Interesting news from the NBC affiliate which is carried by Bell TV.

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-nbc-affiliate-snubs-leno,0,3181699.story


NBC station in Boston says no to Leno
Affiliate would rather air news at 10 p.m. than Jay

April 3, 2009

Jay Leno's prime-time show will launch nationwide this fall -- except in Boston.

The NBC affiliate in Beantown, WHDH-TV, says it won't air the show and will instead opt for a local newscast in the 10 p.m. hour. The station thinks it can get better ratings with news than with Leno's show, which will run every weeknight at 10 ET starting in the fall.

"We feel we have a real opportunity with running the news at 10 p.m.," WHDH owner Ed Ansin tells The Boston Globe. "We don't think the Leno show is going to be effective in prime time. It will be detrimental to our 11 o'clock [newscast]. It will be very adverse to our finances."

NBC, not surprisingly, isn't pleased with the station's decision, going so far as to say it could strip WHDH of its network affiliation if it refuses to air Leno's show.

"WHDH's move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC," John Eck, president of NBC Network, which oversees relations with affiliates, tells the paper. "If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC-owned and operated station."

NBC announced in December that it was keeping the long-time "Tonight Show" in the fold by giving Leno a nightly prime-time show. (Conan O'Brien will become the "Tonight" host on June 1.) The network has tried to manage ratings expectations for the show, saying that while it might not be a huge hit, its low cost compared to scripted drama and the fact that it will be new episodes for most of the year will be good for the network.

Interesting news from the NBC affiliate which is carried by Bell TV.

HA! When I saw the title I was wondering how this could fit into a Canadian TV forum.

Regarding the Leno thing I remember the same thing, aside from network outrage, back when Letterman moved to CBS. For the first year of his show Erie, PA affiliate WSEE actually stuck to re-runs of Star Trek (man...Star Trek via OTA...those were the days).

I wonder if WHDH will buckle to NBC's threats. I kind of agree with WHDH's decision if it can bring in more revenue for the station. Putting Leno into prime-time is a dumb move. Prime time is better suited for scripted shows. I think Leno will be an abysmal failure in that time slot.

I wonder if WHDH will buckle to NBC's threats.

they have no choice.

It's not a question of threats but a question of their contract. Being in a network has huge benefits for affiliates and obviously a network needs affiliates. Affiliates can't simply pick and chose when they want to be part of the network.

Affiliate contracts have gotten a lot tighter over the past 10 years. All 3 Boston affiliates used to delay and pre-empt network programming at will until the mid-late 90s. NBC probably would barely have batted an eye over this back then.

I think Leno will be an abysmal failure in that time slot.

Keep in mind that NBC doesn't expect that the show will be number one. Given Leno's popularity, I think it will get decent ratings.

Nice way to get more publicity for the 10 pm show on NBC. The NBC affiliate is trailing the other Boston stations as is the whole NBC network behind CBS ABC and Fox when American Idol is on.
The station has little choice in the matter from a contractual standpoint.

I suspect WHDH didn't do this without their own legal advice. Not sure if any of us have seen an affiliate contract (I haven't) but it wouldn't surprise me if the commitment on the network side to provide programming described what types of programming were covered (eg. sports, drama, comedy, news, newsmagazine, late night talk, etc ...). Maybe WHDH thinks that Leno doesn't fit the described programming for the three hour primetime block).

WHDH's 11pm newscast has fallen from 1st to 3rd in the ratings in the past year. Not all of it is due to NBC's weak lineup....they fired their lead anchor, have had a couple of embarrassing moments involving other station personalities and ramped up the tabloid journalism to the point where it seems like a parody. Their news department is a sinking ship and management is just trying to deflect the blame elsewhere.

I think they'll give in in the end and run Leno.

Not to mention this show will be very cheap to produce, so NBC will most likely still be making money from it.

IMO that show will be a train wreck. I don't think Jay is capable of holding down a show that doesn't have the name recognition of "The Tonight show". That would require the man to actually be funny, which he's not.

Local news could well be an exception. NBC Seattle has seldom (if ever) carried NHL Playoffs in HD. Instead, they do their "supper hour" local news in HD (KING). NHL gets pushed to an SD digital (KONG).

Not to mention this show will be very cheap to produce, so NBC will most likely still be making money from it.
Sure, that makes sense for NBC itself, but how does cheap production and low/mediocre ratings benefit affiliates? WHDH has a fairly legitimate concern here. Course, depending on their contract, they may not have a choice. Guess we'll have to see how it shakes out.

Nice way to get more publicity for the 10 pm show on NBC.
Good point. NBC probably doesn't mind this "controversy" one bit (particularly if the contract forces WHDH to fall in line).

Good! Strip them of their affiliation! Would be nice for Boston to have an NBC O&O (Fox and CBS already are, ABC is Hearst). Also if a new station is launched it would be on UHF like all the others (stupid WHDH forcing people to get a VHF antenna just for one channel).

There's nothing I hate more than local stations pre-empting network programming, especially since they're given protection that prevents the distribution of distant stations.