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National television executives' surprise decision to scrap two established networks and form a new one in their place caught local affiliates off-guard and sent WNDY-TV Channel 23 looking for content to fill its airwaves this fall.
"I don't think anyone saw this coming," said Scott Blumenthal, vice president of television for Rhode Island-based Lin TV Corp., which owns WNDY.
CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment plan to launch The CW this fall, a move that will have far-reaching affects in the local market.
The birth of The CW means the death of CBS' UPN and Warner Bros.' WB networks. The local WB affiliate, WTTV-TV Channel 4, will pick up the new network, but central Indiana's UPN affiliate, WNDY, likely will be forced to go independent.
Traditionally, local TV stations follow one of two business models: Either they become an affiliate of a national network, running network programs and sharing advertising revenue, or they acquire programming from independent TV...