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As @Samanthapointed out to me, this outright eliminates KSWB's main competitor, there are no newscasts on KUSI that don't overlap with KSWB. Because of that, the chances KUSI maintains any sort of separate operations is very, very small; in the case of Indianapolis, WTTV and WXIN have to have separate news ops because of the nature of their affiliations. Of note, KFMB-DT2's contract with the CW (reupped in 2021) runs through September 2026. So either Nexstar said what they said under the impression Tegna is planning to opt-out of their CW contracts, or they are forcing the issue for Tegna. Otherwise I cannot understand why Nexstar just turned KFMB-DT2 into a lame-duck CW affiliate for three years.

The only thing these dumb local newspaper 'best of the best' polls show is that there's both unchecked ballot stuffing from the few old people who care about this, and monetary contributions from advertisers that influence the 'winner'. Gannett is horrible with these things (I'm sure the only reason Patrick Soon kept it from the Platinum Equity days is because some local advertisers treat it like a drug high and toss money to keep their titles and plaster their front walls with these tacky trophies; it's free money to throw up some Survey Monkey polls, put in a bulk order of some plaques, and call it a day) and I can expect once Nexstar is in charge, their winning streak will end because the U-T is competition.

FINALLY A NEW SET RIP One and Only. Hello Aerial

Nexstar appeared to have developed a cozy relationship with KUSI since they took LIV Golf in lieu of KFMB, and now it’s culminated in an outright sale and a future CW affiliation. As for KFMB’s agreement, I think both parties would pursue an early exit from that. I think this is going to go down in other markets as well. Nexstar and Tegna appear to be at odds over CW, stemming from the latter’s refusal to carry LIV.

San Diego is supposed to have a MLS team in the coming years as well. Sounds like a good time for the marketing people to arrange a partnership.

A few thoughts came into my mind... would Nexstar go with the KCAL route and just rebrand everything KUSI News? Nexstar paid $35 million for it and I just don't see it going away, it's a brand that is well known in San Diego; getting KCAL'd would seem to be the most cost-efficient, there wouldn't be a need for separate branding packages and it would reduce redundancies. Both brands already use red, white and blue in their branding. Just use KSWB's good looking studio and graphics and KUSI's iconic theme music together. Merging of the two talents/staff from both stations: let's face it, this is going to happen, but if they mirror this to KTLA's situation in terms of cumulative hours on air: 15+ hours on weekdays, 8+ hours one weekends, then maybe there might be room for everybody? I also wonder if Nexstar will move any of KUSI's syndication offerings over to KSWB so it will mirror Fox O&O stations? KUSI always got many of the programs that would usually air on Fox O&Os: TMZ, Extra, Jennifer Hudson, and Sherry. Also, it's probably a good thing for Nexstar to have an additional hub for Newsnation in San Diego being that it's so close to the border. Nexstar is also getting into local sports, I can see them airing KTLA's Clippers games locally and possibly steal some of that local Padres tv rights from Bally.

The station sale talk is in this thread.

It's probably more well known and recognized, but it's a polarizing brand from the political slant. People who watch KUSI news tend to be fiercely loyal to it, not interested in the other stations. They like Dan Plante's rants, Brandon Stone's quirks, they miss Dave Scott's wandering on air. And the other way around, there's a sizable contingent that would refuse to watch anything KUSI related. But Steve Cohen did an interview last year that said some large percentage of households tune into a KUSI newscast any given week or month. From what I heard recently KUSI is very strong at 10 and 11pm, - jockeying for #1, not sure about morning, and guessing evening is muddling along. Would be nice if they could find a way to keep a KUSI identity, but without Steve Cohen as the news director (doubt he's staying around) who will prosecute the hyper-local coverage and angles, and let even longshot local political candidates come on to be heard. The sale price might indicate advertisers stayed away but maybe that's just a function of having no real prime time or sports $$ presence. Living in the market, KSWB is 'just another station' - perfectly fine product that works any number of places, and exists because of lead-ins from sports and network, but at least for me not appointment viewing since the same product is on 3 other stations. I probably won't watch much local news if KUSI drifts to a more traditional coverage format, and goes for less colorful, quirky personalities. But that might not matter to Nexstar or profit margins.

