NBC Stations Kick Off Cozi TV

The NBC Owned Television Stations group is quietly launching its multicast channel Cozi TV this week and by Jan.1 it will reach 31% of U.S. TV homes. Most of the total — 26% — is contributed by the 10 NBC O&Os; the rest, by 14 charter affiliates.

The affiliates include Cordillera’s KVOA Tucson, Ariz. (NBC); Trans-America’s KAIL Fresno, Calif. (MNT); Sunbelt’s KSNV Las Vegas (NBC); and London Broadcasting Group’s eight Texas stations, including KCEN Waco, Texas (NBC).

Cozi programs a mix of classic TV shows like The Six Million Dollar Man and Magnum P.I., original network programs and local programs supplied by the stations. Cozi affiliates may preempt up to 16 hours a week of network programming for local sports and news.

Cozi traces its roots to NBC’s local Nonstop channels, which the O&Os began rolling out in 2009. In November 2011, NBC began to rework it as a national network with a mix of original programs and news. Cozi adds retro TV shows to the mix.

Currently, Cozi’s originals are carryovers from Nonstop. “One show, the celebrity interview show Talk Stoop will continue on weekends in primetime,” says Meredith McGinn, vice president of multi-station local programming for the NBC station group.

Talk Stoop is produced by NBC’s LX.TV. Other Nonstop shows from LX.TV that will air on Cozi: 1^st Look, where host Ali Fedotowsky travels the country in search of good food; home design shows George to the Rescue and Open House.

“We’re going to announce more original shows soon,” promises McGinn.

Some Cozi stations also will air local shows. WNBC New York, for instance, offers the Broadway-centric In the Wings and a one-hours newscast each weekday evening.