1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment
Unprecedented in the broadcast industry, the deal resulted in twelve stations owned by, or in the process of being purchased by New World, switching network affiliations to Fox over the course of a two-year period when existing contracts expired.
CBS was most impacted among the "Big Three" networks, consigned to UHF stations with high channel numbers in markets like Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, but started to recover in the late 1990s by claiming the American Football Conference (AFC) rights from NBC.
[2] Among the defections from NBC were a string of major coups in sizable markets: WRTV in Indianapolis; KGTV in San Diego; WSOC-TV in Charlotte; KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities;[3] and WSB-TV in Atlanta.
[10][11] Murdoch and TCF minority investor Marvin Davis then announced a $2.5 billion purchase of Metromedia's program syndication unit and six television stations—including WNEW-TV in New York City, KTTV in Los Angeles and WTTG in Washington, D.C.—from John Kluge on May 6, 1985.
[21][a] Against this backdrop, TCF chairman Barry Diller announced in January 1987 that Fox was ready to bid on MNF in an attempt to win legitimacy, telling the Miami Herald, "We would take ABC's (current) contract and sign it today.
"[23] Diller viewed an MNF bid as making a long-term investment, and was prepared for Fox to "lose money in the double-digit eight figures" with such a deal[21] buoyed by Murdoch's financial resources.
[23] ABC decided to bid for a renewal based largely on Fox's interest in MNF,[24] with a fee reduction saving the network approximately $20 million per year and low-rated Sunday and Thursday games moved to ESPN.
[29] Early financial projections for CBS owned-stations and affiliates were grim: network flagship WCBS-TV alone stood to lose $5 million a year without the NFL, with their general manager calling it "a straight drop to the bottom line".
KSHB's newscast launched in August 1993 with an irreverent tone and de-emphasis on sports and weather;[40][41] likewise, KNXV was assembling their news department with an unconventional style in line with Fox's younger demographics.
[50] The network began making overtures to group operators like Freedom Newspapers, Stauffer Communications and Brisette Broadcasting about having their stations switch to Fox, mostly to upgrade in markets with UHF affiliates that reached fewer households than their VHF counterparts.
[67] Originally constituted as an independent producer of low-budget feature films, and later as a television studio, New World Pictures was purchased by investor Ronald Perelman in 1989 while in the middle of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.
[100]: 7 KNXV's inclusion came at the expense of KTVK, the market leader for local news and regarded as a model ABC affiliate[101] but was a standalone family-run station and not part of a larger group.
[105] The new ABC alliance prompted WFTS-TV to expedite work on establishing a news department,[106] with local newscasts launching the day of the switch from facilities formerly used by the Home Shopping Network in a temporary setup.
[113] WJZ-TV owner Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W) engaged in off-and-on discussions over the past six months with CBS, NBC and Fox over a possible group-wide affiliation deal, which accelerated when the Scripps-ABC agreement was announced.
[126] Because of the complexity of the NBC-CBS asset swap, the FCC granted approval in August 1995 after weeks of delays, with the Philadelphia, Miami, Denver, and Salt Lake City market affiliation switches all taking place on September 10, 1995.
[132][133] Relegated to the UHF dial in Cleveland, CBS signed former Fox affiliate WOIO,[134] which despite having no news department, committed to launching one by taking over WUAB through a local marketing agreement.
[149] WGPR-TV was the first Black-owned television station in the mainland United States[150] and, up until October 1992, employed an 11-person news department with daily newscasts focused on the city's Black population.
[160] CBS's situation in Milwaukee was dire to the point the network agreed to supply their owned-stations in Chicago and Green Bay to cable providers in the event no replacement affiliate could be secured.
[90] As the New World stations had the right to decline carriage of Fox Kids, WBNX-TV in Akron, Ohio, an independent owned by televangelist Ernest Angley, agreed to pick up the children's programming block, finalizing a contract two days beforehand.
[227] WJKS contested the loss of their ABC contract until giving up in August 1996,[228] but it began aggressively preempting the majority of the network lineup starting in January 1997; this forced WBSG's switch to be moved up from April to February.
The loss of the NFC and multiple tenured affiliates, combined with a long-held strategy of pursuing older, less-desirable audiences in prime time, resulted in the network crashing to last place among the "Big Three".
[258][265][s] On October 2, 1996, network flagship WCBS-TV fired much of its on-air talent including longtime anchor Michele Marsh, a move meant to address the station's low ratings.
Stations like KSAZ, WJW, WDAF and WITI continued news presentations similar to their "Big Three" affiliations, which analysts saw as unsustainable with younger-skewing Fox shows like Party of Five as lead-ins.
WNCN hired 68 full-time staffers in 1995 as they prepared to take the NBC affiliation, WGNX increased their headcount to 50 after linking with CBS, and WHBQ bolstered their staffing from 28 to 55 under Fox ownership.
Ball State University professor Bob Papper estimated in 1996 that several thousand more jobs could be created if other older Fox affiliates started local news, or expanded their output to match up with the New World stations.
KDNL's newscasts, which debuted prior to the switch,[372] struggled to gain viewership amid repeated changes in management, on-air talent and news sets, with ABC network programming equally underperforming.
[374] WXLV-TV, which frequently failed to make progress in area ratings against the more established WFMY-TV, WGHP and WXII-TV,[377][378] had its morning and weekend newscasts cancelled in late 2000[379] and ultimately shuttered outright on January 11, 2002.
[387][388] WPTY-TV's news department was hastily assembled to make the deadline for their Fox-ABC switch,[389][325] with multiple technical gaffes and on-air talent misidentifying area landmarks plaguing their debut.
[393][394] New NBC affiliate WGBA-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin, did not begin producing newscasts until July 1, 1996; it had doubled its payroll and expanded its studios in order to accommodate its news operation.
[269] Along with a theme song composed by Scott Schreer that has since become symbolic of the entire network,[419] technical innovations included the "Fox Box" displaying the clock and score continuously (Hill perfected a similar on-screen bug for Sky's soccer coverage) and the use of parabolic microphones for in-game sound.
