1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment

Between 1994 and 1996, a wide-ranging realignment of television network affiliations took place in the United States as the result of a multimillion-dollar deal between the Fox Broadcasting Company and New World Communications, announced on May 23, 1994. Unprecedented in the broadcast industry, the deal resulted in stations owned by, or in the process of being purchased by New World, switch network affiliations to Fox over the course of a two-year period when existing contracts expired. These stations were long-standing affiliates of the traditional "Big Three" television networks in some of the country's largest markets, with the majority having been aligned with CBS individually for over 40 years.

The major impetus for the changes was to allow Fox to improve its local affiliate coverage, in preparation for the commencement of its rights to the National Football Conference (NFC) television package, which the National Football League (NFL) awarded to the fledgling network in December 1993. As a result of various other deals that followed as a result of the affiliation switches created by the deal between Fox and New World, most notably the buyout of CBS by Westinghouse, the switches constituted some of the most sweeping changes in American television history. As a result of this realignment, Fox ascended to the status of a major television network, comparable in influence to CBS, NBC, and ABC.

Nearly 70 stations in 30 markets throughout the United States changed affiliations between in September 1994 and September 1996, although an additional switch occurred in February 1997 through the launch of an upstart station that gained its network partner through one of the ancillary deals. Along with the concurrent January 1995 launches of The WB and UPN, these changes were some of the most expansive to have ever occurred in American television.

Fox launches and pursues the NFL

Rupert Murdoch

The genesis of the Fox Broadcasting Company took place through two 1985 transactions made by News Corporation, headed by Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch. After a failed takeover of Warner Communications, Murdoch purchased a 50 percent interest in 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation (TCF) on March 20, 1985, for $250 million. Murdoch and TCF minority investor Marvin Davis then announced a $3.5 billion purchase of Metromedia's program syndication unit and six television stations—including WNEW-TV in New York City, KTTV in Los Angeles and WTTG in Washington, D.C.—from John Kluge on May 6, 1985, for $2.55 billion. Murdoch boasted that the Metromedia stations could exploit TCF's film and television library, prompting speculation these stations might form a new "fourth television network" alongside the traditional "Big Three" networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. To win regulatory approval for the deal, Murdoch gave up his Australian citizenship and became a naturalized U.S. citizen on September 4, 1985. Davis, who later revealed he declined to participate in the Metromedia purchase, sold his stake in TCF to Murdoch 20 days later. The Metromedia deal closed on March 6, 1986, forming Fox Television Stations Group. After consummation, Fox, which only consisted of president Jamie Kellner and his secretary, began recruiting an executive team.

In July 1986, syndicated newspaper columnist Gary Deeb reported on the possibility ABC might not renew their broadcast rights to Monday Night Football (MNF), then the league's top-rated program, unless NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle agreed to lower the television rights fee significantly. The previous contract was set in 1981 when the annual inflation was at a substantial 13 percent, a rate that fell to 3–4 percent by 1986, in turn, causing ABC Sports to lose $40 million. ABC had been purchased earlier in 1986 by Capital Cities, owner of some of ABC's most influential affiliates, and was under pressure to cut costs in both their news and sports divisions. By September 1986, CBS, rights-holder for the National Football Conference (NFC), and NBC, rights-holder for the American Football Conference (AFC), declined any interest in MNF, but Fox considered making a bid and even invited former MNF announcer Howard Cosell to be a part of it.

Fox formally launched as a network on October 9, 1986, with the debut of The Late Show with Joan Rivers, and was preparing to unveil its first night of prime time programming on April 5, 1987. Against this backdrop, TCF chairman Barry Diller announced in January 1987 that Fox was ready to bid on MNF in an attempt to win legitimacy, telling the Miami Herald, "We would take ABC's (current) contract and sign it today." Diller viewed an MNF bid as making a long-term investment, and was prepared for Fox to "lose money in the double-digit eight figures" with such a deal buoyed by Murdoch's financial resources. ABC decided to bid for a renewal based largely on Fox's interest in MNF, with a fee reduction saving the network approximately $20 million per year, with low-rated Sunday and Thursday games moved to ESPN. While Fox bid $7 million per game compared to ABC's $6.5 million per game, Rozelle was reportedly uninterested in the Fox offer as the network with still unestablished. NFL officials also expressed a willingness to remain with ABC and were unsure if Fox would exist in three years, a fate shared by other past attempts at a "fourth network".

Securing the NFC rights

Main article: NFL on Fox

In 1993, six years after Fox's failed MNF bid, the NFL opened up negotiations for all broadcast contracts, including the NFC and AFC rights. At the same time, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen asserted control over the NFL's broadcasting committee, usurping Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, who had been a long-time ally of CBS. Murdoch privately called Jones and declared his intent to bid, saying, "Jerry, I think I was a stalking horse last time (in 1990). I'm not going to do that and be just a stalking horse." When negotiations began on December 7, Murdoch presented to the broadcasting committee a sizzle reel by Sky Sports president David Hill proposing Fox could produce NFL games similarly to Sky's soccer coverage, with emphasis on more cameras and in-game natural sounds, and have the network market the league year-round. Jones later said, "I was just mesmerized by their imaginative thinking. They were changing the presentation of the game."

It'll be first class. We want to make the NFL look better than what we've seen. We have the crown jewel of all sports.

Lucie Salhany, Fox network president, on the network securing a broadcast deal for the NFL's NFC games

On December 17, 1993, Fox stunned the sports and television worlds by reaching a four-year, $1.58 billion contract with for NFC regular season and playoff games, effective with the 1994 season. News of the Fox–NFC deal was first reported on during the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. As part of the deal, Fox was also awarded broadcast rights to Super Bowl XXXI in 1997. The NFC package had been owned by CBS since 1956—fourteen years before the AFL–NFL merger and subsequent restructuring into the NFC and the AFC—and had been considered a "cornerstone" for CBS Sports. Fox's deal was regarded as a loss leader; network CEO Chase Carey framed it as one that would not directly make money but would establish momentum for Fox and elevate it to the Big Three networks. Fox had pursued the NFC rights from the beginning as the conference had more teams located in the country's largest broadcast markets.

CBS lost close to $100 million on their prior NFC deal signed in 1990, a situation shared by the NFL's other broadcast partners due to aftereffects of the early 1990s recession. Underestimating the value of the NFC broadcast rights, CBS's chairman Laurence Tisch insisted on offering a bid equal to their 1990 contract, resulting in Fox exceeding CBS's bid by as much as $1.29 billion (or more than $100 million per year). NBC, which held the AFC broadcast rights since 1970, retained the rights after a last-minute bidding war with CBS, shutting out the network from pro football entirely. Morale at CBS Sports was depicted as "somber and not optimistic", with veteran announcer Pat Summerall saying, "[I]t's a shock. It hurts. It's a big part of my life." Murdoch expressed a want to hire Summerall's broadcast partner John Madden, which happened the following month. Most of the NFL on CBS announcing team, including Summerall, Terry Bradshaw and James Brown, also left to join Fox Sports. Early financial projections for CBS owned-stations and affiliates were grim: network flagship WCBS-TV alone stood to lose $5 million a year without the NFL, with their general manager calling it "a straight drop to the bottom line." The general manager of affiliate KDFW in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, called it "a big financial kick."

