UTICA -- Mohawk Valley viewers of shows like "Sullivan's Crossing" and "Police 24/7" will be tuning to a different channel, after the Utica market's CW network affiliation moved up the dial last week. It's all due to recent ownership changes at the network level.
As of September 1, The CW has moved from NBC affiliate WKTV's digital subchannel 2.3, up the dial (and literally across the street) to Fox affiliate WFXV's digital subchannel 33.2.
The channel previously branded by WKTV as "The CW 11" (due to its cable channel number) traces its roots back to 1998, when it was launched as cable-only "WBU," carrying WB Network programming and replacing New York City's WPIX-11 on the local cable lineup.
When WB Network and UPN merged into "The CW" in 2006, the local channel was rebranded as "CW 11." Thanks to the advent of digital television, WKTV started offering it over-the-air as digital subchannel 2.2. When WKTV added a CBS affilation in 2015, The CW was moved to 2.3.
So why did WKTV give-up this service after more than 25 years? Connect the corporate dots: WFXV is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which acquired a 75% share of The CW Network in 2022. (The remaining 25% is still equally split between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery).
In some markets where Nexstar operates TV stations, but not the local CW affiliate, it has been slowly moving to take over the affiliations as existing contracts expire. Aside from Utica, NextTV reports Nexstar took over (or will soon be taking over, by the end of October) the CW affiliations in four other markets, all located outside of New York State.
WKTV has repurposed its 2.3 subchannel as "WKTV Plus." The station says, "To start out, the channel will have encore presentations of the most recent NewsChannel 2 newscasts, special weather presentations including current conditions, and other local programming."
WKTV Plus will continue to feature "NewsChannel 2 at 10pm" live every weeknight and the station says "more exciting annoumcements regarding WKTV Plus" will be coming soon.
Nothing changes with WFXV's main 33.1 channel, which continues to air Fox as it has since the network launched in the late 1980s. To make room for The CW on 33.2, the "Ion Mystery" channel moves to 33.3 and the "Laff" channel moves to what appears to be a newly-created 33.4 subchannel.
Surprisingly, there's no announcement about the change on CNYHomepage.com, the official website shared by WFXV, sister station WPNY-LP 11 (MyNetwork) and co-operated (Mission Broadcasting) ABC affiliate WUTR 20.
As of Tuesday, the site's TV schedule page seems to correctly show "The CW" schedule under the listings for channel 33.2, but the page still shows the "Ion Mystery" logo there, followed by the "Laff" logo for both channels 33.3 and 33.4, although the titles of the programs on 33.3 seem to match what one would expect to see on "Ion Mystery" and the 33.4 schedule appears to be the correct "Laff" lineup.
In Syracuse, the CW airs on WSTM digital subchannel 3.2, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station, branded as CW6 (the "6" refers to its cable lineup assignment) is included under the "CNY Central" banner that includes NBC3 (WSTM 3.1) and CBS5 (WTVH 5.1).
Across town, Nexstar owns ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV). Right now, WSYR is using its digital subchannels to air Antenna TV (9.2, owned by Nexstar), along with Bounce TV (9.3) and Laff (9.4), both owned by E.W. Scripps Company.
It's not publicly known when the CW affiliation agreement for WSTM 3.2 is set to expire or whether Nexstar plans to offer Sinclair an opportunity to renew, or if it plans to move the brand over to one of WSYR-TV's subchannels.