Nexstar’s WGN-TV readies its return to The CW

WGN-TV is set to return to the network after a ten-year absence; CW also moving to new stations in other markets

While the fall season doesn’t start for a few weeks, The CW will make numerous station switches this weekend, including in Chicago.

On Saturday, WGN-TV officially returns to The CW affiliate lineup after eight years away. In a move widely anticipated when Nexstar purchased 75 percent of the network from owners Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, the news was made official on May 1. Nexstar purchased WGN owner Tribune Media in 2019.

Speculation on WGN returning to The CW heated up after Nexstar purchased 75 percent of the network in 2022. Last year, WGN became the home of CW sports programming – notably LIV Golf – after former affiliate WCIU declined to carry it.

Nexstar is also moving to new stations where its former affiliate was on a station owned by Scripps as the Cincinnati-based broadcaster and The CW couldn’t agree to terms for a renewal. Nexstar is moving those affiliations to its-owned stations on digital subchannels in five markets: WJBF Augusta, Ga; KARD Monroe, La.; KFDX Wichita Falls, Tex.; WTWO Terre Haute, Ind.; and WFXV Utica, NY. In each case, it’s replacing a Scripps subchannel, either Ion, Bounce, or Laff.

The CW is also moving to Nexstar’s WVBT Norfolk-Portsmouth Va. and a digital subchannel of KLFY-TV Lafayette, La. Last year, Nexstar moved its CW affiliations to its owned stations in Philadelphia (WPHL), San Francisco (KRON), and Tampa (WTTA) after CBS’ eight CW affiliates dropped the network. In a strange turn, however, two stations – WBFS Miami and WKBD Detroit – are returning as affiliates Saturday.

Nexstar now has 54 owned-and-operated stations affiliated with The CW covering 45 percent of the U.S. – the country’s largest network-owned station group. By comparison, Disney’s ABC has only eight including WLS-TV Chicago. Another change awaits as KUSI San Diego is expected to become a CW affiliate sometime in 2026. KUSI was sold to Nexstar last year, creating a duopoly with Fox affiliate KSWB.

“As The CW’s #1 affiliate group, Nexstar is very pleased to be airing the network’s programming on these stations this fall, especially with NASCAR Xfinity series racing and the WWE’s NXT joining a very robust lineup of sports programming, including LIV Golf and ACC college football and basketball, and PAC 12 football,”  said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division. “Adding The CW’s programming to these stations will offer advertisers a variety of new linear and digital opportunities to reach millions of viewers.”

Nexstar points out that having The CW on its owned-and-operated stations creates economic benefits for them.

Now a full-time affiliate of The CW under common ownership, WGN-TV becomes a network-owned station for the first time in its 76-year history. In the past, WGN was affiliated with Dumont and The WB, which Tribune was involved in as a minority owner with Warner Bros. Formed in 2006 after the closures of The WB and UPN, the original CW was a 50/50 joint venture between then-owners Time Warner and CBS Corporation. Like sister stations WPIX New York and KTLA Los Angeles, WGN will maintain its branding.

With The CW’s return to WGN’s primetime lineup, some shows are being shuffled. Previous primetime weeknight occupants Big Bang Theory and Last Man Standing are moving to late-night at 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., weeknights replacing The Goldbergs and a second Two And A Half Men run, respectively. Goldbergs shift to 1 a.m. replacing Mom, whose off-network syndication run is coming to an end.

WCIU – whose branding reverted to The U on August 1, is constructing a temporary prime-time lineup for next week, consisting of Chicago P.D., iCRIME, Court Cam, and King of Queens. On September 9, the new game show The Flipside (7 p.m.) takes over, followed by new off-network sitcoms Bob Hearts Abishola (8 p.m.) and The Conners (9 p.m.), as the ABC sitcom already received exposure on WCIU thanks to its CW airings. Ironically, The CW’s last program on WCIU comes Friday with the season premiere of Inside The NFL– a show that will air on WGN the very next week.

[An earlier draft incorrectly stated how long WGN-TV was an independent.]

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