CW6 to end news programming to become Spanish-language outlet

San Diego TV station CW6 will end its locally produced news programming on XETV on March 31, paving the way for it to become a Spanish-language outlet for a yet to be determined network — on May 31. On the same day, San Diego’s CW affiliation will move to KFMB-TV Channel 8, which plans to enhance and re-purpose its news programming.

The CW’s nationally broadcast shows — such as the popular series “Jane the Virgin,” “Supergirl” and “Arrow” — will continue to air on CW6 here until May 31, when they will begin airing on channel 8.3, a KFMB sub-channel.

“We are not purchasing or taking over the San Diego CW station, which is owned by (Mexico’s) XETV,” stressed Alberto Mier y Terán, the president and general manager of the KFMB Stations. “We are getting the CW affiliation — and we’re not losing our CBS affiliation. If I can re-purpose our newscast and create more local news content, it’s a win-win.”

XETV is owned by Bay City Television, which will cease to exist once CW6 becomes a KFMB affiliate at the end of May. KFMB is owned by Midwest Television, Inc., which last week announced KFMB would become the CW affiliate here on Sept. 1.

On Thursday, that switch-over date was bumped up to May 31, in part because of the CW Network’s wishes, said XETV Vice President and General Manager Chuck Dunning. He cited his station’s inability to agree on a new contract with the CW Network as the reason for CW6’s move to KFMB XETV.

“The contract we had with the CW was up for negotiation in September,” Dunning said Thursday night. “We went back and forth and really couldn’t come to terms. So they went into the marketplace and found that they could do business with KFMB.

“It’s not by choice that we are parting ways with the CW. It’s a very well-run organization, but the business terms just didn’t mesh. … We’ve done a lot of great things at CW6 — it’s just that the clock ran out. One door closes, another door opens. We have very talented people, particularly in our news department, who have been here for a good part of the 16 years we’ve been on air (as CW6). They can go on to great things.”

Dunning spoke proudly of CW6’s 43 hours of weekly, locally produced news programming. He estimated that CW6’s staff currently numbers around 150, including full-time and part-time employees and freelancers.

KFMB’s Mier y Terán believes that number may be high, but said he has already been in contact with some CW6 news team members about employment possibilities. He envisions the news programming on both KFMB and its new CW affiliate will benefit from new and shared resources.

’You’ll be seeing a a completely different newscast (than KFMB’s), customized for that (CW) channel,” said Mier y Terán, who hopes to retain the CW6 name. “And you will not be seeing news at the same time. On KFMB, we don’t have a 4 p.m. or 10 p.m. newscast, so I will run the KFMB newscast on the CW channel at 4 and 10 p.m.

“It will be the same thing in the morning, when KFMB runs a morning newscast from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. and then goes into ‘CBS This Morning, a network show. At 7 a.m. I’ll continue my local news on CW from 7 to 9 a.m. So I will be counter-programming to not compete with my own local news (on KFMB). I’ll be using some of the same local talent. And we’ll be hiring local news talent and photographers.”

The Union-Tribune provides a weekly Tuesday morning business report for CW6. It remains to be seen if that will continue once the station becomes a KFMB affiliate.

(The original version of this article indicated XETV will become the Spanish outlet for the Mexican Galavisión cable network, a division of Univision. However on Friday, XETV Vice President and General Manager Chuck Dunning said he had misspoken that Galavisión would be involved and that it is not yet known which Spanish-language network will be involved.)

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george.varga@sduniontribune.com