Eight CBS Stations to Ditch CW and Go Independent This Fall

[Nelson R. 569]

4 minutes ago, bpatrick said:

I don't see a change in Raleigh.  The stations that are dropping the CW are CBS o&os; WLFL is owned by Sinclair and WNCN by Nexstar (meaning I can't see the CW on 17.2 or whatever WNCN subchannel).  I am wondering, however, if the CW is going to still be on in Atlanta; I have yet to see any evidence that either WATL or WPCH is interested, and I don't think the others (WSB, WAGA, WXIA, or WANF) are. (WAGA is out anyway, being a Fox o&o, and I would be shocked if Fox allowed them to carry another network that isn't MNT.)

I posted that about WNCN only because I wasn’t sure if Sinclair was going to reup.

 

And no WAGA doesn’t have a place to put CW programming unless its in late night.  I could see WSB putting it on their .2.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Nelson R.

[mre29 1513]

8 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

I really do think nothing at all will change at KCAL; it's just something to ward off a domain haggler from grabbing any city/channel name combo CBS has. "Miami33" just seems like a haggler asking an insane price nobody would pay, and it's doubtful anything will change with WBFS, but they bought Florida33 for the same reason. CBS still does have the WLNYTV.com domain for those curious.

 

And like I've said before, no one is going to type "losangeles9.com" or "sacramento31.com" into their browsers, especially on phones. Short but memorable URLs are key., so those will be what get promoted, even if all they do is redirect to (deep breath) www.cbsnews.com/{cityname}.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by mre29
weird duplication

[The Frog 429]

WADL posted a promo video on their front page announcing their CW affiliation.

[The Frog 429]

Nexstar readies new CW Network affiliates in Pittsburgh, Seattle

 

In the Seattle market, a deal is being finalized to bring CW Network programming to KONG (Channel 16), an independent station owned by TEGNA that operates as a duopoly with NBC affiliate KING-TV (Channel 5)

 

Despite not being a full-time independent station, WATL has a slight edge as the Atlanta area’s next CW Network affiliate, because the deal could cover both it and KONG in Seattle.

 

WPCH is also being considered, because its status as an independent station means it can more-easily accommodate CW Network shows by moving around some syndicated programming. But the channel’s distribution in Canada — which dates back to its ownership by Turner, when it was called WTBS (later TBS Superstation) — proves somewhat problematic for Nexstar, in part because the network is relying on older Canadian series to fill some of its prime-time schedule and has secured live sports programming whose rights are held by other broadcasters in the country.

[Samantha 2895]

KSTW's X/Twitter account is @Seattle11TV as of today. They are writing the name "Seattle11", no space.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

19 hours ago, The Frog said:

Nexstar readies new CW Network affiliates in Pittsburgh, Seattle

 

In the Seattle market, a deal is being finalized to bring CW Network programming to KONG (Channel 16), an independent station owned by TEGNA that operates as a duopoly with NBC affiliate KING-TV (Channel 5)

 

Despite not being a full-time independent station, WATL has a slight edge as the Atlanta area’s next CW Network affiliate, because the deal could cover both it and KONG in Seattle.

 

WPCH is also being considered, because its status as an independent station means it can more-easily accommodate CW Network shows by moving around some syndicated programming. But the channel’s distribution in Canada — which dates back to its ownership by Turner, when it was called WTBS (later TBS Superstation) — proves somewhat problematic for Nexstar, in part because the network is relying on older Canadian series to fill some of its prime-time schedule and has secured live sports programming whose rights are held by other broadcasters in the country.

WATL getting the CW would bring an end to its WXIA primetime newscasts from 8-11, while WUPA is not set up to do a similar thing, much like their other sister stations are gearing up to do.

 

Atlanta will be an interesting market to watch, for sure.  CBS still owning a station with little means of expansion while still keeping an affiliation with WANF and losing an equivalent news effort IF WATL goes CW.

Edited August 26, 2023 by tyrannical bastard

[atlnews2 590]

If watl’ prime time news block is broken up for CW then I could see WPCH adding an hour at 8pm to take advantage of having no competition. 

[CircleWXYZ 180]

On 8/24/2023 at 10:09 PM, The Frog said:

WADL posted a promo video on their front page announcing their CW affiliation.

I think the branding is due to change from My38 to CW38 on September 1st.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

1 hour ago, atlnews2 said:

If watl’ prime time news block is broken up for CW then I could see WPCH adding an hour at 8pm to take advantage of having no competition. 

