Nexstar Media Group on Wednesday shared where The CW Network will be moving to in two of the seven markets where The E.W. Scripps Co. announced on April 19 it would be discontinuing affiliations as of August 31. It also shared a major move in the nation’s No. 3 DMA.
But, it gave no hints as to what will happen in the Motor City, where The CW’s fate could rest in the hands of Perry Sook and Kevin Adell.
To little surprise, Nexstar-owned stations are replacing Scripps properties in the Tidewater region of Virginia; in a Bayou State market; and in Chicagoland.
In Norfolk, WVBT “FOX 43” is the designated new home of the CW, starting September 1. But, RBR+TVBR has confirmed, FOX programming is not moving; The CW will shift to the DT2 digital multicast signal of WVBT as it replaces WGNT-27 in Norfolk.
In Lafayette, La., the CW is shifting from KATC-3.2 to an undisclosed subchannel of CBS affiliate KLFY-10.
These are Nexstar-owned stations, as is WGN-9 in Chicago, which will see The CW return to the property after several years. From September 1, 2019, it has aired on Weigel Broadcasting-owned WCIU-26. For three years before that, The CW could be found on WPWR-50, a UPN affiliate from 1995-2006; it gained The CW after a 10-year affiliation agreement on WGN concluded.
Now that Nexstar is the majority owner of The CW, a return to WGN-9 after an eight-year hiatus was largely expected.
What does this mean for WCIU? Neal Sabin, EVP/President of Content and
Networks for Weigel Broadcasting tells RBR+TVBR, “This is good for WCIU and good for the network. We wish them well.”
A press release was distributed at 10:45am Central from Chicago-based Weigel noting that WCIU was returning to its prior branding as “The U.” It will serve as an independent entertainment destination with syndicated fare including “Judge Judy,” “Mathis Court with Judge Mathis,” and “The Neighborhood.” A first-run game show, “The Flip Side” with Jaleel White, is also in the mix.
The U brand was first used on WCIU in 1995. “Our highest-rated programming remains on The U, and we are adding well-known stars,” Sabin, who also serves as Vice Chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co.
The only sports coverage confirmed by Weigel involves city and suburban high school sports including the IHSA football and basketball championships, and WNBA Chicago Sky Basketball play-by-play.
With the addition of Lafayette, La.; Norfolk; and Chicago, Nexstar will own 42 stations with The CW either on a DT1 or on a multicast signal.
Meanwhile, the fate of The CW in Miami; Tucson; Corpus Christi, Tex.; and San Luis Obispo-Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, Calif. — other markets where Scripps is saying farewell to the network — remains unknown.
The biggest question for many is what The CW’s future will be in Detroit.
In a conversation with RBR+TVBR, the man behind Adell Broadcasting Corp. made it very clear that he’s open to a LMA and has had numerous conversations with Nexstar founder and head Perry Sook on getting his $75 million sale of WADL-38 in Detroit to Nexstar’s close shared services partner, Mission Broadcasting.
While Adell says he’s open to carrying The CW on WADL, this can only happen if an LMA agreement is signed — with Nexstar — that brings 80% of the $75 million purchase price for WADL to his company and its minority investors.
“Yes,” he says of a route for WADL to once again air The CW, adding a message for Nexstar, given Adell’s frustrations when it aired The CW last year but pulled it. “You have to pay. If there is no pass-forward to an LMA, [the deal] must close with the conditions per the Mission Broadcasting.”
The sale of WADL remains active and has conditional approval from the FCC. But, if deal consummation does not come by its June 30 expiration date, it will expire. “I’m not going to file an appeal after June 30 to the FCC’s opinion and order,” Adell said.
Asked if there was any update to The CW’s Detroit affiliation conundrum, Nexstar EVP/Chief Communications Officer Gary Weitman, who as of Tuesday is on medical leave, told RBR+TVBR, “This is a question that should be directed to Mission Broadcasting.”
Reached via e-mail on Wednesday, Mission President Dennis Thatcher said his company has no comment at this time.
For Adell, what Mission says is irrelevant anyway.
“Nexstar should be commenting, not Mission,” he insists. “This has nothing to do with Mission. The agreement will be with Nexstar. I would never do an agreement with Mission and that was one of the six conditions. They can’t get money from Nexstar, and [Mission] does not have any money.”