Fox upgrades in small markets

Entering 1994, Fox's 141-station affiliate base remained smaller than ABC, CBS or NBC, which each boasted more that 200 affiliates; this resulted in an approximate six percent differential in terms of national reach. The network supplied Foxnet for cable systems in smaller markets that did not have a dedicated affiliate. Some affiliates still had no local departments, with the prior recession resulting in Fox lessening the priority level on their affiliates. One of these affiliates, WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio, initiated plans to launch a news service after seeing success with co-owned WXIX-TV in Cincinnati. While WUAB already had an established 10 p.m. newscast in the Cleveland market, an unnamed executive told the Akron Beacon Journal in 1992, "they (WOIO) don't have to get ratings, they just have to exist." Scripps-Howard Broadcasting started developing newscasts for two of their three Fox affiliates, KNXV-TV in Phoenix and KSHB-TV in Kansas City. KSHB's newscast launched in August 1993 with an irreverent tone and de-emphasis on sports and weather; likewise, KNXV was assembling their news department with an unconventional style in line with Fox's younger demographics.

Fox also lacked coverage in 47 markets where only three or fewer commercial TV stations operated. In these markets, it began discussing secondary affiliations with the local ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates. Though most of the CBS affiliates turned down Fox's overture, a number of small-market ABC affiliates agreed to Fox's terms, which included the carriage of at least six hours a week of Fox prime time programs. CBS and ABC responded by threatening to withhold 60 Minutes (in the case of CBS) and postseason baseball (in the case of ABC) from affiliates that added Fox programming. CBS president of affiliate relations Tony Malara said that if 60 Minutes did not air nationally at the same time, it would lose value to advertisers. CBS followed through with its threat; KXMB-TV in Bismarck, North Dakota, added Fox football and lost 60 Minutes for the duration of the football season.

The network began making overtures to group operators like Freedom Newspapers, Stauffer Communications and Brisette Broadcasting about having their stations switch to Fox, mostly to upgrade in markets serviced by ultra high frequency (UHF) stations that transmitted at a lower radiated power than their very high frequency (VHF) counterparts. Several affiliate defections were announced prior to May 1994. The first was ABC affiliate KARD in West Monroe, Louisiana, announced in January 1994 with an April changeover. In April, Robinson Everett's CBS stations—KECY-TV in El Centro, California, and WJKA-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina—announced they would affiliate with Fox. Several factors motivated the Everett switch, including CBS's insistence that the stations restore previously unsuccessful news operations, a desire for more network compensation in Wilmington, and particularly CBS's refusal to make a translator of KECY-TV, "KDBA", as the CBS affiliate of record for Palm Springs, California, because it felt cable coverage of Los Angeles station KCBS-TV was adequate.

There had previously been two Big Three stations to join Fox: WSVN in Miami switched from NBC on January 1, 1989, and KLMG (now KFXK) in Longview, Texas, switched from CBS on April 1, 1991. WSVN's conversion to Fox came under unique circumstances, as CBS had purchased the market's Fox affiliate WCIX (channel 6) after NBC purchased long-standing CBS affiliate WTVJ (channel 4), triggering a complicated two-market, six-station realignment in South Florida. Unlike any other Fox affiliate or owned-station, WSVN adopted a news-intensive tabloid format which shattered conventional wisdom and proved a ratings and financial success. WSVN news director Joel Cheatwood briefly worked with Fox on developing a network news service in 1990, and by May 1994, Fox network president Lucie Salhany called the station "the future of television".

The New World–Fox affiliation pact

See also: New World Pictures § New World Communications (1992–1997)

New World stations affected by the Fox affiliation deal

Station	Market	Channel	Prior affiliation
KDFW	Dallas–Fort Worth, TX	4	CBS
KSAZ-TV	Phoenix, AZ	10	CBS
KTBC-TV	Austin, TX	7	CBS
KTVI	St. Louis, MO	2	ABC
WAGA-TV	Atlanta, GA	5	CBS
WDAF-TV	Kansas City, MO	4	NBC
WGHP	Greensboro–Winston-Salem, NC	8	ABC
WITI	Milwaukee, WI	6	CBS
WJBK-TV	Detroit, MI	2	CBS
WJW-TV	Cleveland, OH	8	CBS
WTVT	Tampa, FL	13	CBS

Originally constituted as an independent producer of low-budget feature films, and later as a television studio, New World Pictures was purchased by investor Ronald Perelman in 1989 while in the middle of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. Under Perelman, New World purchased a majority stake in SCI Television on February 17, 1993, for $100 million and $63 million in newly issued debt. SCI contained most of the assets of the former Storer Communications and was itself undergoing a complex debt restructuring; as part of the deal, SCI and New World merged to form New World Communications. In May 1994, two major purchases were announced by New World in the span of three days: four stations from Argyle Television Holdings for $717 million, and four Great American Communications stations for $350 million and $10 million in share warrants.

On May 23, 1994, Fox purchased a 20 percent stake in New World Communications in what was a $500 million investment. This deal contained a groupwide multi-year affiliation agreement that would have the majority of stations owned by—or in the process of being acquired by—New World, switch network affiliations to Fox after existing contracts expired per-station. Several stations were divested by New World in the process: NBC affiliates KNSD in San Diego, California, and WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, were sold to the network for $425 million on May 22, 1996. WSBK-TV in Boston, operating as an independent, was excluded due to Fox's repurchase of WFXT and was sold to Paramount Stations Group, affiliating with UPN. WVTM-TV's sale was necessitated as WVTM (included as part of the Argyle Television deal) was in the same market as WBRC (which was part of the Great American deal). WBRC and WGHP were placed in a trust and operated by Great American successor Citicasters until April 1995, when operating control for both stations were transferred to Fox Television Stations Group. Fox purchased both WBRC and WGHP on July 22, 1995, in exchange for $130 million in promissory notes. Two Fox-owned stations displaced by the New World deal were also sold: WATL in Atlanta and KDAF in Dallas–Fort Worth, went to Renaissance Communications for $100 million and joined The WB, with Renaissance concurrently selling KDVR in Denver to Fox for $70 million.

In total, twelve New World-owned stations were affected by the Fox affiliation pact, eight of which were long-tenured CBS affiliates in some of the nation's largest cities. KDFW had been with CBS for 45 years, WJBK-TV for 44 years, KTBC-TV and WAGA-TV for 43 years, WJW-TV and KSAZ-TV for 40 years and WTVT for 39 years. Additionally, WDAF-TV had been an NBC affiliate for 45 years. The majority of these stations were also located in markets with established NFC teams, which served as "a significant factor" for New World, along with Fox's programming lineup being largely limited to prime time, enabling the stations to sell more local advertising. News of the agreement caught CBS's Tony Malara off guard when notified over the phone; as Malara later explained, "I said (to New World CEO William C. Bevins), 'In what market?' ... He said, 'All of them.' I said, 'What the hell are you doing?'"

The Scripps–ABC alliance

The Scripps-Howard–ABC affiliation deal at a glance

Station	Market	Channel	Prior affiliation
WEWS-TV	Cleveland, OH	5	ABC
WXYZ-TV	Detroit, MI	7	ABC
KNXV-TV	Phoenix, AZ	15	Fox
WMAR-TV	Baltimore, MD	2	NBC
WFTS-TV	Tampa, FL	28	Fox

Immediately following the Fox–New World announcement, CBS courted Scripps-Howard, owners of WEWS-TV in Cleveland and WXYZ-TV in Detroit, two long-standing ABC affiliates, along with three Fox affiliates impacted by Fox–New World: KNXV-TV, KSHB-TV and WFTS-TV in Tampa. As part of a possible deal leaked to Broadcasting & Cable, CBS would also affiliate with KNXV and WFTS and acquire a minority stake in Scripps's cable channel HGTV. In discussions with ABC, Scripps insisted that KNXV-TV and WFTS-TV, along with NBC affiliate WMAR-TV in Baltimore, switch to ABC as a condition of any renewal with WEWS and WXYZ and threatened to switch both to CBS if KNXV in particular was not included. KNXV's inclusion came at the expense of KTVK, the market leader for local news and regarded as a model ABC affiliate but was a standalone family-run station and not part of a larger group. The network offered Scripps $25 million as an alternative to KNXV-TV, which was rejected in what ABC executive Bryce Rathbone described as Scripps "[having] a gun to their head". When KTVK general manager Bill Miller asked Capital Cities/ABC CEO Tom Murphy if there was anything the station could do, Murphy replied, "you should light some candles".

