Affiliation Switches

[justin2kx 229]

I just watched the story of the affiliation switches of WTVJ (CBS-NBC), WSVN(NBC-IND,FOX), and WCIX {WFOR}(IND-CBS)and even though I’m not from Miami (I’m from NY) and I wasn’t even around then at the time, that must be a confusing thing shaking up the local industry. Even the Today show had to do the show from M.I.A to welcome 'TVJ. Not only that, WCIX and WTVJ had channel switches as well (does anyone from Miami remember? Why did that take place? How confusing was it and did it affect respective ratings? I need a Response.) I’m pretty sure it would affect other local industries that had or would have had a shakeup like that as viewers remember what network is on what channel.

 

What other shakeups do you remember took place? Why did it happen? How much did it get attention if there was any? Did the stations have some fanfare with the upcoming switch? Was it confusing, if so how? Did it affect ratings for the respective stations? What do you remember about those stations in their original affiliations or positions? Do you think there would be another affiliation or channel switch in the works, in the future, or in no time at all? Your thoughts?

 

Here are the clips provided:

WSVN NBC Miami 1988 Affiliation Switch (funny by the way with the reactions)

 

Today Show Intro 1989 Live from Bayside, Miami

 

WTVJ WCIX WFOR Miami Channel Switch

 

WCIX WFOR WTVJ Miami Channel Switch 1995

[Ntropolis 593]

The Miami affiliation/channel switches make my head hurt.

 

Right now, all I can think of is Tampa, 1994...

 

Before: WTSP ABC, WTVT CBS, WFTS FOX

After: WTSP CBS, WTVT FOX, WFTS ABC

 

Chris can explain more ;D

[semistatic 0]

1994 was a big year - FOX/New World bought a bunch of stations in 93/94:

WITI Milwaukee - CBS moved to WDJT, WCGV lost FOX

WAGA Atlanta - CBS moved to WGNX (WGCL) and WATL lost FOX

WJBK Detroit - CBS moved to WGPR (WWJ), WKBD lost FOX

WJW Cleveland - CBS moved to WOIO (who had been FOX)

WTVT Tampa - CBS moved to WTSP, ABC to WFTS

WBRC Birmingham - ABC went to WCFT/WJSU, WTTO lost FOX

WGHP High Point, NC - ABC to WXLV (who had been FOX)

KTVI St. Louis - ABC went to KDNL

KTBC Austin - CBS went to KEYE

KDFW Dallas - CBS went to KTVT, KDAF lost FOX

KSAZ Phoenix - CBS went to KPHO, KNXV lost FOX

WDAF Kansas City - NBC went to KSHB

WLUK Green Bay - NBC went to WGBA

WVUE New Orleans - ABC went to WGNO

WALA Mobile - NBC went to WPMI

KHON Honolulu - NBC went to KHNL

WHBQ Memphis - ABC to WPTY

 

Other switches:

Seattle: KIRO lost CBS to KSTW for a while, then got it back

Phoenix: KTVK lost ABC to KNXV and became an Ind.

Green Bay: WFRV and WBAY swapped in the early '90s - WBAY became ABC, WFRV CBS - this also caused WLUC in Marquette to switch to ABC briefly, then to NBC because WFRV operates WJMN in Escanaba

Minneapolis: As part of the same deal, WCCO in Mpls/St Paul was purchased by CBS

Boston: WHDH has been ABC, CBS and NBC - the last swap in '95 w/ WBZ

Cincinnati: WCPO became ABC in '96, WKRC CBS (Part of KNXV and WFTS getting the ABC affiliations)

Denver: In '95 KUSA went from ABC to NBC, KCNC from NBC to CBS and KMGH from CBS to ABC

[Ntropolis 593]

Recent switches (besides last year's UPN/WB/MNTV/CW)...

 

2004: Dayton, OH- WDTN from ABC to NBC, WKEF from NBC to ABC

2005: Springfield/Decatur, IL- WAND from ABC to NBC, WICS/WICD from NBC to ABC

[CDubya87 0]

KOAM lost it's CBS/NBC to KUHI, KUHI (then KTVJ, now KSNF) signed on in 67 and took full time CBS and KOAM became full time NBC. Then in 82 when KTVJ was purchased by the Kansas State Network, the KSN affiliates were NBC, and KTVJ (which then with the purchase became KSNF) was not, so KOAM and KSNF swapped affiliations.

