Best/Worst Network Affiliate Switchn

[newsbot]

Re: Best/Worst Network Affiliate Switches

The only one I saw as a negative was when WPXT-TV channel 51 of Portland, ME switched from FOX to WB in 2001. It left the Portland/Poland Spring market without an over-the-air FOX station for at least 1 1/2 years.

The significance of creating an opening in the Portland market for a new FOX affiliate cannot be overstated. Imagine what would have become of WMPX (now FOX affiliate WPFO-23) if not for the monumentally dumb decision by Pegasus to terminate WPXT's affilition. Imagine, too, how much better off New Age Media would be today with a FOX/CW combo on WPXT and WPME. Who knows - they might have been able to keep their news department intact.

 

[bsmith8259]

What about the network affiliate switch in Baltimore in 1995 and how did it benefit WMAR, WBAL, and WJZ?

 

[bsmith8259]

What about the network affiliate switch in Baltimore in 1995 and how did it benefit WMAR, WBAL, and WJZ?

 

[KeithE4]

WTTV (4, UPN) & WNDY (23, WB), both in Indianapolis, swapping affiliates in 1998. Loved WNDY-TV and it was lost from where I lived in Lafayette because the cable system there didn't carry UPN for some legal, technical reason. (It would be added in 2000).

I think that had something to do with WTTV being bought by Tribune.

Speaking of Indy, there was huge network swap there in the mid '50s, with WTTV/4 moving from NBC primary to ABC (1956) to independent (1957), WFBM/6 from CBS primary to ABC (1955) to NBC (1956), WISH/8 from ABC primary to CBS (1955), and WLWI/13 coming on the air with ABC in '57.

WTTV, WFBM, and WISH all had secondary affiliations with the other networks prior to 1956, as was common in that era. Dumont had been split between WTTV and WISH at the time of that network's demise.

 

[KeyTimes950]

Pittsburgh technically never had a switch of affiliates, but some interesting stories.

DuMont-owned WDTV-3 was for a time effectively the only major network affiliate in a Top 10 market (I believe it is 25th today). I think WENS-16 was ABC but few had UHF receivers in those days.

Of course, Westinghouse bought WDTV (now KDKA), WIIC-11 (now WPXI) would pick up NBC, WTAE-4 became a multi-market ABC powerhouse and KDKA ended up with the CBS affiliation it retains to this day. (As Westinghouse became CBS, Channel 2 of course is now a CBS O&O.)

In its early days, education WQED-13 had some network shows not carried on the other Pittsburgh VHF outlets, such as "Camera Three" from CBS.

WPGH-53 started out carrying castoffs from KDKA, WTAE and WIIC in addition to such fare as The 700 Club (an affiliation that for a time threatened to doom the formation of a Christian station, WPCB-40, licensed to Greensburg but located today just north of McKeesport).

To the east, there was Johnstown's WARD-56, later WJNL-19, today Jeannette-licensed and CBS-owned WPCW-19 ("Pittsburgh's CW").

WJAC in Johnstown started out multi-network on Channel 13, then moved to Channel 6, and was effectively NBC for Pittsburgh in the pre-WIIC days (WJAC also carried ABC shows for several decades after WIIC signed on).

ION now owns WINP-16, but unless you have an over-the-air digital receiver or more-than-basic cable you do not get any of the ION networks. Channel 16 still is ShopNBC (from the old deal made with WQED for commercialized WQEX-16), ION is 16.2, Qubo 16.3 and IONLife 16.4.

 

[FightingIrish]

I heard the Minneapolis swap at about the same time was also a win-win. KMSP went from miserable ABC to very strong independent. WTCN went from so-so independent to strong NBC and KSTP went from NBC to strong ABC.

Being owned by Metromedia, I'm surprised that WTCN was considered a "so-so independent." Or had Gannett bought the station by the time it switched to NBC?

You're correct, WTCN really was only a so-so when compared to how strong an independent KMSP became. It probably just looks that way as KMSP was such a wash out as an ABC station it came back so strong as an independent. In fact later on KMSP dropped FOX as it wasn't up to KMSP's ability to program independently. KMSP later went with UPN the sold to FOX and became a FOX O&O later.

The whole Twin Cities affiliate swap was rather interesting. KMSP 9 was the ABC affiliate since 1960 (having taken it from WTCN 11). Management was cheap, and put out a rather second-rate newscast which never got the adequate funding and resources, resulting in high turnover and low ratings. Once ABC got hot in the late 70s, the network decided to beef up its affiliate lineup. One market where they wanted to make a change was the Twin Cities. They approached KSTP-TV 5, which was a very strong station with the top newscast in the market, but saddled with a slumping NBC. They struck a deal. KMSP hoped to get the NBC affiliation, but NBC didn't want ABC's rejects, so they went to WTCN 11 (which had done well as an indy, Metromedia's strength). KMSP was left as the new independent station in town.