Does anyone really pay attention to the bottom ticker these days though? Outside snowbird closing reports (or I guess 'snow eye' for CBS stations) and specific city weather and your road in, you know the game score (there's six possible local(ish) teams) and the tickers have repetitive and dull news anyways. You can look up scores and the Dow easily with a smart speaker. The ticker is more a public environment utility in muted environments than actually useful to a viewer, and if they only have weather and traffic, it does serve its purpose perfectly. Maybe if this new ATSC 3.0 standard actually includes interactive features that are cross-platform and not just half-assed implementations that depend on proprietary systems, the ticker becomes useful. For now though, it's just full of 'why is this news' stories rejected for the actual show that don't need elaboration.

PIX, KTLA and WGN to a lesser extent have had free reign on their sets. Will KUSI get the traditional Nexstar set in a corner like big market brother KRON or will they get to do something original. I really like the chill vibe that Fox5SDs set has.

A New set, and CW affiliation were the first thought that came to mind.

I have to assume part of the reason for McKinnon getting out is because of KUSI's physical studio deterioration; with Nexstar in control they can vacate them and have a much more state-of-the-art building with KSWB. I also have to think these talks were happening even before LIV was a factor and Tegna is having second thoughts about the renewal with the decline of syndication being more of a yoke than a complement to 8.1.

WJZ is definitely behind in times. It still amazes me that they don’t have a news chopper. WBAL-TV is Baltimore’s only news station with a helicopter. I honestly feel that ‘JZ puts on the better news product but 11 wins in the ratings department. It’s great that Steve Sosna has joined the team, maybe he can give them some guidance on upgrading their weather department given that he has Major Market experience coming from Philadelphia & NYC. With all that said WJZ is one of the higher rated CBS o&o’s; even if they are stuck in the early 2000’s, hopefully they don’t drop the ball on this transition.

Yeah, this would be a major change! When KUSI picked-up LIV Golf from Tegna's KFMB a couple months back, I knew something was up. This article suspects that KUSI will be a CW station when the affiliation becomes available: https://www.nexttv.com/news/nexstar-media-agrees-to-acquire-kusi-tv-san-diego-for-dollar35-million It will be interesting how news operations will merge. Both stations have completely different narratives; KUSI is more conservative-bent and has a news set from 1990s while KSWB's Fox 5 News has built up a cool, So San Diego vibe and has one of the best news sets in the area in my opinion. Will the stations adopt one news brand? Will there be simulcasts? So many questions.

Correlation does not imply causation. Nearly every media company’s stock price has been dragging for the last month. The local TV business in general isn’t doing great right now. While this move definitely makes it easier for CBS to move the network in house in Atlanta and Seattle if it wanted to, I highly doubt that’s happening this fall. The Deadline article would’ve mentioned it, and CBS has affiliation contracts to fulfill. EDIT: If those agreements expire in 2024, I suppose things could potentially get interesting. Stay tuned, I guess.

I honestly have a hard time seeing those stations losing the CBS affiliation, and their owners will probably try to package them to prevent it. The smartest move IMO for CBS is to sell the stations in those markets.

https://deadline.com/2023/05/cbs-stations-eight-drop-cw-go-independent-this-fall-1235357388/ Not a shock, but interesting in the cases of Seattle and Atlanta. I wonder what Paramount has planned for those stations.

KSWB is already a U so the “Discount” sham is equally applied to KUSI, so Nexstar is not really affected cap-wise here. It IS very possible that Nexstar paid the McKinnons $35 million to take out a competitor to KSWB.

Missing from the new look- a severe weather ticker, apparently.

