Leno tussle isn't the first for WHDH owner
Ed Ansin got in hot water with NBC in mid-'80s at WSVN

By Nellie Andreeva

April 5, 2009, 06:15 PM ET
The bombshell announcement by NBC's Boston affiliate that it will not air the network's upcoming 10 p.m. talk show with Jay Leno thrust into the spotlight the station's owner, Ed Ansin.

Just who is that man who dared to defy a Big Three network with a move to permanently pre-empt a full hour of primetime for a local newscast with blatant comments like, "We don't think the Leno show is going to be effective in primetime"?

For his actions, Ansin was labeled by some as a rogue. But those who know him well call the 73-year-old entrepreneur "a soft-spoken intellectual" who is "risk averse."

So what prompted this "soft-spoken intellectual" to thumb his nose at NBC?

Ansin's WHDH in Boston is the biggest-market NBC station not owned or co-owned by the network, but he doesn't have any additional leverage. His company, Sunbeam, owns only three stations: WHDH and CW affiliate WLVI in Ansin's native Massachusetts and Fox affiliate WSVN in South Florida, where he lives.

What's more, his NBC station is reportedly one of very few that still receive compensation from the network, so he is poised to lose several million dollars if his affiliation is yanked.

That may not phase Ansin, who has frequently been featured on Forbes' billionaire list. In 2007, he was worth $1.7 billion. He has massive real estate holdings that include thousands of acres of land and millions of square feet of commercial property in South Florida.

But his rebellion puts him in jeopardy of losing not just several million dollars in compensation but hundreds of millions if NBC yanks its affiliation as evidenced by the demise of San Francisco's KRON, which shed about 95% of its value after losing its NBC affiliation.

So why is the "risk averse" Ansin taking such a gamble?

The answer might lie 22 years ago, when Ansin's passion for local news (with heavy emphasis on tabloid, crime and consumer stories), penchant for network pre-emptions and hard stance against NBC got him in the same hot water at WSVN.

In the mid-1980s, when WSVN was an NBC affiliate, Ansin pre-empted the network's noon programming to air a local newscast and often also dropped NBC's 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. shows, prompting the network to run the dumped programs on indie stations in the area.

The pre-emptions ultimately contributed to NBC's decision in 1987 to buy a station in the market, the CBS affiliate WTVJ. Both WSVN's and WTVJ's affiliate agreements were not up until the end of 1988, but with CBS willing to release WTVJ a year earlier, NBC was eager to make the switch at the beginning of 1988.

However, Ansin would not budge. He was dead set on airing NBC's 1988 Olympics and baseball coverage, forcing NBC to run its O&O station as a CBS affiliate for a year while airing under CBS' logo all if its shows pre-empted by Ansin's WSVN.

Needless to say, that stubbornness didn't sit well with CBS, either, which refused to make WSVN a CBS affiliate. With the value of his station plunging, Ansin ultimately signed with then-fledging network Fox.

He was eventually able to turn the disaster into a success on the back of the eight hours of local news a day he commissioned and with some help from Fox, which 20 years later is the top network.

When he bought Boston's WHDH -- then a CBS affiliate -- in 1993, Ansin also quickly dropped the network's morning show "CBS This Morning" to expand the station's local morning newscast to 5-9 a.m.

But since WHDH became an NBC affiliate in 1995, he has been mostly faithful to the network's programming.

Until now.
Leno tussle isn't the first for WHDH owner
Ed Ansin got in hot water with NBC in mid-'80s at WSVN

By Nellie Andreeva

April 5, 2009, 06:15 PM ET
The bombshell announcement by NBC's Boston affiliate that it will not air the network's upcoming 10 p.m. talk show with Jay Leno thrust into the spotlight the station's owner, Ed Ansin.

Just who is that man who dared to defy a Big Three network with a move to permanently pre-empt a full hour of primetime for a local newscast with blatant comments like, "We don't think the Leno show is going to be effective in primetime"?

For his actions, Ansin was labeled by some as a rogue. But those who know him well call the 73-year-old entrepreneur "a soft-spoken intellectual" who is "risk averse."

So what prompted this "soft-spoken intellectual" to thumb his nose at NBC?

Ansin's WHDH in Boston is the biggest-market NBC station not owned or co-owned by the network, but he doesn't have any additional leverage. His company, Sunbeam, owns only three stations: WHDH and CW affiliate WLVI in Ansin's native Massachusetts and Fox affiliate WSVN in South Florida, where he lives.

What's more, his NBC station is reportedly one of very few that still receive compensation from the network, so he is poised to lose several million dollars if his affiliation is yanked.

That may not phase Ansin, who has frequently been featured on Forbes' billionaire list. In 2007, he was worth $1.7 billion. He has massive real estate holdings that include thousands of acres of land and millions of square feet of commercial property in South Florida.

But his rebellion puts him in jeopardy of losing not just several million dollars in compensation but hundreds of millions if NBC yanks its affiliation as evidenced by the demise of San Francisco's KRON, which shed about 95% of its value after losing its NBC affiliation.

So why is the "risk averse" Ansin taking such a gamble?

The answer might lie 22 years ago, when Ansin's passion for local news (with heavy emphasis on tabloid, crime and consumer stories), penchant for network pre-emptions and hard stance against NBC got him in the same hot water at WSVN.

