Nextstar is really in control of the CW now and Warner-Discovery and Paramount Global are just minority partners that sometimes produce content for the channel. At this point the WD and PG partnership in the CW is one of convenience which does not extend beyond that venture. Nextstar, which just recently took over in 2022 , is taking the…
Nextstar is really in control of the CW now and Warner-Discovery and Paramount Global are just minority partners that sometimes produce content for the channel. At this point the WD and PG partnership in the CW is one of convenience which does not extend beyond that venture. Nextstar, which just recently took over in 2022 , is taking the CW into a different direction aiming at an older audience, hence the sports. The CW used to aim at the 18-34 demographic.
I do not make much of the ESPN, Fox, WBD venture. It just a new way to package 14 channels that are mostly focused on sports at a slightly lower price point than cable replacement streaming options like YoutubeTV, FuboTV, Hulu plus Live TV, which carry most, if not all, of the 14 channels plus other channels that carry sports.
I think this is the key and what some here are missing. People (including me) don't know CW as a household name because it is pretty new, having only formed in the last few years, as a combo of CBS and Paramount assets and Warner Brothers assets held together by Nexstar which owns a lot of CBS stations (is not really a merger of convenience; they are inextricably linked). The entire broadcast industry is in massive flux, which is why the PAC12 fell apart in the first place. CW is now owned by private investors, is not a public company, and so they will play this a lot differently than ESPN and Fox. But I like what I read. A few years ago, this CW combo could not even be done because there were long-standing FCC rules that TV stations could not be owned by the networks. They had to be licensed to carry the broadcasts (some old anti-trust idea from the 1950s). The more I read, the more I like this affiliation with the CW which seems to have settled into its future. You can't say the same for Fox and ESPN. Who knows if they will be able to bid on the SEC and B1G in the next round?
Brian the CW has existed as a TV network since 2006 when two networks that tried and failed to emulate FOX as an addition to the Big 3, UPN and the WB, merged. These two networks and their CW successor had some successful shows that were aimed at younger audiences but increasing those younger audiences abandoned linear TV. I do not know all the corporate ins and outs, mergers and such, but the CW as a network has been around for 18 years.
Yes, I saw the history of CW as a content provider and I kind of remember them as a cable option (never watched their programming). But it wasn't until the merger with majority owner Nexstar (formerly ViacomCBS) that the network took its current shape and became very viable as a sports conference partner. CW (the C is for CBS which always had a stake in this venture) was able to combine its 197 broadcast stations, 39 which are CBS, with the content providers because of a ruling from the SC in 2021 that finally over-rode the decades old anti-trust limitation for such combos that was an FCC rule. And no broadcast companies could own stations covering multiple networks (anti-trust concerns from the radio days)
The 2021 ruling didn't do what you're saying it does. Fox has operated MyNetworkTV since 2006 when the CW formed.
(MyNetworkTV is basically a syndication service, but that's all a TV network is.) When UPN and WB shut down, one station in each market ended up CW, one ended up MyNetworkTV.
Read the ruling and the original anti-trust cases that went through the SC including in 1970 which prohibited any one company to own multiple cross-network stations (could not own a CBS and NBC station, for example). The reason CW came together with Nexstar and its 197 stations is precisely because the SC ruled they could
1. I am not a lawyer. But I do know how time works.
A 2021 decision is not what allowed a station-owner like Nexstar (or CBS) to own something like the CW. Before the sale to Nexstar, CBS (which owns a bunch of big TV stations) was the 50% owner of the CW from 2006. 2006 is before 2021. (And again, Fox has owned MyNetworkTV since 2006.)
2. The 39 Nexstar-owned CBS affiliiates have NOTHING to do with the CW.
3. You still can't own two Big Four network stations in the same market. The 2021 decision didn't change that, it's still true. You can own one top-four station (like KOIN, the CBS Portland affiliate) and one other station (like KRCW channel 32, the Portland CW affiliate).
Here is a 2023 article on the "ongoing merger" of Nexstar with CW. They might have had an arms length relationship previously. They could not be MERGED until the SC ruled that such mergers were legal. And yes, today there are no limits on the stations you can own. You are not acknowledging the SC ruling in 2022 which I linked elsewhere on this string which allowed all of this to happen: https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/nexstars-ongoing-acquisition-of-the-cw-what-to-know/
You cannot own more than one Big Four TV station in a market, without special FCC permission. (Usually you get that permission because it's a tiny market and if the rule isn't waived, the market does without a Big Four network affiliate)
And you cannot own TV stations that add up to more than 39% of US TV households, except that there are ways to get around that and Nexstar makes heavy use of those loopholes.
