WHDH and NBC Announce Affiliation Switch in Boston - How the Boston Stations Covered It 

0:01 WHDH 7 News Boston 3:31 NECN (New England Cable News) 4:18 WCVB 6:09 WBZ 6:43 WFXT

This is the same logo which is used for WSVN-TV in South Florida while I was on my visit.

Back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, it was illegal for a network to require its affiliates to air all its programming, or to punish an affiliate for refusing to air network programs at certain times. How times have changed.

When this happened in the San Francisco Bay Area on January 1, 2002, NBC had to move the transmitter further north (the station, KNTV, had been the Santa Cruz-Monterey-Salinas market's ABC station until July 2000)

NBC said they'd leave WHDH ONLY if the station didn't air Jay Leno's failed 10pm show back in 2009. WHDH aired it, so technically, NBC breached the agreement.

NBC is now carried in Boston by WBTS Channel 60! WHDH-TV Channel 7, then the NBC affiliate, is now an independent station that covers more local news than ever!

2:43 - For its O&O station WTVJ Channel 4 in Miami (after NBC acquired WTVJ from KKR) until September 1995, WTVJ NBC moves to Channel 6, while WCIX CBS also moves to Channel 4 and became WFOR CBS 4 South Florida.

They mention briefly the success WSVN had after NBC left them in 1989. That is a much different scenario than this. WSVN came up with a flashy format that resonated quite well with South Florida viewers; much of that strategy was taken to WHDH with far less spectacular results. New England is about as far as you can get from South Florida in terms of news viewing preferences. And then there's Fox: WSVN affiliated with the then fledgling network only to see it rise to major status. WHDH will probably take the CW; which will not only never see the rise Fox had in the 90s, but thanks to Tribune may soon find itself in an existential crisis. WHDH will struggle at times because of these factors, but they will survive; Ed Ansin tends to run lean operations which will help a lot considering their income will fall off a cliff (WHDH is one of the last stations to get compensation from its network; NBC paid a whopping $4mil each year for the privilege of being on 7).

When I heard the NBC switch networks 2 years ago, I thought NBC returns to it's former affiliate WBZ-TV. But it didn't go back there as I hope and thought it would have. Oh well.

I am so glad that Boston finally got the NBC O&O after all these years.

I think that WHDH will become a Fox affiliate while WFXT becomes a My Network TV affiliate. It would make sense for WSBK to become CW and WLVI becomes an independent station.

To add, given the FCC is all too happy to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to anyone who owns a station that's willing to go dark in order to improve wireless spectrum bandwidth, this Boston market will indeed get interesting. Both WBZ & WHDH own UHF stations along with their VHF channel assignments, so the FCC would more than happy to pay either station or both stations to give up WSBK & WLVI. If this happens, both 4 and 7 will have more money to play with. Which leads to my ultimate scenario, NBC could buy WBZ and/ or WSBK pending FCC auction outcome and make Channel 4 the home of NBC once again. Same could go for CBS with WHDH and/ or WLVI, making 7 home to CBS once again. So whatever the outcome, billionaire Ed Ansin will walk away more richer, and possibly put more focus, resources, and money into his baby, WSVN in Miami.

NBC's gonna buy WHDH, just watch. It's an entirely different climate now then back in 1994, ownership is key. However, extensive station coverage is everything. Clearly, NBC wants Ansin to sell 7, and will do anything such as breach parent agreements and switch affiliation to their lesser O&O stations to get Ansin to sell. Sidebar, FOX just sold 25 to Cox last year, so saying WHDH could become a FOX affiliate is clearly an understatement. FOX could just as well buy up WHDH and finally have a VHF station in the Boston market to call their own (FOX surely dreams of a VHF too in Chicago, but every O&O and even Tribune-owned WGN 9 would never let that happen).

WBTS enters the chat...

NBC should have buy WHDH, instead of switch to the new channel network.

Reportedly, NBC had been negotiating with WHDH owner Ed Ansin about buying WHDH, but talks broke down over the sale price. NBC was rumored to have offered Ansin $200 million; Ansin wouldn't settle for any less than $300 million.

Might have my ch.5 &7 call letters screwed up!!

It is the same for WHAG

4:32 JC monahan also switch to NBC Boston that year

Wait, _whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!_

R.I.P NBC WHDH-TV BOSTON

1:12 and 1:19 sandwich so funny name for a city sandwich!!!

4:19 You're Watching NewsCenter 5 at 6.(Thanks to Talking Tom)

R.I.P NBC 7 BOSTON

WHDH could return as an ABC affiliate if NBC moved to WCVB.

It's ironic that JC Monahan was the anchor for WCVB and moved to NBC Boston when it launched.

Happy anniversary whdh 5 years of new England's superstation.

n b cee-ya

It is NBC is going abandoned whdh for channel 60 east Boston that's a big mouth!

6:09 CBS News about the long whdh NBC Affiliation.

NBC sure made a bone-headed decision with this move.

4:56

3:30

If NBC quits on WHDH and goes to WNEU, then where will WHDH go with?

5:58

NBC should acquire WSLS and KPRC from Graham Media Group but it would terminate its affiliation agreement with WDIV and launch a new station in Detroit. Vivendi would acquire Comcast by the end of this year.

I hope NBC will stay remain owned and operated station in Boston in the future.

4:19

whdh is now independent!

They didn’t mention Comcast as a main cable provider in most of New England

I'm a Eastern Pa.guy,but have relatives in Marshfield.Remember all the old stations.PBS,Ch.2 WBZ,Ch.4(NBC)Ch.5 WCVB(ABC)Ch.7WCVB(CBS),Ch.27(before Ch.25 started)Worcester,Ch.38SBK-still showing the Stooges,45 yeahs latahhh!!!Ch.36&44(PBS),Ch.56WLVI(Framingham)Newer ones are,of course,Ch.64,Providence,and Ch.68!!Can't forget,Ch.3,Hartford,Ch.6,New Bedford,Ch.9(ABC),Manchester,NH.,Ch.10(NBC)WJAR,Providence,Ch.12,I think,NH?!!

Hd

I think NBCUniversal made a BIG MISTAKE to add a new O&O station in Boston. WHDH was the strongest NBC station in the country and nobody likes the format of the news department two years later. My prediction is for NBC to cancel newscasts on WBTS and bring it back to 7 and remove 7pm news and move the 7-9am news on 56. And the same thing with WRAL in Raleigh, swap the affiliate back to CBS and NBC will return to 17.

will they become PBS WHDH Channel 7?

NBC should terminate their affiliation agreement with WDIV and launch a new station in Detroit instead.

I newsevice I

I hope NBC will take WNEU.

I newserivece I

nbc is actually on wbts 16

Channel 7 back to abc, Whdh

Big Mistake. Big. HUGE!!!!!

WSVN and WHDH to join ABC in 2019!