Tribune and The CW have officially renewed their affiliation agreement on 12 Tribune-owned stations. The deal was finalized after months of negotiations, and keeps The CW—including series such as Arrow, The Flash, Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Supergirl—on stations across the country owned or operated by Tribune.

The stations extending their affiliation agreement with The CW include: WPIX New York; KTLA Los Angeles; KDAF Dallas; WDCW Washington, D.C.; KIAH Houston; WSFL Miami; KWGN Denver; KPLR St. Louis; KRCW Portland; WCCT Hartford, WGNT Norfolk; and WNOL New Orleans.

Much of the negotiating centered around a push for Tribune to pay higher license fees, while the Tribune was at risk of losing network programming in primetime for its affiliate stations.

RELATED: Tribune, The CW Near Long-Awaited Renewal of Affiliation Agreement

“We are extremely pleased to continue our strong relationship with The CW Network,” Peter Liguori, Tribune president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “The primetime entertainment programming offered by The CW drives a passionate and loyal audience to our stations and we are looking forward to a lot of success.”

Meanwhile, WGN Chicago will become an independent with the CW affiliation moving to Fox-owned WPWR. WGN instead is opting to become an independent station featuring local news, live sports and syndicated programming during primetime.

Going independent was an option for all affiliates, though it was considered a risky move that could lead to less viewership and lower ad rates.

WGN, known as “Chicago’s Very Own” is the broadcast home to the Chicago Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Hawks, with the rights to carry more than 150 live games a year, but in the past has had to move more than 30 games to other Chicago stations due to network programming commitments.

Switching to an independent station creates more freedom and opportunities, WGN executives said.

“As an independent television station, we’ll have the opportunity to bring more primetime baseball, basketball and hockey games to Chicago sports fans on weeknights, add some popular syndicated programming, expand our weekend morning news, and take control of all of WGN-TV’s primetime advertising inventory,” said Larry Wert, president of broadcast media for Tribune. “Importantly, we’ll also avoid having to move any games off of WGN-TV to accommodate network programming.”

The 12 Tribune stations part of the affiliate deal represent 25 percent of The CW’s coverage in the U.S., reaching 28 million households.

“As The CW continues to build on its current ratings momentum and full schedule of high-quality programming, we are thrilled to continue our successful partnership with Tribune and their affiliated stations for many years to come,” said The CW President Mark Pedowitz.

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