ABC acquiesced to Scripps's demands and announced on June 15, 1994, that KNXV, WFTS and WMAR would join the network, and WEWS and WXYZ would remain affiliates. Scripps's other former Fox affiliate, KSHB, affiliated with NBC as WDAF-TV's replacement in Kansas City. The new ABC alliance prompted WFTS-TV to expedite work on establishing a news department, with local newscasts launching the day of the switch from facilities formerly used by the Home Shopping Network in a temporary setup. Stripped of the ABC affiliation and failing to land CBS, KTVK spent the next few months rebuilding itself into a news-intensive independent.

The CBS–Westinghouse deal

The CBS–Group W affiliation deal at a glance

Station	Market	Channel	Prior affiliation
KDKA-TV	Pittsburgh, PA	2	CBS
KPIX-TV	San Francisco, CA	5	CBS
KYW-TV	Philadelphia, PA	3	NBC
WBZ-TV	Boston, MA	4	NBC
WJZ-TV	Baltimore, MD	13	ABC

Scripps's insistence on WMAR-TV joining ABC came at the expense of WJZ-TV, which had been with ABC since 1948 and was the network's longest-tenured affiliate. WJZ-TV owner Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W) engaged in off-and-on discussions over the past six months with CBS, NBC and Fox over a possible group-wide affiliation deal, which accelerated when the Scripps-ABC agreement was announced. Industry trade publications also suggested a possibility of Fox purchasing Group W. On July 14, 1994, Group W and CBS agreed to a group-wide 10-year contract, renewing CBS's existing ties with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh and KPIX in San Francisco and adding WJZ-TV, WBZ-TV in Boston and KYW-TV in Philadelphia to the network, the latter two stations switching from NBC. As part of the deal, Group W and CBS formed a joint venture to acquire other television stations and operate a syndication company. WJZ-TV and WBZ-TV switched to CBS on January 1, 1995, with Baltimore and Boston's existing CBS affiliates, WBAL-TV and WHDH-TV, switching to NBC, the former in a three-way affiliation swap. NBC agreed to pay WHDH-TV owner Sunbeam Television a total of $100 million to $150 million over a ten-year span, coincidentally reuniting Sunbeam with the network that had bypassed their Miami station WSVN five years earlier.

The Philadelphia market, however, posed an immediate logistical issue as KYW-TV would replace CBS-owned WCAU-TV; consequently, both NBC and Fox made offers for WCAU-TV, while CBS expressed interest in conducting an asset swap. By September 1994, Fox agreed to purchase existing Philadelphia affiliate WTXF-TV. With NBC remaining as the only bidder for WCAU-TV, talks began in earnest over an swap of stations between the two networks. An early outline leaked to Mediaweek had NBC offering KCNC-TV in Denver and KUTV in Salt Lake City to CBS, along with the channel 4 signal in Miami. This was largely confirmed on November 21, 1994, with NBC selling KCNC and KUTV to the Group W–CBS joint venture, along with WTVJ's channel 4 license and transmitter site; CBS would sell to NBC both WCAU-TV and WCIX's channel 6 license and transmitter site. The transmitter and license swap in Miami would see WCIX "move" to channel 4, renamed WFOR-TV, and WTVJ "move" to channel 6.

In Denver, another three-station station affiliation swap took place: NBC-owned KCNC-TV became CBS-owned, outgoing CBS affiliate KMGH-TV joined ABC, and outgoing ABC affiliate KUSA linked with NBC. KMGH was part of a group-wide deal between ABC and owner McGraw-Hill announced on October 21, 1994, with McGraw's other CBS affiliate, KERO-TV in Bakersfield, California, switching to ABC on March 1, 1996. Prior to finalizing their trade with Renaissance for KDVR, Fox had been rumored to acquire Tribune's KWGN-TV via a station trade. In Salt Lake City, KSL-TV agreed to switch from CBS to NBC. Because of the complexity of the NBC-CBS asset swap, the FCC granted approval in August 1995 after weeks of delays, with the Philadelphia, Miami, Denver and Salt Lake City market affiliation switches all taking place on September 10, 1995.

CBS scrambles for replacement affiliates

Relegated to the UHF dial in Cleveland, CBS signed former Fox affiliate WOIO, which despite having no news department, committed to launching one by taking over WUAB through a local marketing agreement. Tampa was equally straightforward, with outgoing ABC affiliate WTSP joining CBS. A multi-station deal with CBS and Meredith Corporation saw Phoenix independent KPHO-TV replace KSAZ-TV, and WNEM-TV in Bay City, Michigan, switch from NBC to CBS, as part of a renewal with KCTV in Kansas City. The Meredith deal resulted in another side deal: after rumors of NBC courting existing ABC affiliate WJRT-TV in Flint, Michigan, Capital Cities/ABC purchased it and WTVG in Toledo, Ohio, from SJL Broadcasting for $155 million on October 1994, converting the latter from NBC to ABC. Capital Cities/ABC's purchase was made largely to prevent NBC from signing, or purchasing, WJRT as a replacement for WNEM. As a result, former CBS affiliate WEYI-TV became Flint-Bay City's NBC affiliate. CBS also signed up KBVO-TV to fill the void in Austin left by KTBC-TV; when that switch took place on July 1, 1995, KBVO was renamed KEYE-TV.

In Detroit, however, outgoing Fox affiliate WKBD-TV and independents WXON-TV and WADL rejected affiliation or purchase offers by CBS, effectively forcing the network to purchase WGPR-TV (channel 62) from the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons for $24 million. WGPR-TV was the first Black-owned television station in the mainland United States and, up until October 1992, employed an 11-person news department with daily newscasts focused on the city's Black population. Despite this, an unnamed CBS executive told New York Times reporter Bill Carter about WGPR-TV: "[T]his station has no news and no history in the market. It's amazing."

Struggling to secure either WATL or WGNX as a replacement affiliate in Atlanta, CBS made a $22 million purchase offer for WVEU (channel 69) out of desperation in September 1994. Even with the pending deal, CBS continued to lobby WATL and WGNX, and reached an affiliation with WGNX on November 16, 1994; the purchase of WVEU and an immediate resale was also made official. The Milwaukee market proved to be the most problematic for CBS. Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of outgoing Fox affiliate WCGV-TV and operator of WVTV, turned down all offers made by CBS, the Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth turned down a longshot purchase offer for their TV station, and Weigel Broadcasting, owner of WDJT-TV (channel 58) ended talks due to CBS's continued pursuit of another station. CBS's situation in Milwaukee was dire to the point the network agreed to supply their owned-stations in Chicago and Green Bay to cable providers in the event no replacement affiliate could be secured. Five days before WITI's contract was to lapse, on December 6, 1994, Weigel and CBS reached an agreement to affiliate WDJT-TV in a 10-year deal.

