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

[Kevin Vahey]

You have to understand that it was Joe Kennedy who got the
Herald-Traveler the license in the first place in return for the H-T
getting the Pulitzer for JFK

But then even as a GOP paper the Herald got involved in a nasty fight
when Ted first ran for the Senate in 1962 and backed Eddie McCormick
who was the nephew of John McCormick who would become Speaker of the
House. Joe Kennedy. The Kennedy brothers were convinced that the
Herald going after baby faced Teddy helped cause the stroke that Joe
had in late 1961. Ted would not announce his plans until 1962 but the
Herald didn't want to anger the elder McCormick figuring JFK was
President their debt to Joe was paid in full.

Then about 10 years ago came a book that Tip O'Neill worked as hard as
he could to strip the license

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/dont_quote_me/documents/00469256.htm

I spent a lot of time at the BPL microfilm center at Copley looking at
papers from that era and the Herald started pounding Teddy around
Thanksgiving of 1961. A month later Joe had the stroke.

In the end Beanie Choate had betrayed both sides....as they brought
disgrace to Eisenhower and the GOP to help get the license and then
enraged the Kennedy family and Tip.

The Herald obviously made peace with Bill Paley to get the CBS
affiliation that would have gone to a proposed WEEI-TV but who knows
who else wanted to nail the H-T