How much freedom do affiliates have to opt out of network programming?

[azumanga]

How many of you got the Jerry Lewis Telethon on your local CBS or NBC affiliate for years, but now
get the U.S. Open Tennis tournament on CBS or the Barclay's golf tournament on NBC
on Labor Day?

Up until last year, many of Jerry's "Love Network" affiliates were NBC and CBS affiliates, though because of sports, had to leave the telethon early, or move the sporting event to a subchannel or another station to please the network.

Will be interesting to see what happens this year with a revamped, 6-hour telethon.

 

[firepoint525]

West Tennessee NBC viewers were screwed whether they received NBC from channel 5 in Memphis, or from WPSD channel 6 in Paducah, Kentucky. Channel 6 routinely bumped popular prime-time programming (including even The Cosby Show and other Thursday night hit programs) for University of Kentucky basketball.

I read somewhere that NBC sent WPSD a tape of a "Cosby Show" episode on nights that a game is scheduled for 7PM, which they would show BEFORE basketball at 6:30PM.

They did, indeed, "pre" air The Cosby Show at least once that I can recall. Believe me, it was well-promoted! I had always assumed that NBC had sent them an early feed of the show. The rest of their Thursday night line-up was bumped to overnight hours for VCR taping.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

West Tennessee NBC viewers were screwed whether they received NBC from channel 5 in Memphis, or from WPSD channel 6 in Paducah, Kentucky. Channel 6 routinely bumped popular prime-time programming (including even The Cosby Show and other Thursday night hit programs) for University of Kentucky basketball.

I read somewhere that NBC sent WPSD a tape of a "Cosby Show" episode on nights that a game is scheduled for 7PM, which they would show BEFORE basketball at 6:30PM.

They did, indeed, "pre" air The Cosby Show at least once that I can recall. Believe me, it was well-promoted! I had always assumed that NBC had sent them an early feed of the show. The rest of their Thursday night line-up was bumped to overnight hours for VCR taping.

How did they get past the prime time access rule?

 

[rwells2265]

You are saying that them not air CBS News programs aren't a result of them not wanting to "hear the truth about their racist ways" back in then?  Or ABC 33/40 (WBMA/WCFT/WJSU) not airing the "Puppy" episode of Ellen didn't reveal their ass-backwardness, either?  Uh ok...

The "Ellen" incident occurred in the late '90s, past the scope of where I was going with my post.  Matter of fact, at the time I wrote a newspaper column in a small town (Troy, Ala.) and I wrote a piece picking apart the hypocrisy of that programming call -- bringing up the trash-talk programs 33/40 aired at the time, saying "and they have the nerve to pick a bone with DeGeneres??"  If a TV station wants to take a 'moral' stand, all and fine ... but at least be consistent about it. 

Any case, I 'specialize' in RETRO Birmingham media, and 1998 is hardly retro.  ;D

That said:

I'm quite familiar with the shuffling of the programming in the Birmingham market back in the 1950s-1970, but don't act like they were doing "just like many other markets in the South, was indeed guilty of letting the mentalities of the time play a role in program decisions". 

There's no acting.  It's the truth.  Secondary network affils provided a nifty "cover" in most smaller markets.  Birmingham was no exception.  Some markets practiced it more often than others ... some less often, but there were those much worse than in Birmingham.

There are very few cases of these issues in Atlanta, Nashville, or New Orleans, Memphis, all prominent Deep Southern markets at the time.  WBRC along with WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC, intentionally didn't air CBS News because it's shown how jacked up racial segregation was in the South.  Hence, why both of them eventually changed to ABC affiliation now too soon afterwards. 

As BPatrick has already pointed out, in WBRC's case it was a Taft-wide decision.  This is discussed in Leonard Goldenson's early '90s book about ABC (a good read, if you can get hold of it).  What I allude to in my website's TV history section is that Howard K. Smith's doc - "Who Speaks For Birmingham" - WAS indeed in the background.  I do not cover this up, and will not dispute that within that Storer-designed building atop Red Mountain there WERE execs who wanted out of CBS for just those reasons.  BUT: What I WILL deny that it was a flippant, rash decision made after the doc aired  "HOW DARE THEY?!?! Jack, get Goldenson on the phone....."

However, it sounds like to me you are trying to down play bigotry so that these stations didn't look like spineless cowards they choose to be back then on programming racial integration or LGBTs.

