It also carried secondary affiliations with ABC and DuMont, and also cleared whatever NBC programs that WBZ-TV (channel 4, now a CBS owned-and-operated station) declined to air.

After six years, Springfield Television decided to turn channel 14 into a Boston-focused independent station once again, under new call letters, WJZB (named for WWLP staffer John Z. Buckley).

With a terrestrial footprint that covered portions of metropolitan Boston and Providence—as well as segments of eastern Connecticut—the station appeared to be on strong footing.

The station's fate was sealed in 1966, when two major events occurred: first, Storer Broadcasting bought struggling independent WIHS-TV (channel 38) and changed its call letters to WSBK-TV.

The station limped along for another year until Springfield Television cut back its broadcast schedule to 90 minutes a day, the minimum required to satisfy its FCC license.