Nexstar Media Group on Wednesday confirmed that three of its owned and operated television stations will become affiliates of the broadcast television network it has majority ownership of — The CW.
The announcement is hardly a surprise, as CBS News & Stations on May 5 announced that it was exercising its right to end its affiliation agreements with The CW Network in eight markets.
Three of those markets have resolved any gap in over-the-air coverage, as WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, KRON-4 in San Francisco and WTTA-TV in Tampa-St. Petersburg will become affiliates of The CW on September 1.
They replace WPSG-57, KBCW-44 and WTOG-44, respectively.
In a statement, Nexstar told RBR+TVBR in early May, “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.”
Now, Nexstar broadcasting division President Andrew Alford says the addition of these Nexstar-owned stations as affiliates will bring the number of Nexstar and partner-owned CW stations to 40, covering 38% of U.S. TV Households—equivalent to or greater than the local owned and operated station presence of any of the other major network owners.
Dennis Miller, President of The CW Network, commented, “These stations in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Tampa have deep relationships with their viewers, advertisers, and the communities they serve; they are a great addition to the CW family and will help us better shape the future of the network.”
