WHDH bumping Leno's new show, will air news at 10:00

[TheRob]

Are any other NBC affils doing the same thing?


[url]http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/04/channel_7_no_le.html [/url]

 

[daryll]

This is great. I hope WHDH does preempt Leno at 10 and it would be awesome if more stations did the same. The networks are so pompous about local affiliates preempting their sacred line-ups. NBC seems to be headed down the same lackluster road they travelled in the late 70's and early 80's. Go Ed Ansin!

 

[stationi]

By the way, NBC is pissed:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/191207-WHDH_Says_It_Won_t_Run_Leno_.php

NBC fired back, Network TV President John Eck saying: "WHDH's move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC. If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC owned and operated station."

The existing license NBC mentions is likely WWDP which they own 38%. WWDP has permission to move to channel 10 in Boston, could Boston be getting NBC 10 and NBCBoston.com?

This is intriguing.

EDIT: I forgot that NBC also owns WNEU and could perhaps move the Telemundo programming to a subchannel.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Is WHDH TRYING to get out of its NBC affiliation, and jump the sinking ship that has been Zucker-era NBC? According to the article, they're going to simulcast the news on WLVI, which makes no sense and means they're not just going to move Leno to WLVI, and they first wanted to air Leno at 11 but aren't going to air it at all, which sounds like trying to bait NBC and piss off viewers; why not just air it at 10:35?

The "existing broadcast licence", per Wikipedia, could also be Telemundo sort-of-O&O WNEU 60, which would be a terrible move; not only having to brand a station with such a high channel number (or just "NBC Boston") but starting a newsroom from scratch (or going the WWJ-TV route). Not to mention it's technically a New Hampshire station and NBC would be joining MyNet as major networks imported from NH. Even WWDP would probably have to operate with a PSIP of 46 (making it harder to brand as NBC 10) and start a newsroom from scratch. (Sloppy reporting from both the Globe and B&C not to clarify in my view.) I see WHDH taking the ABC affiliation from WCVB and NBC swooping in on channel 5. The other two network affiliates are O&Os; HDH would probably prefer taking the Fox affiliation but I don't think that's going to happen. HDH could also try going the independent route or even moving the CW to channel 7, or angling for the MyNet affiliation. If that were to happen then yes, NBC would be stuck starting their own station (unless as part of the deal, Sunbeam agreed to sell WLVI to NBC).

 

[imhomerjay]

This is great. I hope WHDH does preempt Leno at 10 and it would be awesome if more stations did the same. The networks are so pompous about local affiliates preempting their sacred line-ups. NBC seems to be headed down the same lackluster road they travelled in the late 70's and early 80's. Go Ed Ansin!

Pompous about things called contracts? Yeah, probably so. It's their money on the line, too, so it's understandably a point of contention. If, in fact, the contract WHDH signed allows it, then they can do as they wish and accept whatever NBC is allowed to do under that same contract (or to just not renew it). If not, then perhaps it is a gambit to void the contract. Each side seems to say the contract is on their side, and neither is an objective observer.

 

[tripinva]

Sunbeam does own Fox 7 in Miami. Fox might be content to let Fox go to WHDH and put My Network TV on 25. That'd improve My Network TV's coverage a great deal, making it a huge win overall for them. NBC wouldn't want WZMY because of the very lousy signal.

NBC on 60 would be a disaster, even paired with 46 as a simulcast. I have to think they'd do something else. I don't know what that something else is, but...

- Trip

 

[LKellerIII]

Is WHDH TRYING to get out of its NBC affiliation, and jump the sinking ship that has been Zucker-era NBC?

That would be short-sided of WHDH. Network popularity is cyclical. NBC was rated a poor third among the Big 3 networks in the 70s with much worse programming than they have now, then became number one in the 80s once they dumped Fred Silverman.

