[Medianext.MX]

I have analyzed the US TV markets of the 9 CBS owned CW affiliates that are going independent this September and I noticed something quite cunning. In Atlanta (WUPA), Tampa (WTOG) and Tacoma-Seattle (KSTW), CBS News and Stations are the owners of the soon to be independent CW affiliates, but they do not own the local CBS affiliate for the respective markets. This makes me wonder.......do you think that it's a concrete possibility that once the CBS affiliation agreements with WANF, WTSP and KIRO-TV are going to expire, instead of renewing them, CBS will instead transfer the affiliation to their (soon to be) independent stations WUPA, WTOG and KSTW respectively? Just an intriguing thought that I had

Don't think so. WUPA, WTOG and KSTW are still strong CW affiliates, and their status quo won't change when they go indie. And the CBS stations you mentioned are a mixed bag in the ratings. WANF has started to improve under Gray and is now beating WXIA at some time slots; but, honestly, none of them can beat WSB or WAGA. WTSP, even with the too naughty "social news" format, is still somehow competitive with WFLA, WTVT, WFTS and Spectrum Bay News 13, and it is stronger in the demo. And KIRO is first or second in many news time slots, but Seattle is a very competitive market where the stations have "musical chairs" and often #1 status changes from time to time.