False.  I don't whitewash Birmingham's unfortunate past.  Did spineless program decisions get made in Birmingham, Alabama?  YES.  Will I defend them?  Mostly, no.  (I say "mostly" because any TV station is going to go with the programs that get higher ratings ... 'tis what 'tis). 

What I will defend is Birmingham, Alabama in general.  It wasn't difficult to find places that made Birmingham look like a shining beacon of kum-ba-yah.  Go to Mississippi, my friend.  I lived there for a few years ... and made it out alive.  ;-)

PS -- Did it occur to you that many programming folks in B'ham and elsewhere were in a very awkward situation?  Just because they preempted a show doesn't mean they themselves were bigoted.  Look no further than the flap involving Alabama's public TV network, which lost all of its licenses in the '70s due to racist program practices (they reapplied and were reinstated).  One APTV official then was quoted as saying, "We had to sleep with George Wallace to survive the '60s."  Had APTV aired some of the more controversial NET offerings in the '60s, the state legislature would have pulled the plug on the whole network within 24 hours! 

Yes, apples and oranges when pertaining to commercial TV vs. non-comm.  But both trees when viewed as consequences from making brave decisions.  Some had the gonads (WFTV - ABC affil in Orlando - comes to mind), but others just wanted to survive, job intact, to feed their families.  Simple as that.  :-/ 

FYI, WLBT-TV in Jackson, MS was the only station that overtly didn't care with what they were doing thus why the FCC revoked their owners (Lamar) at the time license to broadcast. 

Jackson's other station, WJTV channel 12, was even worse (their parent was the locally-owned Clarion-Ledger newspaper ... let's just say that a nickname given that rag in the '60s was "The Klan-Ledger", and leave it at that).  What WJTV didn't have was a flamboyant station manager who openly bragged about censoring network content on the fly.

United Church of Christ challenged the licenses of both WLBT and WJTV.  The difference?  WJTV got religion and toned down its behavior.  WLBT, otoh, was defiant.  There you go.

--Russell

 

[recto101]

(if any)

Can individual network affiliates drop the network shows and replace them with local content, or are they required to stick with the network schedule?

Local stations have a lot of latitude to pre-empt network programming when they want to. It is rare to find a station regularly pre-empting network programming, but it has happened. For several years in the 90s, Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA refused to run the show NYPD Blue. They aired some local programming and other syndicated shows instead. KTXA, an independent that was later affiliated with UPN, happily picked up the show and had solid numbers with it.

Other stations pre-empt network shows for sporting events.

These pre-emptions don't come without some downside for the affiliate. It can strain relations with the network if it happens too often. The network can sometimes require the station to air commercials to make up for the lost viewership and revenue the network suffered because of the preemption.

How About CBS O&O's that have a CW O&O's in their markets like KBCW and KPIX (CBS5) I notice that KPIX would move its Sunday afternoon childrens programming to the CW or re-air Eye on the Bay when KPIX has to air an NFL game from CBS during the season or any sporting event that is issued by CBS. But back in the 1990's KPIX pre-empted CBS programming for the Golden State Warriors when they were Group W owned.

Recto - Since KPIX is an O&O - they obviously have permission from the network to move programming around between KPIX and KBCW.


When you speak about "back in the 90s" (and before) - KPIX was an affiliate then - owned by Westinghouse. KPIX became an O&O backwards. What I mean by this is - CBS did not buy KPIX, rather Westinghouse bought CBS (in 1994, I think). Prior to that, KPIX typically pre-empted CBS programming - most notably The Price is Right to air their local talk show - People Are Talking. There were other examples.

They also notably pre-empted the CBS Movies, too - when they felt the subject matter was too violent. KPIX got a lot of press for pre-empting the network premiere of Death Wish (Charles Bronson) in the late 70s.

KRON did Pre-empt shows when they were an NBC Affialte for Oakland A's Games in the 1990's.
KTVU used to pre-Empt Fox Shows for Giants games up to 2008 or 2009 when KTVU management decided to air all the Fox shows because American Idol and So you think you can dance were big shows in that decade and they were airing Giants games from Fox Sports. Thats what caused KNTV to get the Giants games. I never heard of KGO-TV pre-empting shows since they are an ABC O&O. I''ve Only heard of ABC O&O's pre-empting network shows for breaking News like KABC has to air a Wildfire near the San Fernando valley or KGO airing the San Bruno Pipe explosion and verdicts in the Oscar Grant Trial and WABC for terrorist threats in NYC.

