Eight affiliates of The CW Network can now be seen by DirecTV streaming customers, thanks to new carrier agreements signed by the direct broadcast satellite service provider and the network’s owner, Nexstar Media Group.
A DirecTV spokesperson tells RBR+TVBR that as of 1pm Eastern on Thursday (4/18), the following stations were added to the local channel lineup for those who rely on DirecTV’s vMVPD service:
- WLVI-56 in Boston, owned by Sunbeam Television
- WCCB-18 in Charlotte, owned by Bahakel Communications
- WKRC-12.2 in Cincinnati, owned by Sinclair Inc.
- WUAB-43 in Cleveland, owned by Gray Television
- WCCT-20 in Hartford-New Haven, owned by TEGNA
- KAZT-7 in Phoenix, acquired in January 2024 by Nexstar
- KUNS-51 in Seattle-Tacoma, owned by Sinclair Inc.
To be clear, streaming carriage agreements for The CW are negotiated by Nexstar on behalf of its local affiliates. “The individual station owners then decide whether they want to opt into the agreement or not,” the DirecTV spokesperson explained. “As they do, we will create batches of stations and then launch several together, working our way through the various DMAs that might be missing an affiliate.”
More “opt-ins” are anticipated, the DirecTV spokesperson said.
