Eight CBS Stations to Ditch CW and Go Independent This Fall

[Georgie56 3059]

KPYX-specific bug on KPIX’s new primetime newscast.

 

[The Frog 392]

9 hours ago, Adam MadMan said:

According to the Seattle Times, they're still running Comet during non-CW hours. Either that's a sign of the syndication market's inexorable decline, all the other stations taking all the decent programming, talks being really down to the wire, or just weapon's grade laziness on Sinclair's part.

Comet is essentially syndicated programming. It's as watchable as any other station's lineup. I'll take reruns of The X-Files over a Byron Allen court show. It wouldn't be out of place on an independent station in another era.

 

I'm surprised we don't see more stations fill non-network/news hours with programming from their in-house diginet rather than spending money on dwindling syndicated fare. If Nexstar wants to cut CW's programming costs, why not nuke the syndicated CW+ shows and fill the time with a mix of programming from their diginets?

[mrschimpf 2051]

It's too bad KBCB got TCT'ed after Fox's attempted purchase during their triennial fight with Tribune over KCPQ's affiliation.

 

What I'm more surprised about is that Nexstar didn't make a modest attempt to get it on KFFV or KVOS, or they did and Weigel shut them out entirely, saying 'why? We're losing CW in Chicago no matter what, why should we help you out and lose viewer goodwill from Me or H&I prime being pre-empted?'. This has to be on par with WJMN being dumped from CBS in big L's for Perry.

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

4 hours ago, The Frog said:

Comet is essentially syndicated programming. It's as watchable as any other station's lineup. I'll take reruns of The X-Files over a Byron Allen court show. It wouldn't be out of place on an independent station in another era.

 

I'm surprised we don't see more stations fill non-network/news hours with programming from their in-house diginet rather than spending money on dwindling syndicated fare. If Nexstar wants to cut CW's programming costs, why not nuke the syndicated CW+ shows and fill the time with a mix of programming from their diginets?

Due to the 11th hour-nature of the pickup, it's probably going to be this way for this year.  Sinclair is basically having to create a new channel to build the CW programming around.  By next year, it may resemble more of a CW-like station lineup once deals are secured.

 

I"m assuming that the ex-CW stations owned by CBS are still going to be carried by YouTube TV?  They've traditionally carried their existing independents like WLNY, KCAL and WTXA.

 

KOCB may be dropped unless Sinclair elects to keep them on.  It would be their only independent station on YouTube TV.

 

And Nexstar should be running with all of their new affiliates, sans WADL since that deal hasn't closed yet?

Edited September 2, 2023 by tyrannical bastard

[AmericanErrorist 100]

41 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

And Nexstar should be running with all of their new affiliates, sans WADL since that deal hasn't closed yet?

 

The CW on WADL rolled out yesterday, despite the sale being ongoing.

[T.L. Hughes 746]

57 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

KOCB may be dropped unless Sinclair elects to keep them on.  It would be their only independent station on YouTube TV.

I believe YTTV carries some (if not all) of Sinclair’s MyNetworkTV affiliates. Someone CMIIW, but I think WPNT was among those that it carried even before the station switched to The CW. So, it’s very possible nothing changes as far as KOCB’s carriage goes.

Edited September 2, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[mrschimpf 2051]

On 9/2/2023 at 1:12 PM, T.L. Hughes said:

I believe YTTV carries some (if not all) of Sinclair’s MyNetworkTV affiliates. Someone CMIIW, but I think WPNT was among those that it carried even before the station switched to The CW. So, it’s very possible nothing changes as far as KOCB’s carriage goes.

It's doubtful anything changes, as most providers just seamlessly transitioned to the new Fox subchannels a few years ago when Sinclair transferred affiliations from their shell company stations while dumping whichever subnet was the new primary affiliation on the shellco which was mainly used as an ATSC 3 lighthouse (though some like Dabl already have carriage on the services). Same with WCGV when it became WVTV-DT2. I wouldn't see KOCB removed at all at this time.

[The Frog 392]

An affiliation switch flew under the radar. The CW departed Scripps' MTN group of stations for Nexstar's KSVI.

[Adam MadMan 277]

9 hours ago, The Frog said:

An affiliation switch flew under the radar. The CW departed Scripps' MTN group of stations for Nexstar's KSVI.

Not great for The CW, since it leaves the rest of Montana unaccounted for AFAIK, but I think I know what Scripps' endgame is. They recently bought the broadcast rights to the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, and with The CW gone, I noticed they've turned those subchannels into independents. Since Montana is in the Golden Knights' territory, they're probably going to run the games on those channels.

[CircleSeven 1944]

CBS has picked up a couple of NHL rights for two indie stations.

 

From B&C, KCAL 9 will air six LA Kings regular season games. While WPKD will air two Pittsburgh Penguins preseason games.

 

[CoopInTheHouse 63]

As part of that big switch just over 3 weeks ago, MyNetworkTV moves to WSNN-LD (Suncoast News Network), channel 39, airing it in primetime. WTTA still airs MyNetworkTV during the overnight hours (1:00am to 3:00am to be exact).

[ColtFromGulfcoast 695]

3 hours ago, CoopInTheHouse said:

As part of that big switch just over 3 weeks ago, MyNetworkTV moves to WSNN-LD (Suncoast News Network), channel 39, airing it in primetime. WTTA still airs MyNetworkTV during the overnight hours (1:00am to 3:00am to be exact).

 

I admit I'm surprised more stations don't do this and that this wasn't a thing when UPN and WB were in operation. At least this would have technically been good for ratings.  

[Georgie56 3059]

WPSG is adding Delaware Blue Coats (76ers G-League affiliate) games.