 

[bpatrick]

West Tennessee NBC viewers were screwed whether they received NBC from channel 5 in Memphis, or from WPSD channel 6 in Paducah, Kentucky. Channel 6 routinely bumped popular prime-time programming (including even The Cosby Show and other Thursday night hit programs) for University of Kentucky basketball.

I read somewhere that NBC sent WPSD a tape of a "Cosby Show" episode on nights that a game is scheduled for 7PM, which they would show BEFORE basketball at 6:30PM.

They did, indeed, "pre" air The Cosby Show at least once that I can recall. Believe me, it was well-promoted! I had always assumed that NBC had sent them an early feed of the show. The rest of their Thursday night line-up was bumped to overnight hours for VCR taping.

How did they get past the prime time access rule?

The rule did not apply to ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates outside the top 50 markets; even if it had, WPSD would have made it up with the first 30 minutes of the basketball telecast.

 

[bpatrick]

You are saying that them not air CBS News programs aren't a result of them not wanting to "hear the truth about their racist ways" back in then? Or ABC 33/40 (WBMA/WCFT/WJSU) not airing the "Puppy" episode of Ellen didn't reveal their ass-backwardness, either? Uh ok...

The "Ellen" incident occurred in the late '90s, past the scope of where I was going with my post. Matter of fact, at the time I wrote a newspaper column in a small town (Troy, Ala.) and I wrote a piece picking apart the hypocrisy of that programming call -- bringing up the trash-talk programs 33/40 aired at the time, saying "and they have the nerve to pick a bone with DeGeneres??" If a TV station wants to take a 'moral' stand, all and fine ... but at least be consistent about it.

Any case, I 'specialize' in RETRO Birmingham media, and 1998 is hardly retro. ;D

That said:

I'm quite familiar with the shuffling of the programming in the Birmingham market back in the 1950s-1970, but don't act like they were doing "just like many other markets in the South, was indeed guilty of letting the mentalities of the time play a role in program decisions".

There's no acting. It's the truth. Secondary network affils provided a nifty "cover" in most smaller markets. Birmingham was no exception. Some markets practiced it more often than others ... some less often, but there were those much worse than in Birmingham.

There are very few cases of these issues in Atlanta, Nashville, or New Orleans, Memphis, all prominent Deep Southern markets at the time. WBRC along with WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC, intentionally didn't air CBS News because it's shown how jacked up racial segregation was in the South. Hence, why both of them eventually changed to ABC affiliation now too soon afterwards.

As BPatrick has already pointed out, in WBRC's case it was a Taft-wide decision. This is discussed in Leonard Goldenson's early '90s book about ABC (a good read, if you can get hold of it). What I allude to in my website's TV history section is that Howard K. Smith's doc - "Who Speaks For Birmingham" - WAS indeed in the background. I do not cover this up, and will not dispute that within that Storer-designed building atop Red Mountain there WERE execs who wanted out of CBS for just those reasons. BUT: What I WILL deny that it was a flippant, rash decision made after the doc aired "HOW DARE THEY?!?! Jack, get Goldenson on the phone....."

However, it sounds like to me you are trying to down play bigotry so that these stations didn't look like spineless cowards they choose to be back then on programming racial integration or LGBTs.

False. I don't whitewash Birmingham's unfortunate past. Did spineless program decisions get made in Birmingham, Alabama? YES. Will I defend them? Mostly, no. (I say "mostly" because any TV station is going to go with the programs that get higher ratings ... 'tis what 'tis).

What I will defend is Birmingham, Alabama in general. It wasn't difficult to find places that made Birmingham look like a shining beacon of kum-ba-yah. Go to Mississippi, my friend. I lived there for a few years ... and made it out alive. ;-)

PS -- Did it occur to you that many programming folks in B'ham and elsewhere were in a very awkward situation? Just because they preempted a show doesn't mean they themselves were bigoted. Look no further than the flap involving Alabama's public TV network, which lost all of its licenses in the '70s due to racist program practices (they reapplied and were reinstated). One APTV official then was quoted as saying, "We had to sleep with George Wallace to survive the '60s." Had APTV aired some of the more controversial NET offerings in the '60s, the state legislature would have pulled the plug on the whole network within 24 hours!