[ED1 0]

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada experienced a huge affiliation switch affecting all major television stations in the market...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Vancouver,_British_Columbia_TV_realignment

[tyrannical bastard 3493]

Knoxville, Baltimore and Jacksonville have been heavily affected by switches.

 

In Baltimore-

 

1981- WBAL (NBC) and WMAR (CBS) swap affiliations

1994- Scripps signs deal with ABC, moving it to WMAR; in protest, Westinghouse signs deal with CBS, moving it to WJZ (and all of their stations), WBAL switches back to NBC.

1998- Sinclair makes deal with WB, switches WNUV from UPN to WB. Later, Chris Craft buys WUTB and adds UPN.

2006- WUTB (now owned by News Corp) gets MNTV, WNUV gets CW (if FOX didn't own WUTB, chances are WNUV would have affiliated with MyNetwork)

 

Knoxville-

 

1979- WATE (NBC) and WTVK (channel 26, ABC) swap...ABC wants to be on a VHF station because NBC's ratings are in the dumper.

1988- WBIR switches from CBS to NBC, and WTVK 26 affiliates with CBS and moves to channel 8 soon after (as WKXT...now WVLT)

 

Jacksonville-

 

1980- WTLV (NBC) and WJKS (ABC) (channel 17) swap affiliations...reversed in 1988.

1997- Albritton startup WJXX yanks ABC from WJKS....WJKS affiliates with WB, changes call letters to WJWB

2002- WJXT dumps CBS...goes independent, WTEV switches from UPN to CBS, UPN aired off-pattern on WAWS.

2006- WJWB gets CW, changes to WCWJ, WAWS starts MNTV subchannel.

[nbc9houston 21]

Don't forget the San Francisco Bay Area switch that began in 2000 when San Jose's ABC station, KNTV, briefly became a WB station. KNTV would then take on the NBC affliation on 12/31/2001 and KRON became an independent until 2006.

 

This affliation switch, as well as the one in Jacksonville involving WJXT, were all over the issue of reverse compensation between the networks and their stations.

[esquire 0]

At the risk of being accused of shameless self promotion, I thought it worth mentioning that those interested in reading more about the historic turbulence of the network-affiliate relationship may be interested in this article, http://www.csrmedia.com/NetworkAffiliate.pdf, that chronicles the dynamics of the relationship as well as the aforementioned New World/FOX defection, and other factors that have given rise to affiliation changes.

 

One might also be interested in the recently published Season Finale by industry veterans Susanne Daniels and Cynthia Littleton. Although its primary focus is on the life of the WB and UPN, it provides some interesting background and context into the network-affiliate relationship.

[semistatic 0]

Don't forget the San Francisco Bay Area switch that began in 2000 when San Jose's ABC station, KNTV, briefly became a WB station. KNTV would then take on the NBC affliation on 12/31/2001 and KRON became an independent until 2006.

 

This affliation switch, as well as the one in Jacksonville involving WJXT, were all over the issue of reverse compensation between the networks and their stations.

 

I can't believe I forgot SF since I was probably sitting there watching one of those stations when I replied

 

Also, forgot in '95:

Salt Lake City:

KUTV moved from NBC to CBS

KSL moved from CBS to NBC

 

Philly:

KYW from NBC to CBS

WCAU from CBS to NBC

 

Raleigh:

WNCN gained NBC in '95 from WRDC

[genius 1]

Other switches:

 

2004: KTWO and KKTU in Wyoming drop their NBC affiliation for ABC. KCWY, a Pax station, picks up the NBC affiliation, while KFNB/KFNR who were the ABC affiliates for Wyoming went with Fox while Fox station KLWY went with UPN.

 

1995: In Rapid City, SD KEVN went from NBC to Fox, while KNBN picked up NBC. Also I should note that in Phoenix(which was mentioned above with the New World and Scripps deals) every major station except KPNX swapped affiliation.

 

1989: In Rochester, NY WHEC and WROC swapped their NBC and CBS affiliations.

[sctvhound 27]

In Charleston, WCBD (2), which was the ABC affiliate, and WCIV (4), then the NBC affiliate, switched in August of 1996, generally because Albritton picked up ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, and they wanted all of their affiliates to be ABC stations.

 

Both Channel 2 and Channel 4 was laughingstocks in town to what was the 800-pound gorilla in town, Channel 5 (WCSC), which probably had one of the highest ratings of any CBS affiliate in the nation, with heritage news anchors like Bill Sharpe, Debi Chard (both still at Channel 5, since the 70s), and weather caster Charlie Hall, who was at the station since when the station signed on in 1953, but he died just a few months after 2 and 4 switched.