In the mid-1980s, when WSVN was an NBC affiliate, Ansin pre-empted the network's noon programming to air a local newscast and often also dropped NBC's 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. shows, prompting the network to run the dumped programs on indie stations in the area.

The pre-emptions ultimately contributed to NBC's decision in 1987 to buy a station in the market, the CBS affiliate WTVJ. Both WSVN's and WTVJ's affiliate agreements were not up until the end of 1988, but with CBS willing to release WTVJ a year earlier, NBC was eager to make the switch at the beginning of 1988.

However, Ansin would not budge. He was dead set on airing NBC's 1988 Olympics and baseball coverage, forcing NBC to run its O&O station as a CBS affiliate for a year while airing under CBS' logo all if its shows pre-empted by Ansin's WSVN.

Needless to say, that stubbornness didn't sit well with CBS, either, which refused to make WSVN a CBS affiliate. With the value of his station plunging, Ansin ultimately signed with then-fledging network Fox.

He was eventually able to turn the disaster into a success on the back of the eight hours of local news a day he commissioned and with some help from Fox, which 20 years later is the top network.

When he bought Boston's WHDH -- then a CBS affiliate -- in 1993, Ansin also quickly dropped the network's morning show "CBS This Morning" to expand the station's local morning newscast to 5-9 a.m.

But since WHDH became an NBC affiliate in 1995, he has been mostly faithful to the network's programming.

Until now.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

NBC sources are adamant the network will be victorious in its surprise standoff with a rebelling Boston station that's refusing to air Jay Leno's talk show in the fall.

The station's contract, they said, is clear: WHDH cannot opt out of a regularly scheduled hour of primetime programming.

"He cannot do it," one source said of station owner Ed Ansin. "He could request a one-off exception, and that only happens for very unusual situations."

And even if WHDH manages to thwart NBC's efforts to compel it to air Leno, NBC threatens to strip the station of its affiliation and create a new NBC carrier using its Boston-area Telemundo station.

"The station has 96% market penetration," a source claimed.

Or NBC could align with yet another station.

"We have received unsolicited phone calls from three stations in the Boston market that have expressed interest in affiliating with us," the source said.

As NBC TV's John Eck is putting it in a statement: "Jay Leno fans will not be disappointed. Make no mistake. The new Leno show will air at 10 p.m. weeknights in the Boston market on NBC.”

WHDH announced plans this week to air a 10 p.m. local newscast instead of Leno's new talk show, sparking a high-stakes confrontation with the network. On Friday, as the network touted strong ratings for the series finale of its veteran 10 p.m. drama "ER," both parties were locked in talks that could have "a possible legal conclusion." As noted in last night's post, NBC's only choice was to come over the top of the mutinous Boston affiliate lest other disgruntled markets feel tempted to rally under WHDH's banner.

Jack Goodman, former general counsel for the National Association of Broadcasters, said the broadcaster's claims about its affiliate contract are likely correct.

"Typically, you do not get to preempt a program simply because you think you can make more money without it," said Goodman, who is not involved in the dispute but represents several other NBC affiliates. "An affiliation agreement usually allows affiliates to interrupt for breaking news or [preempt] for something that is inappropriate. But this is five nights a week all year long. You can't just decide that something is crap programming. Part of the deal is you run the schedule that is provided by the network."

A few years ago a lobbying group called the Network Affiliated Stations Alliance filed a petition with the FCC in the hopes of clarifying that affiliates had more rights to preempt network shows. That effort didn't get far, and last year affiliates signed an agreement saying they wouldn't try to go around their affiliate deals.

"This is a very gutsy thing to do in a market where NBC owns another station," Goodman pointed out, referring to the Telemundo outlet.

This is not Ansin's first tussle with NBC, either. Sunbeam's Florida station WSVN lost its NBC affiliation in the late 1980s when the broadcaster bought its own outlet. For a while Ansin's station was independent, before later aligning with Fox.

For NBC, the public confrontation is deeply frustrating -- especially with the network having to pitch its fall lineup, including the Leno show, to advertisers next month.

"NBC needs all hands on deck to make this change work for them," said Bill Carroll, vp director of programming for Katz Television Group. "By announcing early, Boston may spur others to follow and make them less of a target."

Network sources say no other affiliates have signaled an intention to rebel against the Leno plan and insist the incident has given the media a skewed impression of the amount of station support for their new 10 p.m. hour.

"Nobody understands why he's doing this," a network source said. "It makes no sense. Even if this was your play, why do it this far out? It’s bizarre. There are 229 NBC affiliates that disagree with that one affiliate."

Though the broadcaster seems to have several options to ensure that Leno will air in Boston next fall, it's unfortunate that NBC has to fight this battle in the first place. Having to strong-arm a team member to accept the network's most important new primetime product isn't a story NBC wants right now. But the network's research chief Alan Wurtzel points to the history of overall broadcast ratings decline in the 10 p.m. hour and says that time will prove the wisdom of their decision.

"I think this show will be more competitive than people suspect," Wurtzel said. "Leno is going to be new 46 weeks a year while broadcast is going to continue to erode. My colleague in Boston is wrong."