Yes, apples and oranges when pertaining to commercial TV vs. non-comm. But both trees when viewed as consequences from making brave decisions. Some had the gonads (WFTV - ABC affil in Orlando - comes to mind), but others just wanted to survive, job intact, to feed their families. Simple as that. :-/

FYI, WLBT-TV in Jackson, MS was the only station that overtly didn't care with what they were doing thus why the FCC revoked their owners (Lamar) at the time license to broadcast.

Jackson's other station, WJTV channel 12, was even worse (their parent was the locally-owned Clarion-Ledger newspaper ... let's just say that a nickname given that rag in the '60s was "The Klan-Ledger", and leave it at that). What WJTV didn't have was a flamboyant station manager who openly bragged about censoring network content on the fly.

United Church of Christ challenged the licenses of both WLBT and WJTV. The difference? WJTV got religion and toned down its behavior. WLBT, otoh, was defiant. There you go.

--Russell

I might add that when Frank Reynolds became ABC's anchor in 1968, the network introduced a commentary segment. Some owners (including Taft) felt that Reynolds was too liberal; WBRC dropped ABC's newscast and substituted its own "World News"; WRAL switched to Huntley-Brinkley, and even in supposedly-more-tolerant Atlanta WQXI (WXIA) dropped the ABC newscast and started airing syndicated programs. Smith, by that time somewhat more conservative (he was a staunch Nixon supporter despite being the first network anchor to call for his resignation), was brought in to provide balance, but it wasn't until Harry Reasoner had replaced Reynolds and shamed the holdout affiliates that clearances began to pick up; nevertheless, as I have mentioned, WBRC and Flint's WJRT were the last stations to pick up ABC's newscast, in 1972.

But don't generalize about the South in the '60s. Take a small market like Greenville/New Bern/Washington: I remember only two programs that didn't air in pattern and both were delayed one hour: "Love Of Life" and Ted Mack's "Amateur Hour". Although Mack had endured some criticism about his use of black performers (as had Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen) some years earlier, WNCT delayed him because it ran movies from 4-6 on Sunday afternoons (and, BTW, WCFT/WJSU/WBMG carried "Amateur Hour" in pattern at 4:30 (CT) Sundays unless NBC had an AFC doubleheader); "Love Of Life" was delayed because the same station had a noon newscast, not for racial reasons. Indeed, the smaller markets (Knoxville and Chattanooga also come to mind) probably had a higher percentage of network shows airing in pattern than markets like Atlanta, Charlotte, or Tampa. Also, only three NBC stations in the South refused to air "I Spy," and one of them was in Orlando (Savannah and Albany, GA were the others)--you read right, "I Spy" was carried in both Birmingham and Jackson, despite an African-American co-star, Bill Cosby.

 

[kilamanjero]

You are saying that them not air CBS News programs aren't a result of them not wanting to "hear the truth about their racist ways" back in then? Or ABC 33/40 (WBMA/WCFT/WJSU) not airing the "Puppy" episode of Ellen didn't reveal their ass-backwardness, either? Uh ok...

The "Ellen" incident occurred in the late '90s, past the scope of where I was going with my post. Matter of fact, at the time I wrote a newspaper column in a small town (Troy, Ala.) and I wrote a piece picking apart the hypocrisy of that programming call -- bringing up the trash-talk programs 33/40 aired at the time, saying "and they have the nerve to pick a bone with DeGeneres??" If a TV station wants to take a 'moral' stand, all and fine ... but at least be consistent about it.

Any case, I 'specialize' in RETRO Birmingham media, and 1998 is hardly retro. ;D

That said:

I'm quite familiar with the shuffling of the programming in the Birmingham market back in the 1950s-1970, but don't act like they were doing "just like many other markets in the South, was indeed guilty of letting the mentalities of the time play a role in program decisions".

There's no acting. It's the truth. Secondary network affils provided a nifty "cover" in most smaller markets. Birmingham was no exception. Some markets practiced it more often than others ... some less often, but there were those much worse than in Birmingham.

There are very few cases of these issues in Atlanta, Nashville, or New Orleans, Memphis, all prominent Deep Southern markets at the time. WBRC along with WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC, intentionally didn't air CBS News because it's shown how jacked up racial segregation was in the South. Hence, why both of them eventually changed to ABC affiliation now too soon afterwards.