I always felt that KUSI was ahead of the other local affiliates when it came to covering local news

FOX 5’s BDI Set was under the Tribune era. Hopefully after this merger or sale, they won’t bust a KDVR and downgrade. then again KSWB’s original studio is very small during WB era and relocated the newsroom when they got the 360 set.

And here's their sendoff: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/honoring-brian-thompson-a-sendoff-for-news-4s-intrepid-and-beloved-nj-reporter/4307872/

So Kelly Clarkson is indeed moving to 30 Rock:

MGM and Amazon launching new syndication division that will sell films and series from both MGM and Amazon Studios

Well they know how to run a strong CW station with lots of news (WGN, KTLA) in markets where there's a strong Fox station. Though not where there's common ownership. I guess Indianapolis would be an example where they have two stations, and two separate news brands and staff, though common facility. Maybe they're happy with how that turned out.

KSWB seemed to operate like a KUSI style without the political leaning, but will miss the hyper local issues coverage from KUSI with local ownership. And will miss the folksy, non corporate personalities. Won't miss the extended coverage of random Trump 'campaign' speeches.

Given this little bit in the article... ...it sounds like a matter of when, not if. That said, when might not be for a while; KFMB's affiliation agreement doesn't end until 2026 according to files on the FCC's website.

Kentucky Derby and USFL have been using the new logo as a bug. Sticks out like a sore thumb on the default graphics too

It'll be interesting to see how those soon-to-be former CW affiliates that are CBS O&O will do as independent stations. It's been nearly 17 years since The WB and UPN went away when they merged to create The CW. I miss seeing those 2 networks as independent entities, and we all know they're not coming back. We can likely expect call letter changes for some of the affected stations to phase out any CW references. The next couple of months will be interesting.

What a development. I'm totally excited and so looking forward to what's to come here. It's gonna be quite a summer, fall and beyond to behold.

Here’s what Wendy McMahon had to say about programming these new (and possibly existing) independents in the Deadline piece: Sounds like there’s a new game plan in the works for the CBS independent stations that isn’t just tired court shows.

The KMAX and WPSG situations are easy. KQCA and WPHL. Mind you, the latter is a MyNetwork affiliate owned by Nexstar.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that WMYD and WKBD each land teams (the Red Wings and Tigers on WMYD and the Pistons on WKBD, or vice versa). It’s also not impossible that WMYD takes The CW and snags a contract with one major-league team (e.g., the Pistons). Even if both stations acquire sports rights, I’m not sure if it makes sense for there to be two general entertainment independents in Detroit in this day and age (even-larger markets like New York, LA, Chicago and Philadelphia can make it work, but even that’s complicated to sustain there).

Scripps dumped MNTV clearly to extend WXYZ's news reach and flee from a filler network in MNTV and the station's Granite-era failures post-WB. They're not going to abandon that strategy if there's a shot to get the Pistons, Red Wings and/or Tigers on their air to boost their own news product, and I think Nexstar will end up sucking it up and dealing with WADL because it's that or HC2 in the Detroit market for them. I can definitely see a fair battle between Scripps and CBS to get the Red Wings/Tigers and/or Pistons though (Red Wings and Tigers will not be separated by Illich Holdings).

Root Sports in Seattle is majority owned by the Mariners. I think the most likely outcome there is the Kraken buying WBD’s share and having a NESN joint ownership situation.

Gray Television, based here in Atlanta and owner of WANF will fight tooth and nail

If I had to guess, WPHL, KQCA, and KRON are almost certain to pick up the CW. Two hours in prime time plus LIVGolf on weekends doesn’t drastically alter the schedules of those stations. As far as MyNet is concerned, would Fox even bother to look for another affiliate if they lose WPHL? They already don’t have an affiliate in Miami, and it’s not as though MyNet is much of a network anyway.

