With 75% ownership by Nexstar Media Group, The CW is poised to begin a new era as a broadcast television network this fall, with a new emphasis on live sports and a far-diminished lineup of young adult scripted shows. Big affiliate moves in San Francisco have been announced; Gray Television is poised to pick up The CW for its “PeachtreeTV” in Atlanta.
Now, Sinclair Broadcast Group has signed a fresh multi-year deal that not only renews station affiliations but returns The CW in 21 markets where DirecTV has been unable, by law, to bring the network to local viewers since July 12.
In a statement provided to RBR+TVBR, DirecTV confirmed that Sinclair “won’t have to black out The CW network content to any DirecTV STREAM customer.”
The stations coming back Friday to DirecTV are:
| Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation | Baltimore, MD | WNUV |
| Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation | Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, MI | WBSF |
| Deerfield Media-Manhan Media | Columbus, OH | WWHO |
| GoCom Media of Illinois, LLC | Champaign, IL | WBUI |
| MPS Media | Chattanooga, TN | WFLI |
| MPS Media | Tallahassee, FL-Thomasville, GA | WTLF |
| MPS Media | Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA | WSWB |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | WCWN |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Birmingham, AL | WTTO |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Fresno-Visalia, CA | KFRE |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Green Bay, WI | WCWF |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Las Vegas, NV | KVCW |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Milwaukee, WI | WVTV |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | WUCW |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC | WPDE-DT |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Nashville, TN | WZTV-DT |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Oklahoma City, OK | KOCB |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Omaha, NE | KPTM-DT |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | Raleigh-Durham, NC | WLFL |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | San Antonio, TX | WOAI-DT |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL | WTVX |
The return of the impacted network affiliates happens Friday (9/1), and ends a six-week impasse tied to a larger retransmission consent agreement.
And, a DirecTV spokesperson was careful to note that The CW stations, while operated by Sinclair, are owned by closely affiliated independent licensees Cunningham Broadcasting, Deerfield Media, GoCom, and MPS.
That’s perhaps vexing to DirecTV, as it has assailed Nexstar Media Group for its “control” of 27 stations it operates through shared services agreements with Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Sinclair’s commitment to The CW will see the network shift to a digital multicast channel tied to its ABC-affiliated KOMO-4 in Seattle, and to its WPNT-TV in Pittsburgh.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Dennis Miller, President of The CW Network, commented, “We appreciate that Sinclair values their partnership with The CW as we remake the network with our significant
investment in sports, combined with a smart entertainment programming strategy that will further expand viewership on a local and national level.”
Rob Weisbord, Sinclair’s COO and President of Local Media, added, “We are pleased to be continuing our long relationship with The CW Network and look forward to bringing
our stations in Seattle and Pittsburgh into the CW family. We thank our distribution team for securing the renewal of our affiliate agreement, which includes rights that allow us to negotiate with virtual MVPDs for CW-affiliated stations.”
AN OKC MOVE FOR THE CW
In related news, Nexstar-owned KAUT-43 in Oklahoma City will become an affiliate of The CW on September 1.