As BPatrick has already pointed out, in WBRC's case it was a Taft-wide decision. This is discussed in Leonard Goldenson's early '90s book about ABC (a good read, if you can get hold of it). What I allude to in my website's TV history section is that Howard K. Smith's doc - "Who Speaks For Birmingham" - WAS indeed in the background. I do not cover this up, and will not dispute that within that Storer-designed building atop Red Mountain there WERE execs who wanted out of CBS for just those reasons. BUT: What I WILL deny that it was a flippant, rash decision made after the doc aired "HOW DARE THEY?!?! Jack, get Goldenson on the phone....."

However, it sounds like to me you are trying to down play bigotry so that these stations didn't look like spineless cowards they choose to be back then on programming racial integration or LGBTs.

False. I don't whitewash Birmingham's unfortunate past. Did spineless program decisions get made in Birmingham, Alabama? YES. Will I defend them? Mostly, no. (I say "mostly" because any TV station is going to go with the programs that get higher ratings ... 'tis what 'tis).

What I will defend is Birmingham, Alabama in general. It wasn't difficult to find places that made Birmingham look like a shining beacon of kum-ba-yah. Go to Mississippi, my friend. I lived there for a few years ... and made it out alive. ;-)

PS -- Did it occur to you that many programming folks in B'ham and elsewhere were in a very awkward situation? Just because they preempted a show doesn't mean they themselves were bigoted. Look no further than the flap involving Alabama's public TV network, which lost all of its licenses in the '70s due to racist program practices (they reapplied and were reinstated). One APTV official then was quoted as saying, "We had to sleep with George Wallace to survive the '60s." Had APTV aired some of the more controversial NET offerings in the '60s, the state legislature would have pulled the plug on the whole network within 24 hours!

Yes, apples and oranges when pertaining to commercial TV vs. non-comm. But both trees when viewed as consequences from making brave decisions. Some had the gonads (WFTV - ABC affil in Orlando - comes to mind), but others just wanted to survive, job intact, to feed their families. Simple as that. :-/

FYI, WLBT-TV in Jackson, MS was the only station that overtly didn't care with what they were doing thus why the FCC revoked their owners (Lamar) at the time license to broadcast.

Jackson's other station, WJTV channel 12, was even worse (their parent was the locally-owned Clarion-Ledger newspaper ... let's just say that a nickname given that rag in the '60s was "The Klan-Ledger", and leave it at that). What WJTV didn't have was a flamboyant station manager who openly bragged about censoring network content on the fly.

United Church of Christ challenged the licenses of both WLBT and WJTV. The difference? WJTV got religion and toned down its behavior. WLBT, otoh, was defiant. There you go.

--Russell

Doesn't matter, what went on in Jackson, it's never been a large Southern market. Last time I remember the "Puppy" episode was in 1997, which was 13 years ago, so it is pushing into the "retro" territory. My point is Birmingham was a prominent Southern market like Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis during the 1960s. Birmingham was the already in the spotlight in addition to it size but also being the home of some of the major battles of the Civil Rights Movement. Yet there was ignorance being perpetuated all the way into the 1990s.

 

[JeeperOne]

I'd say if your station was not an O & O, you could do what you wanted!!

And even if they were, they could pre-empt a network program occasionally for a local special or something -- I knew that WXYZ Detroit, in their days as an O&O, would bump a network show for a locally-produced special. And in 1975, WXYZ bumped the last week of "You Don't Say" to show the last week of CBS's "The Edge of Night" before it moved to ABC, when WJBK bumped the program due to CBS's cancellation.

That's interesting about Detroit.

In Miami, on Jan. 1, 1989, WTVJ became an NBC O&O. "Super Password", which was not shown here, *still* wasn't, as WTVJ ran news at noon (noon was the time "Super Password" was on). I think I called WTVJ about that...can't remember the response, but I had always thought that O&O's were at the network's mercy....apparently not so.

cd

Back when KCNC 4 was an NBC O&O, they pre-empted the following shows.....

THE DOCTORS Which they hadn't aired since the mid 1970s pre-O&O days (Last national timeslot after conversion - 10:00 AM)

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW They dropped this show shortly after it moved from CBS (Last national timeslot after conversion - 10:30 AM)

FANTASY This show never aired in Denver

SANTA BARBARA Only briefly (But once the show began to take off, they began carrying it in the AM before later moving it to afternoons)

Pre-emptions & non-clearances from the other stations include.....