The Savoy—Fox joint venture

See also: SF Broadcasting

SF Broadcasting stations

Station	Market	Channel	Prior affiliation
KHON-TV	Honolulu, HI	2	NBC
WALA-TV	Mobile, AL	10	NBC
WLUK-TV	Green Bay, WI	11	NBC
WVUE	New Orleans, LA	8	ABC

In March 1994, Fox and Savoy Pictures established a venture called SF Broadcasting to acquire and operate additional television stations. Fox held no voting stock in the company—which instead was held entirely by Savoy Pictures chairmen Victor Kaufman and Lewis Korman—but supplied 58 percent of the original $100 million in capital. SF acquired four stations owned by Burnham Broadcasting in two separate deals: WLUK-TV on July 29, 1994, for $38 million, and WALA-TV, KHON-TV and WVUE one month later on August 25 for $229 million. The deal further upgraded Fox's affiliation base in two additional NFC markets.

NBC protested the sale of WLUK before the FCC, alleging SF was a shell created by News Corporation to circumvent FCC limits on the amount of capital that a foreign company can invest in an American television station. This petition was soon followed with another protesting Fox's KDVR purchase and concurrent station sales in Dallas and Atlanta to Renaissance. NBC withdrew these and all other petitions against Fox on February 17, 1995.

Repercussions

Further information: Repercussions of the 1994–1996 United States broadcast TV realignment

Stations involved in the realignment by market

Market	Call sign	Channel	Affiliation before switch	Affiliation after switch
Ada–Ardmore–Sherman	KTEN	10	NBC / ABC	NBC / Fox / ABC
Atlanta	WAGA-TV	5	CBS	Fox
	WNEG-TV	32	Independent	CBS
	WATL	36	Fox	The WB
	WGNX	46	Independent	CBS
Austin	KTBC	7	CBS	Fox
	KBVO	42	Fox	CBS
Bakersfield	KERO-TV	23	CBS	ABC
	KBAK-TV	29	ABC	CBS
Baltimore	WMAR-TV	2	NBC	ABC
	WBAL-TV	11	CBS	NBC
	WJZ-TV	13	ABC	CBS
Billings	KYUS-TV	3	ABC	Fox
	KHMT	4	—	Fox
Binghamton	WICZ	40	NBC	Fox
Birmingham–Tuscaloosa–Anniston	WBRC-TV	6	ABC	Fox
	WDBB	17	Fox	Independent
	WTTO	21	Fox	Independent
	WCFT-TV	33	CBS	ABC
	WJSU-TV	40	CBS	ABC
	WNAL-TV	44	Fox	CBS
	W58CK	58	Independent	ABC
Boston	WBZ-TV	4	NBC	CBS
	WHDH-TV	7	CBS	NBC
Brownsville–McAllen (Matamoros–Reynosa)	XHFOX-TV	17	—	Fox
Cedar Rapids–Waterloo–Dubuque	KDUB-TV	40	ABC	Fox
Charleston	WCBD	2	ABC	NBC
	WCIV	4	NBC	ABC
Cincinnati	WCPO-TV	9	CBS	ABC
	WKRC-TV	12	ABC	CBS
Cleveland	WJW-TV	8	CBS	Fox
	WOIO	19	Fox	CBS
Corpus Christi	K47DF	47	Independent	Fox
Dallas–Fort Worth	KDFW-TV	4	CBS	Fox
	KTVT	11	Independent	CBS
	KDAF	33	Fox	The WB
	KXTX-TV	39	The WB	Independent
Denver	KCNC-TV	4	NBC	CBS
	KMGH-TV	7	CBS	ABC
	KUSA-TV	9	ABC	NBC
Detroit	WJBK-TV	2	CBS	Fox
	WKBD-TV	50	Fox	UPN
	WGPR-TV	62	Independent	CBS
Evansville	WTVW	7	ABC	Fox
	WEHT	25	CBS	ABC
	WEVV-TV	44	Fox	CBS
Fairbanks	KTVF	11	CBS	NBC
	K13XD	13	—	CBS
Flint–Bay City–Saginaw	WNEM-TV	5	NBC	CBS / UPN
	WEYI-TV	25	CBS	NBC
Green Bay–Fox Cities	WLUK-TV	11	NBC	Fox
	WGBA-TV	26	Fox	NBC
Greensboro–Winston-Salem– High Point	WGHP	8	ABC	Fox
	WNRW	45	Fox	ABC / UPN
Honolulu	KHON-TV	2	NBC	Fox
	KHNL	13	Fox	NBC
Jacksonville	WJKS	17	ABC	The WB
	WBSG	21	The WB	ABC
	WJXX	25	—	ABC
Kansas City	WDAF-TV	4	NBC	Fox
	KSHB-TV	41	Fox	NBC
Laredo (Nuevo Laredo)	XHFTX-TV	57	—	Fox
Lincoln–Grand Island	KSNB-TV	4	ABC	Fox
	KTVG-TV	17	Independent	Fox
Macon	WGXA-TV	24	ABC	Fox
	WPGA-TV	58	Fox	ABC
Marquette	WBKP	5		ABC
	WLUC-TV	6	ABC / NBC / Fox	NBC
Medford	KMVU	26	—	Fox
Memphis	WHBQ-TV	13	ABC	Fox
	WPTY-TV	24	Fox	ABC
Miami–Fort Lauderdale	WCIX	6	Channel allocations changed
	WTVJ	4
Milwaukee	WITI-TV	6	CBS	Fox
	WCGV-TV	24	Fox	UPN
	WDJT-TV	58	Independent	CBS
Mobile	WALA-TV	10	NBC	Fox
	WPMI	15	Fox	NBC
Monroe–El Dorado	KARD-TV	14	ABC	Fox
Myrtle Beach–Florence	WGSE	43	The WB	Fox
New Orleans	WVUE-TV	8	ABC	Fox
	WGNO	26	The WB	ABC
	WNOL	38	Fox	The WB
Philadelphia	KYW-TV	3	NBC	CBS
	WCAU-TV	10	CBS	NBC
Phoenix	KTVK	3	ABC	The WB
	KPHO-TV	5	Independent	CBS
	KSAZ-TV	10	CBS	Fox
	KNXV-TV	15	Fox	ABC
Pocatello–Idaho Falls	KPVI-TV	6	ABC	NBC
	KIFI-TV	8	NBC	ABC
Providence	WLNE-TV	6	CBS	ABC
	WPRI-TV	12	ABC	CBS
Raleigh–Durham-Fayetteville	WYED	17	The WB	NBC
	WRDC	28	NBC	UPN
	WFAY	62	Independent	Fox
Rapid City	KIVV	5	NBC	Fox
	KEVN-TV	7	NBC	Fox
Reno	KRXI-TV	11	—	Fox
	KAME-TV	21	Fox	UPN
Rockford	WREX	13	ABC	NBC
	WTVO	17	NBC	ABC
St. Louis	KTVI	2	ABC	Fox
	KDNL-TV	30	Fox	ABC
Sacramento	KXTV	10	CBS	ABC
	KOVR	13	ABC	CBS
Salt Lake City	KUTV	2	NBC	CBS
	KSL-TV	5	CBS	NBC
San Antonio	KABB	29	Independent	Fox
	KRRT	35	Fox	UPN
Seattle–Tacoma	KIRO-TV	7	CBS	UPN
	KSTW	11	Independent	CBS
South Bend	WSJV	28	ABC	Fox
	W58BT	58	—	ABC
Tampa–St. Petersburg	WTSP	10	ABC	CBS
	WTVT	13	CBS	Fox
	WFTS-TV	28	Fox	ABC
Terre Haute	WBAK-TV	38	ABC	Fox
Toledo	WTVG	13	NBC	ABC
	WNWO-TV	24	ABC	NBC
Tupelo–Columbus–West Point	WLOV-TV	27	ABC	Fox
Twin Falls	KKVI-TV	35	ABC	Fox
Victoria	KVCT	19	Independent	Fox
Wilmington	WJKA-TV	26	CBS	Fox
Yuma–El Centro	KECY-TV	9	CBS	Fox
	KSWT	13	ABC	CBS

