InvestigateTV

What InvestigateTV does

InvestigateTV is the national investigative journalism programming brand of Gray Media Group, Inc. (Gray Television), producing original investigative reporting, consumer-protection content, and long-form documentary-style news. It serves U.S. broadcast and digital news consumers through three program surfaces — weekday InvestigateTV+ (Season 3 as of September 2025), weekend InvestigateTV+ Weekend (Season 5 as of September 2025), and Spanish-language InvestigateTV+ en Español — that air across all 114 of Gray's local television markets and are supplemented by investigatetv.com, a 24/7 livestream, on-demand full-episode libraries, a free mobile and streaming-device app (iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV), and email newsletters. The named in-house team includes recurring reporters such as Caresse Jackman, Rachel DePompa, Joce Sterman, Michael Buckner, Heather Graf, Brandon Wissbaum, Jamie Grey, Daniela Molina, Owen Hornstein, and David Andrews, plus a dedicated Equipo InvestigateTV+ en Español; on-the-record expert sources (NerdWallet, WalletHub, Better Business Bureau, U.S. PIRG, CFPB, Consumer Policy Center, Michigan State University) are routinely cited in stories. Recurring branded franchises include mAnIpulated, Doctors of Defense, Defective, Cost of Beauty, Healthcare Costs, Air Travel, Sports, Railroaded, Teens Targeted, Rural Internet, Watching Your Wallet, and Be Your Own Investigator.

The production stack combines traditional broadcast television production with digital streaming infrastructure: a cloudfront-hosted video player, on-demand full-episode and video gallery libraries, branded franchise landing pages, mobile and streaming-device apps, newsletter subscription systems, and a publicly documented Gray-AI-Policy framework for responsible AI use in journalism. The technology differentiation lies in cross-format franchise production (broadcast + web + app + newsletter), bilingual product packaging, and the dedicated OTT app rollout, rather than in proprietary algorithms or AI products.

The business is funded and operated by Gray Media Group, a publicly traded U.S. broadcaster (NYSE: GTN); InvestigateTV is wholly owned and not separately publicly traded. Content is offered free to consumers — no subscription, paywall, or pricing tiers are disclosed. Revenue is generated through advertising: broadcast ad inventory on InvestigateTV+ and InvestigateTV+ Weekend is sold through Gray's local-station broadcast sales operation across all 114 markets, while digital ad inventory is sold against investigatetv.com, the livestream, full-episode pages, mobile app, and streaming-device apps. The brand functions as a national programming asset that fills local-station news timeslots and reinforces Gray's local-news portfolio, with documented policy influence (e.g., a 2026 congressional proposal to ban retail nitrous oxide sales following InvestigateTV and Gray affiliate reporting, and prior FTC rule-making on fake reviews and bipartisan sextortion legislation).

Name

InvestigateTV

Legal name

Gray Media Group, Inc. (operating InvestigateTV)

Website

https://investigatetv.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

InvestigateTV is the national investigative journalism brand of Gray Media Group, producing weekday, weekend, and Spanish-language investigative and consumer-protection programming for U.S. audiences across 114 Gray Television local markets and owned digital properties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investigative Journalism Media

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (51612)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

News Magazine & Investigative Journalism Channels (MPABAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Investigative & Journalism Documentaries (MPADADAD)

Keywords

• Investigative journalism
• Consumer news reporting
• Broadcast television programs
• Documentary news content
• Consumer protection news

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Broadcast advertising on local Gray Television stations: InvestigateTV and InvestigateTV+ Weekend programming is carried on local Gray Television stations across all 114 Gray markets; advertising sold through Gray's broadcast sales operations against the program's linear audience. Revenue is bundled with Gray's broader local-station ad inventory rather than sold directly by InvestigateTV.
2. Digital advertising on investigatetv.com and streaming apps: Website, livestream, full episodes, mobile app, and streaming-device apps are delivered free to consumers, with revenue generated through digital advertising on owned-and-operated digital properties.
3. Cross-promotion / brand extension for Gray Media Group: InvestigateTV programming reinforces Gray Television's local-station brand and supports the parent Gray Media Group's broader portfolio of news franchises and stations across the U.S.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

InvestigateTV is the national investigative-journalism programming brand of Gray Media Group, Inc., producing and distributing original investigative reports, consumer-protection news, and documentary-style features. Its core offerings are weekday InvestigateTV+ and weekend InvestigateTV+ Weekend programs aired across Gray Television's 114 U.S. local broadcast markets, complemented by a Spanish-language InvestigateTV+ en Español product line, a full-episode on-demand website with 24/7 livestream, mobile and streaming-device apps, and email newsletters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• InvestigateTV+: Daily weekday national investigative news magazine program airing on Gray Television local stations.
• InvestigateTV+ Weekend
• InvestigateTV+ en Español

