The CBS Television Network has signed up TV2 to distribute its programming as a local affiliate in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
TV2, owned by Innovative Communications, will broadcast CBS programming through WMNS-LP Ch 22, a low power station to which it provides programming. The same broadcast will also be carried on TV2’s cable channel on Innovative Cable TV. TV2 and WMNS-LP began carrying the full complement of CBS programming Monday.
Brent Butler, TV2’s general manager, said it was a "privilege and a pleasure," to become a CBS affiliate.
"Combining CBS’s strong schedule … with TV2’s own local programming creates a powerful partnership that’s going to greatly benefit our audience and our advertisers," Butler said in the company’s announcement of the agreement. "CBS is the first U.S.-based network with which TV2 has signed a programming agreement, so this is a landmark event in our company’s history.”
Diana Wilkin, president of CBS Affiliate Relations, welcomed TV2 to the CBS family.
"It’s a great opportunity for us to partner with both the top provider of programming in the U.S. Virgin Islands and a company that has a deep commitment to the community they serve," Wilkin said.
CBS was established in 1928, when founder William Paley purchased 16 independent radio stations and christened them the Columbia Broadcast System. Today, with more than 200 television stations and affiliates reaching virtually every home in the United States, CBS’s total primetime network lineup was watched by nearly 100 million people a week during the 2008-2009 season.
