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The CW moving to WCIU


Georgie56

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Wow, that one came out of nowhere. So, everything remains the same, minus the 26.1 branding, and the 7-9pm block moving to 26.2. I can't imagine that ABC 7 will want to produce the 7 o'clock news much longer, if it's going to a subchannel.

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Frankly should have been done in 2016 to begin with as Weigel has always had good relations with the network going back to the days when they aired Kids' WB. I assume though syndication contracts blocked the move back then, though. And WPWR hasn't treated the network well (horrid 720p quality that got crunched even more with the spectrum move on a WFLD channel space already laden with Fox and three other subchannels, along with the same 'leftovers' treatment KCOP and WWOR already have).

 

But if anyone can make a CW channel and a new "The U" work (with WLS's news)...it's definitely Weigel. They've got guaranteed carriage with their entire suite of channels, good marketing and they know how to multiplex well (you wouldn't know WMLW was spectrumed onto WBME-CD in Milwaukee because both 720p signals run just fine).

 

Meanwhile, WPWR continues to be the participation trophy of Chicago stations, and MyNet goes back to primetime.

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45 minutes ago, 24994J said:

Wow, that one came out of nowhere. So, everything remains the same, minus the 26.1 branding, and the 7-9pm block moving to 26.2. I can't imagine that ABC 7 will want to produce the 7 o'clock news much longer, if it's going to a subchannel.

 

I could see The CW26 (sounds strange doesn’t it?) working out a deal that would be more beneficial to WLS, but you’re right that they could just part ways once the current deal expires.

 

43 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

But better than The CW being kept on low-rated WPWR anyways.

 

Well..WPWR was the only option the CW had at the time. It’s surprising that WCIU would even entertain the idea of becoming a CW affiliate. Had this deal collapsed, the CW would have continued to air on WPWR. 

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Tamron Hall getting an afternoon double run on 26.1 would be interesting, as they have the longtime People's Court/Judge Mathis duo from noon to 4. Eyewitness News at 9 crossed my mind, too, and would probably draw better than either 7pm slot, but would certainly be a ballsy move, sure to lose to WGN (and possibly Fox), and would likely require some rearranging of talent.

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I'm surprised that WGN didn't pursue reuniting with The CW. The whole reason they dumped the network in the first place was because they wanted to avoid the hassles of scheduling its sports events around CW network programs. WGN won't have much of a sports inventory by the fall with the Bulls and Blackhawks already off the schedule as of the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons and the Cubs and White Sox to follow by the end of the Major League Baseball season. Unless WGN is cutting some sort of backroom deal with NBC Sports Chicago and the soon-to-launch Marquee Sports to keep at least some games involving all four teams (a la YES's agreement with WPIX and SportsNet LA's agreement with KTLA), this doesn't track.

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turning WCIU into a CW affiliate may give the network a powerful Chicago affiliate which it arguably has never had as Tribune never fully operated WGN as a network affiliate even during the WB years

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The CW network will have a new home in Chicago on Weigel Broadcasting Co.’s WCIU beginning this fall. Rebranded as The CW26, WCIU will feature CW’s six nights of primetime programming (Sunday-Friday, 7-9 p.m.) as well as children’s programming on Saturday mornings.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/234122/weigels-wciu-chicago-adds-cw-affiliation/

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3 hours ago, nickp said:

turning WCIU into a CW affiliate may give the network a powerful Chicago affiliate which it arguably has never had as Tribune never fully operated WGN as a network affiliate even during the WB years

 

I mean... that is kinda right due to constant WB/CW preemptions from local specials and WGN Sports.

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9 hours ago, Spring Rubber said:

I don't see any way for ABC 7's news or Tamron Hall's show to succeed on the subchannel. Best move would be to move both programs to other times. Tamron at 6 and news at 9? Or maybe news at 6:30 and Tamron at 9?

 

I agree. I could see them doing this...

 

WCIU- The CW26

Tamron Hall @ 6P

CW programming @ 7-9P

Eyewitness News on The U/U too (or CW26) @ 9P

(re-broadcast)

 

WCIU- U too (or whatever they may re-brand it as)

The Doctors @ 6p

*Eyewitness News on The U/U too (or CW26) @ 7P

Tamron Hall @ 8P

Dr. Phil @ 9P

 

*Will be pre-empted to air sports (Chicago Wolves, etc...) some nights.

 

My guess is that WCIU & WLS had some discussions about the changes prior to this announcement because I can't see WLS being cool about moving to 26.2. Like I said before, both sides had to have come to some new financial agreement.  