 

Channel Two grew after they flipped to NBC, which was then the number 1 network, and they have grown to become a strong number two in the market, especially after grabbing news anchors Warren Peper (former sports anchor at 5) and Carolyn Murray to be the main personalities.

 

Channel Four, however, has gone through what has seemed like a dozen main anchors, with names like Leslie Lyles, former anchor at 2 (who left after just a few months after leaving St. Louis), Steve Hardig, Jim McElroy, and many others, along with new GFX and sets almost every year.

 

However, Dean Stephens and Tom Crawford (who have both been at the station for at least fifteen years) have remained constants, and Dean moving to news in 2002 after being the main sports anchor for many years was a great move.

[WXmanTim 88]

(puts his thinking cap on)

 

Okay, here's the skinny on the second great Miami affiliation switch (and its associated nationwide fall-out): Westinghouse Corporation purchased the CBS network in 1995. Because of this purchase there was some overlap in markets where CBS and Westinghouse owned or operated stations.

 

In Philadelphia, Westinghouse/CBS found itself owning both KYW-3 (a Westinghouse station) and WCAU-10 (a CBS O&O). In Boston, the new company found itself owning WBZ-4...next door (with penetration into Boston) CBS owned WPRI-12 in Providence. Since Westinghouse could not, under FCC rules, own both stations in Philadelphia and for whatever reason could not own a stations in adjoining markets (Boston/Providence) the company had to sell off both of thier overlapping stations.

 

Westinghouse/CBS chose to sell WPRI to ClearChannel (and there is much confusion on this, with LMAs and stuff flying back and forth, so I refer you to the WPRI history page) and keep WBZ (which was then with NBC).

 

When it comes to the Philadelphia situation, I'm unclear on how NBC came into the picture. The only thing I'm certain of is this: NBC offered to give up a lot in order to snap-up the higher-rated WCAU. NBC agreed to sell KUTV-Salt Lake and KCNC-Denver to Westinghouse/CBS and swap dial positions in Miami. CBS had for years been plagued by reception problems with the WCIX antenna and signal, so CBS used the opportunity to improve its over-the-air reception in Miami. Thus the Channel 6 signal became owned by NBC, but there was no physical swapping of property, talent or facilities. Vice versa with the Channel 4 signal to CBS.

 

Of course, this brought about numerous changes around the country as well as in Miami. In Boston, WBZ picked up the CBS affiliation with WHDH going to NBC. In Denver, KUSA-9 picked up the NBC contract (after being a long-time ABC) while KMGH-7 went to ABC from CBS. Bonneville's (ney, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints') KSL-5 picked up the NBC affiliation after CBS completed its purchase of KUTV.

[nbc9houston 21]

 

2004: KTWO and KKTU in Wyoming drop their NBC affiliation for ABC. KCWY, a Pax station, picks up the NBC affiliation, while KFNB/KFNR who were the ABC affiliates for Wyoming went with Fox while Fox station KLWY went with UPN.

 

 

To add to the affiliation switches in Wyoming, KKTU was the first to go to ABC (9/03); while KTWO had to run as an independent station and wait for the ABC affliations on KFNB/KFNR to end in 2004.

[Guest Former Member 207]

A couple of other network affilliation swaps in the mid-90s...

 

Rockford, Ill. (1995):

 

WREX Channel 13, from ABC to NBC

WTVO Channel 17, from NBC to ABC

 

Not sure why the two stations swapped, although it was probably because WREX's parent company owns mostly NBC stations (at the time, all they owned were NBC stations).

 

Bakersfield, Ca.

 

This market (halfway between Fresno and Los Angeles) has had its swaps between its network stations, so this one is more complex...

 

Channel 17: ABC (began as KYLD in '59) to CBS (changed calls to KJTV in '69; joined CBS in '74) to NBC (changed calls to KPWR in '78, joined NBC in '84)

Channel 23: NBC (KERO began on Ch. 10 in '53, moved to 23 in '63) to CBS (1984) to ABC (1996)

Channel 29: CBS (began as KAFY in '53, became KBAK in '59; Bakersfield's 1st TV station) to ABC (1974) back to CBS (1996)

 

Bakersfield is one of the few, if not the ONLY, television markets where more than one station carried the Big Three network at one point in time.

[TexasTVNews 1367]

I remember that in mid-1995 that KTVT done promos about "The NEW Eye of Texas" when

they became the new CBS affiliate. On News 4 Texas, the folks took down the CBS letters

off of the building when New World Communications bought KDFW in 1993 (I Think). KDAF

became an independent station for a while when the WB moved in to KDAF in 1996.

