The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regards WSVN as having signed on for the first time on December 19, 1962, as WCKT under Sunbeam ownership. However, the station was the result of a long and contentious legal battle between Sunbeam and three other applicants for the channel 7 allocation in Miami. Biscayne Television Corporation, a three-way partnership including the publishers of the Miami News and Miami Herald signed on a previous WCKT on July 29, 1956, only to be stripped of its license due to ethics violations within the FCC and unethical behavior by its principals during the application process. Sunbeam purchased WCKT's assets and re-launched the station under a new license with uninterrupted service, while claiming the old WCKT's history as its own. The market's NBC affiliate since its inception, WCKT was renamed WSVN in 1983 and became an independent with Fox programming on January 1, 1989, after NBC's purchase of CBS affiliate WTVJ and CBS's purchase of Fox affiliate WCIX-TV initiated a major affiliation switch. With minimal advance preparation, WSVN relaunched their news department with an emphasis on tabloid journalism under Joel Cheatwood's direction, an unconventional decision initially pilloried by the local media but since been emulated and copied throughout the industry.
WSVN's newscasts have attracted national and international attention for aggressive and controversial content and have been credited as an inspiration for the launch of Fox News. One of the largest Fox affiliates not owned by the network, it was famously called "the future of television" by onetime Fox executive Lucie Salhany. Involved with Sunbeam from the company's beginnings until his death on July 26, 2020, chairman Edmund Ansin repeatedly refused offers to sell either WSVN or his Boston stations.
Due to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposing a freeze on additional television licenses on September 30, 1948,[3] the Miami market had only one television station in operation during that period: WTVJ, which signed on the air on March 21, 1949.[4] In preparation for the freeze being lifted, WIOD radio and the Miami Daily News—jointly controlled by publisher James M. Cox—filed an application with the FCC for a new station on very high frequency (VHF) channel 7 on May 26, 1952. As part of the application, WIOD and the News proposed a new studio facility built at WIOD's transmission towers on the 79th Street Causeway, totaling a $1.25 million investment (equivalent to $14,342,105 in 2023).[5] The WIOD-News application was met with a competing application filed several weeks later by WQAM owner Miami Broadcasting Company,[6] controlled by Miami Herald publisher John S. Knight.[7] Faced with the possibility of protracted competitive hearings before the FCC lasting last two to three years, Cox and Knight withdrew their bids and filed a joint application as Biscayne Television Corporation, operating autonomously from either newspaper and with former NBC president Niles Trammell as its president.[8] Trammell, who joined NBC in 1929 and parent RCA in 1923, was credited for developing much of the network's talent[9] and organized Biscayne after convincing Cox and Knight to collaborate rather than compete.[10] In addition, Biscayne would purchase WIOD from Cox, Knight would divest WQAM,[11] and Cox and Knight would each hold 42.5 percent of company stock, with Trammell holding the remaining 15 percent.[12]
Despite this new joint venture, the application found itself as one of 12 competing applications for four channel allotments in the market: VHF channels 7 and 10 and ultra high frequency (UHF) channels 27 and 33.[13] In particular, Biscayne Television faced three competing applications for channel 7, including one from two Davenport, Iowa, residents;[14] Florida Sen.George Smathers warned of a possibility that Miami might not have another television station sign on before 1958 due to the number of competing applications.[13] The number of applicants for a channel 7 license increased to five on December 16, 1953, after real estate developer Sidney Ansin filed one under the Sunbeam Television Corp. name. Ansin included a proposal for studios located in Miami's Allapattah neighborhood and encompassing his existing six-block Park-and-Shop City development dubbed "Television City", with sons Ronald and Edmund Ansin assisting.[15] Originally a shoe maker from Massachusetts, Sidney relocated to Miami Beach, Florida, in 1941[16] and sold land to Mitchell Wolfson for WTVJ's transmission tower after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rezoned it for broadcasting, which became the source for his interest in the medium.[17] Sidney filed an application after consulting a friend in Washington, D.C.,[17] and included Ronald and Edmund—both Harvard University students—when they expressed interest.[16]
