QUESTION ABOUT NBC & AFFILIATE PRE-EMPTIONS

[SteveRichards]

I have read in numerous articles on Wikipedia, and I'm pretty sure I've seen it referenced a number of times on these boards over the years, where back in the day, NBC "was not as tolerant" of affiliate pre-emptions as the other networks.  I also know that WSVN in Miami lost its NBC affiliation primarily because the station bumped an hour or two of daytime shows, and maybe an occasional prime-time show.

Aside from that, I remember listings from TV Guide (primarily from the 1980s) where many of the NBC affiliates bumped an hour (usually the 10AM/9C block), and possibly a bit more, of network daytime.  Many NBC affiliates also occasionally bumped prime-time for Billy Graham specials, regional professional and college sports, and other programs.  KSDK in St. Louis was a huge offender when it came to pre-empting daytime shows.  At one time, I think outside of "Today," KSDK only cleared "Days of Our Lives" and "Another World."  WDAF (now a Fox affiliate) in Kansas City also bumped moderate amounts of NBC shows over the years.  KRON in San Francisco (when it was NBC) and the former Group W stations that were affiliated with NBC also bumped lots of shows.  I'm also aware that WMC in Memphis was big on bumping NBC shows, particularly daytime shows.

I do know that NBC had pretty tight restrictions on "The Tonight Show."  I think maybe 3 NBC affiliates (Birmingham, Minneapolis, and someplace in the east or southeast I can't think of right now) were ever allowed to delay Carson.  Other stations that didn't want to carry Carson at 11:30/10:30 couldn't carry him at all, and Carson usually ended up on an independent station in those cities.

My question is, where does all this malarkey about NBC not being tolerant of pre-emptions come from?  From what I remember and have read over the years, it just seems that many NBC affiliates were as bad, if not worse, about pre-emptions as the ABC and CBS affiliates.

[Tim L]

I can say from looking at KYW-TV 3 (Cleveland) schedules from early 1957-early 1966, that NBC "tolerated" pre-emptions more than  anything.  They certainly did'nt like them.  Westinghouse refused to Carry "Tonight" and Huntley-Brinkley was carried on WEWS-5  from Sept. 1959-July 1960.  Westinghouse had a large number of local and regional productions that would pre-empt NBC shows..Because of the forced swap of stations in 1956, Westinghouse was not fond of NBC to say the least..

[cd637299]

In the case of Miami, I am not so sure that WCKT (WSVN after 1983) ch 7 lost its NBC affiliation because of pre-emptions as much as because NBC purchased WTVJ (ch 4, now ch 6).  I figure that pre-emptions were *a* reason that NBC was all too happy to purchase a station in Miami---but even after WTVJ got NBC, the 12 noon show "Super Password" was bumped!  Until then, I always thought that O&O's *had* to run all network programming.  Oh well.

Anyway, NBC dropped 12 noon programming shortly thereafter.

[WCKT/WSVN had NBC for 32 years plus, so that's another reason that I'm tentative about that "pre-emption" reason.  I sure did miss watching NBC's game shows with a sharp picture in the 60s, tho'---I had to see fuzzy WPTV West Palm Beach; even then-indie WCIX picked up NBC for the 12:30 slot for a while.]

cd

[SteveRichards]

In regard to WSVN/Miami, NBC saw Miami as an important and growing market.  I believe NBC took the opportunity to buy WTVJ not only because of WSVN's pre-emptions, but also because the network thought it would be a strategic market in which to own a station.

[Dave]

If I'm not mistaken, during the days when Notre Dame owned WNDU-TV in South Bend, IN, I believe they pre-empted some shows too.  I know they refused to carry certain primetime shows that didn't meet their decency standards.  I don't know if that still holds true today, now that Notre Dame no longer owns WNDU-TV.

[Marckd]

WSVN actually preempted about an hour a day of NBC shows. Occasionally they preempted a prime time movie from NBC in favor of a syndicated one. Ocasionally they preempted a low rated hour of prime time NBC shows for a special local show. They ran Saturday Mornings and sports pretty much intact. They preempted an average amount of NBC shows - no worse than most affiliates. Group W's KYW TV and WBZ TV were far worse than WSVN. Also looking at some San Francisco listings, KRON was also not too bad. They ran the 10 and 11 AM hours mostly.

Yes for a while WTVJ even did not run the noon offering from NBC. The reason I believe was because NBC was ending that half hour of programming and giving that time back anyway so why stop the noon news cast for a show that is leaving the lineup anyway.

[TVCOOL]

At least Fox never had affiliate stations pre-empt Fox programming.

[anotherguy]

WMC in Memphis was the worst about pre-emptions in daytime from the late 70's to the early 90's. They also pushed David Letterman back originally by 30 minutes and then later to an hour, and NBC apparently did little or nothing to stop it.

I've said that before that NBC let their affiliates get away with too many pre-emptions in the daytime. They should have put pressure on their affiliates to carry the daytime lineup or face penalties, even to the point of losing their affiliation, but they caved in instead. Because of that now all they have in daytime is an extended Today show and Days of Our Lives, and I won't be surprised if that eventually is cancelled and given back to local stations.

I believe NBC caving in to local stations is one of the major factors in the sorry state of daytime TV today.

[nsa1]

Actually, WJW/8 in Cleveland pre-empted the Sunday morning Fox News show for infomercials in the mid 90's, after they became a Fox affiliate, but before they became an O&O. They still occasionally preempt or delay Fox prime-time when they carry Cleveland Browns prime-time cable games.

At least Fox never had affiliate stations pre-empt Fox programming.

[TVCOOL]

WMC in Memphis was the worst about pre-emptions in daytime from the late 70's to the early 90's. They also pushed David Letterman back originally by 30 minutes and then later to an hour, and NBC apparently did little or nothing to stop it.

I've said that before that NBC let their affiliates get away with too many pre-emptions in the daytime. They should have put pressure on their affiliates to carry the daytime lineup or face penalties, even to the point of losing their affiliation, but they caved in instead. Because of that now all they have in daytime is an extended Today show and Days of Our Lives, and I won't be surprised if that eventually is cancelled and given back to local stations.

I believe NBC caving in to local stations is one of the major factors in the sorry state of daytime TV today.

That got the ball rolling for ABC ,CBS ,FOX & NBC basically having no Daytime network schedules after 9-10 am. And here in Massachussess Fox 25 Boston has news from 4:30am until 10am (IMO Fox 25 News is #1) ,and from 10am until 10pm no news broadcasts (10am-8pm Regular programs and 8-10pm Fox programming).