What i remember about the "Big Switch of 1995"that involved 5 of the top twenty TV markets: Philadelphia, Boston, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, Minneapolis and throw in Baltimore which has gone through this twice.
I remembered it firsthand when I returned to Maryland (only a week's visit) from Maine. Growing up, I remembered when WJZ 13 was ABC, WMAR 2 was CBS then NBC, and WBAL 11 was NBC, then CBS. I also knew that WBFF 45, WNUV 54, were merely independent stations. Then in 1997 when my mother, brothers and I drove from Bath, ME to Baltimore, I learned that all the stations have changed or altered dramatically. WJZ 13 is now CBS, WMAR 2 is now ABC, WBAL 11 is now NBC, WBFF 45 is now FOX, and WNUV 54 is now CW. I also remembered WDCA 20 and WTTG 5 were also both independent stations before these two stations are now owned by FOX, but they are in the Washington DC area. But Maine never had any changes with their network station affiliations since their respective inceptions. WCSH 6 has always been NBC. WMTW 8 has always been ABC. And WGME 13 has always been CBS.
WBFF is the original Sinclair Broadcasting station, founded by Julian Sinclair Smith as Chesapeake Broadcasting (still the name of the license holder today). At one time, they actually challenged WMAR’s license by applying for a construction permit on channel 2.
Yep. When the Philly and Boston switches took place, KYW and WBZ didn't do much of anything, just put up their IDs and said "KYW-TV/WBZ-TV is now your CBS station."
it was just a confusing as it was 15 years earlier when WBAL(11) and WMAR(2) switched affliates. I gew up with 2=CBS, 11=NBC, 13=ABC, then it became 2=NBC, 11=CBS, 13=ABC IN 1981, then 2=ABC, 11=NBC, 13=CBS IN 1995.
The reason for that is that WMAR's owner, E.W. Scripps, forced ABC to affiliate their stations that were not already ABC affiliates. WMAR was one of them. Westinghouse felt betrayed by ABC because they dumped WJZ after years of loyalty. Westinghouse shopped for an affiliation deal of its own and CBS was the best suitor. Westinghouse and CBS merged and today WJZ is a CBS O&O. Here's a wild thought. Let's say that Disney spins off ABC. Then ABC a couple of years later works out a merger with E.W. Scripps which will make WMAR an ABC O&O. Imagine the irony.
Just different call letters on Channel 9, WTOP, WDVM and now WUSA owned by Tegna which was spun off from Gannett. Same with WMAL, then WJLA The only changes were the minor network affiliates WBDC became WDCW after the WB merged with UPN become the CW and WDCA is now My Network TV which what happen to the leftover stations after they lost their UPN affiliation. There is now a WDVM in Hagerstown.
@@rockvilleraven WDVM was WHAG (NBC Affiliate) but due to low ratings and consist local programs that ran over national program, they were dropped by NBC.
On one newscast not long before the switch, Marty had said that Westinghouse was also negotiating to switch all of its TV stations to FOX or NBC, but CBS signed the deal first.
Not long before the Westinghouse/CBS merger was concluded, The Walt Disney Company was about to complete their acquisition of Capital Cities Broadcasting (CapCities/ABC), who owned and operated the ABC network and a few ABC network affiliates, including WABC-TV 7 New York City and KABC-TV 7 Los Angeles...
ABC didn’t want to do this switch as WJZ has been the longtime market leader then and now. Scripps told ABC it would switch WEWS and WXYZ to CBS unless it also switched WMAR (and two other UHF stations) to ABC. This had been the longest tenured ABC affiliate…now it’s WJLA (affiliated with ABC since 1948 when it was WMAL). As a result, Westinghouse sought one affiliation for all five of its stations…and chose CBS since it could potentially merge radio divisions (which happened).
Actually, Westinghouse didn't buy CBS until a year after the affiliation switches. CBS did gain minority ownership in the stations upon the deal. But Scripps' deal with ABC to switch WMAR to ABC and strip WBZ of the affiliation is what triggered the whole thing.
Westinghouse actually bought CBS, sold off all of Westinghouse's non-broadcast assets and renamed themselves CBS Corporation. Les Moonves rose directly from the Group W leadership ranks to become the head of CBS, effectively replacing Laurence Tisch.
