CBS News and Stations
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | July 1, 1941 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Television stations |
| Parent | CBS Entertainment Group (Paramount Skydance Corporation) |
CBS News and Stations operates as a segment within the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Skydance Corporation, managing a portfolio of American television outlets in conjunction with CBS News. As of , the division's holdings included 28 stations: 15 principal CBS network affiliates located in major urban centers such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Beyond these, it operated two The CW affiliates, ten independent stations, and one primary-channel affiliate of the digital subchannel network Start TV based in Indianapolis. As of , CBS maintained a 50% ownership stake in Start TV, co-partnered with Weigel Broadcasting.
CBS initiated its television endeavors on July 1, 1941, with the launch of its first owned-and-operated station, WCBS-TV (initially WCBW) in New York City. The expansion of its station portfolio thereafter largely occurred through acquisitions and equity investments rather than constructing new facilities. The 1995 merger where Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired CBS resulted in the consolidation of CBS’s stations with those under Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W). Following the 2000 merger with Viacom, CBS’s stations were merged with Viacom’s Paramount Stations Group to create the Viacom Television Stations Group. This entity was renamed CBS Television Stations in 2006 and later rebranded as CBS News and Stations in 2021.
Initial Operations and Market Growth (1941–1994)
The origins of CBS’s television operations trace back to experimental station W2XAB in New York City, established in 1931. On June 24, 1941, it received its commercial license as WCBW (now known as WCBS-TV), marking CBS’s sole station originally built and launched by the company as of 2020. Other stations were incorporated into the network primarily through acquisitions or purchasing stakes.
By the early 1950s, with NBC dominating and black-and-white television widespread, CBS began expanding beyond New York by acquiring or building stations in key markets such as Los Angeles and Chicago. To secure programming clearance in Los Angeles, CBS initially held a 50% interest in KTTV but later divested this stake to acquire KTSL outright, which was renamed KNXT and subsequently became KCBS-TV. In Chicago, CBS purchased WBKB from Paramount Pictures in 1953, rebranding it as WBBM-TV and switching its affiliation from WGN-TV.
In Washington, D.C., CBS partnered with The Washington Post to acquire WOIC (currently WUSA) in 1950 but divested its share by 1954 due to Federal Communications Commission regulations. CBS also briefly owned UHF stations WXIX Milwaukee (now CW affiliate WVTV) and WHCT Hartford (currently Univision affiliate WUVN) but sold these assets owing to UHF's limited penetration at the time. Instead, it affiliated with VHF stations such as WITI and WTIC-TV (WFSB). The company acquired Philadelphia's WCAU (now under NBC ownership) and St. Louis’s KMOX-TV (now KMOV), though these properties were later sold; prior to obtaining KMOX-TV, CBS sought to acquire channel 11’s license in St. Louis (currently held by KPLR-TV).
In Pittsburgh—a strategically important market with restricted VHF availability—CBS sought expansion but was denied permission to relocate a nearby license. Consequently, Westinghouse Electric acquired the struggling DuMont-owned WDTV and affiliated its renamed station KDKA-TV with CBS rather than NBC. This move enhanced the partnership between Westinghouse and CBS following a complicated station exchange that regulators eventually reversed.
During affiliation realignments in Miami throughout the 1980s, CBS endeavored to purchase WCIX after an unsuccessful attempt to acquire longtime affiliate WTVJ from Lorimar-Telepictures. Although WTVJ was sold to NBC, it contractually remained a CBS affiliate until 1989. After failing to affiliate with outgoing NBC station WSVN, CBS acquired WCIX amid a significant multi-station affiliation shuffle. However, WCIX suffered from signal limitations that resulted in poor ratings; by 1989, station group president Howard Stringer described ownership as "a disaster."
In 1992, CBS expanded further by acquiring Midwest Communications, thereby gaining control over Minneapolis’s WCCO-TV and Green Bay’s WFRV-TV.
Relocation of O&Os and Westinghouse Merger (1994–2000)
In 1994, the Fox Broadcasting Company secured a long-term affiliation agreement with New World Communications, resulting in the majority of New World's stations transitioning to Fox. This move sparked a nationwide reshuffling of network affiliations and numerous related deals. CBS, facing challenges in replacing New World's outlets WJBK-TV in Detroit and WAGA in Atlanta, acquired UHF stations WGPR (currently WWJ-TV) and WVEU (now WUPA), although WVEU suffered from low viewership and a weak broadcast signal. Subsequently, WGNX (today’s WANF) entered into an affiliation agreement with CBS, prompting CBS to sell WVEU to Viacom in 1995.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, through its broadcasting division Group W, arranged an affiliation pact that aligned its entire television portfolio with CBS. Stations such as KPIX in San Francisco and KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh were already affiliated with CBS, while WJZ-TV in Baltimore and WBZ-TV in Boston switched from ABC and NBC respectively. This realignment displaced CBS-owned WCAU-TV, which NBC acquired after a competitive bidding process. NBC then divested several stations including KCNC-TV (Denver) and KUTV (Salt Lake City) to the CBS–Group W partnership. CBS transferred the licenses for WCAU-TV and WCIX to NBC but maintained ownership of WCIX’s intellectual assets; following asset exchanges in 1995, WCIX was rebranded as WFOR-TV, operating under the former license of WTVJ.