Products and services

• InvestigateTV+ (Weekday) Weekday national investigative news program (Season 3 as of the source) airing on local Gray Television stations across all 114 Gray markets, covering investigations, consumer protection (Watching Your Wallet), in-depth reporting, health, and inspire segments, with full episodes also available on demand on investigatetv.com.
• InvestigateTV+ Weekend Weekend edition of the national investigative news magazine (Season 5 as of the source), with longer-form investigative features such as Doctors of Defense, deepfake investigations, and DMV Data Dealers, airing Saturday/Sunday on Gray Television local stations.
• InvestigateTV+ en Español Spanish-language version of InvestigateTV+ offering translated investigations, full episodes (Episodios Completos), a dedicated Spanish newsletter (Cuidando Su Billetera / Investigaciones), and a Spanish-language team page for Hispanic/Latino U.S. audiences.
• InvestigateTV App Free InvestigateTV mobile and streaming-device app allowing viewers to watch full episodes and streaming content on phones, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and other supported streaming devices.
• InvestigateTV Investigations Ongoing investigative franchise covering recurring series such as mAnIpulated, Doctors of Defense, Defective, Cost of Beauty, Healthcare Costs, Air Travel, Railroaded, Teens Targeted, Rural Internet, and Sacred Ground, with full archive available on the Investigations page.
• Watching Your Wallet Recurring consumer-protection and personal-finance franchise featuring tips, scam alerts, and money-saving reporting (e.g., small savings goals, credit card myths, BNPL pitfalls, energy-cost management) with expert sources such as NerdWallet, WalletHub, Better Business Bureau, U.S. PIRG, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• InvestigateTV Newsletter Email newsletter subscription offering with dedicated Spanish-language editions (Cuidando Su Billetera, Investigaciones) for regular investigative and consumer updates direct to subscribers.
• InvestigateTV Livestream 24/7 livestream of InvestigateTV programming accessible from the investigatetv.com homepage for live viewing of investigative and consumer news content.

Quantifiable outcome

• Congressionally proposed ban on retail nitrous oxide sales following InvestigateTV and Gray affiliate reporting on deaths and injuries from retail nitrous oxide sales.
• +11 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• Gray Television / Gray Media Group, Inc.flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvestigateTV is operated as a programming brand of Gray Local Media / Gray Media Group, Inc. ("A Gray Local Media Station © 2002-2026"). Gray Media renews InvestigateTV+ and InvestigateTV+ Weekend each season (e.g., renewed for 2025-2026; Season 3 weekday begins September 8, Season 5 weekend begins September 13). The show airs across all 114 Gray markets via Gray's owned-and-operated and affiliated local television stations, and is bundled with Gray's broadcast sales, distribution, and digital streaming infrastructure (mobile app, streaming-device apps, livestream).
• Gray Television local affiliates (114 markets)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInvestigateTV+ and InvestigateTV+ Weekend air on local Gray Television stations across all 114 Gray markets. Local stations carry the program in their linear broadcast lineup and promote it as part of their news brand; Gray-affiliated reporters also feed in regional stories that are repackaged into national InvestigateTV franchises.
• Consumer / expert source partners (NerdWallet, WalletHub, Better Business Bureau, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Policy Center, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kaz Weida, etc.)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerInvestigateTV's "Watching Your Wallet" consumer franchise regularly cites and quotes experts from NerdWallet (savings goal study), WalletHub (budget-friendly vacation rankings), Better Business Bureau (phony websites warning), U.S. PIRG (device repairability grades), Consumer Policy Center (real estate referral fees report), and personal finance expert Kaz Weida, using their research and on-the-record commentary to inform and lend authority to each story.
• Michigan State University (Prof. David Ortega) and National Food Policy Conference (Consumer Federation of America)minorOthersInvestigateTV sourced food-economist commentary from Michigan State University Professor David Ortega at the National Food Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. (organized by Consumer Federation of America), illustrating its practice of drawing on academic and policy-conference experts to add credibility to consumer-coverage stories.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• 60 Minutes (CBS News): The benchmark U.S. national investigative newsmagazine. Competes for high-end advertisers and the prestige investigative-journalism audience that InvestigateTV also targets, but at vastly greater scale and production budget.
• Cox Media Group Investigative: Investigative-journalism programming produced by Cox Media Group for distribution across its owned local television stations. Mirrors InvestigateTV's model of nationally produced investigations aired on affiliated local broadcasters.
• Hearst Television Investigations: National investigative unit within Hearst Television, which owns a large portfolio of local stations. Competes in the same advertiser-funded, locally-distributed investigative-content category as InvestigateTV.
• Dateline NBC: Long-running national investigative and true-crime newsmagazine from NBCUniversal. Competes in the same advertiser-funded long-form investigative category and has overlapping franchise-style storytelling.
• PBS NewsHour: Publicly funded national news program with investigative segments. Competes for prestige investigative-audience mindshare and policy-impact recognition that InvestigateTV also pursues.

Emerging players

• The Marshall Project: Nonprofit investigative newsroom focused on criminal-justice reporting. Digital-only and thematically narrower, but competes for the same prestige, policy-influence, and audience-attention category that drives InvestigateTV's brand value.
• ProPublica: Leading nonprofit investigative newsroom producing deep-dive accountability reporting. While nonprofit and digital-only (no broadcast carriage), it competes for the same audience attention, prestige, and policy-influence category as InvestigateTV's investigations.

Direct peers

• Tegna Investigates: National investigative unit of Tegna, a U.S. local-broadcast group. Operates a comparable model of producing original investigative content that is distributed across Tegna's owned local stations, directly paralleling InvestigateTV's relationship with Gray.
• Sinclair Investigates: Investigative journalism brand of Sinclair Broadcast Group, another large U.S. local-broadcast operator. Competes for the same local-broadcast-distributed investigative-journalism niche and similar advertiser categories.
• Scripps News: National investigative and documentary news brand operated by E.W. Scripps Company, distributed across Scripps-owned local stations and streaming. Closest direct competitor in the local-broadcast-carriage investigative-journalism space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/InvestigateTV
• Facebookfacebook.com/InvestigateTV
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/investigatetv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about InvestigateTV