NFL fans in several U.S. television markets will have to turn to a different channel to watch their games, as CBS and Nexstar announced major changes to the network affiliations of several local stations.
The changes will affect fans in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jackson, Mississippi; Bismarck, North Dakota; Birmingham, Alabama; Greenville, South Carolina; and Rapid City, South Dakota.
On Aug. 1, stations in all these markets will lose their CBS affiliations. In each market, CBS will move from a primary station to a digital subchannel.
For NFL fans, these moves may make it harder to watch local teams. Subchannels often have lower picture quality than primary channels and can be harder to find, especially on cable systems.
In this case, these subchannels will be in HD and will be carried on cable systems. The newscasts and websites of Hearst’s primarily stations in these markets will also have guides on where exactly to watch games.
Of course, these changes will not only affect the NFL. All CBS Sports programming in these markets will be affected.
According to The Desk, KRQE (Channel 13) in Albuquerque will convert to a Fox affiliate, while WJTV (Channel 12, Jackson), KXMB (Channel 12, Bismarck), WIAT (Channel 42, Birmingham), WSPA (Channel 7, Greenville), KXMC (Channel 13, Minot) and KCLO (Channel 15, Rapid City) will become CW affiliates.
CBS will move to digital subchannels on KOAT (Channel 7) in Albuquerque, KBMY (Channel 17) in Bismarck, WAPT (Channel 16) in Jackson, WVTM (Channel 13) in Birmingham, WYFF (Channel 4) in Greenville, KMCY (Channel 14) in Minot and KNBN (Channel 21) in Rapid City.
“We are pleased to have entered into several new CBS Television Network affiliation agreements, including extending our long-standing partnership with Nexstar, expanding our relationship with Hearst Television and welcoming Forum Communications Company into the CBS family,” a Paramount spokesperson told The Desk. “CBS has an unwavering commitment to our audience, and we are excited to continue to deliver our leading sports, news and entertainment programming to viewers across the country.”
These markets are not the only ones where Big Four networks are moving to subchannels. Last year, WPLG in Miami dropped its ABC affiliation, forcing the network onto a subchannel of WSVN. Deadline Hollywood reported that a similar change will occur at the end of August in St. Louis. Sinclair-owned KDNL is dropping ABC programming, which will move to a subchannel of KMOV.
While it’s not immediately clear why these more recent changes are being made, they continue a trend that could make sports on CBS and ABC increasingly harder for viewers to find.
About Manny Soloway
Manny Soloway is a Iowa based writer focusing on TV ratings. He is also the founder of the TV Media Blog substack.