 

Before: KDFW-CBS, KXAS-NBC, WFAA-ABC, KTVT-Ind. & KDAF-Fox

After: KDFW-Fox, KXAS-NBC, WFAA-ABC, KTVT-CBS, & KDAF-CW

[jbrothers 0]

Where I live, I havent seen any affiliation shuffles. Execpt between WDKA and WQTV in 2000. WQTV was WB and WDKA was UPN. They switched because they felt like it, as im told. But it was nothing major. WQTV has since joined the CW and WDKA is now MNTV. But nothing major like Fox,CBS,NBC,ABC has happened around here, or yet anyway.

[justin2kx 229]

I saw the clip of the WSVN switch and i thought man that Ed Asnin is so cheap. He refused his affiliate to stay on NBC and go on Independent (later on FOX). Geez, is he like that for real, was he like that in Boston too (WBZ-WHDH)?

[RGSJenkins 432]

I saw the clip of the WSVN switch and i thought man that Ed Asnin is so cheap. He refused his affiliate to stay on NBC and go on Independent (later on FOX). Geez, is he like that for real, was he like that in Boston too (WBZ-WHDH)?

NBC bought WTVJ because WSVN pre-empted too many NBC programs & WPTV in West Palm Beach was taken off cable networks in Miami. They was to switch in a 3-way deal in '88 but Asnin wanted to air the sports lineup of '88, including the Olympics. He even wanted to take the CBS affiliation, but CBS would rather buy WCIX (now WFOR), than go to him.

[WXmanTim 88]

I saw the clip of the WSVN switch and i thought man that Ed Asnin is so cheap. He refused his affiliate to stay on NBC and go on Independent (later on FOX). Geez, is he like that for real, was he like that in Boston too (WBZ-WHDH)?

NBC bought WTVJ because WSVN pre-empted too many NBC programs & WPTV in West Palm Beach was taken off cable networks in Miami. They was to switch in a 3-way deal in '88 but Asnin wanted to air the sports lineup of '88, including the Olympics. He even wanted to take the CBS affiliation, but CBS would rather buy WCIX (now WFOR), than go to him.

 

Some of that may be true, but I've read that CBS had made overtures to purchase WTVJ-4, which was then the CBS affiliate, but was spurned. So they purchased the then-independent WCIX-6 moving CBS programming to that signal effective 1/89 (this is according to WFOR's website history). NBC took the opportunity to pull its affiliation from WSVN in favor of WTVJ, which it then purchased outright a couple years later.

[WAVY 10 Fan 232]

Is it just me or, in most of these incidents, the ABC affiliation stayed stable?

[WXmanTim 88]

Is it just me or, in most of these incidents, the ABC affiliation stayed stable?

 

Miami, certainly, and in markets with ABC O&Os. But the shake-up in the 90s from Fox's aquitions affected ABC stations as well.

 

St Louis: KTVI-2-New World ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Birmingham: WBRC-6-New World Ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Greensboro, NC: WGHP-8-New World Ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Memphis: WHBQ-13-New World Ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Evansville, IN: WTVW-Banam Broadcasting Ownership, ABC affiliate sold in 1995 to Quorum Comm (Quorum's purchase of the station was partially financed by Fox Broadcasting in return for that station, and Banam's other properties, becoming affiliated with the network), now owned by Nexstar.

 

There would have been more, but ABC made the strategic (and in my mind right) decision when Scripps Broadcasting threatened to drop ABC from former O&O WXYZ-Detroit (as well as WEWS-Cleveland, but really losing the heritage former-O&O in Detroit would have been a major blow) if the network did not give its affiliation to Scripps-owned stations in markets where there were affiliation swaps happening due to the Fox-New World deal. The only exception was KMBC-Kansas City. Hearst, owner of KMBC, threatened to sue ABC if they ended the contract early. Scripps eventually settled for NBC on KSHB in KC. In Tulsa (KJRH) and West Palm Beach (WPTV) Scripps-owned stations stayed NBC either because Scripps was content to keep them NBC (since there were no Fox-New World affected stations in those markets) or the threat of lawsuits by owners of the ABC affiliates (Albritton in Tulsa and Paxson in West Palm Beach).

 

The threat, however, added to the complexity of the affiliation switches in some markets:

 

Phoenix: KTVK-3, ABC to independent, after ABC pulled its affiliation under threat for Scripps-owned KNXV-15, a Fox affiliate prior to the New World deal which made KSAZ a Fox O&O.

