Streaming news roundup: your local CBS and ABC channels are changing in several markets — including St. Louis

CBS is moving its affiliation to different stations in six markets on August 1, and in St. Louis, ABC is reportedly headed for a sub-channel on September 1 as part of a pending station swap. With football season weeks away, the channel that carries your games may not be the one you're used to. Plus, the Paramount-Warner merger stays frozen.

The gist: A quieter kind of change is rippling through local television this month, and it lands right before football season: which station carries which network is being reshuffled in a handful of markets. CBS moves to different stations in six of them on August 1, and in St. Louis, ABC is reportedly headed to a sub-channel on September 1 as part of a pending station swap. If you watch games over the air or through a live-TV package, that's a channel-number change with real consequences. Plus, a quick update on the frozen Paramount-Warner deal.

CBS is switching stations in six markets on August 1

Paramount confirmed this week that CBS will move its local affiliation away from Nexstar-owned stations in six markets, effective August 1. Nexstar renewed CBS in its other 36 markets; these six are the exceptions:

• Albuquerque, NM — CBS moves to Hearst's KOAT, while Nexstar's KRQE converts to a full-time Fox station (upgrading Fox from a sub-channel).
• Jackson, MS — CBS moves to Hearst's WAPT; Nexstar's WJTV becomes a CW station.
• Birmingham, AL — CBS moves to Hearst's WVTM; Nexstar's WIAT becomes CW.
• Greenville/Spartanburg, SC — Nexstar's WSPA becomes CW.
• Bismarck, ND — CBS moves to Forum Communications' KBMY; Nexstar's KXMB elevates CW to its main channel.
• Rapid City, SD — CBS moves to Forum's KNBN; Nexstar's KCLO elevates CW.

One wrinkle worth knowing: in four of those markets, Hearst will carry CBS on a digital sub-channel of a station that's already affiliated with a different network — not on a primary channel. That matters practically. Sub-channels sit at different positions on the dial, aren't always carried by every cable, satellite, or live-TV streaming service, and can be easier to miss when you're scanning for the game.

In St. Louis, ABC is reportedly moving to a sub-channel

Closer to home, multiple outlets reported Thursday that Gray Media is set to take over the ABC affiliation in St. Louis as part of a pending station swap with Sinclair. Under the reported arrangement, the change takes effect September 1: KMOV (Channel 4) would carry CBS on its main feed and ABC on its D2 digital sub-channel — displacing the rolling weather feed that runs there now — with Gray producing local news for the ABC service.

The handoff explains a date worth getting right. KDNL (Channel 30), the market's ABC station since 1995, has an affiliation that expires at the end of August, and ABC programming continues on KDNL until then. So nothing changes on your dial in August; the switch lands September 1, the week before the NFL regular season opens.

An important caveat: none of this has been formally announced, and ABC, Gray, and Sinclair have all declined to comment. It was first reported by Deadline and separately confirmed to The Desk by two sources, one of them a Gray executive speaking anonymously. One specific detail is actively contested: The Desk initially reported that pay-TV providers had been notified, which Gray's senior vice president for distribution, Robert Folliard, denied on the record — saying neither he nor his team had notified any cable or satellite operator about St. Louis. The broader Gray-Sinclair swap could be announced imminently. Treat the specifics as reported, not official — but worth watching if you're in the market.

Why this matters for watching sports

Network affiliation isn't an abstraction when it comes to games. The broadcast networks each carry big pieces of the sports calendar:

• CBS — the NFL's AFC package, the NCAA men's basketball tournament, golf
• FOX — the NFL's NFC package, MLB, and (just wrapped) the World Cup
• ABC — Monday Night Football simulcasts, the NBA Finals, NHL games including national windows, college football
• NBC — Sunday Night Football, Premier League, Notre Dame football

When a network changes stations in your market, the channel that carries those games changes with it — and if it lands on a sub-channel, you may need to rescan your antenna or hunt for a new channel number in your streaming guide. The timing is what makes this worth flagging now: these moves take effect August 1 and into September, right as NFL preseason (August 13-29) and the regular season arrive.

