The CW Networks Starts Getting The Axe

Nexstar’s ownership of The CW is slowly changing how we know the network. Now, it’s been reported that eight of their stations will go independent by later this year.

Ever since Nexstar Media Group bought The CW, the network looked like it was changing to an unrecognisable state. Slowly it changed to the point that it’s turned into an altogether different network.

It cancelled many DC related shows like Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, Stargirl and recently The Flash, which is on its last few episodes this month. Riverdale is also in its final season. 4400, Naomi, Charmed Dynasty and others were also cancelled.

Now it seems that there will be more drastic changes because of Nexstar’s acquisition of The CW.

Paramount Owned Stations Goes Independent From Nexstar’s The CW

Deadline reports that eight stations of The CW will be leaving the network and will become independent by September. Namely WPCW Pittsburgh, KMAX Sacramento, WTOG Tampa-St. Petersburg, KBCW San Francisco, WPSG Philadelphia, WKBD Detroit, KSTW Seattle, and WUPA Atlanta.

While Nexstar’s The CW has 37 stations, eight of these are stations owned by CBS. But since the acquisition of The CW by Nexstar last year, it was said that the end of affiliation had been set. The separation of the stations has been planned since the beginning.

To what CBS will provide, we don’t really know yet. But since CBS is owned by Paramount, it’s not far off to imagine what they can do with the stations. They do have lots of content already, but it would be interesting to see if they make any more new shows.

President and Co-Head of CBS News and Station, Wendy McMahon said:

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. 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.

A statement from Nexstar Media Group has said:

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. We are prepared for this possibility and confident that The CW Network will continue reaching 100% 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.

The CW Loses Eight Of Their Affiliated Stations

Credit: Michael Buckner/PMC

While Nexstar will be losing some stations, it doesn’t mean that they plan to stay that way. They did say that they are prepared for the stations to leave. Just recently, the media group just announced their intention to buy KUSI-TV for $35 million. This is currently pending for approval from the FCC.

Nevertheless, the company still plans replace the stations and acquire more as they do what they can to have that nationwide reach.

What do you think of The CW losing some of their networks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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