Towards the end of 1995, Westinghouse fully acquired CBS. Before finalizing the merger, CBS purchased WPRI-TV in Providence but later sold it due to Federal Communications Commission ownership regulations favoring Westinghouse’s WBZ station. Post-merger, Westinghouse Broadcasting adopted the CBS brand identity, although Group W continued as a holding company until the late 1990s. In 1997, Westinghouse rebranded itself as CBS Corporation.
Throughout the late 1990s, CBS/Westinghouse broadened its reach by acquiring broadcast properties from Gaylord Entertainment, including Dallas-based KTVT.
Viacom Merger, Separation, and Reunification with CBS (2000–Present)
On May 24, 2000, the union of Viacom and CBS Corporation merged Viacom's Paramount Stations Group with CBS’s owned-and-operated stations to establish the Viacom Television Stations Group. Viacom owned the UPN network while Paramount Stations managed UPN’s owned-and-operated outlets. This consolidation resulted in duopolies across markets such as Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Dallas–Fort Worth, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.
In March 2000, Viacom activated a contractual provision compelling Chris-Craft Industries to divest its 50% interest in UPN to Viacom, granting Viacom full control over the network. Nevertheless, on August 12 that year, Fox outbid Viacom for Chris-Craft's UPN stations. By 2001, Viacom assumed full ownership of UPN affiliates WTVX (Florida) and WLWC (Massachusetts) after previously operating them under local marketing agreements.
In 2002, Viacom traded UPN stations KTXH (Houston) and WDCA (Washington, D.C.) to Fox in exchange for KBHK-TV (now KPYX) in San Francisco—creating a duopoly alongside CBS-owned KPIX. Additionally, Viacom acquired independent Los Angeles station KCAL-TV, forming a duopoly with CBS-owned KCBS and strategically positioning itself against Fox’s UPN affiliate KCOP-TV.
The year 2005 saw Viacom purchase Sacramento’s CBS affiliate KOVR, establishing a duopoly with UPN-owned-and-operated station KMAX-TV. That same year included acquisitions of low-power stations WTCN-CA and WWHB-CA, which were integrated with WTVX.
To facilitate duopolies for incoming owners, Viacom divested certain stations: UPN-owned WUPL was sold to Belo Corporation; on February 10, 2005, UPN-owned outlets WNDY-TV (Indianapolis) and WWHO (Columbus) transferred to LIN TV Corporation; later that year The New York Times Company acquired UPN-owned KAUT-TV, creating a duopoly with NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.
Following Viacom’s split into two entities—CBS Corporation and a separate Viacom—both controlled by National Amusements—the Viacom Television Stations Group was renamed CBS Television Stations on January 3, 2006.
On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and WarnerMedia announced plans to discontinue both UPN and The WB networks to launch a new venture: The CW. This decision triggered significant realignment among broadcasters. Tribune Broadcasting committed sixteen stations as affiliates alongside eleven from CBS Television Stations. Tribune divested its stake in The WB without acquiring ownership interest in The CW.
In 2007, CBS divested Green Bay’s WFRV-TV along with its satellite station WJMN-TV to Liberty Media. Cerberus Capital Management created Four Points Media Group to acquire seven smaller-market stations from CBS—including CBS-owned outlets like KUTV (Salt Lake City) and KEYE-TV (Austin), as well as CW affiliates such as WTVX and WLWC. This transaction concluded on January 10, 2008.
Between 2009 and 2010, three executives from WCBS-TV advanced within the leadership ranks of CBS Television Stations: Peter Dunn became president in November 2009; Bruce Erik Brauer was promoted to senior vice president of creative services in June 2010; David Friend assumed senior vice president of news responsibilities in August 2010.
Local TV LLC acquired The CW affiliate WGNT from CBS Television Stations on June 14, 2010, establishing a duopoly with CBS affiliate WTKR in Hampton Roads.
In December 2011, CBS declared its plan to acquire Riverhead-licensed station WLNY-TV for $55 million—forming a duopoly with WCBS-TV. The Federal Communications Commission approved this acquisition on January 31, 2012; control formally transferred on March 30. By July that year, WLNY discontinued independent news programming and began broadcasting newscasts produced by WCBS.
