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Fox Hardest Hit by CW

Between now and September, when the new network CW fills out its affiliations beyond the 16 WB stations owned by Tribune and the 12 UPN stations owned by CBS, television stations in nearly every market will be left in the cold, without a network affiliation and with a huge programming void to fill, Mediaweek writes. Even Tribune and CBS themselves each wound up with three independent stations each in top markets.

 

But Fox will be hardest hit. CW displaced five of the network’s 10 UPN affiliates in the top three markets; four of the network’s UPN affiliates are in top 25 markets where CW has yet to sign affiliation deals, but Fox is unlikely to sign up, as the Fox-owned stations erased the UPN identity from their on-air promotions last week, according to the article.

Fox’s programming options include using its own programming from Twentieth Television, FX, Fox News Channel, and Fox Sports, or putting together a new network. But programming options for independents today are more difficult than in past years, thanks to cable. Chris Rohrs, president of the Television Bureau of Advertising, said that broadcasters will “have to find a new path.”