The TV show Smallville, well known to readers because of the starring roles of Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk, was broadcast on the CW network from 2006-2011. The series averaged about 4.34 million viewers per episode.
CBS (Paramount) and Warner Brothers co-owned CW Network and will retain 12.5 percent interest each.
Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group, top network affiliates, and 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets, reaching 212 million people. Nexstar already owned 37 CW and CW Plus affiliates.
Some might characterize the purchase of the teen-oriented CW network as a fire sale.
Nexstar obtains 75 percent interest in The CW network in return for writing off debt that CW, Paramount, and Warner Brothers owe Nexstar.
Nexstar intends to transition from teen are like Smallville to more adult-oriented programming.
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.
Perry Sook, Nexstar’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented,
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. We plan to apply the same strict financial standards to operating The CW as we apply to our other businesses.
George Cheeks, President & Chief Executive Officer of CBS.
The CW has delivered signature programming to its broadcast and digital audiences for 16 years,” said, “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 redeploying capital to other content platforms at Paramount.
Channing Dungey, Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group, commented:
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. 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.
Conference Call, Webcast, Investor Presentation
Nexstar hosted a conference call on August 15, to review the transaction. A webcast replay is available until September 15 of the live event at www.nexstar.tv.
Those interested can invest in the company by buying its stock.
Forward-Looking Statements
Nexstar has made forward-looking statements. These include the words “guidance,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” or “could.”
Readers of Frank Report may, if they wish, invest in Nexstar.
All the words mean Nexstar wants you to understand that “forward-looking statements” about future financial performance, including net revenue, cash flow and operating expenses, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on national and regional economies, the ability to service and refinance outstanding debt, successful integration of acquired television stations and digital businesses, price fluctuations in advertising, future regulatory actions, conditions in the television stations’ operating areas, competition from other networks, volatility in programming costs, governmental regulation of broadcasting, industry consolidation, technological developments and world news events.
You have to feel confident that these will not adversely impact the investment.
In other words, the forward-looking events of success and profits to investors might not occur.
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar (NASDAQ: NXST), has done well. Five years ago, stock was selling for less than $60 per share. Now it is almost $200.
Nexstar’s television assets include NewsNation, a national news and entertainment cable network, reaching 70 million television homes, popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network.
The Company’s portfolio of digital assets, including The Hill and BestReviews, are collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property.
You might want to advertise on Nexstar, which can provide you with multi-platform advertising opportunities.
For more information, visit www.nexstar.tv
Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Loeb & Loeb LLP served as legal advisors to Nexstar. Guggenheim Securities acted as financial advisor, and Paul Hastings LLP served as legal advisor to Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and The CW.
While in preschool, I began working full-time at the CW. Mostly getting people coffee for the next ten years.
After that I joined the Peace Corp.
These two random parts of my life make me uniquely qualified to judge the parenting fitness of women I have never met.
Sometimes, I obsessively defend disgraced doctors I do not know.
Please follow me on twitter!
Frank
Republicans aren’t stupid and they don’t stink – WTF ? YOU better wake up pal. YOU better watch what is coming. Cashless stores, NOT being allowed to own your own car, taking guns from homes without cause, etc, YOU better watch what is coming next.
Frank
The CW21 is NOT connected to your story AT all. Why did YOU cover a story without knowing all of the facts ? CW is ALL over the globe. Go read what Kim sent you and let us know why you went after the CW –
CW was sold. That does not mean it is going off the air.
Frank
Proving YOU did NOT do YOUR home work on this- proving your comment back to me.
How silly can’t be too light bright. It takes a good journalist to do good truthful work.
CW is in the Carolina’s – hmmmmmm
It sounds like you are thinking something, but I can’t figure out what that is.
Is something nefarious going on with the CW? Did someone send the president powdered vitamins?
Kim- You’re addicted to Frank 🙂
The last couple of shows I tried watching on the CW, they were pushing an ideology. I just want to be entertained.
Frank
CW 21 – is in our area of the woods- South Carolina. Did you check this thoroughly ? We will have to find out about this- we watch the news here-
Will contact you back –
Yes, let me know more about this.
Shadow doesn’t want anyone to know about the secret GOP pedophile sex ring.
Inquiring minds read on!
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna44576
The Pervy conservative cat is out of the bag. does shadow really think it’s a coincidence that Ted Bundy was a proud republican??? Republicans are a secret cabal of sadistic serial killers throughout the world who also take an interest in manipulating random small-town divorce cases just for shits and giggles.
Yeah, and they smell bad, and are ugly.
“Nexstar is acquiring 75% of the CW Network”
Does Nexstar also get that same piece of CW’s star, Kristin Kook? Poor Kook has to “audition her talents” to yet another network’s executives.
This person is the stalker who followed Kreuk on the bus when she took it to work in the early days of Smallville.
You should never expose a stalker or he could expose himself.
CW is toast. Its about two years from being an WGN or whatever your local re-run station is.
The CEO has stated he considers the average age of their audience to be 58. If your thinking “that makes no sense” you would be correct if you are considering its 2022 and not 1999. He is looking at 1999 metrics which means he is only looking at people that watch TV live, commercials and all. He doesn’t care about stream watching, he doesn’t care about recording and watching later, he doesn’t care about buying it later, none of that.
