Nexstar Media Group continued to firm up The CW’s affiliate lineup, making a deal with Sinclair to have KOMO Seattle and WPNT Pittsburgh carry the network’s programming as the season starts.
The new affiliations are part of a long-term agreement between Sinclair and The CW that covers 35 markets, including 10 markets where Sinclair provides sales and other services to The CW-affiliated stations.
Nexstar also announced that KAUT, one of the company’s owned-and-operated television stations serving Oklahoma City, will become an affiliate of The CW on September 1. KAUT replaces Sinclair’s KOCB in Oklahoma City.
In Seattle, KOMO replaces KSTW in The CW’s lineup. The CW will be carried on KOMO's digital channel 4.2. The station's main signal will continue to be an ABC affiliate. In Pittsburgh, WPNT replaces WPCW.
KSTW and WPCW are owned by Paramount Global’s CBS News & Stations unit. After Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery sold their majority stake in the CW to Nexstar, Paramount elected to turn its CW affiliates in eight markets into independents.
Also Read: WPCH Atlanta To Become CW Affiliate In Deal With Gray TV
“We are pleased to be continuing our long relationship with The CW Network and look forward to bringing our stations in Seattle and Pittsburgh into the CW family,” Sinclair chief operating officer and president of local media Rob Weisbord said. “We thank our distribution team for securing the renewal of our affiliate agreement, which includes rights that allow us to negotiate with virtual MVPDs for The CW-affiliated stations.”
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“With The CW’s first-ever ACC college football game featuring the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Cincinnati Bearcats in primetime on September 9, we are pleased to be adding WPNT-TV in Pittsburgh and KOMO-TV in Seattle to our affiliate group,” The CW president Dennis Miller said. “We appreciate that Sinclair values their partnership with The CW as we remake the network with our significant investment in sports, combined with a smart entertainment programming strategy that will further expand viewership on a local and national level.”
