Reasons for stations switching affiliations

[Charles1]

WCOV/20 Montgomery, AL (from CBS)

Actually, WCOV went independent on 1/1/86 (I think that's the date) when WSLA-8 became WAKA and moved its transmitter from Selma to a location closer to Montgomery. Channel 20 was an independent until Fox made its debut with the Late Show in the fall of '86.

 

[rwells2265]

Actually, WCOV went independent on 1/1/86 (I think that's the date) when WSLA-8 became WAKA and moved its transmitter from Selma to a location closer to Montgomery. Channel 20 was an independent until Fox made its debut with the Late Show in the fall of '86.

I'm not sure on the exact date WCOV-20 had CBS yanked from it, but as I understand it there was a short period of OVERLAP, as in Montgomery having two (!) CBS affils. At the time I was in college in N.E. Ark., but my grandmother was living in Troy. In a letter around the end of '85 or beginning of '86, she was telling me about how Troy's cable system had just added WAKA-8, and how strange she thought it was to have two CBS stations coming from the same city.

--Russell

 

[bpatrick]

Birmingham, Ala.: WBRC-6 flipped from CBS to ABC in March of 1961. Then WAPI-13 (now WVTM) went from NBC primary/ABC secondary to dual NBC/CBS primary affiliation, which it retained until 1970.

There are two theories:
1) in the 1991 bio of former ABC chair Leonard Goldenson, mention was made of a close relationship with Taft Broadcasting (which owned WBRC). Taft was said to have aligned all their stations with ABC in the process.

2) CBS' newscasts and documentaries were taking a very pro-Civil rights tone, at odds with those in the region who cherished, ummmm, "their way of life." There's no solid evidence that WBRC changed to ABC due to CBS' increasing civil rights coverage, but the overall environment of the time would suggest that if/when Taft made such a decision, channel 6 probably didn't raise a peep in opposition.

In the book The Race Beat by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, they say WBRC "dropped its CBS affiliation" in the wake of Howard K. Smith's documentary "Who Speaks for Birmingham?" which aired in May 1961.

Funny, I've seen a copy of the WBRC-TV affiliation contract with ABC, and it's effective March 1, 1961. Hmmmm.....

*********
It's been mentioned before, way back - probably before the big change/board split, but WBRC is the only station in the country that I know of which has been primary affiliates of all four major networks over its history. NBC (1949-53); CBS (1953-61); ABC (1961-95); Fox (1995-today).

However, the wacky Birmingham network scheme 1965-1970 is another issue entirely.

--Russell

I did a check of The Birmingham News. "Who Speaks For Birmingham?"
aired on "CBS Reports" at 9 PM (Central) Thursday, May 18, 1961, and WBRC carried it at that time. I did notice that Channel 6 did not air "CBS Reports" the following week, substituting a couple of syndicated shows whose names I didn't think to write down.

WBRC did not become an ABC affiliate until September 1, 1961. I wasn't
able to find out when the contract was signed; it's possible that the contract
was signed on or about March 1 (WSB signed with ABC the first week in June 1980 but, theoretically, WXIA could have held ABC until its contract ran out on December 5), and that CBS wouldn't let Channel 6 out of the contract before then.
That is just speculation. Perhaps when time permits I can spend more time going
through the newspapers or Variety from the period. What I do know is that WBRC was a CBS affiliate through the summer of 1961.

Until then, all I have to go on is Howard K. Smith's assertion that WBRC dropped
CBS over "Who Speaks For Birmingham?" and that other Southern CBS affiliates
threatened to switch networks; also, Taft did switch WKRC Cincinnati and WKYT Lexington, KY, from CBS to ABC around the same time WBRC switched.

For the record, "Who Speaks For Birmingham?" aired on two of the four CBS affiliates here in North Carolina in 1961: WFMY Greensboro and WBTV Charlotte.
The others, WNCT Greenville/New Bern/Washington and WTVD Raleigh/Durham, didn't carry "CBS Reports." Of the four, only WTVD is no longer a CBS affiliate, and that's only because it's an ABC o&o.

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

When Westinghouse acquired CBS, Group W stations which were not CBS affiliates already switched to CBS (setting off a series of switches in those markets). Baltimore (cited above) was one instance.

