huston and John Cusack; the psychological thriller Final Analysis, starring Kim Basinger and Richard Gere; Basinger in the good vs. evil clash Bless The Child; Star 80 with Mariel Hemingway; Reese Witherspoon in Rendition and more.

Escape will also feature true crime series, including Snapped, Unsolved Mysteries, Forensic Files and others. For the complete Escape schedule click here.

Grit and Escape are currently cleared to be seen in 50% of the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington,  Cleveland, Houston, Miami, and San Francisco, with more distribution to be announced shortly.