Young Broadcasting - owners of KRON 4 in San Francisco are a good object lesson of what can happen when the NBC gets angry and pulls their affiliation. In 2002, Young TV had just purchased KRON for a record-breaking $800 million and suddenly found themselves as an independent station unable to service their debt. Young is now in bankruptcy and the KRON debacle is the reason.

Granted that it was different circumstances in KRON's case, but I doubt WHDH would want to be an independent station in this 200+ channel world, not to mention this economy.

 

[Mr70s]

Who really cares here, television and the this WHDH - KRON - KABC is history in June, if you not on the Bird or on cable your toast
Digital TV is crap ;D and we will watch whatever channel says CBS or NBC or FOX I and 99% of the population will care less who it belongs to !

However if NBC was smart They would have all the Local news at 10pm Leno at 10:30 Conan at 11:30 and Fallon ( terrible show) at 12:30
people get up earlier and need to go to bed earlier !

I watch CBS13 at 10pm, a little of Letterman at 11 and I am asleep !!

Have a great day

 

[Skynet74]

There are not many solutions to this problem that are going to satisfy both sides. This one issue could shake up the whole television market of Boston. The only possible solution I can think of would be for HDH to get special permission from the Network to start airing it's entire PrimeTime lineup an hour early. Start airing everything at 7. That way Jay would actually air in Boston at 9 PM. HDH could slip in News from 10 to 11:35 as they desperately want to do. Then they can rejoin the Network at it's normal time as they head into the Tonight show with Conan. It would be an odd move for the Network to allow one affiliate to time shift it's prime time network to an hour earlier. But if both sides want to play hardball then it's the only solution I see which could possibly make NBC and HDH happy. Damn.... what a mess this is going to be.

 

[jal41]

This shapes to be a repeat of 1987 Miami, where Ansin's WSVN was stripped of its NBC affiliation for this type of behavior. Boston has a Fox O&O in WFXT, so no Fox for WHDH.

ABC is tolerant of preemptions...they let WSB-TV/Atlanta preempt frequently without issues (there was also the Jimmy Kimmel preemption for four years). So a swap with WCVB would be better.

Prediction...WHDH and NBC will part ways soon. Hope they don't turn into a KRON/San Francisco...

 

[Skynet74]

I'll make a prediction that this will be a move that HDH regrets. Seriously how much News does a station need to air? They've already got 5 to 7 AM. Then the Today Show for four more hours after that. Followed by an hour of News at Noon. Then they Air News from 4 PM to 7 PM. Then 11 to 11:30 PM. That's already 10.5 hours a day of some type of News programming. Now they want to add another Hour? The station will be almost 50 percent News programming. Insanity! Freaking Insanity!!!

 

[imhomerjay]

Perhaps that's because it, you know, works? If it didn't, they would switch it out.

 

[DToTheJ]

Seriously how much News does a station need to air? They've already got 5 to 7 AM. Then the Today Show for four more hours after that. Followed by an hour of News at Noon. Then they Air News from 4 PM to 7 PM. Then 11 to 11:30 PM. That's already 10.5 hours a day of some type of News programming. Now they want to add another Hour? The station will be almost 50 percent News programming. Insanity! Freaking Insanity!!!

I can see WHDH making the argument that news could get better ratings than Leno on their station. But why make such a bold prediction, when it's a fight that they probably won't win against Fox 25 at 10 PM, and furthermore, why would they be so confident after their news is no longer the highest-rated news in Boston? From the Globe article:

"After dominating the lucrative 11 p.m. news race for more than a decade with its flashy graphics and focus on spots news, WHDH has seen ratings for its 11 p.m. newscast plummet to third place in the past year, behind WBZ-TV Channel 4 and WCVB-TV Channel 5..."

Just because they air a lot of news, doesn't mean anyone is watching.

And by the way... what on earth is "spots news"? Typo (sports news)?

 

[daryll]

Only Ed Ansin and NBC know what's in the WHDH affiliation agreement. Their lawyers will be in touch with each other shortly.

