When The CW Network was acquired by Nexstar Media Group in 2022, CBS News & Stations maintained the right to end its affiliate agreements with the network.
That’s according to a source familiar with the deal who spoke with Deadline. And, it is now known that the Paramount Global unit has followed through with the affiliation discontinuations, impacting eight DMAs.
CBS News & Stations has confirmed that it will make the following stations unaffiliated, perhaps in a bid to expand OTT-delivered news programming to a broadcast channel, given its investment in the endeavor.
- WPSG-57 in Philadelphia
- WUPA-69 in Atlanta
- KBCW-44 in San Francisco-Oakland-San José
- KSTW-11 in Seattle-Tacoma
- WTOG-44 in Tampa-St. Petersburg
- WKBD-50 in Detroit
- KMAX-31 in Sacramento
- WPCW-19 in Pittsburgh
“We look forward to reimagining these stations as independents while leveraging the considerable value of their prime-time real estate in each of the markets,” Wendy McMahon, President and Co-Head of CBS News and Stations, said in a statement distributed to trade publications on Friday. “It’s an exciting time to look at new opportunities to add local programming, including live sports, and shows from across the Paramount Global brands. We are also grateful to have been part of The CW for 17 memorable years and wish our partners at Nexstar continued success.”
The addition of live sports suggests CBS News & Sports wishes to follow the lead of Gray Television and The E.W. Scripps Co. in wooing local pro teams in the eight markets, with the Sacramento Kings perhaps a No. 1 acquisition target for KMAX.
In a statement, Nexstar told RBR+TVBR, “Since our acquisition of The CW Network last October, we have known that Paramount Global might transition the network affiliations of eight of its company-owned stations later this year. We are prepared for this possibility and confident that The CW Network will continue reaching 100% of U.S. television households without interruption. Paramount’s decision affects a limited portion of The CW’s nationwide reach, and we have already received multiple expressions of interest from station groups hoping to deepen their relationship with The CW by aligning more of their stations with the network.”
