The Nexstar Media Group, which owns Salt Lake City TV stations KTVX-Ch. 4 and KUCW-Ch. 30, is reportedly on the verge of buying The CW network.Two of Utah’s local TV stations may soon be owned by a company that owns a broadcast network, but neither station is being sold. It’s the network that’s for sale.
The Texas-based company has a reputation for being sort of a benevolent behemoth. Its local news operations don’t have a political bent, and its stations aren’t dictated to from company headquarters. That’s a decided contrast to the right-wing propaganda viewers of Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned or operated stations have come to expect.
The company has poured a lot of money into its NewsNation cable channel. It acquired the cable channel, then known as WGN America, when it purchased Tribune Broadcasting in 2019, and has converted it into a cable news channel. If, as expected, Nexstar buys The CW, local viewers won’t see any changes on Ch. 4. They won’t see any changes to the non-network part of Ch. 30′s schedule. They will, like viewers everywhere else, see changes to The CW’s schedule. Keep in mind Nexstar’s reputation for being tight with a dollar.