The affiliation changes informally commenced on April 17, 1994, when ABC affiliate KARD (channel 14) in Monroe, Louisiana, became a Fox affiliate, through an agreement unrelated to the network's group affiliation deal with New World; CBS affiliates KECY-TV (channel 9) in El Centro, California/Yuma, Arizona and WJKA-TV (channel 26, now WSFX-TV) in Wilmington, North Carolina also switched their affiliations to Fox that same year, along with TBN affiliate KVCT (channel 19) in Victoria and low-powered independent station K47DF (channel 47; now K22JA-D, which returned to independent status in February 2008) in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The switches officially began on September 3, 1994, when CBS affiliate WJW-TV became the first station involved in the New World agreement to switch its affiliation to Fox; the CBS affiliation in Cleveland consequently moved to the market's Fox charter affiliate WOIO (channel 19). Sister station WDAF-TV followed suit on September 12, trading affiliations with original Fox affiliate KSHB-TV (channel 41; New World had finalized its acquisition of KSAZ-TV (which temporarily became an independent station) and WDAF only three days before the latter switched from NBC to Fox). The majority of the New World stations switched their affiliations to Fox between December 1994 and August 1995 (WGHP and WBRC respectively did not become Fox stations until September 1, 1995, and September 1, 1996, due to their existing affiliation contracts with ABC). The affiliation changes formally concluded on September 1, 1996, when WBRC officially joined Fox as an owned-and-operated station; however, an additional affiliation transaction caused by an agreement spurred by the Fox-New World deal occurred on February 1, 1997, when upstart WJXX (channel 25) in Orange Park, Florida, signed on as the new ABC affiliate for the Jacksonville market, replacing WJKS (channel 17, now WCWJ), which became a WB affiliate under the callsign WJWB.

With ABC, NBC and CBS suddenly in need of new affiliates in the markets affected by the New World and Burnham deals, major affiliation shakeups began to occur. In some markets (such as Kansas City, Austin, Cleveland, Piedmont Triad, St. Louis and Honolulu), the old Fox affiliates simply assumed the previous affiliation of the new Fox affiliate; in other markets (such as Detroit, New Orleans and Phoenix), the former Fox station affiliated with a network that was not the prior affiliation of the new Fox outlet, resulting in swaps involving multiple stations. The shakeups involving the Big Three networks were mostly along station group lines, which also affected markets where neither New World or Burnham had operated stations.

WBRC's switch in Birmingham resulted in the most complicated swap, in which six stations changed affiliations. Although Fox Television Stations assumed ownership once its purchase of the station from the New World-controlled trust was completed in January 1996, it had to continue operating WBRC as an ABC station for nine additional months as its affiliation contract with the network did not expire until August 31, 1996; as Fox had purchased WBRC the previous summer, this gave ABC a year's leeway to find a new affiliate in the area. In January 1996, it reached a unique deal with Allbritton Communications in which WCFT-TV (channel 33, now Heroes & Icons affiliate WSES) and WJSU-TV (channel 40, now WGWW, also a Heroes & Icons affiliate), the respective CBS affiliates for Tuscaloosa and Anniston (which had both been annexed from the Birmingham Designated Market Area by Arbitron in 1977, and eventually were collapsed back into that market by Nielsen in September 1998), would jointly become the ABC affiliate for central Alabama (weeks prior to that deal, Allbritton had entered into an agreement with Osborne Communications Corporation to take over the operations of WJSU under a local marketing agreement). However, because over-the-air reception of both stations in Birmingham proper was marginal at best and neither would likely be able to be counted in Nielsen ratings reports for that market as WCFT and WJSU were officially out-of-market stations, Allbritton purchased low-power independent station W58CK (channel 58, now WBMA-LD); under the deal, Albritton would also affiliate W58CK with ABC and make it the main station of the cluster, while WCFT and WJSU would serve as its satellites. Gadsden Fox affiliate WNAL-TV (channel 44, now WPXH-TV) replaced WJSU-TV as the CBS affiliate for northeast Alabama – the second in the area, alongside Birmingham's WIAT (WNAL would later become the Pax TV (now Ion Television) O&O for the entire Birmingham market in August 1999, three years after it was acquired by Paxson Communications (now Ion Media Networks), the network's parent company). WTTO (channel 21) and its semi-satellite WDBB (channel 17), the Fox affiliates for Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, became independent stations before affiliating with The WB in February 1997, several months after WDBB became a full-time repeater of WTTO.

In September 1995, Scripps-owned CBS affiliate WCPO-TV (channel 9) in Cincinnati agreed to switch to ABC, but that station had to wait until June 3, 1996, to switch its affiliation due to its then-existing affiliation contract with CBS. McGraw-Hill, River City Broadcasting and Allbritton Communications also expanded their relationships with ABC, adding a combined five affiliates (two of which maintained satellite stations, including the W58CK/WCFT/WJSU cluster in Birmingham) as part of deals that renewed agreements with existing ABC stations owned by both companies.

As a result of losing the National Football Conference television rights to Fox, CBS's problems accelerated as it struggled to compete in the ratings (lagging behind ABC and NBC, but placing ahead of Fox) with a slate of programming that attracted an older audience than the other networks. As a direct result of the New World-Fox alliance, only six of the new CBS affiliates were VHF stations (including KTVT (channel 11) in Dallas-Fort Worth; KSTW (channel 11) in Seattle–Tacoma and KPHO-TV (channel 5) in Phoenix, although KSTW would lose its CBS affiliation to the market's previous affiliate, KIRO-TV (channel 7), on June 30, 1997, in a deal that resulted in KSTW assuming the UPN affiliation held by KIRO since January 1995); in Atlanta, Detroit and Milwaukee, CBS found itself in the extremely undesirable situation of ending up on low-profile UHF stations with far less transmitting power and viewer recognition than their previous affiliates or even the UHF stations that CBS affiliated with in other markets, due in part to unwillingness by other local stations to agree to switch to the then-struggling network. While the former CBS affiliates in the three markets – WAGA, WJBK and WITI – were all considered to be ratings contenders, local viewership for CBS programming dropped significantly after the network moved to the lower-profile UHF stations, which had virtually no significant history as a former major network affiliate or as a first-tier independent station. The network's viewership eventually recovered, and CBS became the most-watched broadcast television network in the U.S. by 1999.

One major positive that came from the deal was an increase in local news programming on the new Fox affiliates, a benefit that came as the network had demanded that its affiliates launch newscasts in the run-up to the launches of Fox News Channel and the Fox NewsEdge affiliate news service in August 1996. The new Fox affiliates retained most of their existing newscasts, but expanded their morning newscasts by one or two hours and early evening newscasts by a half-hour to replace news programs aired by their former network, with the majority also adding newscasts in the final hour of prime time (9:00 or 10:00 pm, depending on the time zone). However, most of the twelve stations involved in the New World-Fox deal chose not to carry Fox's children's programming block, Fox Kids, which resulted in Fox deciding to allow its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates to drop the block if another local station was interested in airing it. A complication of this was that religious-secular independent KNLC (channel 24, now a MeTV affiliate) in St. Louis, owned by the New Life Christian Church, chose to air ministry messages (dealing with controversial topics such as abortion, same-sex marriage and the death penalty) instead of commercials during the block's program breaks, resulting in Fox moving the block to KTVI in September 1996, after several attempts by Ted Koplar to bring the Fox Kids block to The WB affiliate in St. Louis has been turned down.