Three others I can think of offhand are these....

DENVER

KCNC 4 (NBC To CBS)*
KMGH 7 (CBS To ABC)**
KUSA 9 (ABC To NBC)

* KCNC went from being an NBC O&O to becoming a CBS O&O

** KMGH 7 owner McGraw Hill balked at an NBC affiliation for KMGH 7 because they wanted to have the option to air Cheers (A sitcom they later, and ironically, let the broadcast rights go to KUSA 9) at 10:35 PM (Something NBC was not willing to let them do) and the company didn't even have an NBC affiliate in their portfolio (They still don't today)

PHILADELPHIA

KYW 3 (NBC To CBS)
WCAU 10 (CBS To NBC)

Both are still network O&O's.

SALT LAKE CITY

KUTV 2 (NBC To CBS)
KSL 5 (CBS To NBC)

Cheers

 

[genius]

** KMGH 7 owner McGraw Hill balked at an NBC affiliation for KMGH 7 because they wanted to have the option to air Cheers (A sitcom they later, and ironically, let the broadcast rights go to KUSA 9) at 10:35 PM (Something NBC was not willing to let them do) and the company didn't even have an NBC affiliate in their portfolio (They still don't today)

Well I'm not quite sure about that one. McGraw Hill struck a deal with ABC as soon as word had it that NBC was going to sell KCNC to CBS, but I don't remember there was ever a conflict of programming during the Denver swap. But then again, I was shocked over being layed off from KCNC with the sell and looking to flee, so I wasn't paying much attention that summer.

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

I'n not sure what's happened with KMGH/ABC, although I can imagine that KMGH is no longer 3rd, maybe.

One small correction here. They're still in third place. But their news is A LOT better than it was 10 years ago (Remember NATALIE PUJO??).

With KCNC following the CBS mandate they have really changed. Their sets went from 1st-rate to 12th-rate. The hours of news KCNC use to produce has been dramtically reduced. Yet the still have some longtime anchors on the air. So did they change for better or for worse? That is a question I really can't answer.

On top of that, they're now calling themselves CBS4NEWS instead of using the NEWS4 moniker that made them so popular. It just DRIVES ME UP THE WALLS when I hear it.

There was an almost change a couple years later with KWGN and KDVR. You see Fox use to want KWGN badly for their successful news operation, but KWGN(a superstation and powerhouse even after becoming WB) wouldn't budge. Only a few years ago did Fox finally give up their KWGN dream and began a news operation for KDVR.

Ohh...So THIS is how FOX became so interested in setting up a news operation in Denver, eh? I just thought they put news on KDVR because it was THE ONLY O&O that aired the FOX network that didn't have a news department. I had no idea they tried to go after KWGN 2. As the average viewer, I didn't hear about that.

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

** KMGH 7 owner McGraw Hill balked at an NBC affiliation for KMGH 7 because they wanted to have the option to air Cheers (A sitcom they later, and ironically, let the broadcast rights go to KUSA 9) at 10:35 PM (Something NBC was not willing to let them do) and the company didn't even have an NBC affiliate in their portfolio (They still don't today)

Well I'm not quite sure about that one. McGraw Hill struck a deal with ABC as soon as word had it that NBC was going to sell KCNC to CBS, but I don't remember there was ever a conflict of programming during the Denver swap. But then again, I was shocked over being layed off from KCNC with the sell and looking to flee, so I wasn't paying much attention that summer.

Dusty Saunders has mentioned it in his column on quite a few occasions because if I remember right (And I'm pretty certain about this), KMGH 7, then the CBS affiliate, had the local rights to Cheers and they aired it at 10:35 PM (Which made them quite competitive with KUSA 9, which had M*A*S*H on at the time in the same slot and both were quite popular with late-night viewers if I'm not mistaken).

Plus I think KMGH 7 might've been their only CBS affiliate too (Though I could be wrong on that).

Cheers

 

[genius]

Ohh...So THIS is how FOX became so interested in setting up a news operation in Denver, eh? I just thought they put news on KDVR because it was THE ONLY O&O that aired the FOX network that didn't have a news department. I had no idea they tried to go after KWGN 2. As the average viewer, I didn't hear about that.