In the aftermath, WTCN struggled for a few years with NBC as they built up their news division and adjusted to being a network affiliate, but Metromedia didn't manage the station well (they were known more for the fine art collection on the walls). They sold the station to Gannett a few years later and they turned Ch. 11 into a powerhouse, assembling a top-notch news team, changing the call letters (first to WUSA, then the present KARE), and dominated the local ratings for the next decade. KMSP became a successful independent that aired on cable systems throughout the state. They were an initial FOX affiliate but dropped them after one season as the new network bogged down the station's ratings (they later went with UPN). FOX bought the station in 2001 (having recently purchased WFTC 29) and swapped affiliations between the two. KMSP has been a very good performer in the FOX O&O years. And KSTP's ratings sagged going into the 80s, and the newscast saw dropping ratings, staff turnover and many format changes.

 

[bpatrick]

What do you mean, "NBC didn't want ABC's rejects"? WXIA;
WTHR; WAFF Huntsville, AL; KNSD San Diego; WVLA Baton Rouge;
WTVK (now WVLT) Knoxville; KTPX Midland/Odessa, TX; and some
which have gone back to ABC such as WKEF Dayton, OH...all went
from ABC to NBC. The only other market I can think of where, around
the time of the switch in the Twin Cities, the displaced ABC affiliate
didn't go to NBC was Charlotte; there, WSOC switched from NBC to ABC;
WCCB from ABC to independent (and is now Fox); WRET from independent
to NBC.

ABC considered Atlanta (WSB) to be an even bigger catch than KSTP;
as one ABC spokesperson put it, when KSTP switched Fred Silverman had
just moved from ABC to NBC and couldn't really be blamed for not turning
things around right away. But by 1980, said this person, Silverman had had time,
had not gotten NBC out of third, so NBC had no excuse letting WSB get away.
I might add that Atlanta's demographics were growing younger and the market
was headed for the top 10; WSB intended to capitalize on that so it could stay
number one...which it definitely has.

 

[FightingIrish]

What do you mean, "NBC didn't want ABC's rejects"? WXIA;
WTHR; WAFF Huntsville, AL; KNSD San Diego; WVLA Baton Rouge;
WTVK (now WVLT) Knoxville; KTPX Midland/Odessa, TX; and some
which have gone back to ABC such as WKEF Dayton, OH...all went
from ABC to NBC. The only other market I can think of where, around
the time of the switch in the Twin Cities, the displaced ABC affiliate
didn't go to NBC was Charlotte; there, WSOC switched from NBC to ABC;
WCCB from ABC to independent (and is now Fox); WRET from independent
to NBC.

ABC considered Atlanta (WSB) to be an even bigger catch than KSTP;
as one ABC spokesperson put it, when KSTP switched Fred Silverman had
just moved from ABC to NBC and couldn't really be blamed for not turning
things around right away. But by 1980, said this person, Silverman had had time,
had not gotten NBC out of third, so NBC had no excuse letting WSB get away.
I might add that Atlanta's demographics were growing younger and the market
was headed for the top 10; WSB intended to capitalize on that so it could stay
number one...which it definitely has.

Sometimes beggars can't be choosers. In the Twin Cities, they had the luxury of choosing between two VHF channels. In other markets, where the choice was between a VHF and any number of UHFs, the choice was obvious. In some other markets, such as Charlotte and San Diego, UHF was the only choice.

It's just that the loss of KSTP by NBC was such a stunner back in the day, since the Hubbards had been dedicated to NBC for so long. And I'm pretty sure NBC had no interest at the time in KMSP, which was a perennial loser. They figured it was best to cast their lot with WTCN and Metromedia, which at least had deeper pockets.

And I don't seem to recall comparing KSTP with WSB, so relax and take a deep breath or something.

 

[azumanga]

Sometimes beggars can't be choosers. In the Twin Cities, they had the luxury of choosing between two VHF channels. In other markets, where the choice was between a VHF and any number of UHFs, the choice was obvious. In some other markets, such as Charlotte and San Diego, UHF was the only choice.

And in some markets, like Huntsville and Lexington, it didn't matter where they went, as all stations were on UHF -- in these markets, they looked more at the station's performance and channel position.