On October 21, 2014, CBS collaborated with Weigel Broadcasting to launch the digital subchannel service called Decades, which debuted across all CBS owned stations in May 2015. Decades showcases programming drawn from the extensive archives of CBS Television Distribution. In July 2018, this service was replaced by another subchannel offering named Start TV. Later on September 2019, an additional subchannel service called Dabl, managed by CBS Television Distribution, was introduced.
During late 2014 and November 2015 respectively, CBS Television Stations broadened content distribution through partnerships with Curb’s Taxi TV and Health Media Network to deliver local news broadcasts within medical office settings.
Adam Wiener was appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Local Digital Media in May 2016 to lead digital initiatives along with streaming platform development.
On August 1, 2018, CBS Television Stations teamed up with CBS Interactive to announce the launch of CBSN Local, a collection of local streaming news channels integrated into the national platform of CBSN. The inaugural channel launched December 13, 2018 in New York City; Los Angeles followed in June 2019; eleven additional markets were added through January 2022.
The second merger between CBS and Viacom occurred on December 4, 2019 creating ViacomCBS (currently known as Paramount Skydance Corporation).
In January 2021, executives Peter Dunn and David Friend were placed on administrative leave amid allegations involving racist and sexist behavior.
On April 15, 2021, the operations of CBS Television Stations merged with those of CBS News under joint leadership by Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon; this integration was finalized by May 3.
Mid-2021 saw Adrienne Roark appointed president overseeing eastern United States stations; Jennifer Mitchell took leadership over western stations; Tom Canedo assumed management responsibilities for eight CW affiliates.
By autumn of 2022, both WSBK-TV and WBFS-TV ended their affiliations with MyNetworkTV to become independent stations—the only Paramount-owned outlets maintaining such affiliations at that time.
On May 5, 2023, CBS announced that its eight CW affiliates would terminate their network affiliations by September to expand local programming including live sports coverage and content sourced from Paramount properties. This decision followed Nexstar Media Group's October 2022 acquisition of majority ownership in The CW which granted CBS rights to end these agreements. However, WKBD-TV (Detroit) and WBFS-TV (Miami) are scheduled to rejoin The CW starting September 1, 2024 under newly negotiated contracts.
In May 2025, Wendy McMahon stepped down from her role as president of CBS News and Stations.
Stations
Stations are organized alphabetically according to state and city of license.
Current
| City of license / Market | Station | Acquisition year | Network affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA | KCBS-TV | 2 (31) | 1951 | CBS |
| KCAL-TV | 9 (9) | 2002 | Independent | |
| Sacramento–Stockton–Modesto, CA | KOVR | 13 (25) | 2005 | CBS |
| KMAX-TV | 31 (24) | 2000 | Independent | |
| San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose, CA | KPIX-TV | 5 (29) | 1995 | CBS |
| KPYX | 44 (28) | 2002 | Independent | |
| Denver, CO | KCNC-TV | 4 (35) | 1995 | CBS |
| Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL | WFOR-TV | 4 (22) | 1989 | CBS |
| WBFS-TV | 33 (32) | 2000 | The CW | |
| St. Petersburg–Tampa, FL | WTOG | 44 (19) | 2000 | Independent |
| Atlanta, GA | WUPA | 69 (36) | 2000 | CBS |
| Chicago, IL | WBBM-TV | 2 (12) | 1953 | CBS |
| Indianapolis, IN | WBXI-CD | 47 (36) | 2001 | Start TV |
| Baltimore, MD | WJZ-TV | 13 (11) | 1995 | CBS |
| Boston, MA | WBZ-TV | 4 (20) | 1995 | CBS |
| WSBK-TV | 38 (21) | 2000 | Independent | |
| Detroit, MI | WWJ-TV | 62 (21) | 1995 | CBS |
| WKBD-TV | 50 (34) | 2000 | The CW | |
| Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN | WCCO-TV | 4 (32) | 1992 | CBS |
| KCCW-TV | 12 (12) | 1992 | CBS | |
| New York, NY | WCBS-TV | 2 (36) | 1941 | CBS |
| WLNY-TV | 55 (29) | 2012 | Independent | |
| Philadelphia, PA | KYW-TV | 3 (30) | 1995 | CBS |
| WPSG | 57 (33) | 2000 | Independent | |
| Pittsburgh, PA | KDKA-TV | 2 (25) | 1995 | CBS |
| WPKD-TV | 19 (11) | 2000 | Independent | |
| Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | KTVT | 11 (19) | 1999 | CBS |
| KTXA | 21 (18) | 2000 | Independent | |
| Tacoma–(Seattle), WA | KSTW | "11 (11)" | 2000 | Independent |
Former
This compilation features stations that were under CBS ownership prior to the Viacom merger in 2000 and the establishment of the CBS Television Stations group.
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Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content Defunct since its closure in 2017.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel number | Ownership period | Present status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA | KTTV | 11 | 1949–1951Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
Owned-and-operated by Fox Broadcasting Company (O&O) |