KMGH 7 (CBS)

Tattletales No room on the station schedule (Although they could find room to air such shows as CHiPS Patrol at 3:00 PM)

The Bold & The Beautiful Only briefly & shortly after the show came on the air

KUSA 9 (ABC)

Loving No idea why they dropped this show in the mid-late 1980s (KMGH 7 picked up the show on a one day delay at 10:00 AM after they signed with ABC)

Cheers

 

[Drucifer]

WSB TV in Atlanta was notorius for doing this and still does today. Usually they produce "Monica Kaufman's Closeups" which was a rip off of Barbara Walters interview shows. And it seems to happen quite often over the last 30 years.

The power of Cox Enterprises at WSB is strong.

Also, WAGA TV used to pre-empt Good Times back in the 70's due to the controversal nature of the show back then.

That's what happens when you are controlled by a bunch of COX! :

 

[Marckd]

In Denver, KCNC, I believe ran NBC's entire schedule once it became an O & O. Prior to 1994 Netywork affiliates could preempt anything they wanted. High rated shows in a market were safe. But if a show had marginal ratings and the affiliate had soemthing they felt fit better, they would preempt. Also some prime time nights affiliates would preempt a set of low rated shows for a movie or a local special. Since the mid 90's, preemptions went down significantly.

Today the only sure preemptions are for local news emergencies. Other regular preemptions still happen but they are few and far between among stations.

Some O & O Preemptions I recall - In Philadelphia Channel 10 WCAU as a CBS O & O preempted half an hour of Sunday morning kid show reruns out of the hour they aired from 1977 to 78 and from 1978 to 79 preempted an hour of Saturday Morning Cartoons for the Sunday reruns.

Once Capital Cities bought ABC their previously owned affiliates prior to the sale continued to preempt an hour of the ABC Daytime lineup for local or syndicated fare. These Network shows were usually talk, game shows, or reruns of their prime time sitcoms.

I also recall that when Fox Bought New WOrld they continued not running Fox Kids on all but 2 stations and a couple Fox O & O's dropped Fox Kids as well. Fox stated Fox Kids was not a part of teh Fox Network but a seperate syndicated block of shows. In all but a couple instances an independent station (usually UPN or WB affiliated) took Fox Kids.

Another preemption was Guiding Light in Sacramento. Actually 10 KXTV was the CBS affiliate that began that in 1992 and they were owned by Belo. When CBS moved to KOVR then locally owned and ABC moved to KXTV which since was sold to gannett, KOVR continued its preemption of Guiding Light. Then when River City bought KOVR, in 1996 preemptions continued of Guiding Light. Then when River City merged with Sinclair soon after, preemptions continued. Then in 2005, CBS itself bought KOVR and still they refused to carry Guiding Light. They even owned a UPN and later CW affiliated independent station KMAX 30 and still did not even move Guiding Light there. So even as an O & O in Sacramento 13 KOVR did not air Guiding Light and most thought they would eventually. The show was then canceled in 1009 anyway. Today they run the entire CBS Schedule.

In that city, 2 stations, 5 owners, over 4 general managers, and half a dozen program directors with distinct phillosophies came to the same conclusion about Guiding Light. All concluded ratings would be so low that its not worth clearing and they all predicted eventual cancelation which did happen. Even CBS which owned the station did not compel KOVR to carry Guiding Light even on their independent station KMAX. I think CBS knew by 2005 they were dumping the show anyway which they did in 3 and a half years.

 

[BMR]

Thanks for the interesting replies to this.

In the UK ITV had a lot of local variations and opt-outs in the 1970s and 1980s, and well into the 1990s. A massive thread on it here http://www.tvforum.co.uk/tvhome/itv-regional-variations-70s-80s-30164/ but the daytime schedules (both weekday and weekend) varied massively from region to region, as did some of the late night stuff. From 7-10pm there was less variation, but still the odd change here and there.

By the 00s pretty much the whole of ITV was singing from the same sheet, apart from local news and the odd local magazine show (usually broadcast at 7.30 on a Tuesday while BBC1 was showing a top rated soap). Very recently there has been a trend for ITV Scotland to occasionally opt out of the main feed again, although nothing like the amount of opting out that took place 30 years ago. England and Wales are pretty much the same all over now.

BBC never had as much local opt out, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have some of their own shows- in particular BBC Scotland shows a soap 'River City' in primetime. It has a cult following elsewhere in the UK via satelite as you can get any local variation you want on a satellite dish.

Channel Four never had any local opt out that I am aware of. In Wales a Welsh language station broadcast in the place of Channel Four. Welsh viewers could not get channel four until the recent switch to digital.