Many of the new Big Three UHF affiliates found difficulty gaining an audience, and all but two of them had to give in to launching newscasts to back up the national news programs provided by the networks. Four stations affected by the switches – WEVV-TV (channel 44) in Evansville, Indiana (which became a CBS affiliate after losing its Fox affiliation to WTVW (channel 7, now a CW affiliate) through a separate deal), WWJ-TV (channel 62) in Detroit, KDNL-TV (channel 30) in St. Louis and WXLV-TV (channel 45) in the Piedmont Triad – failed to gain traction with their competitors in the local news field and eventually either cancelled or outsourced their newscasts (although WWJ-TV, KDNL-TV and WXLV have since made other attempts at news programming in some form to mixed results; WEVV-TV was the only one that failed in its previous news programming to fully resume in-house news operations, launching a news department in August 2015, months after its sale to Bayou City Broadcasting was finalized). Generally, the stations that continue to air newscasts to this day have generally finished in third or fourth place behind their VHF competitors, although some have experienced gradual ratings growth.

Post-switchover changes

Fox continued to upgrade its stations in at least two unrelated deals struck later:

• On August 18, 1994, Fox Television Stations purchased ABC affiliate WHBQ-TV (channel 13) in Memphis – a station that was once part of the RKO General broadcasting empire, which had collapsed in the late 1980s due to corruption and perjury – from Communications Corporation of America. Former Fox affiliate WPTY-TV (channel 24, now WATN-TV) assumed the ABC affiliation on December 1, 1995.
• On September 8, 2002, UPN affiliate KMSP-TV (channel 9) in Minneapolis–St. Paul – the home market of the Minnesota Vikings of the NFC – became a Fox affiliate, trading affiliations with WFTC (channel 29, now a MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station). A similar swap occurred that year in Portland, Oregon, when the Meredith Corporation swapped the affiliations of Fox affiliate KPDX (channel 49, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) and newly acquired UPN affiliate KPTV (channel 12); KPTV and KMSP were previously affiliated with Fox from the network's launch in October 1986 until September 1988, when they both disaffiliated from the network due to issues over its then-weakly performing programs. Fox had purchased both stations as part of its 2001 acquisition of Chris-Craft Industries' television station group, but traded KPTV to Meredith in exchange for WOFL (channel 35) in Orlando and its Gainesville semi-satellite WOGX (channel 51) in 2002.

Between 1997 and 1999, Fox gained several affiliates in smaller markets, including WFFF-TV (channel 44) in Plattsburgh, New York; WVFX (channel 10) in Clarksburg, West Virginia; WFXS (channel 55) in Wausau/Rhinelander, Wisconsin; KFFX-TV (channel 11) in Yakima, Washington; KPTH (channel 44) in Sioux City, Iowa; and K24EJ (channel 24, now KKFX-CD) in Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo, California. However, there have been several occasions since that time when several markets lost over-the-air availability of Fox programming with no immediate local replacement. For example, in October 2001, Pegasus Broadcasting-owned WDBD (channel 40) in Jackson, Mississippi (which would reaffiliate with Fox in 2006) and WPXT (channel 51, now a CW affiliate) in Portland, Maine became affiliates of The WB due to a payment dispute between Pegasus and Fox; the network would not be available over-the-air in the state of Maine until April 2003 (after an attempt by WCKD-LP [channel 30, now defunct] to affiliate with the network fell through), when Pax station WPFO (channel 23) joined Fox, restoring over-the-air availability of the network to the Portland market, and WFVX-LP (channel 22) signed on as the network's first Bangor-based affiliate.

On July 14, 1997, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Time Warner reached a long-term affiliation agreement to switch several of the former's television stations, including Fox affiliates in Raleigh (WLFL [channel 22, now a CW affiliate]) and Norfolk (WTVZ [channel 33, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate]), as well as UPN affiliates in Pittsburgh (WPTT-TV [channel 22, subsequently re-called WCWB and now operating as MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT]), Baltimore (WNUV [channel 54, now a CW affiliate]), Cincinnati (WSTR-TV [channel 64, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate]), San Antonio (KRRT [channel 35, now Dabl affiliate KMYS]), Oklahoma City (KOCB [channel 34, now a CW affiliate]), and Indianapolis (WTTV [channel 4], which was added to the agreement through a separate deal), to The WB. In most of the markets affected, UPN programming was displaced to an upstart general entertainment station or a converted former non-commercial outlet (in one such example, UPN sister company Paramount Stations Group was forced to purchase PBS member station KTLC [channel 43, subsequently re-called KPSG and then KAUT-TV], a former independent station-turned-Fox affiliate that previous owner Heritage Media had donated to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority [OETA] in 1991, to replace KOCB as the network's Oklahoma City affiliate); in Raleigh (where Fox moved to WRAZ-TV [channel 50]) and Indianapolis (where UPN moved to WNDY-TV [channel 23, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate]), however, the former WB stations in those markets took over the affiliation previously held by the Sinclair-run WB outlet.

In early 2002, two Televisa-owned stations, XHFOX-TV (channel 57, now XHTAM-TDT) in Matamoros/Reynosa (serving the Harlingen–Brownsville–McAllen market) and XHFTX-TV (channel 2, now XHLAR-TDT) in Nuevo Laredo (serving the Laredo market), were stripped of their affiliations with Fox and consequently became affiliates of Televisa's Canal de las Estrellas (now simply Las Estrellas). This left the western and southern areas of South Texas without an over-the-air Fox affiliate until 2005, when XHRIO-TV (channel 2 [later channel 15], later a CW Plus affiliate, now silent as of 2021) became the network's affiliate for the Harlingen–Brownsville–McAllen market. (KXOF-CA [channel 39, now UniMás affiliate KETF-CD] signed on as the network's new affiliate for the Laredo area in July 2007; it swapped programming and call letters with a sister low-power outlet on virtual channel 31 in December 2018.) In early 2004, NBC and LIN Television announced an agreement to renew the contracts of the company's existing NBC stations, while also switching its then-ABC stations in Dayton, Ohio (WDTN [channel 2]) and Springfield–Decatur, Illinois (WAND-TV [channel 17]) to the network; the decision to flip LIN's Dayton and Springfield stations was in response to a separate deal involving Sinclair Broadcast Group that resulted in ABC moving its programming to the outgoing NBC affiliates in both markets (WKEF [channel 22], and WICS [channel 20] and its Champaign semi-satellite WICD [channel 15], respectively). In any case, the LIN and Sinclair deals reversed a January 1980 network swap between WDTN and WKEF, one of several occurring between 1979 and 1981 as NBC's national viewership languished in third place (behind ABC and CBS).

Another switch occurred in San Diego on August 1, 2008, when KSWB-TV (channel 69) – one of 16 charter CW affiliates owned by Tribune Broadcasting – became a Fox affiliate, swapping networks with XETV. Although it might have been seen as a downgrade on the surface, as KSWB's analog position was UHF channel 69 while XETV was on VHF channel 6, the market has heavy cable penetration and the majority of its stations are on UHF, which then brand by their dominant cable channel slot rather than their broadcast channel allocation; as such, KSWB is branded as "Fox 5" and only uses its over-the-air channel position as its PSIP virtual channel, in legally required station IDs and (from 2008 to 2012) a short sweep of a "Fox 69" logo in the bug seen during its newscasts. With the switch to Fox, Tribune re-established a news department for KSWB (which produced a prime time newscast from September 1999 to September 2005, before production was taken over by KNSD through a news share agreement). In regards to the NFL, this switchover was an irrelevant issue; as the Chargers, who played in San Diego until 2017, play in the AFC, most of the team's Sunday afternoon games aired locally on CBS affiliate KFMB-TV (channel 8) from 1998 to 2016 (ironically, Chargers games had aired on KNSD from 1977 to 1997). Beginning with the 2017 season, with the Chargers moving to the Los Angeles area, the primary station for the team's games in that market is CBS' West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Another affiliation switch came in the Beaumont television market was in 2008 when Nexstar Broadcasting Group struck a deal with Fox to affiliate it with NBC affiliate KBTV.