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, jase said:

 

I agree. I could see them doing this...

 

WCIU- The CW26

Tamron Hall @ 6P

CW programming @ 7-9P

Eyewitness News on The U/U too (or CW26) @ 9P

(re-broadcast)

 

WCIU- U too (or whatever they may re-brand it as)

The Doctors @ 6p

*Eyewitness News on The U/U too (or CW26) @ 7P

Tamron Hall @ 8P

Dr. Phil @ 9P

 

*Will be pre-empted to air sports (Chicago Wolves, etc...) some nights.

 

My guess is that WCIU & WLS had some discussions about the changes prior to this announcement because I can't see WLS being cool about moving to 26.2. Like I said before, both sides had to have come to some new financial agreement.  

 

 

 

Can Weigel request permission (or a waiver) to run The CW from 8-10pm instead of 7-9pm in order to retain the WLS-produced 7pm newscast?

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4 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

Can Weigel request permission (or a waiver) to run The CW from 8-10pm instead of 7-9pm in order to retain the WLS-produced 7pm newscast?

 

If KPLR St. Louis can get that permission to do so, then so should WCIU.

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The announcement says 7-9pm, so that's likely set. That's assuredly set in stone, per the terms if the affiliation agreement. As for Eyewitness News, I believe theirs is a year-to-year deal, so I'd imagine that either expires in the fall, or around the new year, when the newscast initially debuted in January 2015.

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On 4/18/2019 at 10:20 AM, 24994J said:

Wow, that one came out of nowhere. So, everything remains the same, minus the 26.1 branding, and the 7-9pm block moving to 26.2. I can't imagine that ABC 7 will want to produce the 7 o'clock news much longer, if it's going to a subchannel.

 

Any possibility of ABC 7 having their 7 PM news moved to 9 PM on WCIU? Or is the competition between WGN and FOX that strong?

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2 hours ago, ED2 said:

 

Any possibility of ABC 7 having their 7 PM news moved to 9 PM on WCIU? Or is the competition between WGN and FOX that strong?

 

They'd likely do better at 9pm on 26.1 with the CW lead-in than they'll do on 26.2. WGN typically doubles up FOX32 at 9, combining for about a 6.0 household rating. Eyewitness News on WCIU has generally metered about a 1.0 HH, and could probably do better than that at 9 without having to compete with 5 network primetimes. There are certainly questions as to what a post-sports, Nexstar-run WGN News will look like, but old habits die hard. Discussing a 3 station race at 9pm with another forum member, he said that a member of his household watches WGN before bed, but would likely tune in to the WLS-produced show, if it were an option.

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I'm surprised that WGN didn't want to be a CW again since they are losing sports come the fall time couldn't Nexstar say to Tribune to make WGN a CW again or something. Not that I care since I don't live in Chi WPWR  will be a Fox+ as that is what Fox O&O's are doing with MYNet TV stations.

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19 hours ago, CRThell said:

How do WCIU's ratings compare to WPWR?

 

It's safe to say that WCIU is a better/stronger option based largely on the fact they offer viewers a diverse programming slate. WPWR is a dumping ground and is no where near being the 'Power 50' many of us grew up watching.

 

 

12 hours ago, Megatron81 said:

I'm surprised that WGN didn't want to be a CW again since they are losing sports come the fall time couldn't Nexstar say to Tribune to make WGN a CW again or something. Not that I care since I don't live in Chi WPWR  will be a Fox+ as that is what Fox O&O's are doing with MYNet TV stations.

 

I think The CW really wanted a station that would truly embrace being a CW affiliate and all that entails. I don't think WGN was, for example, going to become CW9, Chicago's CW and promote CW programming to the same degree WCIU seems eager to do. What's the point of being an affiliate if its in name only?    

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  • 1 month later...

My thought would be moving the 7pm to 6:30. It would be easy to do, seeing as they usually start closing out the 6pm at 6:25. And I feel like 6:30 would be a better time slot anyway, as a strong lead-in to the CW network programing. Plus I feel like WLS kind of competes with itself running a 7pm news, when that risks taking viewers away from ABC network programing.

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3 hours ago, ctmajka said:

My thought would be moving the 7pm to 6:30. It would be easy to do, seeing as they usually start closing out the 6pm at 6:25. And I feel like 6:30 would be a better time slot anyway, as a strong lead-in to the CW network programing. Plus I feel like WLS kind of competes with itself running a 7pm news, when that risks taking viewers away from ABC network programing.

 

WGN is already on at that timeslot though so I don't know.

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