Acceptable registrations in the queue through March 16 at 11:00a ET have now been activated. Enjoy! -M.W.

Terms of Use have been amended effective October 6, 2019. Make sure you are aware of the new rules! Please visit this thread for details: https://www.mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/view ... 16&t=48619

Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
Deleted User 7620

Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 7620 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:03 pm

As we all know, on December 11, 1994, Detroit television changed forever.

On this date, WJBK-TV, a CBS affiliate for 46 years, became a Fox affiliate and later, a Fox O&O.

WKBD briefly became Indy again and became a UPN affiliate that January.

Low powered station, WGPR-TV, became a CBS affix. It became a CBS O&O the next summer, and changed its call letters to WWJ-TV.

I personally think WJBK Fox 2, was the overall winner. Today, it still has the number one 10 pm newscast. Not to mention, it’s one of the best Fox owned stations in the country. Fox is a strong network now, with a powerful sports package, including the NFL.

62 is no longer a low powered station but it’s no where close to being competitive with the big three (Fox 2, Local 4, Channel 7).


WKBD no longer has a newscast and has little local content.



Deleted User 14935

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 14935 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:40 pm

Channel 62 Was never a low power television station, And Channel 50 has 22 hours a day of local and syndicated programs with only 2 hours of network programs a day from 8 PM - 10 PM, And how many fake news programs do we need for God’s sake.



Deleted User 7620

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 7620 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:20 pm

Steve Korvette wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:40 pm
Channel 62 Was never a low power television station, And Channel 50 has 22 hours a day of local and syndicated programs with only 2 hours of network programs a day from 8 PM - 10 PM, And how many fake news programs do we need for God’s sake.

Actually, 62 was a low powered station. It was that way until 1999, when the station had a major power boost.

As for the now CW 50, it no longer airs local sports and has no newscast. That’s what I mean by little local content.



Deleted User 14935

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 14935 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:27 pm

Wrong! Always full power never LPTV the difference was 1 Million watts to a 5 Million watt signal



Deleted User 7620

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 7620 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:32 pm

Steve Korvette wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:27 pm
Wrong! Always full power never LPTV the difference was 1 Million watts to a 5 Million watt signal

Bigger question is, which Detroit station was the winner in the 1994 network swap, in your opinion.



innate-in-you
Posts: 684
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:54 am

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by innate-in-you » Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:05 pm

A tie between WXYZ and WDIV.

People were just used to watching the news at 11.

Those two stations have abused their spoils. They run far too many commercials, topping them off with sponsorships embedded in the "news" ("Why people in Suburb X are so crazy about their brand new cookie store").

I usually watch 11 or 13 even though I haven't resided in Ohio in more than 50 years.



Arthur Mometer
Posts: 220
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:52 am
Location: Radar Room

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Arthur Mometer » Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:27 pm

Steve Korvette is correct, WGPR-TV was always a full power TV station. It was on UHF, which limited their service area to nearly a strict line of sight. This sounds like a hit job that Channel 2, 4,and 7 sales departments might have done to undermine UHF competitors. That included 20, 50, and 56 on UHF. The dirty little secret is that only WJBK now operates on VHF on the US side in Detroit, on Channel 7, 174-180 MHz. The other close by VHFs are 11 and 13 Toledo, 5 Toledo, 9 Windsor, 12 Flint, and 10 Onandaga. IRONICALLY, WGPR was more powerful than any VHF in ERP. WGPR-TV did have inferior picture quality compared to the rest. It always seemed to look washed out like a wet comic section of a newspaper. I'll link the History Card.

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/c ... r_id=86187


"I'm meteorologist Arthur Mometer."

"Those of you who think you know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."

"Lies have to be repeated and repeated to be believed. Truth stands on its own merit."

fuzzpower
Posts: 1027
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2019 3:37 pm

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by fuzzpower » Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:08 am

If you have to pick one winner, it would be 62. Though they are a weak CBS O&O, they are worth far more than the WGPR independent days. CBS really pumped a lot of money into the signal in the analog days,

The biggest loser is WKBD. Going from a strong FOX affiliate to being an afterthought, and losing their news department is a major loss. WXON/WMYD is a close second for turning down CBS and being irrelevant today.