A result of the CBS/Westinghouse merger in 1993. The merged company would take all its' owned stations CBS. That required a couple of years to have affiliation agreements redone and having CBS sell WCAU/Philadelphia to NBC. Besides Boston and Philly changing to CBS from longtime NBC commitments, the three major-net affiliates in Denver swapped out as well; Westinghouse buying KCNC and dropping NBC for CBS; Gannett picking up NBC for KUSA and ABC ending up with McGraw-Hill's KMGH.
The affiliation agreement was signed before that. WBZ and WJZ switched in 1995 (KDKA and KPIX were already CBS affiliates). It was delayed in Philly since CBS had to first divest WCAU, which was eventually traded to NBC for KYW after Fox purchased WTAF and New World dropped its bid. That was a complex trade also involving Miami, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
I hated this switch I remember when Channel 2 was CBS Channel 13 was ABC and Channel 11 was NBC then Channel 2 and 11 switched, then in 1995 they messed everything up and on top of that, they had ABC soaps airing a day behind!
Actually this affiliation switch was not because of the Westinghouse-CBS merger. The two companies had signed a deal in the summer of 1994 where the Westinghouse stations that were not affiliated with CBS (KYW, WJZ, and WBZ) would switch to CBS. This deal caused some challenges because CBS owned a station in Philadelphia (WCAU), where Westinghouse also owned a station (KYW). CBS would have incurred serious tax liabilities if they had sold WCAU outright so they entered into a deal with NBC to swap some stations in exchange for WCAU. Then CBS and Westinghouse entered into a joint venture, with Westinghouse as majority owner, that would control the stations that CBS obtained from NBC as well as KYW. WJZ and WBZ were not involved in that arrangement so they switched to CBS in January 1995 as per the agreement reached the previous summer. Because of the complexity of the arrangement the trades with NBC didn’t take place until September 1995 and so KYW didn’t switch to CBS until then. Westinghouse had agreed to purchase CBS in August 1995 but the merger didn’t become final until November of that year, so WJZ was just a CBS affiliate until that deal closed and at that point it, along with the other Westinghouse stations (including those in the joint venture) became CBS O&Os.
Fox had already had an O&O in DC. In fact, WTTG is one of the two links between Dumont and Fox (the other is WNYW, previously WNEW and WABD). How did Channel 13 get the WJZ callsign, which was the original callsign for WABC?
@@johnissoevil But they are owned by different media companies, including Gray Television, Nexstar Media, and Sinclair Broadcasting. They don't want to swap affiliations unless they really have to, because it costs money. If a station loses ratings, they lose revenue and it results in the station being sold off or worse--shut down!
@johnissoevil I had heard (I'm from Boston) that Group W came close to selling-off WBZ Boston to NBC, but talks broke down because NBC was more interested in getting an O&O in Philadelphia, where the combined Group W/CBS had to ell either KYW or WCAU, than buying it's longtime Boston affiliate.
Similar situation in Providence RI:Knight-Ridder was 60% owned and operated by Capital Cities/ABC hence the affiliation switch of WPRI to ABC in April of 1977.About the time that Disney was buying ABC,Knight-Ridder was dissolved and the Knight-Ridder stations were sold to Gannett except for WPRI which was sold to a local small media company in Rhode Island who had other communication stations:Narragansett Broadcasting. This was the prerequisite for WPRI to be sold to CBS and rejoin CBS.
This was a game of musical chairs set off by one station group switching a bunch of affiliations to Fox. Ripple effects led WMAR to switch to ABC, all the Westinghouse stations to go to CBS and WBAL to go to NBC. WJZ is now an O&O.
Wow I forgot they switched in the mid 90s...channel 23 used to be ABC because I remember watching Full House on it. What did channel 12 and 21 used to be?
Actually, the merger hadn't happened yet, the Group W stations were just merely CBS affiliates owned by Group W via an agreement made between the two companies months earlier to affiliate every station owned by the company with the network (KDKA PIttsburgh and KPIX San Francisco were already longtime CBS affiliates). They hadn't decided to merge until August 1995, when Group W agreed to buy CBS. In November, the sale was approved by the FCC, and at that point, WJZ-TV, along with the other Westinghouse owned stations, became CBS O&Os. The Group W division of Westinghouse was then named Eyemark Entertainment, and Westinghouse renamed itself to CBS Corporation.