 

[recto101]

WSB TV in Atlanta was notorius for doing this and still does today. Usually they produce "Monica Kaufman's Closeups" which was a rip off of Barbara Walters interview shows. And it seems to happen quite often over the last 30 years.

The power of Cox Enterprises at WSB is strong.

Also, WAGA TV used to pre-empt Good Times back in the 70's due to the controversal nature of the show back then.

That's what happens when you are controlled by a bunch of COX! :

Good one

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I also recall that when Fox Bought New WOrld they continued not running Fox Kids on all but 2 stations and a couple Fox O & O's dropped Fox Kids as well. Fox stated Fox Kids was not a part of teh Fox Network but a seperate syndicated block of shows. In all but a couple instances an independent station (usually UPN or WB affiliated) took Fox Kids.

I can confirm this here: When the Fox affiliation moved from WOIO/19 to WJW/8 in the New World deal, Fox Kids ended up on WB affiliate WBNX/55...which continued to run it as a CW affiliate until the block went away.

Fox bought WJW shortly after New World made it a Fox affiliate (as with the other New World stations), and did not pick up Fox Kids, leaving it to WBNX.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I'm pretty sure a network will not actually pull an affiliation in-contract for large amounts of preemptions.

However, that could well decrease a station's chance of keeping the affiliation at renewal time. particularly if there's a better option for the network in the market.

 

[JeeperOne]

In Denver, KCNC, I believe ran NBC's entire schedule once it became an O & O. Prior to 1994 Netywork affiliates could preempt anything they wanted.

They did once Santa Barbara proved that it was going to be a force to be reckoned with (Unlike Search For Tomorrow which they poo-pooed on by not clearing it shortly after the move from CBS & The Doctors which they never resumed carriage of when they did finally become an O&O back in 1981)

Today the only sure preemptions are for local news emergencies. Other regular preemptions still happen but they are few and far between among stations.

Unless you're in SoCal which no doubt interrupts programming for police chases, such emergencies would be the caliber of the Columbine Shooting.

BTW.....KMAX is on virtual 31 & not 30 as you mentioned (30 could still be the RF channel though)

Cheers

 

[cd637299]

In late 1988 when WTVJ Miami was purchased by NBC, they were still running CBS until the official switch....and WTVJ ran Santa Barbara in the interim.

cd

 

[recto101]

In Denver, KCNC, I believe ran NBC's entire schedule once it became an O & O. Prior to 1994 Netywork affiliates could preempt anything they wanted.

They did once Santa Barbara proved that it was going to be a force to be reckoned with (Unlike Search For Tomorrow which they poo-pooed on by not clearing it shortly after the move from CBS & The Doctors which they never resumed carriage of when they did finally become an O&O back in 1981)

Today the only sure preemptions are for local news emergencies. Other regular preemptions still happen but they are few and far between among stations.

Unless you're in SoCal which no doubt interrupts programming for police chases, such emergencies would be the caliber of the Columbine Shooting.

BTW.....KMAX is on virtual 31 & not 30 as you mentioned (30 could still be the RF channel though)

Cheers

I noticed that in some markets San Diego, LA, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston I heard about these cities airing car chases often.

 

[Drucifer]

Houston leads the nation in car chases and yes, KTRK is ABC's O/O here and they LOVE getting their "owned" chopper up to cover the craziness!

 

[bpatrick]

WSB TV in Atlanta was notorius for doing this and still does today. Usually they produce "Monica Kaufman's Closeups" which was a rip off of Barbara Walters interview shows. And it seems to happen quite often over the last 30 years.

The power of Cox Enterprises at WSB is strong.

Also, WAGA TV used to pre-empt Good Times back in the 70's due to the controversal nature of the show back then.

That's what happens when you are controlled by a bunch of COX! :

Good one

I was in the Atlanta market virtually the entire time "Good Times" was on CBS and don't recall WAGA pre-empting it on a regular basis; in fact, once it went into syndicated reruns, Ch. 5 carried it at 4 PM for several years.

My local ABC station now, WTVD/11, has been an ABC o&o since 1985, and it used to pre-empt "Ryan's Hope" in favor of news at noon (the previous ABC affiliate, WRAL, ran "RH" on a day-behind at 11:30 AM); it also aired the 12-1 PM part of ABC's Saturday-morning lineup on a week-behind from 7-8 AM in order to carry "Soul Train".