Who owns The CW?
The CW is owned by Nexstar (the United States, NASDAQ: NXST), which has owned the brand since 2022.[1]
Nexstar owns 80.8% of The CW rather than all of it.
Evidence: Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-27, SEC EDGAR, 27 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (80.8% stake) verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Irving
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Category
- Media & entertainment › Film & television › Television networks
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: NXST
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About The CW
The CW is a U.S. broadcast network that Nexstar's 10-K describes as America's fifth major broadcast network. Nexstar reports an 80.8% ownership interest in it and says it acquired The CW in September 2022 for no consideration. The remaining interest is held by other parties, so Nexstar is a majority rather than sole owner.
What Nexstar's annual report says about The CW
Sentences about The CW from Nexstar's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Nexstar's national television properties include an 80.8% interest in The CW Network, LLC ("The CW"), the fifth major broadcast network in the U.S., NewsNation, a national news network providing "News for All Americans," two popular entertainment multicast networks, Antenna TV and REWIND TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in Television Food Network, G.P.
The substantial majority of our assets, including our television stations, The CW and our multicast networks, are broadcast television assets.
Our television stations are affiliates of CBS, FOX, NBC and ABC (together, the "Big 4"), as well as The CW and MyNetworkTV ("MNTV").
How often Nexstar names The CW in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of The CW
Where The CW sits in Nexstar
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Nexstar ownership tree →
See the full Nexstar brand portfolio (5) →
Other brands owned by Nexstar
Nexstar controls 5 brands on Brandtree, 4 of them in media & entertainment.
Also in media & entertainment
Other brands in television networks, and who owns them
The 86 brands in television networks on Brandtree belong to 27 owners. The largest is Sun TV Network, with 7; Nexstar has 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini TV | Sun TV Network | 🇮🇳 India |
| Global Television | Corus | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| BET | Paramount Skydance | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Bounce (Scripps network) | Scripps | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Cartoon Network | Warner Bros. Discovery | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Canal+ | Canal+ | 🇫🇷 France |
| AMC | AMC Networks | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Astro | Astro | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
About the owner: Nexstar
Nexstar is a publicly listed company headquartered in Irving, United States. Brandtree records 5 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: NXST.
Nexstar Media Group is a Delaware corporation based in Irving, Texas, whose common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as NXST. Its 10-K for 2025 describes a local television group of over 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets, alongside national networks and digital properties. The filing says a merger with TEGNA is pending and expected to close by the second half of 2026, so TEGNA assets are not included here. Nexstar also reports a 31.3% interest in Television Food Network, G.P.; Food Network is already recorded under its other owner, so it is not listed as a Nexstar brand.
🇺🇸 The CW and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,399 brands that began in the United States. 461 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; The CW is not one of them.
- 20th Century Studios — Disney 🇺🇸
- AMC — AMC Networks 🇺🇸
- AMC Theatres — AMC Theatres 🇺🇸
- AMF — Lucky Strike Entertainment 🇺🇸
- Adventure Island — United Parks 🇺🇸
- Atlanta Braves — Atlanta Braves Holdings 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of The CW?
The parent company of The CW is Nexstar, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is The CW American?
Yes. The CW originated in the United States and its owner, Nexstar, is also headquartered in the United States.
Since when has Nexstar owned The CW?
Nexstar has owned The CW since 2022.
Is The CW still owned by Nexstar?
Yes. As of 9 October 2026, The CW is still owned by Nexstar (80.8% stake). The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-27 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 27 February 2026; retrieved 4 October 2026.
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