The courtship of NBC by the Herald-Traveler

[Kevin Vahey]

NBC was not thrilled that Westinghouse would not clear 100% of the
network with at the time the biggest affilate they did not own.

For example WBZ just ignored what NBC offered to kiddies on Saturday
to clear Boomtown and this led to shows like the final years of Howdy
Doody being on channel 5

Then when Boomtown went to Sunday as well it bumped shows like Meet
The Press which again wound up on 5. Remember back then WBZ had a ton
of local shows on weekends like Community Auditions and Starring The
Editors.

NBC wasn't thrilled but they wanted no part of General Tire and until
WHDH came along they had to put up with it.

The real problem with Westinghouse and NBC was over Philadelphia which
started when Westinghouse outbid NBC for WPTZ Channel 3. NBC played
hardball and forced Group W to swap outlets between Philly and
Cleveland with NBC also playing hardball with WBZ It took awhile but
Westinghouse had the last laugh when they got Philadelphia back.

Irony is this is how Rex Trailer wound up in Boston as he had a
contract with KYW and then had to choose between Cleveland or Boston
as NBC didn't want him.

Of course the saga of Westinghouse and NBC goes all the way back to
Chicago where KYW was the first station in the city and in 1934
Westinghouse moved it to Philadelphia. NBC has been rumored to have
played a role in that move. KYW was on 1020 in both Chicago and
Philadelphia and then would be assigned 1060. Once NBC bought WMAQ in
1931 KYW's days in Chicago were numbered.