Good point. I forgot about WANF's news on WPCH.

[nathannah 2401]

12 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

WATL getting the CW would bring an end to its WXIA primetime newscasts from 8-11, while WUPA is not set up to do a similar thing, much like their other sister stations are gearing up to do.

Also they still need to address the elephant in the room that is the LIV pre-emptions for Tegna, and I'm sure KUSI is a T-Rex when it comes to their KFMB-DT2 affiliation. Without that settled, a last-second affiliation with WGTA or WATC (shades of KNLC!) or the sub farms looks more and more likely, because neither Tegna or Gray are giving up their stations primetime without Nexstar compromising on their end. And there's still a very distant possibility of horse-trading WUPA for something and it still being with CW on the 1st.

[mre29 1513]

33 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

And there's still a very distant possibility of horse-trading WUPA for something and it still being with CW on the 1st.

 

If they can find something to trade it for.

 

[T.L. Hughes 881]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:50 PM, T.L. Hughes said:

Especially, when one considers that Nexstar and Sinclair overlap in several markets, resulting in them having to negotiate whether to let Nexstar pick off CW affiliations from Sinclair in markets where the former has a MyNetworkTV or independent station and let Sinclair keep the network in other markets (for example, my home market has Sinclair’s KOCB [an existing CW affiliate] and Nexstar’s KAUT [an indie], making KOCB vulnerable to losing The CW).

My earlier observation carries even more weight now, ‘cause (like with listings for WPNT showing it as the replacement CW outlet in Pittsburgh) listings for both KOCB and KAUT are now showing The CW moving to KAUT and KOCB reverting to an independent (for the first time since it became OKC’s original UPN affiliate in January 1995) on the 1st.

If the case, Family Law would be the first CW show to air on KAUT, while KOCB will fill prime time with syndicated shows Monday–Saturday (The Simpsons (double run), Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers weeknights, and Family Feud (double run) and TMZ Weekend Saturdays) and movies on Sundays.

 

KOCB has also changed its Facebook profile pic (and changed the handle from @CWOKC to @KOCBOKC)… Before:

After:

So, Sinclair will lose some CW affiliations to Nexstar-run stations in markets where they each operate non-Big Four stations under the yet-announced agreement, but be given the affiliation on WPNT to compensate.

Edited August 27, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[CoopInTheHouse 68]

4 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

My earlier observation carries even more weight now, ‘cause (like with listings for WPNT showing it as the replacement CW outlet in Pittsburgh) listings for both KOCB and KAUT are now showing The CW moving to KAUT and KOCB reverting to an independent (for the first time since it became OKC’s original UPN affiliate in January 1995) on the 1st.

If the case, Family Law would be the first CW show to air on KAUT, while KOCB will fill prime time with syndicated shows Monday–Saturday (The Simpsons (double run), Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers weeknights, and Family Feud (double run) and TMZ Weekend Saturdays) and movies on Sundays.

This is weird, because it hasn’t been clarified anywhere else at the moment.

 

This is, however, a good plan for the 2 stations, as KOCB could need the refresh, because it’s only using the brand in station IDs for the station (Trust me, I’ve been on trips and I’ve stopped in the OKC area.). KAUT, on the other hand, airs Storage Wars and Pawn Stars in the morning and early afternoon, etc.

[tyrannical bastard 3931]

WGTA is technically a Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville station, since it's still located (and licensed to) Toccoa in Stephens County.  Still, it serves as Atlanta's MeTV affiliate (via a leased space on WUPA (along with their H&I subchannel.  Past ties to Athens and UGA have still kept it officially out of the Atlanta market.  Even it's past CBS affiliate status (as a semi-satellite of WSPA in Spartanburg) made it more of a convenience for eastern Georgia viewers who lost CBS when it went from WAGA to channel 46.

 

If things get really desperate, Nexstar could simply start up a new CW affiliate and lease a channel on one of the Atlanta full-powered stations.  No matter who owns it.  All it takes is a willing station to lease a subchannel to and to collect lease payments from.  No license to deal with, just a jukebox and a satellite somewhere to beam the "channel" to.  The irony would be if it's WUPA that agrees to it!

Edited August 27, 2023 by tyrannical bastard

[Megatron81 256]

Doesn't look like The CW is moving in West Michigan since that is an overlap with Nexstar & Sinclair, guessing Nexstar didn't want to take The CW for WXSP. 