There's a reason this is happening, and it connects to a thread we've followed all summer. Local stations and the networks have been fighting over affiliation fees — the money stations pay to carry network programming. Networks have justified higher fees partly by pointing to what they're spending on sports; CBS is currently renegotiating its NFL package and is expected to pay more. Some station groups are deciding the math no longer works and are swapping networks instead. The FCC has opened an informal inquiry into related complaints from broadcasters. It's the same cost pressure driving rising sports-viewing bills, just showing up one layer down.

Quick update: the Paramount-Warner deal is still frozen

The judge overseeing the antitrust challenge to Paramount's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery extended her restraining order on Thursday, keeping the merger on hold while she weighs a preliminary injunction. The original order had been set to expire August 3; both companies agreed to abide by its terms for some weeks longer. Paramount has asked for an evidentiary hearing its attorneys estimate could run three days.

The deal has cleared the Justice Department and won conditional EU approval, but faces the state attorneys general and the Writers Guild in court, plus continuing scrutiny in the UK. For viewers, nothing changes today — CBS and TNT remain separate operations — but the case decides whether two of the biggest sports-rights holders in the country end up under one owner.

Not sure which of this week's games you can already watch? StreamCaddy maps the cheapest correct way to watch all of your teams and events for your exact location and subscriptions.

Sources

1. Deadline — "CBS To Switch Affiliation From Nexstar To Hearst TV & Forum Communications Stations In A Half Dozen Markets" (changes effective Aug. 1; Nexstar extending CBS in 36 markets; Albuquerque KRQE to Fox; Jackson, Bismarck, Rapid City details; Paramount and Nexstar statements; FCC chairman on network leverage), July 23, 2026 — https://deadline.com/2026/07/cbs-switches-nexstar-station-affiliation-1237001956/
2. The Desk — "Hearst, Forum to acquire CBS affiliation from some Nexstar stations" (Hearst to distribute CBS on digital sub-channels of stations affiliated with competing networks in four markets; WJTV, WIAT and WSPA becoming CW stations; Nextar and Paramount confirmations), July 23, 2026 — https://thedesk.net/2026/07/hearst-to-acquire-cbs-affiliation-from-some-nexstar-stations/
3. The Desk — "Sources: ABC affiliation shuffle in St. Louis part of pending station swap between Gray, Sinclair" (KMOV to carry CBS on its main feed and ABC on a secondary sub-channel starting in August; KDNL has been the ABC affiliate for nearly three decades; Gray executive disputes elements of an earlier report; Deadline first reported; affiliation-fee context, CBS-NFL renegotiation, WPLG/ABC precedent and FCC inquiry), July 23, 2026 — https://thedesk.net/2026/07/gray-media-to-acquire-abc-affiliation-from-sinclair-in-st-louis/
4. Deadline — "ABC To Switch Affiliation In St. Louis, Moving From Sinclair Station To Gray Media" (change takes place Sept. 1; ABC programming on KMOV's D2 digital channel with Gray providing local news; KDNL an ABC affiliate since 1995, its affiliation expiring at the end of August with network programming airing until then; ABC, Gray and Sinclair have not commented; WPLG/WSVN Miami precedent), July 23, 2026 — https://deadline.com/2026/07/abc-to-switch-st-louis-affiliate-1237001674/
5. The Desk — "Judge extends restraining order over Paramount-Warner Bros deal" (Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín extended the order Thursday; original was set to expire Aug. 3; parties agreed to abide by its terms for some weeks; Paramount seeks a hearing estimated at three days; DOJ cleared, conditional EU approval, UK still weighing), July 23, 2026 — https://thedesk.net/2026/07/judge-extends-restraining-order-over-paramount-warner-bros-deal/
6. Yahoo Finance / CBS News — "Judge temporarily halts Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger" (original TRO issued July 20 after a coalition of states sued; court found the states presented compelling evidence on market share), July 20, 2026 — https://finance.yahoo.com/media-advertising/articles/judge-temporarily-halts-paramount-warner-182928266.html
7. ESPN Press Room — "NFL Network presents 2026 preseason slate; ESPN expands its schedule on the ESPN App" (preseason runs Aug. 13-29), July 8, 2026 — https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2026/07/nfl-network-presents-2026-nfl-preseason-slate-featuring-19-live-games-espn-expands-its-schedule-with-12-additional-matchups-on-the-espn-app/