Report: ABC to move affiliation in St. Louis
Shifts affiliation to a KMOV subchannel; future of current affiliate KDNL unknown
Just hours after Nexstar announced it was dropping CBS from six of its stations comes word that ABC is looking to make an affiliation change in St. Louis as the network reportedly agreed to take over the 4.2 channel of CBS affiliate KMOV starting Sept. 1, taking over from current ABC affiliate KDNL.
KMOV would have access to ABC’s most prolific programming, including The Grammys, next year’s Oscars, and sporting events such as Monday Night Football, Super Bowl XLI, the NBA Finals, and the 2028 Stanley Cup Final.
The news was first reported on Thursday by Deadline.
So far, there has been no comment from KMOV owner Gray Media, KDNL owner Sinclair, or ABC. In fact, a distribution executive for Gray told The Desk his company was not aware of any deal and hasn’t contacted any cable or satellite provider about any changes. It is unknown if KDNL would be an independent, or carry one of Sinclair’s digital networks (such as Charge, Roar, etc.) as a replacement.
The move could be a part of a bigger swap between Gray and Sinclair; one source suggested Gray swaps its two stations in Atlanta to Sinclair and may try to purchase top-rated WSB-TV from Cox. Gray is based in the nation’s seventh-largest market as is in a pivotal political swing state, which brings in a lot of revenue.
ABC’s move to a digital subchannel is becoming an increasing trend. On Thursday, CBS agreed to relocate to digital channels in deals with Hearst and Forum Communications after Nexstar declined to renew its affiliations in six markets. Last year, ABC moved to the dot-two channel of WSVN Miami after it wasn’t able to come to terms with longtime affiliate WPLG, and CBS moved its affiliation to its owned station in Atlanta after Gray’s WANF didn’t renew.
Located on Channel 30, KDNL had been with ABC since August 1995 when original affiliate KTVI shifted to Fox as part of the Fox-New World deal struck a year earlier. KDNL had been without a local news operation since 2001, a sore spot for ABC as KDNL is currently the only top-50 Big 3 network station without one. Low ratings had also been a problem as ABC historically underperformed in St. Louis, whether if its at KDNL or KTVI, which often battled the network over time-shifting programming such as Nightline, and once eliminated compensation to the station.
The affiliation shift marks the latest change in the St. Louis media landscape. Last month, Audacy announced it was selling its St. Louis radio cluster to Winnetka-based The Hoffmann Group, which also owns Lee Newspapers, publishers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Times of Northwest Indiana (nwi.com.) The sale includes heritage KMOX-AM, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. Until 1986, both KMOX-AM and KMOV (then known as KMOX-TV) were under CBS ownership when the latter was sold.
The sale of Tegna’s NBC affiliate KSDK to KTVI/KPLR owner Nexstar is on hold as the merger between the two companies is being held up by the courts.