You bet. In fact Fox had been somewhat of a pestering bug to KWGN ever since 1986 when Fox first made an offer to them, and ended up settling for the only other option, KDVR(this was before the advent of KTVD). It's always nice to have a little inside infomation, isn't it?

Dusty Saunders has mentioned it in his column on quite a few occasions because if I remember right (And I'm pretty certain about this), KMGH 7, then the CBS affiliate, had the local rights to Cheers and they aired it at 10:35 PM (Which made them quite competitive with KUSA 9, which had M*A*S*H on at the time in the same slot and both were quite popular with late-night viewers if I'm not mistaken).

Plus I think KMGH 7 might've been their only CBS affiliate too (Though I could be wrong on that).

Thanks for clearing that up...like I said I didn't remember any big conflicts of programming. I think McGraw Hill had another another CBS station, but with that deal they made it turned ABC as well. Don't quote me on that though. It was just a real messy time for broadcasting with the New World deal, the Westinghouse stuff, Scripps blackmailing ABC, and other random switches. Denver is remarkable in that all big three stations flipped their affliations...I can't imagine how much channel flipping to find the right channel occurred the night of day one, although I think it was well advertised that the switch would be occurring.

Although I don't want to speculate, but I bet if the Westinghouse deal occurred after the '96 Telecom Act, there would have been no swapping involved with the rules the new law set in place (12 O&Os to 39%)

 

[ShawnHill1]

Thanks for clearing that up...like I said I didn't remember any big conflicts of programming. I think McGraw Hill had another another CBS station, but with that deal they made it turned ABC as well. Don't quote me on that though. It was just a real messy time for broadcasting with the New World deal, the Westinghouse stuff, Scripps blackmailing ABC, and other random switches. Denver is remarkable in that all big three stations flipped their affliations...I can't imagine how much channel flipping to find the right channel occurred the night of day one, although I think it was well advertised that the switch would be occurring.

Although I don't want to speculate, but I bet if the Westinghouse deal occurred after the '96 Telecom Act, there would have been no swapping involved with the rules the new law set in place (12 O&Os to 39%)

The other CBS affiliate that McGraw-Hill owned (and still does today) is Bakersfield, California's KERO. KERO swapped affiliations with KBAK for ABC (KBAK getting CBS) around the same time as the Denver Swap. KGTV San Diego and WRTV Indianapolis were already with ABC (since the 1970's, and were NBC stations before then). The Bakersfield affiliation swaps are interesting in themselves. It seemed like since television came there in the 1950s, their Big Three of KGET (17), KERO (23), and KBAK (29) were with all of the Big Three network at one point in time (except 29; see below)...

Channel 17 (began in 1959): ABC to CBS (1974) to NBC (since 1984)
Channel 23 (began in 1953 on Ch. 10, moved to 23 in 1963): NBC to CBS (1984) to ABC (since 1996)
Channel 29 (began in 1953) CBS to ABC (1974), back to CBS (since 1996)

 

[only1moore]

Let's not forget Spokane, where CBS pulled its affiliation from KXLY-4 and gave it to KREM-2 in 1976. ABC of course was picked up by KXLY afterwards.

 

[desertv]

Hi everyone:

When Westinghouse acquired CBS, Group W stations which were not CBS affiliates already switched to CBS (setting off a series of switches in those markets). Baltimore (cited above) was one instance.

Three others I can think of offhand are these....

DENVER

KCNC 4 (NBC To CBS)*
KMGH 7 (CBS To ABC)**
KUSA 9 (ABC To NBC)

* KCNC went from being an NBC O&O to becoming a CBS O&O

** KMGH 7 owner McGraw Hill balked at an NBC affiliation for KMGH 7 because they wanted to have the option to air Cheers (A sitcom they later, and ironically, let the broadcast rights go to KUSA 9) at 10:35 PM (Something NBC was not willing to let them do) and the company didn't even have an NBC affiliate in their portfolio (They still don't today)

PHILADELPHIA

KYW 3 (NBC To CBS)
WCAU 10 (CBS To NBC)

Both are still network O&O's.

SALT LAKE CITY

KUTV 2 (NBC To CBS)
KSL 5 (CBS To NBC)

Cheers

On Salt Lake, KSL frequently preempted CBS programming (Remember that they are owned by a company owned by the LDS), thus the Big Eye was happy with the switch.

