NBC to end affiliation with WHDH-TV, announces new network-owned station
NBC announced Thursday that it will end its affiliation with Boston’s Channel 7 WHDH-TV and open a new Boston station, owned by the network, in 2017, according to The Boston Globe.
The announcement from NBC came Thursday in an employee memo acquired by the Globe, and stated that the network plans to create a local news team to staff the new station. The memo did not specify where the NBC Boston station would broadcast from, but WHDH-TV owner Ed Ansin told the Globe that the network had plans to move programming to WNEU-TV, an NBC-owned station in New Hampshire that currently broadcasts Telemundo.
Ansin said the move isn’t final, as he plans to fight NBC’s decision on the grounds that the move violates a Federal Communications Commission agreement with the network, the Globe reported. He cited concerns as to whether the move to a smaller media market would best suit public interest, as NBC has committed to producing a certain amount of free broadcasting.
“I have a feeling a year from now we will still be the NBC affiliate,’’ Ansin told the Globe. “That’s how serious we think the violations are.’’
If NBC does win the fight for a network-owned station in the Boston media market, Ansin told the Globe he plans to continue to operate WHDH-TV as an independent station broadcasting news.
Read the full Globe story here.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com