If the networks had their way, telethons would be relegated to non-network affiliates, permanently. CBS gives some of its BEST local affiliates a maximum number of hours per year for preemptions. I know of one station that gets only 12 hours per year for telethons and any local specials. The telethons have some grandfathered halo on them so the networks can't say a whole bunch. Yes, some telethons do serve a great cause for our nation's children (CMN, particularly). The Saturday Early Show is horrid and some news oriented affiliates have local programming that predates this CBS disaster so they don't have to carry it. However, I'm certain the networks grow weary of local severe weather preempts.

As for WSB Atlanta, I applaud them for preempting ABC prime for their "Family 2 Family" specials. They usually bump the network's B and C prime shows in exchange for really well produced local shows. "Georgia's Hidden Treasures" is their best effort and it gets great reviews and ratings.

I believe the networks have been very desirous of direct distribution to the viewing public anyway and the coming day when they will not need local affiliates. The network's biggest obstacle is the loss of the local news lead-in.

Go Ed Ansin!

 

[DToTheJ]

If the networks had their way, telethons would be relegated to non-network affiliates, permanently. CBS gives some of its BEST local affiliates a maximum number of hours per year for preemptions. I know of one station that gets only 12 hours per year for telethons and any local specials. The telethons have some grandfathered halo on them so the networks can't say a whole bunch. Yes, some telethons do serve a great cause for our nation's children (CMN, particularly).

I think the only major telethon with pre-emption issues would be the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon. Yes, it's on Labor Day weekend where networks usually run rerun fare that Sunday night anyway, but consider CBS stations that carry the telethon. CBS has U.S. Open Tennis on Labor Day, so some stations may air it, and others, like Post-Newsweek's WFSB/Harford, for example, just farms the coverage over to another station, like WTIC, the Fox station. I think not only does WFSB still carry that telethon, but they still air an 11 PM newscast that Sunday night for the odd runtime of 20 minutes.

 

[Darrel M]

The odd thing here (and it looks like this hasn't yet been brought up on this thread) is that WHDH already produces a primetime newscast for its sister station, WLVI ("7 News at 10 on CW56"). What's Ed Ansin going to do with that newscast? Perhaps move it to 8PM (and have CW programming follow afterwords just like it's now set up in St Louis and Denver)?

 

[MarcB]

You've been out of the loop for a long time. Post-News Week hasn't owned WFSB in years. It's owned by Merideth. They did a swap with Merideth in the late 90s. And WFSB hasn't carried the telethon since 2000. Tribune's FOX 61 has been carrying it since 2001. When WFSB was carrying the telethon they'd put the Tennis Tournament from CBS on LIN-TV's WCTX/59.

 

[DToTheJ]

The odd thing here (and it looks like this hasn't yet been brought up on this thread) is that WHDH already produces a primetime newscast for its sister station, WLVI ("7 News at 10 on CW56"). What's Ed Ansin going to do with that newscast?

According to one of the articles on the first page of this thread, WHDH had planned to simply simulcast the 10 PM news on both 7 and 56!

MarcB: Thanks for the clarification in the above post. I thought 61 might have been carrying the telethon now, but I wasn't sure...

 

[MarcB]

Here's an idea from out in left-field. What if NBC puts those two rimshotters (WWDP/Bridgewater and WNEU/Manchester) in Boston into a trust to be sold and then they buy WSBK from CBS and launch NBC-38? Selling WNEU doesn't seem like a problem to me since NBC is already LMAing it to ZGS. ZGS can just buy it outright.

 

[tripinva]

I don't think CBS would want to part with WSBK. They need somewhere to put CW if Sunbeam decides to play hardball with them, too.

I think NBC would end up buying the share of WWDP that they don't own, changing the channel to 42, and moving it into Boston. I think it's the simplest solution to the problem. Anything else gets very complicated very quickly.

- Trip