This predated that. It was because Scripps took the ABC affiliation away as a condition to not switch WEWS and WXYZ to CBS. Now the longest tenured ABC affiliate is WJLA, which has been with ABC since the network was established in 1948 (that station began as WTVW/WMAL and CBS because ABC hadn’t yet established its network).
WJZ-TV 13, formerly ABC, now CBS WBAL-TV 11, formerly CBS, now NBC WMAR-TV 2, formerly NBC, now ABC It was WJZ's deal with CBS/Westinghouse that started this game of "musical stations."
Justin Hill no it wasn't. What started it all was when E.W. Scripps, the owner of WMAR, forced ABC to affiliate some of their stations with ABC. This included WMAR. The Scripps stations in Detroit and Cleveland were being wooed by CBS, who were about to lose their respective stations to Fox. In order for ABC to renew the affiliation agreements, they would have to affiliate several ABC affiliates, including WMAR. ABC was reluctant to affiliate WMAR, but didn't want to be relegated to UHF stations in Detroit or Cleveland. This resulted in WMAR going with ABC and as a result WJZ was dumped by ABC. It was then that Westinghouse made their own agreement with CBS for their stations.
And the CBS affiliate in Miami, Florida, WCIX-TV 6 (now WFOR-TV 4) traded equipment with NBC affiliate WTVJ-TV 4 (now channel 6). KCNC-TV 4 (NBC, now CBS) of Denver, Colorado was also affected, with McGraw-Hill's KMGH-TV 7 switching from CBS to ABC, and Gannett (now Tegna)'s KUSA-TV 9 switching from ABC to NBC. Denver's affiliation switches were the polar opposite of Baltimore's. WJZ-TV 13's affiliation switch is KMGH-TV 7's switch backwards. (ABC to CBS vs. CBS to ABC) WBAL-TV 11's affiliation switch is KCNC-TV 4's switch backwards. (CBS to NBC vs. NBC to CBS) WMAR-TV 2's affiliation switch is KUSA-TV 9's switch backwards. (NBC to ABC vs. ABC to NBC)
@@Justin-Hill-1987 Also Baltimore has gone through the switch twice. In 1981 WMAR was a CBS affiliate switched with WBAL the NBC affiliate up until 1995. "The Big Switch" in 1995: WMAR was NBC, WJZ was ABC and WBAL was CBS. Now WMAR is ABC, WBAL went back to NBC, and WJZ is now CBS. It hard to believe it 25 years since the big switch. WMAR is maybe one of the few stations that can say they've had all three major networks.
Call this two big switches from 1995, first in Baltimore on January 2, 1995, WMAR-TV 2 NBC to ABC, WBAL-TV 11 CBS to NBC, and WJZ-TV 13 ABC to CBS and only WBFF-TV Fox 45 was unaffected, and WJZ-TV is not known as CBS 13. And second in Denver on September 10, 1995, KCNC-TV 4 NBC to CBS, KMGH-TV 7 CBS to ABC, and KUSA-TV 9 ABC to NBC and only KDVR Fox 31 was unaffected. Call these the year of the two big switches.
That same year, New World worked out a deal with FOX and E.W. Scripps worked out a deal with ABC... Disney would acquire CapCities/ABC, the parent company of ABC later that year...
@@dimitriberozny3729 - Scripps didn’t buy the TV division of McGraw Hill until 2011. However, with that came the McGraw Hill master control hub at WRTV in Indianapolis. Scripps has since moved master control of all of its non-Ion stations to WRTV.
this is horrible tv, its like everyone that works there i feel sorry for. They all fresh new faces and ideas...Especially denise koch, she looks a mess !
channel 11 does what its title says NEWS marty ass should have been taking off baltimore tv when he was caught trying to pick up an undercover cop by patterson park back in the 80's thats when he took on the bald look, many forget about the toupee
gosh... their talent speaks for itself doesn't it. "Rise and Shine?" Should be "Rise, Shine and Change the Channel" away from the babbling idiots. I've always wondered about the sanity of my fellow Baltimoreans, since this has been "THE" local morning news team for years... Where's the news? It's taking them minutes to even get around to explaining their own network change, for God's sake.
Amazing!
WGHP Channel 8 switch from ABC to Fox in the Late Summer in 1995.
What i remember about the "Big Switch of 1995"that involved 5 of the top twenty TV markets: Philadelphia, Boston, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, Minneapolis and throw in Baltimore which has gone through this twice.
Also throw in Providence and Toledo.
