Needing to find a new affiliate in what had become the nation's ninth largest media market, CBS approached all of Atlanta's major stations, including WGNX. However, none of them were interested at first. CBS first approached WXIA-TV; however, its then-owner Gannett Broadcasting subsequently signed a long-term affiliation deal renewing its contract with WXIA and its sister NBC affiliates in Jacksonville, Minneapolis–St. Paul and Phoenix; this deal would result in a major affiliation switch in Denver the following year, where KUSA affiliated with NBC as a result of a complex trade agreement with Westinghouse Broadcasting that saw KCNC-TV become a CBS owned-and-operated station. WSB-TV (channel 2) was later eliminated as an option as its Atlanta-based owner, Cox Enterprises, would reach a new long-term agreement with ABC to retain its affiliation with that network. WATL was eventually eliminated as Qwest Broadcasting (a joint venture between music producer Quincy Jones, former NFL defensive end Willie Davis, television producer Don Cornelius, television host Geraldo Rivera, and Tribune) announced in November that it would purchase WATL from Fox Television Stations as part of a two station, $167-million deal, intending to affiliate that station with The WB.