 

[bpatrick]

And I believe KSL is the only NBC affiliate
that pre-empts "Saturday Night Live," since
the Mormon church finds much of its content
offensive.

 

[Ultimajock]

And I believe KSL is the only NBC affiliate
that pre-empts "Saturday Night Live," since
the Mormon church finds much of its content
offensive.

...as they did the animated "God, The Devil and Bob" a few years back -- that one they let run on KJZZ/14, as I recall. WNDU/16 in South Bend, owned by Notre Dame University, also refused that show...

 

[arnoldevns]

Here's a little historical perspective that can explain most affiliation changes over the years.

In the 1950s there were 4 networks battling over 3 stations in most markets. That meant that Dumont or ABC was secondary on one station in each market. When Dumont went away, there was some shifting of affiliations as the 3 remaining networks tried to shore up their station lineups across the country. In most cases that meant that NBC and CBS had the pick of the litter.

UHF stations had a hard time competing in most markets until the mid-70s. That didn't stop many from trying and failing as network affiliates during the 60s and 70s. When these stations came and went, they changed the affiliation lineups in many markets.

As ABC finally became competitive in the 70s, it was able to steal away affiliates from the two more established networks in some markets.

The 80s saw an explosion in the number of stations on the air and the elimination of dual affiliations in most markets. When Fox came on the air in the mid 80s, it was primarily composed of independent stations and did not have an immediate impact on the big 3 network affiliation lineups.

That started to change in the early 90s when the networks started to buy more stations and changed a few affiliations in a few markets. The Fox/New World deal in 1993 started the biggest change of network affiliations ever. Stations in dozens of markets changed networks over the course of a few years.

The addition of UPN/WB and Pax in the mid to late 90s added secondary affiliations to some of the big 4 affiliates, but was still mostly comprised of previously independent stations. The UPN/WB and former Pax stations all changed affilations when UPN/WB merged to create CW and Fox created My Network.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Here's a little historical perspective that can explain most affiliation changes over the years.

In the 1950s there were 4 networks battling over 3 stations in most markets. That meant that Dumont or ABC was secondary on one station in each market. When Dumont went away, there was some shifting of affiliations as the 3 remaining networks tried to shore up their station lineups across the country. In most cases that meant that NBC and CBS had the pick of the litter.

UHF stations had a hard time competing in most markets until the mid-70s. That didn't stop many from trying and failing as network affiliates during the 60s and 70s. When these stations came and went, they changed the affiliation lineups in many markets.

As ABC finally became competitive in the 70s, it was able to steal away affiliates from the two more established networks in some markets.

The 80s saw an explosion in the number of stations on the air and the elimination of dual affiliations in most markets. When Fox came on the air in the mid 80s, it was primarily composed of independent stations and did not have an immediate impact on the big 3 network affiliation lineups.

That started to change in the early 90s when the networks started to buy more stations and changed a few affiliations in a few markets. The Fox/New World deal in 1993 started the biggest change of network affiliations ever. Stations in dozens of markets changed networks over the course of a few years.

The addition of UPN/WB and Pax in the mid to late 90s added secondary affiliations to some of the big 4 affiliates, but was still mostly comprised of previously independent stations. The UPN/WB and former Pax stations all changed affilations when UPN/WB merged to create CW and Fox created My Network.

Very true, and in many ways, it also explains why many network-affiliated stations delayed or dropped some of their network's shows. With so many shows and stations to go around, ultimately each station has to make the best programming and financial decision for them, because syndicated and locally-produced shows (for the most part) bring in more revenue than something from the networks. Of course, looking at these programming schedules from various markets over the years, on the local level, it seems more like the schedules were made on the personal tastes of station management over what the viewers truly want. Nowadays, programming decisions are made more on the corporate level, as opposed to the local program directors. Why else wasn't American Bandstand (as an example) seen in Houston and Dallas on the local ABCs, when by the early 1970s, each market had two indies they could go to for network leftovers?