CBS saw an affiliate downgrade from VHF to UHF in an unrelated transaction in the Jacksonville–Brunswick market – home of the Jacksonville Jaguars (whose games also air on CBS through its rights to the AFC) – after Post-Newsweek Stations announced in April 2002 that it would end the network's affiliation with WJXT (channel 4) due to a dispute over planned reverse compensation demands by CBS. On July 15, 2002, WTEV-TV (channel 47, now WJAX-TV) became the market's CBS affiliate, with Fox-affiliated sister station WAWS (channel 30, now WFOX-TV) assuming its displaced UPN affiliation as a secondary affiliation. The loss of the CBS affiliation on WJXT, which became an independent station, caused a switch in nearby Gainesville (home to the University of Florida, whose football games regularly air on CBS through its contract with the Southeastern Conference), where primary WB/secondary UPN affiliate WGFL (channel 53, now on channel 28) switched to CBS for the network to remain available in that area; UPN and The WB were relegated to a digital subchannel of the station (now affiliated with MyNetworkTV, as well as low-power WMYG-LP), one of the earliest instances of a subchannel being established to carry a major network prior to the 2006 realignment resulting from the merger of The WB and UPN to form The CW.

Out of the CBS affiliates in the 16 AFC markets, WJAX-TV and Cleveland affiliate WOIO – in the home market of the Browns – are the only stations which have virtual channels corresponding to the UHF band. WOIO (which actually transmits its digital signal over VHF channel 10) was Cleveland's charter Fox affiliate before swapping affiliations with WJW as a result of the New World deal, and has even held rights to the teams' preseason games from 1988 as a Fox affiliate until 1995, and in 2005 as a CBS affiliate. Currently, WOIO only airs the Browns' CBS game telecasts, due to conflicts between the team and WOIO's news department in the past over coverage about personal issues involving team players and ownership that resulted in the Browns organization choosing not to renew its preseason rights deal with WOIO after the 2005 season; ABC affiliate WEWS (channel 5) carries the bulk of the team's preseason games and other Browns programs.

On July 1, 2013, CW affiliate WJZY (channel 46) in Charlotte, North Carolina, became a Fox owned-and-operated station (now owned by Nexstar Media Group), after Fox Television Stations purchased it and MyNetworkTV-affiliated sister station WMYT-TV (channel 55) from the Capitol Broadcasting Company that April; similar to the situation it faced following its purchase of WBRC, Fox Television Stations had to operate WJZY as a CW affiliate for three months after its purchase of the WJZY-WMYT duopoly was completed, as that station's existing contract with the network did not expire until June 30, 2013. The switch resulted in an upgrade for The CW through the network's move to displaced Fox charter affiliate WCCB, as that station broadcasts on UHF channel 18, and also has a news department (becoming one of a handful of news-producing CW-affiliated stations as a result), which WJZY did not have until January 2014 as a Fox O&O.

Another notable switch involving an AFC market occurred in Indianapolis, after a dispute between station management at WISH-TV (channel 8) and the network during affiliation renewal negotiations over reverse compensation demands led CBS to reach an agreement with Tribune Broadcasting on August 11, 2014, in which WTTV and its Kokomo-based satellite WTTK (channel 29) would jointly become the market's CBS affiliate through a broader deal that renewed affiliations for the company's five existing CBS stations (KFSM-TV [channel 5] in Fort Smith, Arkansas; WHNT-TV [channel 19] in Huntsville, Alabama; WTKR [channel 3] in Norfolk, Virginia; WTVR-TV [channel 6] in Richmond, Virginia; and WREG-TV [channel 3] in Memphis). WTTV/WTTK originally planned to move its CW affiliation to a digital subchannel upon the January 1, 2015, switch until Tribune decided to sell The CW's Indianapolis affiliation rights to WISH owner Media General (which had completed its merger with that station's former owner LIN Media three days earlier) on December 22, 2014, with WTTV/WTTK opting instead to operate its DT2 subchannel as an independent station. The switch was an upgrade for The CW, due to WISH's prior history as a major network station and its operation of a news department; it was also an upgrade at least for WTTV even if it was arguably one for CBS, as the station had not been a major network affiliate since it lost the ABC affiliation to WLWI (channel 13, now NBC affiliate WTHR) in October 1957, had not maintained a news department since November 1990 or aired any newscasts of its own since the termination of an agreement with ABC affiliate WRTV (channel 6) in December 2002, following Tribune's purchase of the station (the newscasts that Tribune re-established for WTTV upon the switch use resources from WXIN (channel 59)'s existing news department, which began operations in September 1991, but compete against and maintain anchor teams largely separate from its Fox-affiliated sister station). In fact, the major impetus of the deal was that it allowed WTTV to become the local broadcaster of the Indianapolis Colts through CBS' rights to the AFC.

Long-term impact

Growth of Fox Sports

The affiliation switches helped elevate Fox to major network status, on par with its older, established competitors. As of 2015, its sports division has expanded to include Major League Baseball, NASCAR and collegiate events from select NCAA athletic conferences. In addition, Fox aired National Hockey League games from 1995 to 1999 and the Bowl Championship Series (except for the Rose Bowl) from 2007 to 2010. Other former properties include Formula One races (now held by ESPN) and the Cotton Bowl Classic (which moved to ESPN in 2015). Fox Sports' coverage also has expanded to encompass several cable networks, led by its Fox Sports Net chain of regional sports networks (a group launched in 1996, that is composed largely of channels that were formerly part of the Prime Sports and SportsChannel groups) and its two flagship national networks, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 (both of which launched in August 2013, replacing existing niche sports networks Speed and Fuel TV). In 2019, Fox Sports Networks were sold to Diamond Sports Group, joint venture of Sinclair Broadcasting Group and Entertainment Studios, and were rebranded into Bally Sports in 2021.

In the fall of 2011, Fox added regular season college football games from the Pac-12 and Big 12 Conferences, and the Big Ten and Pac-12 championship games, as well as four matches per year from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. England's FA Cup final came to the network on May 11, 2013. In August 2013, Fox Sports signed a deal to broadcast the three major open championships of the United States Golf Association, including the U.S. Open, starting in 2015. Current Fox Sports properties seen over-the-air also include exclusive coverage of the Daytona 500, the FIFA World Cup, and from 2009 to 2018, the final game of the UEFA Champions League. In addition, the World Superbike Championship races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway were moved to Fox Sports 1 in 2013.

Rise of Fox in prime time

Fox's entertainment programs have also benefited from the heavy promotion they received during the sports telecasts, including shows that it already aired at the time (such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Married... with Children, The X-Files and The Simpsons), as well as newer programs (such as American Idol, 24 and House). In fact, Idol was the highest-rated prime time network program for eight consecutive seasons, from 2003–04 to 2010–11, the longest such streak in U.S. television history.

