All eight CW affiliates that are owned by CBS transition to independent stations starting Friday, September 1. KBCW San Francisco will change its call letters to KPYX and be branded as KPIX Plus, and WPCW Pittsburgh will change its call letters to WPKD and be branded as KDKA Plus. The stations’ new brands align with the call letters for their CBS sister stations, KPIX and KDKA.
The other six stations will keep their current call letters and will be branded with the city where they are based and channel number (e.g. KSTW, Seattle11).
WPSG Philadelphia, WUPA Atlanta, KPIX Plus and KMAX Sacramento start 8 p.m. news September 1, and KDKA Plus premieres it in November. KPIX Plus will also have 9 p.m. news, and is airing The Morning Edition from CBS News Bay Area from 7 to 9 a.m. weekdays.
Seven of the new independents will air 48 Hours in primetime beginning September 11, with KPIX Plus the exception thanks to its two hours of local news in prime.
“We are excited to be in this unique position that allows us to reimagine our local brands and programming lineups at these eight stations,” Tom Canedo, president of CBS Stations, said. “We are beginning by opportunistically establishing local news beachheads in primetime in several markets. And the timing couldn’t be better for us as we look forward to the upcoming launch of 48 Hours in weekday syndication. These are the first brush strokes on a fresh canvas. We will continue to seek out opportunities to add even more local programming, including live sports and shows from across the Paramount Global brands in the months ahead.”
KDKA Plus began airing the Steel City High School Football Showcase last week, a 10-week series of games on Fridays starting at 7 p.m. The station also has college football on Saturdays featuring the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, which is comprised of nine area colleges.
Nexstar stations in the Bay Area, Philadelphia and Tampa become CW affiliates September 1.