 

[KML0224]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Charlotte had two VHF stations in the analog days: Channel 3 (CBS) and channel 9 (ABC). As for San Diego, even when not counting Tijuana, Mexico, still had analog channel 8 (CBS) and channel 10 (ABC).

 

[FightingIrish]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Charlotte had two VHF stations in the analog days: Channel 3 (CBS) and channel 9 (ABC). As for San Diego, even when not counting Tijuana, Mexico, still had analog channel 8 (CBS) and channel 10 (ABC).

That's supposing that they were unlikely to get the existing VHF CBS affiliate to switch, which was highly unlikely. NBC didn't have as much to offer in the late 70s.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Other than the continued ratings quagmire NBC was facing in 1983, I never have understood the whole story of the Columbia/Jefferson City, MO network switch between KOMU-8 (NBC, owned by University of Missouri) and the-then KCBJ-17 (ABC, now KMIZ).

Then the two stations reverted back to their original affiliations as 1986 dawned--once NBC had finally went #1 in the ratings primarily due to "The Cosby Show."

 

[RadioDaze]

I remember reading on that, pre-digital, Charlotte was the largest market in the nation with only two VHF channels, and WBTV is one of the oldest CBS affiliates as well as the only station in town still with its original network.

 

[Ultimajock]

...one wide-ranging effect of the Minneapolis shuffle was that Verne Gagne's AWA All-Star Wrestling, syndicated widely from Chicago to Phoenix and San Francisco, took a noticeable hit in production values when it moved its production base from WTCN to KMSP. (NBC apparently demanded clearance of its own programs in the same time slots Gagne's program had been running, and Metromedia gave them to NBC.) Part of the problem may also have been the fact that Gagne was beginning to put runs on his videotape stock to the point where, by the mid-'80s, some stations couldn't even track the things on their equipment (the then-GM of WKOW Madison personally told me that was why they never renewed their deal with Gagne), but the basic production itself just didn't look as good as under WTCN...

 

[classictvfan]

What do you mean, "NBC didn't want ABC's rejects"? WXIA;
WTHR; WAFF Huntsville, AL; KNSD San Diego; WVLA Baton Rouge;
WTVK (now WVLT) Knoxville; KTPX Midland/Odessa, TX; and some
which have gone back to ABC such as WKEF Dayton, OH...all went
from ABC to NBC. The only other market I can think of where, around
the time of the switch in the Twin Cities, the displaced ABC affiliate
didn't go to NBC was Charlotte; there, WSOC switched from NBC to ABC;
WCCB from ABC to independent (and is now Fox); WRET from independent
to NBC.

ABC considered Atlanta (WSB) to be an even bigger catch than KSTP;
as one ABC spokesperson put it, when KSTP switched Fred Silverman had
just moved from ABC to NBC and couldn't really be blamed for not turning
things around right away. But by 1980, said this person, Silverman had had time,
had not gotten NBC out of third, so NBC had no excuse letting WSB get away.
I might add that Atlanta's demographics were growing younger and the market
was headed for the top 10; WSB intended to capitalize on that so it could stay
number one...which it definitely has.

I don't seem to recall comparing KSTP with WSB, so relax and take a deep breath or something.

I think bpatrick simply misunderstood your initial post. Perhaps you should have
explained what you meant further in your initial post. I don't bpatrick overreacted
myself.

 

[bpatrick]

You didn't make any comparison between KSTP and WSB; that's
something I threw in. One difference between the two markets
is that NBC really had only one place to go in Atlanta, because there
you have Channels 2, 5, 8, and 11, and 8 is PBS. WAGA was in no
way going to give up CBS, which had just returned to the number-one
position in 1980, so NBC basically had no choice but to go to 11 Alive,
or else to a UHF (BTW, Ted Turner once tried to get ABC to switch from
11 to 17 and was turned down; better to have a weak VHF than a UHF,
the network reasoned).

But whether or not I overreacted, the fact is that a large number of
the switches in the late '70s and early '80s were straight ABC-NBC swaps;
CBS, however, began picking off some NBC affiliates in 1981 (such as Baltimore
and Schenectady), but that's beside the point.

And yes, there were some NBC affiliates that switched to ABC, then switched
back after the Peacock Network became number one; someone mentioned
Columbia-Jefferson City, MO; Jacksonville and Savannah come immediately to mind.

 

[Ultimajock]

And yes, there were some NBC affiliates that switched to ABC, then switched
back after the Peacock Network became number one; someone mentioned
Columbia-Jefferson City, MO; Jacksonville and Savannah come immediately to mind.

