LIN TV Columbus market UPN affiliate WWHO/53 has finally decided to go with the CW Network when UPN and The WB shut down this fall. WWHO also runs WB programming out of pattern, making it basically the only choice for the new network in Columbus.
WWHO joins three other LIN-owned stations in going with CW. We suspect it took this long because LIN was an early complainer about CW's model of charging local stations for the affiliation - a practice called "reverse compensation" in the TV industry.
The other interesting twist here...WWHO would have been an automatic CW Network affiliate if the change had been announced a year or two back. LIN TV took over the station from Viacom, then-CBS' parent company, and CBS is half-owner of the new CW Network.
In Ohio, the move leaves only Cincinnati without an announced future affiliate for CW. The station that was thought to be the obvious choice in that market, Sinclair's WSTR/64, signed up with My Network TV in a group deal. That leaves current UPN affiliate WBQC-CA/38, an LPTV station...and it's not altogether certain that CW will hook up with WBQC for any number of reasons.
Without them, CW would have to mount a cable channel, or partner with a broadcast station's digital subchannel...
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
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2 comments:
Allison at Broadcasting & Cable just reported (4/19) that WKRC Cincinnati, the CBS affiliate in market no. 34, will carry The CW on one of its digital channels.
Additional info: WKRC is owned by Clear Channel. This was part of a group deal Clear Channel made with The CW.
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