ABC To Switch Affiliation In St. Louis, Moving From Sinclair Station To Gray Media Channel

EXCLUSIVE, with update: ABC is switching affiliations in the St. Louis market, with plans to move from the Sinclair-owned outlet to Gray Media, sources familiar with the plans confirmed on Thursday.

The change will take place on Sept. 1. Gray will provide locally produced news at its station, KMOV-TV, with ABC programming broadcasting on the outlet’s D2 digital channel.

KDNL-TV has been an ABC affiliate since 1995. Its ABC affiliation expires at the end of August, but network programming will air on the station until then.

Such affiliation switches are not all that uncommon. Last year, the network switched from Berkshire Hathaway’s WPLG-TV in Miami to a subchannel of Sunbeam’s WSVN-TV in that market.

A spokesperson for Sinclair did not immediately return a request for comment.

KDNL-TV lacks a local newscast, and instead airs Sinclair’s The National News Desk.

JD Sosnoff, president and general manager of WMOV, said in a statement on the station website, “By bringing ABC programming to KMOV, we are not only expanding entertainment options but, more importantly, delivering vital local news and public service to a community that has been underserved in this area. KMOV’s award-winning news team is uniquely positioned to provide the high-quality, local coverage that St. Louis families deserve.”

Last year, Sinclair, along with Nexstar, pulled ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live from their stations. The move followed a warning from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr over a joke that Kimmel made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. ABC also pulled the late-night show, but restored him to the air several days later, and the Sinclair and Nexstar stations followed. More recently, Sinclair stations aired a feed of Donald Trump’s primetime speech on election security, even though ABC and NBC passed on carrying the address.

Earlier on Thursday, CBS announced that it would switch affiliations from Nexstar stations in six markets, including Albuquerque.