I remembered it firsthand when I returned to Maryland (only a week's visit) from Maine. Growing up, I remembered when WJZ 13 was ABC, WMAR 2 was CBS then NBC, and WBAL 11 was NBC, then CBS. I also knew that WBFF 45, WNUV 54, were merely independent stations. Then in 1997 when my mother, brothers and I drove from Bath, ME to Baltimore, I learned that all the stations have changed or altered dramatically. WJZ 13 is now CBS, WMAR 2 is now ABC, WBAL 11 is now NBC, WBFF 45 is now FOX, and WNUV 54 is now CW. I also remembered WDCA 20 and WTTG 5 were also both independent stations before these two stations are now owned by FOX, but they are in the Washington DC area.
But Maine never had any changes with their network station affiliations since their respective inceptions. WCSH 6 has always been NBC. WMTW 8 has always been ABC. And WGME 13 has always been CBS.
WBFF is still at Fox since 1986!
WBFF is the original Sinclair Broadcasting station, founded by Julian Sinclair Smith as Chesapeake Broadcasting (still the name of the license holder today). At one time, they actually challenged WMAR’s license by applying for a construction permit on channel 2.
WFMY and WMYV Switch Affiliations.
Yep. When the Philly and Boston switches took place, KYW and WBZ didn't do much of anything, just put up their IDs and said "KYW-TV/WBZ-TV is now your CBS station."
WBFF Fox 45 is Baltimore's only station never to change it's affiliate.
+antoinec822 Actually they switched from being an independent to Fox, but that really doesn't count.
@@rockvilleraven And their WB affiliate became an affiliate of The CW, naturally...
it was just a confusing as it was 15 years earlier when WBAL(11) and WMAR(2) switched affliates. I gew up with 2=CBS, 11=NBC, 13=ABC, then it became 2=NBC, 11=CBS, 13=ABC IN 1981, then 2=ABC, 11=NBC, 13=CBS IN 1995.
Omg I remember all of this!
WMAR TV 2 in Baltimore is the only station that can say they had all 3 networks: CBS, then NBC, and now ABC.
Rise and Shine, WJZ-TV 13 Baltimore's morning TV news magazine...
in 1995 three group w stations change affiliates Baltimore wjz-tv,Boston wbz-tv, and Philadelphia kyw-tv all went to cbs.
Yes, that is true. Only KDKA in Pittsburgh, and KPIX in San Fransisco didn't have to do anything since they already were CBS since their inceptions.
The reason for that is that WMAR's owner, E.W. Scripps, forced ABC to affiliate their stations that were not already ABC affiliates. WMAR was one of them. Westinghouse felt betrayed by ABC because they dumped WJZ after years of loyalty. Westinghouse shopped for an affiliation deal of its own and CBS was the best suitor. Westinghouse and CBS merged and today WJZ is a CBS O&O.
Here's a wild thought. Let's say that Disney spins off ABC. Then ABC a couple of years later works out a merger with E.W. Scripps which will make WMAR an ABC O&O. Imagine the irony.
Glad DC didn't have to go through all that. In fact, I remember the stations in DC making fun of it.
Just different call letters on Channel 9, WTOP, WDVM and now WUSA owned by Tegna which was spun off from Gannett. Same with WMAL, then WJLA
The only changes were the minor network affiliates WBDC became WDCW after the WB merged with UPN become the CW and WDCA is now My Network TV which what happen to the leftover stations after they lost their UPN affiliation. There is now a WDVM in Hagerstown.
It helped in part for WRC (NBC) and WTTG (Fox) being O&Os, as well as WJLA's strong relation with ABC and WUSA's with CBS.
@@rockvilleraven WDVM was WHAG (NBC Affiliate) but due to low ratings and consist local programs that ran over national program, they were dropped by NBC.
@@tdxownyou And now they owned by the same duopoly that owns WDCW, the CW affiliate in Washington, DC
"Lemme get this log out of my pocket."
On one newscast not long before the switch, Marty had said that Westinghouse was also negotiating to switch all of its TV stations to FOX or NBC, but CBS signed the deal first.
CBS offered a chance to merge Radio divisions.
Not long before the Westinghouse/CBS merger was concluded, The Walt Disney Company was about to complete their acquisition of Capital Cities Broadcasting (CapCities/ABC), who owned and operated the ABC network and a few ABC network affiliates, including WABC-TV 7 New York City and KABC-TV 7 Los Angeles...