After the Davenport-based group withdrew their bid,[18] hearings were scheduled to begin on February 19, 1954, for the four remaining applicants—Biscayne, Sunbeam, East Coast Television Corporation, and South Florida Television Corporation—supervised by FCC examiner James D. Cunningham.[11] All four applicants agreed to a timetable of informal conferences with Cunningham so as to reduce the amount of needed testimony to one-tenth of what normal applications called for.[19] Biscayne was the first to complete their case in mid-May,[20] with Cox and Knight extolling the accomplishments of both the News and Herald; Cox cited the News's crusade against Al Capone's 1929 move to Miami, while Knight referenced multiple awards given to the Herald for public service, with both newspapers Pulitzer Prize recipients.[21] East Coast was primarily represented by Lee Phillips, a former WTVJ employee,[22] while Jack C. Stein testified for South Florida Television, boasting his corporation consisted of Miami-based shareholders and was best able to represent the interests of Miamians.[23] The last to present, Sidney Ansin stated on Sunbeam's behalf that he believed television "presented a wonderful future" and was described as the organization's "moving spirit".[16] All four applicants completed their case summaries by mid-August.[24] Cunningham delivered his recommendation for Biscayne Television on January 18, 1955; in response, Trammell announced the new station's planned affiliation with NBC while also saying, "while it would be improper to anticipate when the commission will confirm Mr. Cunningham's report, Biscayne hopes to be in operation as shortly thereafter as possible."[12]
Awarding the license
WCKT's first day of operations took place on July 29, 1956.
The FCC's broadcast bureau challenged Cunningham's recommendation of Biscayne due to Cox and Knight's ownership of the city's two daily newspapers, stating it undermined the commission's policy of encouraging diversity in mass media ownership and risked creating a competitive imbalance in the Miami market.[25] The Dade County Central Labor Union (CLU), the American Federation of Labor (AFL),[26] and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) all filed protests with the FCC, with the CLU's protest citing both newspapers holding anti-labor policies,[27] but these were dismissed.[28] The FCC formally awarded the license to Biscayne on January 20, 1956,[29] by a 5–2 vote among the commissioners.[30] Losing applicants East Coast Television, South Florida Television, and Sunbeam filed appeals with the United States Court of Appeals in Washington and were joined by a separate joint appeal filed by Storer Broadcasting, owner of Fort Lauderdale–licensed WGBS-TV (channel 23) and Gerico Investment, owners of ABC affiliate WITV (channel 17).[31] The Storer-Gerico appeal was filed to prevent WCKT's sign-on until the FCC agreed to a policy of allowing only VHF or UHF stations to be built in a given market but was dismissed.[32] Biscayne revealed the WCKT call sign for their channel 7 license on March 10, 1956, standing for the Cox-Knight-Trammell partnership.[33]
Confirming Trammell's intentions one year earlier, WCKT would sign on as the market's NBC affiliate, while WIOD would be purchased by Biscayne, renamed WCKR and join the NBC Radio Network.[34] This resulted in the network terminating its existing affiliation with WGBS-TV,[35] which was forced to convert into an independent.[36] Groundbreaking for the new combined radio-television studios at the WIOD transmitter site[37] took place on March 20, 1956, which Trammell promised would be ready for operation by June.[38] In order to prevent interference from WCKR's towers, $25,000 worth of coppersheeting (equivalent to $2,801,714 in 2023) was installed around the entire building, encasing it to create "a shield within a shield".[39] The building was still partially unfinished when WCKT took to the air on July 29, 1956, with an open house to the general public set to take place by the fall.[36] Promotion manager Bob Nashick had an idea for an extravagant opening ceremony including water-skiers and skydivers, saying, "I want to see the biggest traffic jam in history on the Causeway"; this was rejected by management.[40]Herald radio critic Jack Anderson described the facility as "impressive" but noted the absence of a parking lot, saying, "it would help to have some Swissmountain climbing experience to get into the building."[41] Dedication of the building took place on November 10, 1956, with multiple dignitaries and politicians in attendance including Florida governorLeRoy Collins, Sen. George Smathers, FCC chairman George McConnaughey, and commissioner John C. Doerfer; WCKT and WCKR carried the dedication live.[42]
Signing on under Biscayne
Advertisement promoting WCKT's 1960 Peabody Award, the station's first.