 

Tampa Bay: WTSP-10, ABC to CBS after ABC pulled affiliation in favor of Scripps' WFTS-28. Fox-New World gave WTVT-13 to them after being a CBS affiliate.

 

Baltimore: Either the Fox-New World Deal/Scripps fall-out or the purchase of CBS by Westinghouse that same year led all three stations in the market to swap affiliations. WJZ-13 (a Westinghouse-owned ABC affiliate) to CBS O&O, WBAL-11 from CBS affiliate (back, after an affiliation swap with WMAR in 1981) to NBC affiliate and WMAR from NBC affiliate to ABC affiliate.

 

Cincinatti: Scripps threat gave WCPO-9 the ABC contract while Gaylord's (now Clear Channel's) WKRC-12 picked up CBS.

 

I really wish someone would write a book about all of this sometime, cover the period from 1988 (the big switch in Miami) to 1996 (post Fox-New World) in detail. I think it would be facinating reading.

[nbc9houston 21]

Is it just me or, in most of these incidents, the ABC affiliation stayed stable?

 

Miami, certainly, and in markets with ABC O&Os. But the shake-up in the 90s from Fox's aquitions affected ABC stations as well.

 

St Louis: KTVI-2-New World ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Birmingham: WBRC-6-New World Ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Greensboro, NC: WGHP-8-New World Ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Memphis: WHBQ-13-New World Ownership, ABC affiliate, now Fox O&O

Evansville, IN: WTVW-Banam Broadcasting Ownership, ABC affiliate sold in 1995 to Quorum Comm (Quorum's purchase of the station was partially financed by Fox Broadcasting in return for that station, and Banam's other properties, becoming affiliated with the network), now owned by Nexstar.

 

There would have been more, but ABC made the strategic (and in my mind right) decision when Scripps Broadcasting threatened to drop ABC from former O&O WXYZ-Detroit (as well as WEWS-Cleveland, but really losing the heritage former-O&O in Detroit would have been a major blow) if the network did not give its affiliation to Scripps-owned stations in markets where there were affiliation swaps happening due to the Fox-New World deal. The only exception was KMBC-Kansas City. Hearst, owner of KMBC, threatened to sue ABC if they ended the contract early. Scripps eventually settled for NBC on KSHB in KC. In Tulsa (KJRH) and West Palm Beach (WPTV) Scripps-owned stations stayed NBC either because Scripps was content to keep them NBC (since there were no Fox-New World affected stations in those markets) or the threat of lawsuits by owners of the ABC affiliates (Albritton in Tulsa and Paxson in West Palm Beach).

 

The threat, however, added to the complexity of the affiliation switches in some markets:

 

Phoenix: KTVK-3, ABC to independent, after ABC pulled its affiliation under threat for Scripps-owned KNXV-15, a Fox affiliate prior to the New World deal which made KSAZ a Fox O&O.

 

Tampa Bay: WTSP-10, ABC to CBS after ABC pulled affiliation in favor of Scripps' WFTS-28. Fox-New World gave WTVT-13 to them after being a CBS affiliate.

 

Baltimore: Either the Fox-New World Deal/Scripps fall-out or the purchase of CBS by Westinghouse that same year led all three stations in the market to swap affiliations. WJZ-13 (a Westinghouse-owned ABC affiliate) to CBS O&O, WBAL-11 from CBS affiliate (back, after an affiliation swap with WMAR in 1981) to NBC affiliate and WMAR from NBC affiliate to ABC affiliate.

 

Cincinatti: Scripps threat gave WCPO-9 the ABC contract while Gaylord's (now Clear Channel's) WKRC-12 picked up CBS.

 

I really wish someone would write a book about all of this sometime, cover the period from 1988 (the big switch in Miami) to 1996 (post Fox-New World) in detail. I think it would be facinating reading.

 

Gaylord never owned WKRC; Jacor (which had also owned WTSP) had control of WKRC until it was sold to Clear Channel.

[TexasTVNews 1367]

Gaylord Formerly owned KTVT, KSTW and KHTV.

[mdotto9 0]

2002 - KMSP 9 and WFTC 29 switch affiliations September 8. FOX29 would become UPN29 and UPN9 would become FOX9. WFTC's newscast would move from 9pm to 10pm and shorten to 30 minutes and add weekend newscasts. KMSP would drop their 10pm newscast and rebrand their newscast to FOX9 News at Nine.