As a result he has made it clear his focus is on cheap programming that will appear to those that watch TV live. That isn’t the coveted 18-34 and the 34-55 demographics. So this season will be the last of all CW programming except maybe for Walker. They likely will try paying for new reality TV and BBC/Canada programming for a while. They when will conclude that is also costing to much and switch to re-runs (my guess is NCIS, CSI, type stuff) and news.
It is disappointing but not suprising Frank has teamed up with his apparent soulmate shadowstate in this post. The extreme rightwing character on the FR. Annoying me (if not most of us) with his off topic political rants about Biden, his son, his son’s laptop.. you get the picture…that miraculously don’t get censored by Frank.
Don’t be disappointed, Steven. The current story is not right-wing at all.
Shadow has been with FR for years. He has provided many valuable stories. Nine times out of 10, I do not post his anti-Biden comments. Sometimes I do because I find them interesting.
As for me, I am now politically neutral. I used to lean heavily right. Now I see a lot of value on the left.
But I am not a leftist.
I see values I can support on both sides of the political spectrum.
It is an issue-by-issue matter for me.
But most importantly, I have decided not to make the FR political as far as possible.
As for me personally, I have not mentioned the name of a certain former president in private conversation. I know people who oppose and support him.
By declining to discuss him, I have gained untold hours of freedom to enjoy my friends without the political divisiveness that comes from invoking that individual’s name.
I am neutral towards him and Biden. As far as Biden is now president of the USA, I wish him well and hope his efforts are fruitful.
Good man Frank.
It is possible to be politically engaged and NOT sectarian. Our processes in the UK and the US are what really matter, its a good thing to embrace change that leads to improvements in our system – and a bad thing, in general, to promote any Sect, as if your life depended on it, if you think that – then youve been suckered by a cult.
We all need to keep our powers of discernment sharp and independent in these times imo.
“ As for me, I am now politically neutral.”
What was the driver behind this migration? Also, thanks for no longer welcoming featured guest posts by extreme right wing conspiracy theorists.
Since you asked —-
I think two things changed my position. One is selfish. Whenever you take a right or left position, you lose about half of your audience.
I am not a political commenter. This website is not a political website. And there is probably nothing I can say that isn’t being said by 1000 others.
The second came from my personal observations. I have plenty of friends on both sides of the political spectrum. When I started listening to my friends on the left, without debating their position [which I used to do], I found two things.
First: I found they were sincere. They do not believe in bad faith. They are not stupid. They did not form their opinions without thinking.
Second: They pointed out flaws in the opposite political views. And positives in their view. It struck me that both the right and the left are sincere [for the most part] and both views, in my opinion, are valid in some things and less than ideal in others.
If I ruled the world, I would take what I believe is the best from each. I found both the right and the left have ideas that will increase the happiness of humanity. But if one side prevailed totally, to the extinction of the other, I suspect it would decrease human happiness.
So I am glad for the contrasting sides, and if I had a wish, it would be that people can disagree with patience and civility.
“ I found both the right and the left have ideas that will increase the happiness of humanity.”
I agree but stil had a laugh about it: Frank talking about increasing happinesses (joy) and humanity. Keith couldn’t have said it better!
Yeah Keith, he was a good talker.
Yes, the story had no politics in it so my reply was unfortunate. I’m afraid I had a bit too much of the anti-coronovirus whiskey. I do agree shadow sometimes has interesting info to share, but when he starts about politics, buckle up.
Good to hear you filter most of his anti-Biden- rants! I do enjoy the FR more without them..
Shadow is the dean of commenters here. But I too enjoy the Frank Report more without politics.
“The extreme rightwing character on the FR. Annoying me” StevenJ
I am a believer in free speech.
So much so that when people wanted to ban “Pea Onyu”, aka Nicki Clyne, for her unconventional beliefs I came to her defense.
Last year I was on a major college campus where I ran across an evangelist I knew many years ago preaching to the students.
Some students, particularly the female ones, enjoyed her rants and being called “sluts.”
Those students were the mature ones.
But one young “man” screamed at her, “You are beginning to annoy me and you must leave.”
Then this supposedly grown up “man” yelled at two nearby police officers, “She must go. Escort her off campus.”
The two police officers, both female, continued talking to each other and ignored his silly complaint.
That is what free speech is all about.
People who do not like free speech should consider moving to a more “congenial” country like North Korea, China or Iran.
“rants about Biden, his son, his son’s laptop.. you get the picture…that miraculously don’t get censored by Frank.”StevenJ
Speaking of which today’s news features FBI Whistleblowers.
Senator Grassley of Iowa is talking to around fourteen FBI whistleblowers.
These FBI agents claim that they were ordered by the FBI’s top brass not to investigate Hunter Biden and his laptop.
Apparently Joe Biden’s America has two different legal systems.
One system for the political elite and another for the rest of us.
FBI Told Not To Investigate Hunter Biden According To Whistleblowers
I agree Stephen shadow is annoying as hell. I get the impression they think they’re providing some kind of public service when really it’s just annoying off-topic SPAM.