Fox's MyNetworkTV (MNT) signed up seven new affiliates Tuesday, including three CBS-owned stations that lost out on The CW affiliation.
CBS-owned WBFS Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (market No. 17); WTCN West Palm Beach, Fla. (No. 38) and WUPL New Orleans (No. 43) will become MNT affiliates when the network launches Sept. 5. In Miami and New Orleans, the CBS-owned UPN stations lost out to Tribune-owned WB stations in their markets to get The CW, which also launches in September after The WB and UPN shut down. In West Palm Beach, CBS-owned WTVX will be the CW station.
Other new MNT stations include: KTVD Denver, owned by Multimedia Holdings Corporation; WHP-DT Harrisburg, Pa., owned by Clear Channel Television; WAWS-DT Jacksonville, Fla., also owned by Clear Channel, and Sinclair Broadacsting's WSYZDT Columbus, Ohio.
“We are pleased to have reached a deal for three of our UPN stations -- WBFS in Miami, WTCN-CA in West Palm Beach and WUPL in New Orleans -- to become primary affiliates of MyNetworkTV in September,” CBS Television Stations President Tom Kane said in a statement. “We determined that these stations, in these markets, would be better served as network affiliates, as opposed to being independent stations.”
“We are thrilled that a station group as well-respected as CBS has joined our cadre of partners and that quality operators like Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Clear Channel Television and Multimedia Holdings Corporation continue to collaborate with us as we revolutionize local primetime broadcasting," Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy said.
The new affiliates bring MNT's total coverage to 91% of the country and 158 markets.
