Nexstar Acquires A Majority Stake Of The CW Network Leaving Warner Bros. And Paramount With Minority Stakes
Earlier this week, Nexstar Media Group announced that the company will acquire a 75% stake in The CW Network. This will make Nexstar, which owns around 200 broadcast stations own the majority of the CW. Previously co-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount, each company will retain a 12.5% in the CW. Each of those companies underwent significant changes recently, with Warner Bros. Discovery being the result of the recent merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery meanwhile Paramount was rebranded from ViacomCBS earlier in the year.
While the financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed, sources have spoken to Variety and have said that Nexstar would assume a large part of the CW's current losses, which is over $100 million and won't pay cash.
This has been the culmination of at least six months of negotiating with news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal reporting of negotiations in early January. Nexstar is already the largest owner of CW affiliates and a majority stake would be a logical step for it to take. The CW is best known for its teen-focused shows such as Riverdale and DC Comics superhero series like The Flash. How Nextstar's majority stake in the CW will affect its programming is too early to tell at this stage.
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Sources: Variety, Reuters, Wall Street Journal