Miami’s ABC affiliation moving from WPLG to WSVN subchannel

A shakeup in Miami’s television scene will see ABC move its affiliation away from its longtime home on WPLG to a subchannel of Sunbeam’s WSVN.

WPLG, which is currently owned by Berkshire Hathaway and can trace its roots back to being an ABC affiliate to the 1960s, will drop the network Aug. 3, 2025, with WSVN, a Fox affiliate, picking up the affiliation on subchannel 7.2 Aug. 4, 2025.

“When the opportunity to affiliate with ABC became available, we knew that our combined resources would allow us to develop an extremely strong partnership. Sunbeam Television Corporation has a proven track record as a competitive broadcaster,” said Paul Magnes, co-president of Sunbeam Television Corporation in a story posted on the station’s website.

WPLG, meanwhile, will branch off as an independent station. Except for ABC network programming moving to WSVN 7.2, no other stations in the market will change channels.

Under the new assignment, Sunbeam and Disney plan to brand the 7.2 channel as “ABC Miami.”

Sunbeam did not announce if WSVN will produce newscasts for the channel or, if so, they might take on a variation of Sunbeam’s flashy, energetic format broadcasting from what it fondly has named the “Newsplex.” 

It is also not clear if WSVN, which currently brands as both “7 News” and “The News Station,” might incorporate some of those branding elements into the ABC Miami name if it does end up providing newscasts for the new ABC affiliate.

WSVN’s trademark news style, first created by Joel Cheatwood in 1989, leans heavily into highly produced newscasts with bold graphics, use of jibs and multiple storytelling venues throughout “The Plex,” as it is sometimes known, accented with a generous helping of LED video walls and ribbons. WSVN’s sister station, WHDH in Boston, also adopted the style, though it is largely considered to be a toned-down version of Miami’s.

It’s possible that the “7 News” Miami flavor might not resonate well with viewers accustomed to WPLG’s newscasts sandwiched in between their favorite ABC programs after the stations change affiliations, so that’s an issue that Sunbeam will likely need to consider going forward. 

In its over-the-top style, WSVN covered the news of the change under graphics proclaiming the change as “Blockbuster News,” though as the pre-taped package aired, the potential confusion to general viewers not familiar with how TV stations operate became clear.

“You’ll catch on,” promised WSVN anchor Belkys Nerey. “Twice the fun,” she added.

If Sunbeam does not opt to fill the traditional news timeslots on ABC Miami with some kind of locally-produced newscast, it could fill the slots with syndicated programming.

As of now, there is a potential overlap in local newscasts in the morning, namely from 6 to 7 a.m. local time when WSVN airs “Today in Florida,” which could cause an issue if 7.2 ends opts to air a newscast starting in the early morning and running into “Good Morning America” starts at 7 a.m. There are also potential conflicts from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Any of these issues could be easily resolved by either alternative options, producing two separate newscasts or simulcasting the same content on two channels where overlaps exist.

ABC Miami on 7.2 and any new or shared programming could benefits from the ratings wave from ABC News’ popular programming such as “Good Morning America” and “ABC World News Tonight.” 

WSVN is planning a marketing campaign to help viewers understand the transition and indicated that all Fox and ABC programs will continue to air after the change.

Sunbeam currently airs Free TV Networks LLC’s 365BLK, which is targeted to Black viewers, on 7.2. It was not immediately clear what 365BLK’s future might look like in Miami.

In its own announcement, WPLG appears to indicate it will retain the “Local 10” branding it adopted under its Post-Newsweek ownership days. 

“We made a generous offer to ABC, but it became clear the two sides were not going to agree to a new deal,” said WPLG’s President and CEO E.R. Bert Medina, is quoted as saying in a story on its website.

The joint Disney-Sunbeam announcement did not mention those negotiations or the sticking point WPLG alleges. 

It is rather unconventional for a larger-sized market such as Miami to carry a big-three affiliate on a digital subchannel. When these types of arrangements do happen, they are often in smaller markets and often either ABC, CBS or NBC gets the “primary” channel where Fox, CW and MyNetworkTV are relegated to subchannels.

WPLG’s decision to strike out on its own isn’t necessarily surprising as some station owners weigh paying high affiliate fees (in exchange for often popular programming) with changes in the TV advertising market and viewing habits. In its story covering the change, WPLG noted the fee ABC was requesting likely would have lead to local layoffs among its news and other staff. 

“Our job is to serve this community with news and local programming, that’s why we have an FCC license. If we agreed to the ABC terms, that mission would have suffered,” Medina said in the story.

Medina also cited the increasing lack of network programming exclusivity windows as streaming continues to grow, including criticizing ABC’s decision to live-stream the Oscars this year. 

As an independent, the station’s schedule will become news intensive, it was announced after the ABC-WSVN news broke.

After August, WPLG will significantly increase its news output and offer 93 hours of local news every week, up from 56. Plans call for the station to carry news from 4:30 to 11 a.m. local time, noon to 1 p.m., 3 to 7 p.m. and 9 to 11:30 p.m. on weekdays. Weekend newscasts will run from 5 to 11 a.m., 9 to 9:30 p.m. and 11 to 11:30 p.m. 

This increased newscast count has lead to the station posting new openings for roles it expects to hire for.

WPLG also plans to add weekend local sports programming.

Despite the newscast launbch announcements, there are still notable hour-long holes at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. and the station did not announce plans for those slots or the overnight hours.

The station already airs a 1 a.m. newscast, with “The First 48” airing at 1:37 a.m. before cutting to ABC’s feed of “World News Now” from 2:30 to 4 a.m. and “Good Morning America First Look” at 4 a.m.

WPLG also already airs news at 3 p.m., a non-traditional time that many ABC stations fill with syndicated programming.

Miami was the seat of one high-profile shakeup in 1989 that saw three stations trading affiliations, followed by NBC-owned WTVJ swapping channels and transmitter sites with WCIX, now known as WFOR, in 1995. WSVN sister station WHDH in Boston, Massachusetts, dropped its NBC affiliation back in 2017 following a high-profile feud between then-owner the late Ed Ansin and the network. 

Update: This story has been updated throughout with details about WPLG’s new schedule.