Pittsburgh’s CW will rebrand to KDKA+ starting Friday

As one chapter closes for Pittsburgh’s CW this week, a new one begins right away.

It was revealed in May that WPCW-TV would be one of eight CBS-owned stations nationwide that would be dropping its CW affiliation and begin operating independently this fall. Channel 19 will no longer carry CW shows as of Sept. 1, leaving a two-hour hole in its prime-time programming slate.

On Thursday, WPCW and KDKA-TV president and general manager Chris Cotugno updated the Post-Gazette on what will become of WPCW. Starting Friday, Pittsburgh’s CW will officially be rebranded as KDKA+, Cotugno revealed via email. He also said that the station recently received approval to switch its call letters to WPKD-TV, a change that will also go into effect Sept. 1.

Cotugno stressed that the newly minted KDKATV+ will continue “offering local sports ... news and entertainment programming,” including high school football games on Friday nights and college football on Saturday afternoons. He said that as of its launch day, KDKA+ will begin filling its weekday prime-time block that used to contain CW programming with an hour of “Family Feud” starting at 8 p.m. and the true-crime investigation series “48 Hours” at 9 p.m.

There’s also a mysterious “live local program” that Cotugno teased would be revealed in the near future and eventually take over the 8-9 p.m. weekday slot from “Family Feud.”

Now that we know what WPCW will look like going forward, that still leaves the lingering question of how Pittsburghers will be able to watch CW programming once Pittsburgh’s CW becomes KDKA+.

Last month, a CW spokesperson told the Post-Gazette, “We are confident that there will be a CW affiliate in Pittsburgh by the time that the college football season gets underway” in regards to Pitt fans being able to watch ACC football and basketball games this fall and winter.

Though nothing has officially been announced yet, it does appear that WPNT-TV has become a prime candidate to become Pittsburgh’s new CW affiliate. Lineup listings on WPNT’s website show that it’s scheduled to start airing some CW programming beginning Sept. 1.

The Post-Gazette reached out to WPNT and owner Sinclair Broadcast Group, and is awaiting comment on the matter.

Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.