CBS-Owned CW Stations Will Go Independent Later This Year

Alex Weprin
·2 min read

Changes are coming to eight CW stations that are owned by CBS.

Employees at the stations were told this morning that, beginning in September, the stations will drop their affiliation with The CW and go independent. When the change goes into effect, Paramount will own 14 CBS-branded stations and 13 independent stations.

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According to Wendy McMahon, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, the company will program the stations with content from elsewhere in the Paramount portfolio, and will also strategically pursue sports deals, similar to the deal Scripps made this week to air Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey games, or Gray TV’s deal with the Phoenix Suns.

“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,” McMahon said in a statement. “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.”

As regional sports networks struggle, some local TV stations are looking to cut deals to bring MLB, NBA and NHL games to their broadcast airwaves. By going independent, the stations will have more freedom to air live games in primetime.

As McMahon noted, The CW is now owned by the local TV giant Nexstar, with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery each retaining a small, 12.5 percent stake (though Nexstar has an option to buy out their stakes next year). Nexstar is pursuing a different strategy of lower-cost originals, while leaning into its own ownership of local CW stations.

Among other programming, Nexstar cut a deal with LIV Golf for its CW stations, though the CBS-owned stations opted not to carry the matches, likely owing to the company’s close relationship with the PGA Tour.

The eight CW stations that are going independent are: WPSG Philadelphia (DMA #4), WUPA Atlanta (DMA #6), KBCW San Francisco (DMA #10), KSTW Seattle (DMA #12), WTOG Tampa-St. Petersburg (DMA #13), WKBD Detroit (DMA #14), KMAX Sacramento (DMA #20) and WPCW Pittsburgh (DMA #26).

“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,” a Nexstar statement said. “We are prepared for this possibility and confident that The CW Network will continue reaching 100 percent 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.”

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