CK-722
Posts: 1284
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:53 pm

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by CK-722 » Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:02 pm

When UHF stations first came on the air, they often were fairly low ERP. They were initially envisioned as local stations serving a small to medium sized city and the area surrounding it. An 80 dBu city grade signal often went out 10 or 20 miles. But WGPR-TV was not even that level of "low" power. It was 759 kW ERP as originally licensed.


Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?

Same (x, y, z), different (t)

Your bullet missed my trial balloon.

RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.

Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.

User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11873
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by MWmetalhead » Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:51 pm

WJBK & the Fox corporate family are the big winners.

WJBK's newscasts had abysmal ratings and prime time ratings weren't that hot, either, leading up to the affiliation switch. The 10 PM news, and later, an expanded morning newscast with a completely different look & feel from the newscasts of the CBS days greatly expanded WJBK's popularity with the 18-49 demographic.

FOX as a company benefited in two major ways. One, their entire prime time schedule no longer had to deal with routine preemptions for Red Wings and Pistons games. Two, having an O&O presence in Detroit likely served as a springboard for launching Fox Sports Detroit.



innate-in-you
Posts: 684
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:54 am

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by innate-in-you » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:38 pm

fuzzpower wrote:
Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:08 am
If you have to pick one winner, it would be 62. Though they are a weak CBS O&O, they are worth far more than the WGPR independent days. CBS really pumped a lot of money into the signal in the analog days,

The biggest loser is WKBD. Going from a strong FOX affiliate to being an afterthought, and losing their news department is a major loss. WXON/WMYD is a close second for turning down CBS and being irrelevant today.
From what I heard in the day, CBS was so p****d about being relegated to UHF that they demanded reverse compensation (in an era when it wasn't done) and the rights to all the advertising slots from 20, 38, and 50. Expecting to have an affiliate that would operate at a loss.
I also read that they were able to buy WGPR-TV cheaply by paying directly to some (not all) of the directors.



Deleted User 7620

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 7620 » Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:22 pm

WADL is another loser in all of this. The owner of the station got greedy and made unreasonable demands. As a result, talks between CBS and 38 fell apart.

Today, WADL is still irrelevant. Adell made a very bad business decision, and is paying for it today.



Deleted User 7620

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 7620 » Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:30 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:51 pm
WJBK & the Fox corporate family are the big winners.

WJBK's newscasts had abysmal ratings and prime time ratings weren't that hot, either, leading up to the affiliation switch. The 10 PM news, and later, an expanded morning newscast with a completely different look & feel from the newscasts of the CBS days greatly expanded WJBK's popularity with the 18-49 demographic.

FOX as a company benefited in two major ways. One, their entire prime time schedule no longer had to deal with routine preemptions for Red Wings and Pistons games. Two, having an O&O presence in Detroit likely served as a springboard for launching Fox Sports Detroit.
Agreed!

WJBK was very poorly run in its later days as a CBS affiliate. Its newscasts were dull and full of cliches. The station ran as a independent station instead of a CBS affiliate. Overall, the station had no real identity. It was a disaster.

As a Fox O&O, WJBK not only has an identity, it has strong newscasts. Very top notch.



fuzzpower
Posts: 1027
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2019 3:37 pm

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by fuzzpower » Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:03 pm

As bad as WJBK was as a CBS affiliate in the last years, WGPR as an independent was much worse. Some cable companies didn’t even carry it because the signal was so weak. The programming served a niche yes, but even that was fading in the early 90s, to where they aired infomercials much of the day and rejected network shows from 2 and 4 (that WADL didn’t grab). I believe they were the last Detroit station to air Hee Haw, showing you how far down that show went.

I would still rank WGPR as the big winner, with WJBK a close second. The losers were the other UHF stations (except 31, which was never involved).



Deleted User 14935

Re: Network tv switch, nearly 25 years later: who was the winner?

Post by Deleted User 14935 » Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:03 pm

WJBK winner WWJ loser, Its all dial position even today, WWJ still has that Channel 62 image but that’s the fault of CBS they could’ve corrected that by changing their indentity they could’ve called themselves something else and they did for a while by just saying “CBS Detroit” but they went back to “CBS 62” they could call themselves “CBS 44” or “Detroit’s 44” per their output channel, Look how Ion id’s themselves just simply Ion TV no one even cares they’re Channel 31.



Post Reply Previous topicNext topic