MyNetworkTV Signs 17 Sinclair Stations

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MyNetworkTV Signs 17 Sinclair Stations

By Michele Greppi - Television Week

The new-network affiliate wars heated up with the announcement Thursday that Fox's MyNetworkTV has signed as affiliates 17 of the 24 Sinclair Broadcast Group owned-or-operated stations that have been affiliated with The WB or UPN, which is merging into The CW.

The announcement was made jointly by Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy and Sinclair President and CEO David Smith.

The 17 stations cover 11.9 percent of the U.S. TV universe.

The WB-affiliated Sinclair stations signed in the deal include WTTA-TV in Tampa, Fla., (the 12th-largest market in the country), WCWB-TV in Pittsburgh (market No. 22), KVWB-TV in Las Vegas (48), WSTR-TV in Cincinnati (34), WBSC-TV in Greenville, S.C. (35), KRRT-TV in San Antonio, (37), WTVZ-TV Norfolk, Va. (42), WNYO-TV Buffalo, N.Y. (49), WNYS-TV Syracuse, N.Y. (76), and WDKA-TV in Paducah, Ky. (80).

The UPN-affiliated stations affiliating with MyNetworkTV include WRDC-TV in Raleigh, N.C. (market 29), WUXP-TV Nashville, Tenn. (30), WCGV-TV in Milwaukee (33), WABM-TV in Birmingham, Ala. (40), WUPN-TV Greensboro, N.C. (47), WMMP-TV Charleston, S.C. (64).

Also part of the deal is Sinclair's independent station WFGX-TV in Mobile, Ala. (market 62).

In a handful of markets where Sinclair has UPN-WB duopolies, it retains stations that presumably face the choice of going independent or competing for affiliation with The CW.