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Where is CW going in the Seattle Market?
- Thread starter MWDXER
- Start date
Unless someone picks it up as a diginet; you may have to look toward cable:
www.tvinsider.com
8 CBS Stations Are Dropping The CW Network and Going Independent This Fall
See which major cities are impacted by the changes.
So you don't think KONG is a candidate? CW is a major network, even though not as big as the main 4,but still a lot of viewers.Unless someone picks it up as a diginet; you may have to look toward cable:
8 CBS Stations Are Dropping The CW Network and Going Independent This Fall
See which major cities are impacted by the changes.
KONG is owned by Tegna, a competitor to Nextar. Doing a multi-year deal with a direct competitor when your company is up for sale, is fraught with complications. It likely would be better to hold off and see what Nextar's next move is. I'm guessing Nextar will warehouse CW on their diginets.
Nexstar can't do that in Seattle/Tacoma, since they don't own a station in the market. As for the idea that Tegna would be unwilling to affiliate one of its stations with the CW because of CW being owned by Nexstar, I have to note that Tegna does already have several CW affiliates and I've not heard anything to indicate that they're planning to drop the CW from those stations. Notable to this discussion is that one of those Tegna CW affiliates is KSKN (channel 22) in Spokane.
The question is what sort of ratings is Tegna currently getting with the 8-10 programming on KONG-TV, which consists of "Dateline" reruns followed by the first half of a two-hour news block?
Nexstar can do whatever they want. They're under no obligation to place CW on a Tegna station in Seattle, no more than assuming that Tegna is willing to pay Nexstar to carry CW on KONG. As what I posted mentioned; Nexstar hasn't yet announced what they will do with the CW in certain markets.
It’s possible that Nexstar is forced to pipe in the CW via cable. Which isn’t impossible, they have The CW Plus which supplies programming to the majority of affiliates and cable systems under market #100.
But at it currently stands, the CW might be shut out of Seattle and Atlanta completely with zero options. Neither KZJO or KONG are plausible candidates in my eyes, although Fox might be willing to take money from a desperate Nexstar. Tegna? Not really.
But at it currently stands, the CW might be shut out of Seattle and Atlanta completely with zero options. Neither KZJO or KONG are plausible candidates in my eyes, although Fox might be willing to take money from a desperate Nexstar. Tegna? Not really.
The CW is being redone into a program model of acquired shows and low-cost reality fare (which, given the current writer’s strike, is probably the best course of action to take). Previously they had a model of producing expensive shows that went to Netflix, which removed any incentive for younger people to watch on linear, resulting in the embarrassing statistic of the median age for a CW viewer being 58. Even LIV Golf (which was exiled to a KOMO sub) is essentially a time-brokered arrangement and LIV Golf isn’t even bothering with their ratings.
Point being, I don’t think the CW is—or will be—anything close to a ratings booster and why you’ll probably see Tegna-KONG taking a hard pass on it.
That, and many diginets aren't Nielsen-encoded in PPM markets. Too expensive, when 75% of the spots are national anyway.
Unless it brings in significant positive revenue without much risk, I think Tegna will pass. They seem to like having the two-hour KING 5 News block there. I guess they could run CW primetime an hour early but...
Great point. Local news is expensive for a single station. Rerunning it time shifted on a second station means the sales teams can sell the main newscasts twice. When it comes to TV, owning your own inventory is a bonus. Having to potentially pay Nextar for CW, AND giving up 75% of the inventory for national spots?
Looks like CW network is going to KONG-TV 16 cable 6.
thedesk.net
Exclusive: Nexstar readies announcement for new affiliates in Seattle, Pittsburgh
Nexstar is set to reveal new affiliates for its CW Network programming in Seattle and Pittsburg, possibly as soon as next week.
thedesk.net
Would having to watch the news an hour later interfere with your bedtime?
There’s probably been no official announcement yet due to multiple considerations, the least of which being that Tegna reupped all their CW affiliates through 2026 back in 2021. Two of these affiliates are in markets where Nexstar now owns a secondary station—WCTX in Hartford and KUSI in San Diego, the latter Nexstar rather inartfully boasted in the press release announcing their purchase of the station was hoping to become the CW SD affiliate as soon as possible.
It is very probable that Nexstar announces a groupwide deal with Tegna that includes KONG and WATL, along with WCCT and KFMB-DT2 relinquishing their existing affiliations, and they all get extended to either 2028 or 2030.
It is very probable that Nexstar announces a groupwide deal with Tegna that includes KONG and WATL, along with WCCT and KFMB-DT2 relinquishing their existing affiliations, and they all get extended to either 2028 or 2030.
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TEGNA owns WCCT, not Nexstar.
Fixed, I meant WCTX, the Nexstar-owned
u forgot WLMT, KSKN, and KCWI
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