Heroes & Icons
| File:Heroes & Icons logo.svg | |
| Company type | Digital multicast television network |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | September 28, 2014 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Owner | Weigel Broadcasting |
| Website | www |
Heroes & Icons (abbreviated as H&I) is a United States-based digital multicast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Primarily broadcast on the digital subchannels of partner television stations, the channel showcases classic television programs spanning from the 1950s through the early 2000s, emphasizing genres such as action/adventure, westerns, crime dramas, sci-fi, and superhero series.
Operating out of Weigel Broadcasting’s headquarters located on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois, H&I serves as a derivative network of MeTV, another classic TV channel under Weigel’s ownership.
History
Heroes & Icons began with a soft launch featuring minimal promotion on September 28, 2014. Initially, it aired as a diginet on Weigel-owned stations including WWME-CD (23.2) and WCIU-TV (26.4) in Chicago, along with WMLW-TV (49.3) in Milwaukee. The network was developed in response to affiliate requests seeking to broaden programming choices beyond Weigel’s existing offerings.
The rollout also extended to the South Bend, Indiana market and was incorporated into major cable systems in Chicago and Milwaukee—such as Comcast Xfinity, RCN, and Time Warner Cable—leveraging pre-existing carriage agreements. This initial phase allowed Weigel to fine-tune H&I’s programming schedule and introduce additional content. Following this period of adjustment, on March 5, 2015, the Milwaukee affiliation transitioned to the third subchannel of CBS affiliate WDJT-TV (58), while This TV moved to WMLW-DT3.
In late 2015, Fox Television Stations broadened its collaboration with Weigel by incorporating H&I into eleven additional stations beyond its prior carriage of Movies!. According to Nielsen data reported by Variety in 2019, Heroes & Icons attracted an average prime-time audience of 196,000 viewers, marking an 18% growth compared to the previous year.
Programming
The programming lineup on H&I blends various genres including police procedurals, westerns, science fiction, superhero, and action/adventure series. To comply with FCC E/I mandates, the network broadcasts a three-hour children’s block on Sunday mornings.
A prominent feature since 2016 is the "All Star Trek" segment that airs five live-action classic Star Trek series (namely The Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise). This block runs Sunday through Friday evenings from 8pm to 1am ET.
Weekday mornings from 5am to noon ET showcase westerns and action series including titles like Trackdown, The Rebel, Wanted Dead or Alive, Cheyenne, MacGyver, Nash Bridges, and The A-Team. The afternoon segment known as "The Day Shift" features a rotating lineup of crime dramas and action/adventure programs each weekday from noon to 5pm ET: Mondays highlight The A-Team, Tuesdays air JAG, Wednesdays present NCIS, Thursdays feature CSI: Cyber, and Fridays offer Hawaii Five-O. Early evening hours from 5pm to 8pm ET include episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger alongside two installments of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, followed by the primetime "All Star Trek" block.
Weekend mornings are dedicated to a superhero-themed block spotlighting characters from DC Comics, with shows such as Adventures of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. On Saturday nights, viewers can tune into the military-focused "War Heroes" collection featuring series like Black Sheep Squadron, Combat!, 12 O'Clock High, Tour of Duty, Garrison's Gorillas, and The Unit.
Affiliates
By July 2016, Heroes & Icons had established affiliation agreements with stations in 63 media markets spanning 33 states, reaching approximately 69.21% of the U.S. population. The network is mostly broadcast on digital subchannels of local stations, with certain exceptions such as the O&O station KCSG in St. George, Utah, which benefits from broad cable and satellite distribution within the Salt Lake City area. Additionally, H&I is accessible on digital tiers offered by cable providers depending on affiliate arrangements and has been available nationwide on DISH Network channel 293 since 2020.
In South Bend, Indiana, where Weigel Broadcasting owns several stations, H&I is broadcast via WSJV, a former Fox affiliate now owned by Gray Television, due to considerations related to the spectrum auction. Early affiliates also included Salt Lake City's KCSG (which Weigel acquired in 2017) and a subchannel of KCCI, the CBS affiliate in Des Moines.
On September 18, 2015, Weigel entered into an affiliation agreement with Fox Television Stations, resulting in H&I being carried on subchannels of Fox and MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated stations in eleven key markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. This partnership expanded H&I’s reach to cover 52% of U.S. households and secured its presence in eight of the top ten Nielsen markets. Furthermore, Weigel maintains a secondary agreement with Spectrum to provide nationwide carriage in areas lacking terrestrial affiliates.
Heroes & Icons expanded its availability to streaming platforms by launching on Sling TV in October 2020. It further broadened its distribution by joining the Frndly TV streaming service in April 2022 and becoming accessible on Philo in August 2022. Most recently, on December 28, 2023, H&I commenced nationwide broadcasting via DirecTV.