And before Disney bought CC/ABC
I remember this. I was leaving middle school around this time.
ABC didn’t want to do this switch as WJZ has been the longtime market leader then and now. Scripps told ABC it would switch WEWS and WXYZ to CBS unless it also switched WMAR (and two other UHF stations) to ABC. This had been the longest tenured ABC affiliate…now it’s WJLA (affiliated with ABC since 1948 when it was WMAL). As a result, Westinghouse sought one affiliation for all five of its stations…and chose CBS since it could potentially merge radio divisions (which happened).
Actually, Westinghouse didn't buy CBS until a year after the affiliation switches. CBS did gain minority ownership in the stations upon the deal. But Scripps' deal with ABC to switch WMAR to ABC and strip WBZ of the affiliation is what triggered the whole thing.
Hmm. More than sister stations KYW 3 Philly and WBZ 4 Boston did for their CBS switches.
Westinghouse buying CBS?
Don't you mean CBS buying the Westinghouse stations, including WJZ?
The two companies merged in 1993 and all Westinghouse-owned stations went CBS by 1995.
Westinghouse actually bought CBS, sold off all of Westinghouse's non-broadcast assets and renamed themselves CBS Corporation. Les Moonves rose directly from the Group W leadership ranks to become the head of CBS, effectively replacing Laurence Tisch.
CBS acquires the Group W TV stations...Flips said TV stations from NBC and ABC to CBS...Both companies merge afterward...The End!
A result of the CBS/Westinghouse merger in 1993. The merged company would take all its' owned stations CBS. That required a couple of years to have affiliation agreements redone and having CBS sell WCAU/Philadelphia to NBC. Besides Boston and Philly changing to CBS from longtime NBC commitments, the three major-net affiliates in Denver swapped out as well; Westinghouse buying KCNC and dropping NBC for CBS; Gannett picking up NBC for KUSA and ABC ending up with McGraw-Hill's KMGH.
The affiliation agreement was signed before that. WBZ and WJZ switched in 1995 (KDKA and KPIX were already CBS affiliates). It was delayed in Philly since CBS had to first divest WCAU, which was eventually traded to NBC for KYW after Fox purchased WTAF and New World dropped its bid. That was a complex trade also involving Miami, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
When I first found out that day... I was confused... I was like... "What The fuck is going on?"
oh man i remember this cast.. oh man.. those guys were great.. i miss al sanders also and jerry turner... oh the old school...
I hated this switch I remember when Channel 2 was CBS Channel 13 was ABC and Channel 11 was NBC then Channel 2 and 11 switched, then in 1995 they messed everything up and on top of that, they had ABC soaps airing a day behind!
At least you got WBAL back with NBC.
Actually this affiliation switch was not because of the Westinghouse-CBS merger. The two companies had signed a deal in the summer of 1994 where the Westinghouse stations that were not affiliated with CBS (KYW, WJZ, and WBZ) would switch to CBS. This deal caused some challenges because CBS owned a station in Philadelphia (WCAU), where Westinghouse also owned a station (KYW). CBS would have incurred serious tax liabilities if they had sold WCAU outright so they entered into a deal with NBC to swap some stations in exchange for WCAU. Then CBS and Westinghouse entered into a joint venture, with Westinghouse as majority owner, that would control the stations that CBS obtained from NBC as well as KYW. WJZ and WBZ were not involved in that arrangement so they switched to CBS in January 1995 as per the agreement reached the previous summer. Because of the complexity of the arrangement the trades with NBC didn’t take place until September 1995 and so KYW didn’t switch to CBS until then. Westinghouse had agreed to purchase CBS in August 1995 but the merger didn’t become final until November of that year, so WJZ was just a CBS affiliate until that deal closed and at that point it, along with the other Westinghouse stations (including those in the joint venture) became CBS O&Os.
I miss Don Scott😎
Thank God nothing like that happened here in DC.
A few call letters changes but that's it.
Fox had already had an O&O in DC. In fact, WTTG is one of the two links between Dumont and Fox (the other is WNYW, previously WNEW and WABD).
How did Channel 13 get the WJZ callsign, which was the original callsign for WABC?
I predict that the next affiliation switch will be Fox on 2, ABC on 11, NBC on 24, and MyNetwork on 45.
I doubt it.
