The Old WHDH-TV Channel 5 equipment (was Re: The courtship of NBCby the Herald-Traveler)

[Doug Drown]

As I had said in a post some weeks ago regarding Boston newspapers, I recall 
that when I was a boy growing up in the '60s, my Republican elders usually 
purchased the Boston Herald and Traveler and Democrats favored the Globe. 
But I don't really know to what extent the H-T editors toed the Republican 
party line.  Were the Herald and Traveler really Republican newspapers, or 
were they independent?  What did they do that initially alienated the 
Kennedys?   -Doug



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin Vahey" <kvahey@comcast.net>
To: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross.com>
Cc: "nnewsgroup Boston-Radio-Interest" 
<boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: The Old WHDH-TV Channel 5 equipment (was Re: The courtship of 
NBCby the Herald-Traveler)


> Something else happened in 1969 to make the Kennedy Family even
> angrier at the Herald-Traveler and it involved an auto accident on
> Chappaquiddick Island.
>
> That accident happened on a Friday night/Saturday morning but both the
> Globe and Herald did not print anything until Monday but the Herald
> went big with the story on Sunday with a banner headline.
>
> Now did the family try to squash the story which by then a public
> record? Possibly but in any event the Herald ran with it and everybody
> played catch up the next day.
>
> Now in fairness there was another news event that weekend that was
> perhaps one of the Top Five news stories of the 20th Century...The
> First Moon Landing.
>
> A little irony the following Friday as the Kennedy Family had Ted
> issue a live statement from Hyannisport and paid WHDH-TV for the
> mobile unit and AT&T long lines set up back to Boston. It was supposed
> to be an address to Massachusetts voters only but wound up be carried
> live worldwide. I myself saw it at a department store in Toronto on
> CBC.
>
> What crime did the Herald do as all they did was report the story as
> they should have. Why did Tom Winship sit on it for 2 days is a better
> question. But it also showed the Kennedy Family could not control the
> Herald and that did not help their case in DC.
>
> Did the Herald use influence to get the license? Most certainly...but
> it pales by comparison on what the Chicago Tribune was able to pull
> off. The Tribune managed to get a VHF allocation in NYC on Channel 11
> which ultimately forced WJAR to move to Channel 10 but also in co
> hoots with the Milwaukee Journal (WTMJ) to have the only VHF indy in
> Chicago as Channel 4's allocation was moved to Milwaukee and CBS who
> had bought Channel 4 in Chicago was moved to Channel 2 and Zenith lost
> everything.
>
> The FCC has always treated the Tribune with kid gloves which makes the
> Herald case that much sadder.
>
> http://www.chicagotelevision.com/WBKB.htm
>