[Georgie56 3292]

WUPA is keeping Atlanta NOW News, moving it to 8pm. I assume it’ll be a full Atlanta-focused newscast produced out of Dallas, as it was pre-NOW, since the hybrid local-national show is ending on Thursday.

[T.L. Hughes 881]

The CW has effectively confirmed KAUT will join its Nexstar sisters, KRON, WTTA and WPHL, in switching to The CW on September 1:

Promos promoting the switches have also recently begun airing on the other three stations; essentially the promos are a generic template with visual and verbal references to the current station branding differentiating between them. (KRON and, presumably, WPHL are the sure bets to keep their existing branding, while KAUT and WTTA could go either way—existing branding or the network/channel number route.)

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[Georgie56 3292]

WTOG will be Tampa Bay44. (h/t @ChocoMingo).

 

 

[newscopter7 232]

Pittsburgh’s WPCW is set to be branded as KDKA+. 

 

Seems contradictory to the push to deemphasize legacy brands. With Neeraj Khemlani out the door, does this mean the end of “CBS News+City” branding? 
 

How long until Eyewitness News returns to KYW?
 

https://triblive.com/aande/movies-tv/tv-talk-channel-19-to-re-brand-as-kdka-change-call-letters/

Edited August 28, 2023 by newscopter7

[nathannah 2401]

41 minutes ago, newscopter7 said:

Pittsburgh’s WPCW is set to be branded as KDKA+. 

 

Seems contradictory to the push to deemphasize legacy brands. With Neeraj Khemlani out the door, does this mean the end of “CBS News+City” branding? 

Pittsburgh and KDKA as long discussed is an exception using "KDKA News" because that's how they've been for decades, and to fight off Audacy's well-poisoning on the AM side. It's also appropriate here because channel 19 had no history in Pittsburgh before the move from Johnstown to Jeanette, so it's a clean slate to work from for them. It also doesn't have a market-wide pay TV channel number, so branding it as "Pittsburgh 19" would be senseless.

[ddaniels20 68]

2 hours ago, newscopter7 said:

How long until Eyewitness News returns to KYW?

The Eyewitness News name will likely never return because of the controversy associated with the name as well as the antics Dunn and Friend pulled at KYW.

[RaleighTVBOI1 81]

2 hours ago, ddaniels20 said:

The Eyewitness News name will likely never return because of the controversy associated with the name as well as the antics Dunn and Friend pulled at KYW.

Yeah they’d be called “Whitewitness News” at times. The destroy the purpose and legacy of the brand for them.

[The Frog 429]

According to WGN's schedule, they will be airing CW's ACC football games instead of WCIU.

[T.L. Hughes 881]

4 hours ago, The Frog said:

According to WGN's schedule, they will be airing CW's ACC football games instead of WCIU.

Question: When does WCIU’s CW affiliation agreement expire? (I tried to look that up, but couldn’t find any documents containing that info.)

 

For Nexstar, Chicago would be a key piece of the puzzle in bringing the network in-house where feasible, though it can’t really compensate Weigel for losing The CW by giving it the affiliation in another market (a la what it did in its apparent deal with Sinclair that added WPNT to compensate for losing the KOCB affiliation) as Weigel’s stations outside of Chicago, South Bend (home to Weigel’s only other CW station, WCWW) and Milwaukee function as turnkey operations for its diginets.

 

Ironically, WGN dropped The CW in the first place so it wouldn’t have to continually reschedule CW programming to other timeslots as “makegoods” in order to air Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks games in prime time (as the station had been doing since it became a WB affiliate in 1995). Only 3½ years later, all four of the station’s legacy teams moved their games exclusively to cable—the Cubs through the launch of Marquee Sports Network (in partnership with Sinclair), and the White Sox, the Bulls and the Blackhawks each giving their existing cable partner, NBC Sports Chicago, the proportion of locally televised games they had let WGN carry annually—effectively mooting that reasoning, with WGN picking up Chicago Fire FC soccer games to (in a way) make up for the losses of the other teams. So, it’s funny that the station is now carrying The CW’s national sports telecasts, since it also picked up LIV Golf tournament broadcasts that WCIU had also declined to air.

Edited August 30, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[CircleSeven 1955]

2 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Question: When does WCIU’s CW affiliation agreement expire? (I tried to look that up, but couldn’t find any documents containing that info.)

They're affil agreement ends next September 2024.

Edited August 30, 2023 by CircleSeven