...dunno if this fits that scenario, considering the year span, but WMBV/11 Marinette signed on the air as an NBC affiliate in 1954 (WBAY-TV/2 had been a CBS primary/NBC-ABC-DuMont secondary before then), then changed itself to WLUK/11 Green Bay and swapped network affiliations with WFRV/5, originally an ABC affiliate (as WNAM-TV/42 Neenah). In 1983, WFRV switched back to ABC, leaving WLUK to take NBC back...

 

[bpatrick]

That's a pretty large time gap, but, yes, in 1983 WFRV went
to ABC and WLUK to NBC. There's been more switching going
on in the Green Bay market since: CBS acquired WFRV along
with WCCO as an o&o (it has since sold WFRV), making WBAY
the ABC affiliate; WLUK went to Fox when Burnham Broadcasting
moved all its stations (including New Orleans, Mobile, and Honolulu)
to Bart Simpson's network; WGBA, a UHF, ended up with NBC,
meaning that currently in Green Bay it's

WBAY (analog 2--ABC)
WFRV (analog 5--CBS)
WLUK (analog 11--Fox)
WGBA (analog 26--NBC)

 

[EricStein]

Phoenix was done in several rounds - initially it was chaotic. Phoenix was before the switch a market with a great selection of local independents - 15 KNXV had an excellent independent schedule of cartoons, old sitcoms, recent sitcoms, movies, and Fox programming a couple hours a day and the syndicated Fox Kids - 5 KPHO had a similar format minus Fox with the same kind of shows but of course different particular ones. They were planning to be a WB affiliate in 1995 - KUTP had a mix of cartoons and recent sitcoms but also movies and talk shows as well. KUTP was to be a UPN affiliate in 1995 but for all intents and purposes all three stations were basically independents being each network covered only a few hours a day at most - All three stations were serving well. The Big 3 were fine - some preemptions but in moderation. Then the affiliation switches caused tons of chaos and were done in stages causing many shows not to be seen - but eventually things worked out well and a new station signed on in the end to fill a hole.

By 1994, KNXV had surpassed KPHO as the "top independent station" in Phoenix (they had the Fox affiliation, but were programmed like an independent otherwise). KPHO, in the late-'80s and early-'90s, had become less competitive after their long-running kids show, "Wallace & Ladmo," went off the air. Their on-air image was dated and they were slow in acquiring the best off-network reruns. KUTP, despite its deep-pocketed ownership of Chris Craft, was the also-ran independent. They managed to make a dent in KPHO by making the bidding process over programming more competitive.

 

[SteveRichards]

Other than the continued ratings quagmire NBC was facing in 1983, I never have understood the whole story of the Columbia/Jefferson City, MO network switch between KOMU-8 (NBC, owned by University of Missouri) and the-then KCBJ-17 (ABC, now KMIZ).

Then the two stations reverted back to their original affiliations as 1986 dawned--once NBC had finally went #1 in the ratings primarily due to "The Cosby Show."

The first KOMU/KCBJ network swap occurred in the fall of 1982 (October, I think). ABC was doing much better than NBC, and I've been told that KOMU "went after" the ABC affiliation. I'm also sure that ABC preferred to be on a VHF station that had a well-established news department and audience. KCBJ was a UHF in a market dominated by VHF (even the PBS out of Sedalia, KMOS, was VHF). On top of the VHF vs. UHF issue, KCBJ's newscasts and the overall quality of the station left a lot to be desired. It seems that what KOMU failed to notice or pick up on was that the ABC schedule at that time was beginning to lose its luster. Many of the shows that had made ABC the number one network in the late 1970's were either on their last legs or already gone. However, ABC was still in better shape, ratings-wise, than NBC. There was no way that KRCG in Jefferson City was going to part ways with CBS, and I guess KOMU was tired of waiting for NBC to kick-start itself.

As everyone knows, NBC did finally get kick-started with the premiere of "The Cosby Show" in the fall of 1984. NBC was now the number one network, but they found themselves on the number three TV station in Columbia...and a UHF, at that. It was mutually beneficial to NBC and KOMU to reverse the swap that occurred in 1982. I believe on New Year's Day 1986, KOMU went back to NBC, and KCBJ changed its calls to KMIZ and once again became an ABC affiliate.

KOMU seems to downplay its relatively short-lived ABC affiliation. There's no mention of ABC in the short history/description of the station in the "about" section of its website. KOMU did briefly mention the switch to ABC on an anniversary special that aired around the station's 50th anniversary back in 2003, but they claimed the ABC affiliation was for only two years when, in fact, it lasted nearly 3 1/2 years (maybe I'm being nit-picky!).