The current version of CW (yes, there was a previous version that was content provider, only) is a result of the merger with ViacomCBS in 2019. If you want to argue, go to the source of this press release
Nextstar is really in control of the CW now and Warner-Discovery and Paramount Global are just minority partners that sometimes produce content for the channel. At this point the WD and PG partnership in the CW is one of convenience which does not extend beyond that venture. Nextstar, which just recently took over in 2022 , is taking the CW into a different direction aiming at an older audience, hence the sports. The CW used to aim at the 18-34 demographic.
I do not make much of the ESPN, Fox, WBD venture. It just a new way to package 14 channels that are mostly focused on sports at a slightly lower price point than cable replacement streaming options like YoutubeTV, FuboTV, Hulu plus Live TV, which carry most, if not all, of the 14 channels plus other channels that carry sports.
If you are as wonky as me, here is the SC case in 2021 which changed the ownership rules which allowed the CW to come into existence: https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/court-upholds-fccs-changes-to-media-ownership-rules/
I think this is the key and what some here are missing. People (including me) don't know CW as a household name because it is pretty new, having only formed in the last few years, as a combo of CBS and Paramount assets and Warner Brothers assets held together by Nexstar which owns a lot of CBS stations (is not really a merger of convenience; they are inextricably linked). The entire broadcast industry is in massive flux, which is why the PAC12 fell apart in the first place. CW is now owned by private investors, is not a public company, and so they will play this a lot differently than ESPN and Fox. But I like what I read. A few years ago, this CW combo could not even be done because there were long-standing FCC rules that TV stations could not be owned by the networks. They had to be licensed to carry the broadcasts (some old anti-trust idea from the 1950s). The more I read, the more I like this affiliation with the CW which seems to have settled into its future. You can't say the same for Fox and ESPN. Who knows if they will be able to bid on the SEC and B1G in the next round?
Brian the CW has existed as a TV network since 2006 when two networks that tried and failed to emulate FOX as an addition to the Big 3, UPN and the WB, merged. These two networks and their CW successor had some successful shows that were aimed at younger audiences but increasing those younger audiences abandoned linear TV. I do not know all the corporate ins and outs, mergers and such, but the CW as a network has been around for 18 years.
Yes, I saw the history of CW as a content provider and I kind of remember them as a cable option (never watched their programming). But it wasn't until the merger with majority owner Nexstar (formerly ViacomCBS) that the network took its current shape and became very viable as a sports conference partner. CW (the C is for CBS which always had a stake in this venture) was able to combine its 197 broadcast stations, 39 which are CBS, with the content providers because of a ruling from the SC in 2021 that finally over-rode the decades old anti-trust limitation for such combos that was an FCC rule. And no broadcast companies could own stations covering multiple networks (anti-trust concerns from the radio days)
The 2021 ruling didn't do what you're saying it does. Fox has operated MyNetworkTV since 2006 when the CW formed.
(MyNetworkTV is basically a syndication service, but that's all a TV network is.) When UPN and WB shut down, one station in each market ended up CW, one ended up MyNetworkTV.
Read the ruling and the original anti-trust cases that went through the SC including in 1970 which prohibited any one company to own multiple cross-network stations (could not own a CBS and NBC station, for example). The reason CW came together with Nexstar and its 197 stations is precisely because the SC ruled they could
1. I am not a lawyer. But I do know how time works.
A 2021 decision is not what allowed a station-owner like Nexstar (or CBS) to own something like the CW. Before the sale to Nexstar, CBS (which owns a bunch of big TV stations) was the 50% owner of the CW from 2006. 2006 is before 2021. (And again, Fox has owned MyNetworkTV since 2006.)
2. The 39 Nexstar-owned CBS affiliiates have NOTHING to do with the CW.
3. You still can't own two Big Four network stations in the same market. The 2021 decision didn't change that, it's still true. You can own one top-four station (like KOIN, the CBS Portland affiliate) and one other station (like KRCW channel 32, the Portland CW affiliate).
Here is a 2023 article on the "ongoing merger" of Nexstar with CW. They might have had an arms length relationship previously. They could not be MERGED until the SC ruled that such mergers were legal. And yes, today there are no limits on the stations you can own. You are not acknowledging the SC ruling in 2022 which I linked elsewhere on this string which allowed all of this to happen: https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/nexstars-ongoing-acquisition-of-the-cw-what-to-know/
" And yes, today there are no limits on the stations you can own."
This is flat out wrong.
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/fccs-review-broadcast-ownership-rules
You cannot own more than one Big Four TV station in a market, without special FCC permission. (Usually you get that permission because it's a tiny market and if the rule isn't waived, the market does without a Big Four network affiliate)
And you cannot own TV stations that add up to more than 39% of US TV households, except that there are ways to get around that and Nexstar makes heavy use of those loopholes.
The current version of CW (yes, there was a previous version that was content provider, only) is a result of the merger with ViacomCBS in 2019. If you want to argue, go to the source of this press release
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/cbs-viacom-merge-form-30-billion-media-company-n1041306