Philadelphia’s WPHL-TV has entered the digital TV multicasting business with the launch last week of The Tube, a mainstream music video channel started by MTV/VH1 co-founder Les Garland.
The first music network to be distributed via digital multicasting, the 24/7 programming is being transmitted on WPHL's Channel 17.2. The Philadelphia station is among 22 stations slated to broadcast The Tube in the upcoming months, following a distribution agreement signed in March 2006 which secured penetration in 71 of the top 100 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Miami.
WPHL will become the Philadelphia affiliate of MyNetworkTV, which is set to launch this Sept. 5, 2006. The station, now in its fortieth year, is owned by Tribune Broadcasting.
