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The CW Signs 30 New Affiliates

Mar 28, 2006  •  Post A Comment

The CW on Tuesday announced 30 long-term affiliation agreements that increase clearances to 114 stations reaching more than 74 percent of the country.

The newly signed affiliates include four General Media properties: UPN affiliate WASV-TV Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.-Asheville, NC-Anderson, S.C., (the 35th-largest market in the country); WB affiliate WJWB-TV in Jacksonville, Fla. (market No. 52); a digital channel of NBC affiliate WCBD-TV in Charleston, S.C. (101); and a digital channel of CBS affiliate WNCT-TV in Greenville-New Bern-Washington, N.C. (105).

Two of the deals were for low-power UPN affiliates owned by Raycom Media: WSTQ-LP in Syracuse, N.Y. (76); and KXTU-TV in Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo. (93).

Six of the deals of the deals involved digital channels of Quincy Newspapers-owned stations: NBC affiliate WREX-TV in Rockford, Ill. (133); ABC affiliate WXOW-TV in La Crosse, Wis. (123); ABC affiliate WAOW-TV in Wausau-Rhinelander, Wis. (134); NBC affiliate KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa (143); NBC affiliate WVVA-TV in Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, W.Va. (149); NBC affiliate KTTC-TV in Rochester, Minn.-Mason City, Iowa-Austin, Minn. (152); and NBC affiliate WGEM-TV in Quincy, Ill.-Hannibal, Mo.-Keokuk, Iowa (169).

Four deals involved digital channels of stations owned by Gray Television: NBC affiliate WJHG-TV in Panama City, Fla. (157); ABC affiliate WBKO-TV in Bowling Green, Ky. (for the digital station currently operated as a WB affiliate) (183); ABC affiliate WTOK-TV in Meridian, Miss. (184); and NBC affiliate KKCO-TV in Grand Junction-Montrose, Colo. (187).

Affiliation deals were made with Grant Communications for two WB affiliates: WBVA-TV in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Va. (68); and KGWB-TV in Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, Ill. (95).

The other deals announced involved UPN affiliate KBEJ-TV in Austin, Texas (53), owned by Corridor Television and operated by Belo Corp.; Banks Broadcasting’s UPN affiliate KNIN-TV in Boise, Idaho (119); Camino Real Communications-owned WB affiliate KWWT-TV in Odessa-Midland, Texas (159); KM Communications’ WB affiliate KPIF-TV in Idaho Falls-Pocatello, Idaho (163); and Rocky Mountain Broadcasting’s KMTF-TV in Helena, Mont. (206).

Other deals made for digital channel space included Barrington Broadcasting’s ABC affiliates WHOI-TV in Peoria-Bloomington, Ill. (117) and KVII-TV in Amarillo, Texas (131); Catamount Holdings’ CBS affiliate KHSL-TV in Chico-Redding, Calif. (130); the University of Missouri’s NBC affiliate KOMU-TV in Columbia-Jefferson City, Mo., (138); Delmarva Broadcast Service General Partnership’s ABC affiliate WMDT-TV in Salisbury, Md.(148); and Block Communications’ NBC affiliate WLIO-TV in Lima, Ohio (185).

“We’re very pleased to sign our first long-term, multistation affiliation agreements with Media General and Raycom Media, two of broadcasting’s largest, most admired station owners, as well as with Grant Communications and Quincy Newspapers, companies whose strong entrepreneurial spirit is grounded in local station ownership,” said John Maatta, chief operating officer of The CW. “We’re also adding to the number of Banks, Barrington, Belo, Block Communications [and] Gray stations in the CW fold, as well as sealing new deals with a number of other companies with whom we’ve previously partnered for The WB. All of these companies share our excitement and enthusiasm for the unique and exceptional programming and promotion opportunities that The CW creates for them.”

The CW, announced Jan. 24 as a joint venture of CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment, will launch in September with programming from UPN and The WB, which will close at the end of August.