More Storm Clouds Developing For CBS Network

Nexstar Media Group’s CBS affiliates will drop out of the CBS Newspath service, according to sources. The move follows Nexstar’s decision about a month ago to pull its NBC stations from NBC NewsChannel. 

The company will instead rely on its NewsNation network to supply the national and international video, packages, live hits and other content that the network affiliate services previously provided. Nexstar will also stop feeding content from its local newsrooms back into CBS Newspath and NBC NewsChannel, a shift that could create coverage gaps in some regions because of the large number of stations the group owns.

CBS Newspath, like ABC NewsOne and NBC NewsChannel, was created to help local stations fill airtime as they expanded their own news output in the 1990s. Affiliates typically pay for such services as part of their broader network agreements, but Nexstar appears to have negotiated arrangements that exclude them. It remains unclear how much the company will save or what financial impact the networks may face.

Plus, Nexstar Media Group will drop CBS programming from four of its stations, with the affiliations shifting to Hearst Television-owned channels, according to multiple sources.

The change affects viewers in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jackson, Mississippi; Bismarck, North Dakota; and Rapid City, South Dakota. Nexstar will replace CBS content with programming from another network in each market.

In Albuquerque, KRQE (Channel 13) will switch from a CBS affiliate to a full-time Fox affiliate, a Nexstar spokesperson confirmed by email. In the other three markets, the CBS affiliates will become CW Network stations.  All affected stations plan to expand local news and community-oriented programming. These shows are expected to fill daytime and evening time slots previously occupied by CBS game shows, talk shows and late-night comedy, according to two sources.