The resilience of CBS

While CBS eventually recovered from the loss of the National Football Conference package, the network's recovery is partially linked to, ironically, its re-acquisition of broadcast rights to the NFL in 1998 when it took over the television contract to the American Football Conference from NBC. The last year that NBC held the AFC rights saw the Denver Broncos, an original AFL team, defeat the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII, which aired on NBC and ended a 13-year drought against the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Around the time CBS assumed the American Football Conference rights, the league trend of the 1980s and 1990s reversed, in that the AFC became the dominant NFL conference over the NFC. The New England Patriots dynasty in the 2000s in the only top-10 market at the time with an AFC franchise and no NFC team also contributed to the ratings surge. In fact, the primary stations for both the Broncos and Patriots are the same as when NBC carried the AFC (before their respective switches in September 1995 through the trade deal between CBS/Group W and NBC) – KCNC-TV in Denver and WBZ-TV in Boston (KUSA and WHDH-TV carried those teams' games from August 1995 [WHDH]/September 1995 [KUSA] to January 1998).

In addition, the current AFC deal also saw CBS indirectly acquire the rights to air games played by the Pittsburgh Steelers, which air locally on KDKA-TV (which was a CBS O&O by the time the network re-acquired the NFL rights, and has long been one of CBS's strongest stations) and often earn the highest television ratings for an NFL team due to the Steelers' rabid fanbase on a national level. Coincidentally, before the AFL-NFL merger, the team's road games had aired on KDKA as part of the NFL's deal for CBS to air its games, while home games could not be televised at all during this period, even if tickets for each individual matchup played in the Steelers' home stadium did sell out. When the Steelers switched to the AFC in 1970 to the end of NFC broadcast rights in 1993, CBS continued airing Steeler home games when NFC teams played at Pittsburgh.

Impact on NBC

As CBS took the hardest hit from the switches, due partly to having been relegated to lower-tier affiliates in several major markets, NBC became the most-watched network in the United States, as it not only experienced the fewest effects of the switchover, but also benefited from a strong slate of programming at the time (including Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld, Law & Order, ER and Dateline NBC). NBC would maintain its ratings lead until 1999, the year after it lost the AFC television rights to CBS, which overtook it for first place.

After Friends and Frasier ended their runs in 2004, NBC largely struggled in the ratings until 2013. Although it would be helped by its exclusive rights to the Olympic Games (a deal effective with the 2000 Summer Olympics in which, along with retaining its existing rights to the Summer Olympics, it assumed the exclusive rights to the Winter Olympics from CBS starting in 2002), the network's ratings troubles were also abetted by a slow decline in its sports division's event portfolio that began with the earlier loss of broadcast rights to the AFC to CBS, and later its share of Major League Baseball rights to Fox in 2000 and its contract with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to ABC and ESPN in 2002. Its attempts to counter those losses and supplement its inherently sporadic Olympics broadcasts were major failures, most infamously with the original incarnation of the XFL and the Arena Football League.

However, one of the few NBC shows to earn strong ratings during the late 2000s and the 2010s was Sunday Night Football, which moved to the network from ESPN in September 2006 as part of the same NFL television contract that saw ABC's venerable Monday Night Football move to ESPN. NBC Sunday Night Football eventually beat Fox's American Idol to become the most watched program on U.S. television beginning in 2012. Additionally, NBC Sports' portfolio was also aided in May 2004 by gaining the rights to air National Hockey League games; however, the network would not air any NHL games until 2006 due to a lockout that canceled the league's 2004–05 season. NBC aired NHL games until 2021 when national rights to the NHL were transferred to ESPN, ABC, and TNT via Turner Sports starting with the 2021–22 season.

Current statuses

On July 17, 1996, News Corporation announced that it would acquire New World outright in an all-stock transaction worth $2.48 billion, making the latter company's ten Fox affiliates owned-and-operated stations of the network; the deal was completed on January 22, 1997. Today, seven of the New World stations that switched to Fox—KDFW, WAGA, WJBK, WITI, KSAZ-TV, WTVT and KTBC—are owned by Fox Corporation. While under News Corporation ownership, Fox Television Stations sold former New World stations WJW, KTVI, WDAF-TV, WITI-TV, WBRC and WGHP, along with WHBQ-TV, KDVR and KSTU, to Local TV LLC, for $1.1 billion on December 21, 2007. To meet regulatory approval, WBRC was traded to Raycom Media in exchange for WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia. Tribune Broadcasting purchased Local TV for $2.75 billion in July 2013, and after an aborted sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group, was purchased by Nexstar Media Group in December 2018 for $6.4 billion. As part of the latter transaction, WITI was resold back to Fox along with Nexstar's KCPQ and KZJO in Seattle in exchange for Fox's Charlotte duopoly of WJZY and WMYT-TV; Fox regarded Milwaukee and Seattle as "two key markets that align with the company's sports rights". Fox bought into another NFC market in June 2014 by acquiring San Francisco affiliate KTVU and KICU-TV from Cox Media Group in exchange for WHBQ-TV and WFXT.

SF Broadcasting sold its stations on November 28, 1995, to Silver King Communications, headed by Barry Diller and which consisted of HSN-affiliated stations. Silver King sold the four Fox affiliates to Emmis Communications for $307 million in cash and $90 million in stock on April 1, 1998. As part of Emmis's divestment of their television portfolio, WLUK and WALA were sold to LIN TV and KHON was sold to Montecito Broadcast Group. WVUE's sale was complicated and delayed due to damage sustained by Hurricane Katrina, with New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson purchasing the station in 2008.

All of the stations involved in the New World and SF Broadcasting deals, as well as other related affiliation transactions involving Fox (except for two Indiana stations – WTVW in Evansville and WAWV-TV (channel 38, now an ABC affiliate) in Terre Haute – that were affected by the network's 2011 dispute with the Nexstar Broadcasting Group over reverse retransmission consent compensation; and KEVN-TV (channel 7) in Rapid City, South Dakota, which had its Fox affiliation and other intellectual assets transferred to a low-power station in March 2016, in a transaction tied to Schurz Communications' merger with Gray Television that resulted in the intellectual assets of ABC affiliate KOTA-TV [channel 3, now MeTV affiliate KHME] being transferred to KEVN's former full-power signal), remain Fox affiliates.

Westinghouse purchased CBS for $5.4 billion on August 1, 1995, resulting in all of the CBS-affiliated Group W stations becoming CBS O&Os when the sale was completed that November. This merger deal came just one day after The Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire Capital Cities/ABC, parent company of rival ABC. Viacom bought Westinghouse/CBS for $36 billion in September 1999, which created duopolies in several markets between O&Os of CBS and UPN. Viacom and CBS split in December 2005, with the successor CBS Corporation (a name previously used by the entity that owned CBS's properties under Westinghouse) retaining the company's broadcasting assets, including UPN. CBS—which would reintegrate with the successor Viacom entity to form ViacomCBS (renamed Paramount Global in 2022), incorporated upon completion of the re-merger on December 4, 2019—still owns the stations that it acquired either through the station swap with NBC or through its merger with Westinghouse, except for KUTV, which was sold to the Four Points Media Group in 2007 (the Four Points stations – with the exception of CW affiliate WLWC (channel 28) in Providence – are now owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group).

On November 3, 2010, ABC sold WJRT and WTVG back to SJL Broadcasting, now owned by the principal owners of Lilly Broadcasting, for $30 million. On July 24, 2014, Gray Television purchased both stations for $128 million. On October 3, 2011, McGraw-Hill sold its television stations to the E. W. Scripps Company for $212 million, adding four ABC affiliates to the six Scripps already owned. On July 29, 2013, Allbritton Communications sold its seven ABC-affiliated stations to the Sinclair Broadcast Group for $985 million.

See also

• 1989 South Florida television affiliation switch
• 1994 in American television
• 2006 United States broadcast television realignment
• 2001 Vancouver TV realignment
• 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment

External links

• Essay on cause of WBZ-WHDH affiliation switch, including a chart of changes