All 8 CBS-Owned The CW Affiliates Are Going Independent

The CW logo on a phone
(Image credit: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The eight The CW affiliates in the CBS-owned group will become independent stations in September. They are WPSG Philadelphia, WUPA Atlanta, KBCW San Francisco, KSTW Seattle, WTOT Tampa, WKBD Detroit, KMAX Sacramento and WPCW Pittsburgh. 

The stations will continue airing The CW programming through August. As of September, CBS Stations will have 13 independent stations alongside the 14 CBS stations.  

“We look forward to reimagining these stations as independents while leveraging the considerable value of their primetime real estate in each of the markets,” said Wendy McMahon, president and co-head, CBS News and Stations. “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.”

More and more live sports are moving back to broadcast TV as cable regional sports networks hit tough times. 

In October, Nexstar Media Group completed its acquisition of 75% of The CW. Dennis Miller was named network president, succeeding Mark Pedowitz. Nexstar said in a statement, “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.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.