The CW linear broadcast network has acquired rights to televise "50 ACC games, beginning Sept. 9 with Pitt's football game against Cincinnati. Thirteen ACC football games will air Saturdays on the CW..." The deal is a sale of rights that Raycom acquired as a sublicencee from ESPN so there is no reporting that I see that the deal will mean additional money for ACC member schools.
What is CW? I had never heard of them:
The CW Television Network...American English-language commercial broadcast television network that is controlled...by Nexstar Media Group, with a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the first letters of the names of its two founding co-owners CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. ... Nexstar closed its acquisition of a controlling interest in The CW on October 3, 2022...
Solid ownership.
The CW debuted on September 18, 2006, as the successor to UPN and The WB...
The CW covers just over 98 percent of television homes in the United States, with network affiliate over-the-air coverage in all of the top 100 Nielsen-ranked markets. Stations are listed in alphabetical order by city of license.
Saturation coverage.
So THE CW is a newish network. Previously it had run mostly reruns of syndicated TV shows. It's new to sports broadcasting and those two go hand-in-hand. It's only other sports portfolio is LIV Golf. To have a claim to be player in network broadcasting you need live content. Sports helps CW begin to fill that ambition.
This deal received reporting as being significant because the ACC is only about one-third the way through its broadcast contract with ESPN. Yet, it has now linked with a new, ambitious network. The deal is significant because it is linear broadcasting and because the PAC has tried for over a year to get a new media rights deal, specifically one on a linear platform, and The CW was one of those alternative networks mentioned. Maybe The CW will be interested in the PAC also, or maybe the ACC has jumped the PAC like the Big XII did with Fox and ESPN.
There are two major, competing streams of thought in sports media circles on the PAC. The prevailing current is that there is some deus ex machina Door Number 3 that when announced will shock and awe the industry. The Woj of PAC media reporting, Jon Wilner, gives this Door a 60% chance of being accurate. The other, previously the prevailing, is that the PAC has no Good Samaritan and is hurtin' for certin'. Wilner has made PAC survival a 4 point favorite over PAC extinction. I have a hard time seeing CWACC increasing the point spread of PAC survival, but my vision is 20/400.