If more and more indepedent stations were on the air eariler on, I would be safe to say that the network preemptions in many of these markets were would be very minimal at best. Hell, some mid-sized to smaller markets like San Antonio, Richmond, ABQ-Santa Fe, Madison, Salt Lake City, Raleigh-Durham, and Providence didn't get their first indepedent stations until the mid to late 70s to the mid-80s. As far as programming is concern, it's basically a matter of supply and demand.

 

[bpatrick]

If you go back to the schedule of one-station
markets in the early '50s, if the station was
carrying all four networks, there are some things
that seem strange by today's standards.

For my text I use a station in my neck of the
woods: WFMY/2 Greensboro, NC, a CBS primary
affiliate in the early days that signed on in 1949
and carried all four networks until WSJS (WXII)/12
signed on in 1953 and took NBC.

Prior to '53, WFMY chose NBC's Voice Of Firestone
over CBS's Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (number
one or close to it in those days) on Mondays at 8:30.
Both programs were simulcast; Greensboro had a
CBS radio affiliate but not an NBC, which may explain
why Channel 2 ran Firestone. But Firestone, although
it had its merits as a good-music show, was a rather
boring show to watch.

On Sundays at 8, Channel 2 picked NBC's Colgate
Comedy Hour over CBS's Toast Of The Town (The Ed
Sullivan Show, if you prefer). Maybe it was the presence
of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on Colgate that swung the
decision.

And maybe if I'd been around then I might understand.
But both decisions seem odd to me in 2007.

As for American Bandstand, I lived in Dallas from 1976-79,
and we had just two independents: KTVT/11 and KXTX/39.
The latter was owned by Pat Robertson then, so dancing was
virtually out of the question. Channel 11 did a lot of public-
affairs programming on Saturday mornings (Bandstand was
on at 11:30 AM Central) and probably wouldn't have risked
the FCC brownie points.

 

[jwgreek8606]

Anyone know why KXTV and KOVR in Sacramento switched that's what I've been wondering

 

[LKellerIII]

I don't know the reason for the Sacramento switch, but it may be similar to San Diego. In the mid-70s, ABC became the number 1 network (think Happy Days, Laverne & Shirely, Kotter, etc.) and NBC had dropped to a distant 3rd. In San Diego, KOGO-TV 10 had been the NBC affiliate, but seized the opportunity to become an affiliate of the more popular network. It was probably an advantage for ABC too, since their programming had been run on XETV 6 out of Tijuana, Mexico. NBC ended up on a UHF station, and XETV became independent - now FOX, naturally.

I've wondered if the owners of KOGO-TV (KGTV for many years now) regretted this decision a few years later when NBC became number 1.

 

[bpatrick]

I wonder how many NBC affiliates that switched
to ABC, in general, felt about NBC's becoming
number one in the '80s? Two that I think should
have really rued the day they switched are KSTP/5
in the Twin Cities and WRTV/6 Indianapolis. In
Minneapolis/St. Paul KARE/11 became a factor in
prime time and at 10 PM (not so much so in daytime),
and in Indy WTHR/13 finally became competitive, not
the case when it was with ABC.

A few actually went back to NBC in the '80s, such
as WSAV/3 Savannah, KOMU/8 Columbia/Jefferson
City, MO, KTVE/10 Monroe, LA/El Dorado, AR, and
WTLV/12 Jacksonville, FL.

 

[dhett]

I don't know the reason for the Sacramento switch, but it may be similar to San Diego. In the mid-70s, ABC became the number 1 network (think Happy Days, Laverne & Shirely, Kotter, etc.) and NBC had dropped to a distant 3rd. In San Diego, KOGO-TV 10 had been the NBC affiliate, but seized the opportunity to become an affiliate of the more popular network. It was probably an advantage for ABC too, since their programming had been run on XETV 6 out of Tijuana, Mexico. NBC ended up on a UHF station, and XETV became independent - now FOX, naturally.

That was also the reason in 1989, when in Rochester NY, WHEC-TV took the NBC affiliation away from WROC. NBC was then the #1 network, plus they had AFC football, meaning the NBC affiliate in Rochester got to broadcast Buffalo Bills football, just in time for their Super Bowl run. WROC had to settle for CBS, which I think was the #3 network at the time. It was actually fitting - WROC was a mess then (and still is). Ironically, CBS has AFC football now, so the Bills are back on WROC.