@@Justin-Hill-1987 Given those stations are not owned by their networks, it's possible
@@johnissoevil But they are owned by different media companies, including Gray Television, Nexstar Media, and Sinclair Broadcasting. They don't want to swap affiliations unless they really have to, because it costs money. If a station loses ratings, they lose revenue and it results in the station being sold off or worse--shut down!
Channel 2 is owned by Scripps now, and Scripps has a LONG term deal with ABC. So THAT means that this ideal is DEAD.
@johnissoevil I had heard (I'm from Boston) that Group W came close to selling-off WBZ Boston to NBC, but talks broke down because NBC was more interested in getting an O&O in Philadelphia, where the combined Group W/CBS had to ell either KYW or WCAU, than buying it's longtime Boston affiliate.
Similar situation in Providence RI:Knight-Ridder was 60% owned and operated by Capital Cities/ABC hence the affiliation switch of WPRI to ABC in April of 1977.About the time that Disney was buying ABC,Knight-Ridder was dissolved and the Knight-Ridder stations were sold to Gannett except for WPRI which was sold to a local small media company in Rhode Island who had other communication stations:Narragansett Broadcasting. This was the prerequisite for WPRI to be sold to CBS and rejoin CBS.
Man, was this confusing. I hope they don't switch stations again.
you shouldve seen phoenix in 95 knxv from fox to abc ktvk from abc to ind ksaz cbs to fox and then kpho ind to cbs
This was a game of musical chairs set off by one station group switching a bunch of affiliations to Fox. Ripple effects led WMAR to switch to ABC, all the Westinghouse stations to go to CBS and WBAL to go to NBC. WJZ is now an O&O.
Wow I forgot they switched in the mid 90s...channel 23 used to be ABC because I remember watching Full House on it. What did channel 12 and 21 used to be?
"This is CBS!"
man i dont remember this i didnt kno they was abc at first well probably thats cuz i was born in 1990 im a youngin lol
Is that the Star Hustler intro music?
WJZ was one of the six TV stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting.
Five: WBZ, WJZ, KYW (at one point in Cleveland before being moved to Philly), KDKA, and KPIX.
till this day i still don't know why they did that shit with switching the networks i hated the whole fucking thing i was so mad when it happend
This was neccessary because Westinghouse who owed Group W merged with CBS.
As a result, those Group W stations became CBS owned and operated stations.
Actually, the merger hadn't happened yet, the Group W stations were just merely CBS affiliates owned by Group W via an agreement made between the two companies months earlier to affiliate every station owned by the company with the network (KDKA PIttsburgh and KPIX San Francisco were already longtime CBS affiliates). They hadn't decided to merge until August 1995, when Group W agreed to buy CBS. In November, the sale was approved by the FCC, and at that point, WJZ-TV, along with the other Westinghouse owned stations, became CBS O&Os. The Group W division of Westinghouse was then named Eyemark Entertainment, and Westinghouse renamed itself to CBS Corporation.
This predated that. It was because Scripps took the ABC affiliation away as a condition to not switch WEWS and WXYZ to CBS. Now the longest tenured ABC affiliate is WJLA, which has been with ABC since the network was established in 1948 (that station began as WTVW/WMAL and CBS because ABC hadn’t yet established its network).
There's something better on at 5:30am?
Who really initiated "The Big Switch" of 1995?
Rupert Murdoch from Fox.
WJZ-TV 13, formerly ABC, now CBS
WBAL-TV 11, formerly CBS, now NBC
WMAR-TV 2, formerly NBC, now ABC
It was WJZ's deal with CBS/Westinghouse that started this game of "musical stations."
'BAL back to NBC, eh?
Justin Hill no it wasn't. What started it all was when E.W. Scripps, the owner of WMAR, forced ABC to affiliate some of their stations with ABC. This included WMAR. The Scripps stations in Detroit and Cleveland were being wooed by CBS, who were about to lose their respective stations to Fox. In order for ABC to renew the affiliation agreements, they would have to affiliate several ABC affiliates, including WMAR. ABC was reluctant to affiliate WMAR, but didn't want to be relegated to UHF stations in Detroit or Cleveland. This resulted in WMAR going with ABC and as a result WJZ was dumped by ABC. It was then that Westinghouse made their own agreement with CBS for their stations.
Oh, now I get it.
