Nexstar Media Group to Acquire The CW Network

Nexstar Media Group has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 75% ownership interest in The CW Network. Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, current co-owners of The CW, will each retain a 12.5% ownership interest in The CW and will continue to produce original, scripted content for the network. 

Nexstar, together with its partner stations, is the nation’s largest local television broadcasting company and the largest CW affiliate group with 37 CW and CW Plus affiliates, including affiliates in five of the top ten DMAs, accounting for 32% of the Network’s national reach.  

Mark Pedowitz will continue to serve as The CW’s chairman and chief executive officer, with responsibility for day-to-day operations. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. 

“Our acquisition of The CW is strategically and operationally compelling, as it will enable us to leverage our operational experience to improve the network’s performance through our management of this powerful national platform,” says Perry Sook, chairman and chief executive officer, Nexstar. “We plan to apply the same strict financial standards to operating The CW as we apply to our other businesses.” 

“The CW has delivered signature programming to its broadcast and digital audiences for 16 years,” says George Cheeks, president and chief executive officer, CBS. “Together, with our partners at Warner Bros. and The CW, we have created a welcome home for content that has resonated with viewers on the network and on platforms around the world. This new ownership structure enables us to partner with Nexstar and Warner Bros. Discovery on the next chapter of The CW while re-deploying capital to other content platforms at Paramount.” 

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“For 16 seasons, The CW has been home to some of the most groundbreaking and generation-defining programming in television, from the iconic DC Super Heroes of Greg Berlanti’s Arrowverse series to ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and everything in between, including the All American franchise, the original ‘Gossip Girl,’ ‘Kung Fu,’ ‘Nikita,’ ‘Riverdale,’ ‘Smallville’ and many many more,” says Channing Dungey, chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group. “The network was also the home of ‘Supernatural,’ the longest-running live-action fantasy series in U.S. TV history, for 14 of its 15 seasons. We’re excited that the ‘Supernatural’ story will continue with ‘The Winchesters,’ premiering this fall. We look forward to continuing to collaborate on our shared series and future projects to come under Nexstar’s leadership. We are forever grateful to our partners at The CW, especially Mark Pedowitz, who has been a great friend to the studio for so many years, and to me personally. We know that the network will continue to thrive under his leadership.” 

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