[CoopInTheHouse 63]

6 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

WPSG is adding Delaware Blue Coats (76ers G-League affiliate) games.

I’m surprised that just a few TV stations air minor league sports these days, and there may be a lot of them. And now a list of Triple-A minor league baseball teams on TV stations (or cable channels, or internet services).

1. The Indianapolis Indians aired 35 games on WISH-TV during the 2021 season.

2. Starting this year, select Buffalo Bisons games air on WNYO-TV (MyTV Buffalo). The Bisons were previously on WNYB, now an affiliate of TCT (1988-1989, 1996), and WNLO, CW 23 (2019-2022).

3. Select Durham Bulls home games are televised on WRAZ 50.2 (MeTV), and every home game is broadcast on WRAL Sports+.
4. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs air games on WYLN-CD (YTA TV) and its translators (W09DB and W36EY), and WFMZ 69.

5. For the 2018 season ONLY, the Oklahoma City Dodgers aired select games locally on YurView Oklahoma (a weird public access cable channel thing) on Cox Cable Oklahoma channel 703 and simulcast on Cox digital HD channels 1333 and 1334, in case of scheduling conflicts with high school football.

6. On April 24th, 2014, the Sugar Land Skeeters (now the Space Cowboys) announced a deal with ESPN that allowed for all home games at Constellation Field to be exclusively broadcast on their internet channel ESPN3 for the 2014 season, a deal that was renewed for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

So there ain’t a lot of stations you can find these sports teams. Just hope WPSG does great at basketball.

[The Frog 392]

CW Network yanked from Detroit airwaves over business spat

[mrschimpf 2051]

50 minutes ago, The Frog said:

CW Network yanked from Detroit airwaves over business spat

Kevin Adell just burning every damned bridge before the inevitable lawsuit where he loses all his holdings in bankruptcy. He pulled the rug under the local personalities on WFDF to push the standard Generic Conservative Talk Show Lineup nobody under 54 likes and The Word Network is just eighth-ranked compared to any other religious network. And the issue here just seems to be a standard affiliation agreement contract he refuses to sign for seemingly no reason (the network asked him to while the Mission sale goes through FCC scrutiny). 

 

CBS was right about him in 1994; he's a dumbass who doesn't deserve to be in the industry.

Edited October 30, 2023 by mrschimpf

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

Basically, if it wasn't for Kevin Adell, we would have had CBS 38 way back then instead of CBS having to desperately buy WGPR at the time.

 

Between Graham and Scripps, who's more likely to land the CW if Nexstar...cough cough Mission abandons WADL?

[Nelson R. 560]

15 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Basically, if it wasn't for Kevin Adell, we would have had CBS 38 way back then instead of CBS having to desperately buy WGPR at the time.

 

Between Graham and Scripps, who's more likely to land the CW if Nexstar...cough cough Mission abandons WADL?

Likely Graham because I can see Scripps dumping it in Phoenix next year

Edited October 30, 2023 by Nelson R.

[Glimmer 238]

It basically sounds like Adell had cold feet about selling and is using this as an excuse to back out of the deal 

[mrschimpf 2051]

41 minutes ago, Nelson R. said:

Likely Graham because I can see Scripps dumping it in Phoenix next year

It would be so interesting if Nexstar appealed to CTV or Global and the CRTC to borrow a subchannel across the river for The CW+ while they got in the Adell legal congo line (and because it's currently packed with CanCon).

 

And for purely personal reasons I don't want to see the CW on WDIV-DT2 because it's This TV's longest-lived affiliate on the same channel outside WHDH.

[Nelson R. 560]

7 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

It would be so interesting if Nexstar appealed to CTV or Global and the CRTC to borrow a subchannel across the river for The CW+ while they got in the Adell legal congo line (and because it's currently packed with CanCon).

 

And for purely personal reasons I don't want to see the CW on WDIV-DT2 because it's This TV's longest-lived affiliate on the same channel outside WHDH.

It would likely be a Seattle Comet situation where This TV programming is still ran outside of CW programming hours. But that is only a temporary solution in Seattle because KUNS is going to be their new affiliate in January. I feel ya. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Nelson R.

[CoopInTheHouse 63]

15 minutes ago, Nelson R. said:

It would likely be a Seattle Comet situation where This TV programming is still ran outside of CW programming hours. But that is only a temporary solution in Seattle because KUNS is going to be their new affiliate in January. I feel ya. 

Here’s what we need to figure out now. If Univision’s replaced by The CW, who’s getting Univision in Seattle?

[Drew 147]

Wouldn't be surprised if Univision just becomes a digital channel like Telemundo Seattle is on KIRO's sub channels. 

 

[AmericanErrorist 100]

1 hour ago, mrschimpf said:

It would be so interesting if Nexstar appealed to CTV or Global and the CRTC to borrow a subchannel across the river for The CW+ while they got in the Adell legal congo line (and because it's currently packed with CanCon).

 

And for purely personal reasons I don't want to see the CW on WDIV-DT2 because it's This TV's longest-lived affiliate on the same channel outside WHDH.

That's even less likely than normal because of the Canadian shows on the network schedule (at normal this proposal files against long-standing ownership restrictions against non-Canadian broadcasters).

Edited October 30, 2023 by AmericanErrorist

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

In Detroit, how many Canadian stations are available to American viewers?  IIRC, CBET (CBC) was the only one, and actually has cable viewership that extends past Toledo into places like Bowling Green and Sandusky.

 

When I was in Windsor many years ago, They carried all of the Detroit stations (sim-subbing American content with the channels it's carried on) but all of the Detroit newscasts were carried on their respective stations.   This was back during WWJ's first attempt at news.