And the CBS affiliate in Miami, Florida, WCIX-TV 6 (now WFOR-TV 4) traded equipment with NBC affiliate WTVJ-TV 4 (now channel 6). KCNC-TV 4 (NBC, now CBS) of Denver, Colorado was also affected, with McGraw-Hill's KMGH-TV 7 switching from CBS to ABC, and Gannett (now Tegna)'s KUSA-TV 9 switching from ABC to NBC.
Denver's affiliation switches were the polar opposite of Baltimore's.
WJZ-TV 13's affiliation switch is KMGH-TV 7's switch backwards. (ABC to CBS vs. CBS to ABC)
WBAL-TV 11's affiliation switch is KCNC-TV 4's switch backwards. (CBS to NBC vs. NBC to CBS)
WMAR-TV 2's affiliation switch is KUSA-TV 9's switch backwards. (NBC to ABC vs. ABC to NBC)
@@Justin-Hill-1987 Also Baltimore has gone through the switch twice. In 1981 WMAR was a CBS affiliate switched with WBAL the NBC affiliate up until 1995. "The Big Switch" in 1995: WMAR was NBC, WJZ was ABC and WBAL was CBS. Now WMAR is ABC, WBAL went back to NBC, and WJZ is now CBS. It hard to believe it 25 years since the big switch. WMAR is maybe one of the few stations that can say they've had all three major networks.
WMAR Channel 2 used to be CBS.
and NBC
WJZ didnt change to all three that was WMAR channel 2
1/2/95 at 5am,
We've got the touch on wjz 13
Still the One... WJZ-TV 13
@@Justin-Hill-1987 Justin, wjz tv channel 13 is done with ABC they are affiliate with CBS share the spirit of wjz
@@matthewcampbell7985 They never used those CBS jingles!
Better days
AFRAM 22
Call this two big switches from 1995, first in Baltimore on January 2, 1995, WMAR-TV 2 NBC to ABC, WBAL-TV 11 CBS to NBC, and WJZ-TV 13 ABC to CBS and only WBFF-TV Fox 45 was unaffected, and WJZ-TV is not known as CBS 13. And second in Denver on September 10, 1995, KCNC-TV 4 NBC to CBS, KMGH-TV 7 CBS to ABC, and KUSA-TV 9 ABC to NBC and only KDVR Fox 31 was unaffected. Call these the year of the two big switches.
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
everyone complains about the screen gems logo, but the spinning CBS is the stuff of horrors
That same year, New World worked out a deal with FOX and E.W. Scripps worked out a deal with ABC...
Disney would acquire CapCities/ABC, the parent company of ABC later that year...
And EW Scripps merged with McGraw Hill at the end of 1996 and the new company became Scripps Local Media.
@@dimitriberozny3729 - Scripps didn’t buy the TV division of McGraw Hill until 2011. However, with that came the McGraw Hill master control hub at WRTV in Indianapolis. Scripps has since moved master control of all of its non-Ion stations to WRTV.
@@AEMoreira81 They had operations agreements to avoid duopoly issues though since the Colorado tv switch.
If I hosted my own news channel, it would be CBS and I would bring back KEWLopolis too.
this is horrible tv, its like everyone that works there i feel sorry for. They all fresh new faces and ideas...Especially denise koch, she looks a mess !
wjz cbs 13 owned by o&o
channel 11 does what its title says NEWS marty ass should have been taking off baltimore tv when he was caught trying to pick up an undercover cop by patterson park back in the 80's thats when he took on the bald look, many forget about the toupee
TIMMF65 I never forget that
Conversely enough, CBS affiliate WBAL Channel 11 went to NBC, and NBC affiliate WMAR Channel 2 went to ABC! #TheBigSwitch #BaltimoreMD
Freaking Marty.. has to be on Coke here
Wooof to the guy with a beard!
@TIMMF65 Matt. 7:1-Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
John 8:7-Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
What a STUPID move.
gosh... their talent speaks for itself doesn't it. "Rise and Shine?" Should be "Rise, Shine and Change the Channel" away from the babbling idiots. I've always wondered about the sanity of my fellow Baltimoreans, since this has been "THE" local morning news team for years... Where's the news? It's taking them minutes to even get around to explaining their own network change, for God's sake.
Get rid of local affiliates.It's a cable world now.CBS 2 NBC 4 FOX 5 ABC 7 UPN 9 WB 11 PBS 13 Make them all one station.
NYC Stations? O_o
Quite the opposite, cordcutters are on the rise now...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord-cutting