When I was working there (I moved this past December) I did hear that they sort of piecemealed the design from other stations. It’s a rather small studio and there are support columns that couldn’t be moved so they had to work around those limitations. I did notice that there was a new open to the 6pm show on the night the set debuted but all the other shows are using the current Scripps look. Not sure if it was a test or something specially approved or what.

It also shows that the Ion stations aren't set in stone; if Scripps sees a good use for one, they'll use it.

So I sent the general manager of WJZ a tweet about when they are doing the switchover to the graphics. Kathy Hostetter, who is GM of WJZ said that it's coming but in "pieces" like they did in 2018 (when Audra Swain was GM). We are looking at a possible Late May - Early June arrival of "CBS News Baltimore" as stated by her. WJZ is so behind in the times. In the mornings, they have a bottom third with just weather and traffic. No news or sports report at the bottom. They don't even have a bottom third for their 4, 5, 6, and 7pm newscasts. Hopefully that changes with the changeover to "CBS News Baltimore." Now I did ask her about "THE CUBE." - The Cube is in fact gone and is now the weather center but it's only partially finished... there are some upgrades coming to the studio and the newsroom as well coming soon. One of the meteorologists (Steve Sosna) did complain that the weather center is underdeveloped and it totally is. It's very underdeveloped and looks like just "soundproof walling" and computer screens. Very lazy like. -- I think KOVR is going to beat WJZ to the punch.

They won't get anywhere as it is my understanding that their deal expired. Unless Diamond Sports has any options to renew the deal in their current contract, they're screwed. Bankruptcy courts will protect your position in current contracts that are in force, but they can't protect you in contracts that have expired.

It's only an anchor on paper. It's a separate entity owned by Sinclair and others. I doubt that Sinclair was either pulling much money out of the RSNs (because they didn't have much money to distribute) or putting much money into them. The banks and people who bought the bonds are the ones eating the debt, or at least that's my educated guess.

Not only that, but it seems in general people don't refer to KDKA as Channel 2, yet Channel 4 and Channel 11 are commonplace references for WTAE and WPXI, respectively.

Channel references really don’t matter anymore in this digital age. This why stations like KDKA, WBZ, WCCO, KCBS, KCNC, and WWJ are all doing away with them. Don’t be shocked if WBBM soon follows suit.

[Cough cough] It's happening.

It doesn't feel finished. This is one of those instances were more gloss and shine would help, and color gradients. The glassy city shots looks ok, but the abrupt appearance of the logo at the end doesn't work like how they wanted it to. Also, that stark yellow for the midday open

If that happens forget "CBS News Atlanta", ATL would go crazy like Philly did when WPVI dropped the original "MCTYW". honestly "WSB News and streaming on CBS News Atlanta"

Okay this is just me thinking out loud here... KBCW > KRON KMAX > NO OPTIONS KSTW> KONG WKBD>WADL Sub Channel WPCW>WTAE OR/WPGH Sub Channels WTOG>NO OPTIONS WPSG>NO OPTIONS WUPA>WPCH OR/WANF Sub Channels So I only see the CW missing in 3 markets here after CBS drops them. My Network TV is without stations in 24 Markets, they will do just fine!!!

CBS isn't afraid to pull the trigger.

This is going to be the year that many 3rd and 4th rate stations are going to be dropping news and not just Sinclair, it’s going to be Scripps, Nexstar and the other big groups. In Milwaukee WTMJ and CBS58 are only averaging 5,000 viewers in the demo at 10, WISN and WITI is about 14,000-15,000. When I came to Milwaukee in 2000 WTMJ had a 15 rating and wisn was about 10, viewership taste has change thought out the years but Milwaukee has always had one of the higher viewership of local news in the country. This is a business first, many of these 3rd or 4th rate stations are only breaking even at best and likely losing money on news. There is no company that’s going to come to buy and bunch of money losing operations with almost no viewers. The stations that have dropped local news so far had no viewers in the first place, basically no one will notice.