At launch, WCKT's newscasts were handled by Gordon Shaw in mornings, news director Charles Harrison in early evenings, and Phil Kelleher in late evenings; the station also boasted "a completely equipped" newsroom located adjacent to the main studio.[43] WCKT's debut program was a news bulletin anchored by Shaw, with Jack Anderson retrospectively noting the excess goodwill at startup that Shaw smiled throughout the course of the bulletin, which included a train derailment report.[44] The news team had radio backgrounds: Harrison was a distinguished reporter at Philadelphia's WFIL, Shaw and Kelleher were WQAM veterans, and assistant news director Gene Strul was previously WIOD's news director.[43] Under Harrison's guidance, WCKT produced its first long-form documentary—Whispered Menace, about sex psychology and molesters—that premiered on August 7, 1957.[44] This documentary helped WCKT win its first national award by the Radio-Television News Directors Association for outstanding televised news story, citing the station "having courage to use a news story on sexual psychopaths"; Whispered Menace was also screened at area schools and PTA meetings.[45] After Harrison left WCKT in October 1957, veteran CBS News correspondent Bill Shadel was hired as his replacement.[46][47] Within the station's first year, WCKT succeeded in achieving ratings parity with the competition,[44] while WGBS-TV shut down on April 13, 1957, after Storer sold off the station's assets to National Airlines to help with the launch of WPST-TV.[48][35]
Wayne Fariss
Bill Shadel left the station by May 1958 to join ABC News after that network reportedly "made him an offer he couldn't resist".[49] WCKT hired Wayne Fariss from WTVT in Tampa, Florida, where he had been that station's first newscaster,[50] to be lead anchorman starting on June 30, 1958.[51] Fariss competed against top-rated Ralph Renick at WTVJ, who in the August 1959 Arbitron ratings commanded a 23.8 share at 6:30 p.m; this prompted WCKT to move Fariss's early-evening newscast to 6 p.m., in between the station's late-afternoon movie[52] hosted by Bob Clayton.[53] WCKT had a substantial scoop when Fariss and reporter Ben Silver were selected by Gov. Collins to be a part of a fact-finding tour of the Soviet Union in June 1959, with Fariss providing reports to the station via radio and telephone.[54] The station won the Peabody Award on April 19, 1961, for its coverage of the Cuban Revolution and its local ramifications including several long-form documentaries,[55] the first time a Florida radio or television station won the award.[56] Silver's reporting of the Battle of Santa Clara in particular, alongside NBC newsman Herb Kaplow and Ed Scott, was so well received by the 26th of July Movement that they regarded Silver as one of their own.[57] Fariss's newscasts were additionally translated in Spanish and simulcast over local radio beginning in 1962, with his scripts translated and interpreted in real time.[58] While Fariss was originally said to deliver newscasts via notes instead of a prepared script,[59] he eventually allowed producer David Choate to assist with any advance preparation and copy editing; Fariss was regarded as Renick's chief competition by the end of 1962.[50]
Despite signing on, the legal battle over the WCKT license continued for nearly a full year. The Washington Court of Appeals temporarily set aside the grant of channel 7 to Biscayne on March 14, 1957, citing the FCC's failure to question any possible adverse effect from Trammell's past ties with NBC that could benefit the network, and considered him "the key figure" and "vital 'middle man'" in Biscayne's operations.[60] The court's ruling did not suspend or affect WCKT's license, with the FCC rejecting any proposal filed to order the station to do dark.[61] Biscayne's license grant was reaffirmed by the FCC on June 21, 1957, by a 4–2 vote.[62] The FCC gave Biscayne a demerit for "possible conflict of interest" with regards to Trammell, but still considered the company to be the "best qualified applicant" for the license.[63] The license application file was closed by the commission that December.[64]
FCC ethics violations and ramifications
"[John S.] Knight told me he knew the license had been awarded to Biscayne Television before it was announced by the FCC," said [Stephen J.] Angland. The attorney said he asked [Niles] Trammell if he had talked to any of the commissioners while the case was pending. He said Trammell replied: "I guess I made the rounds. I don't guess I missed anybody."
Without fanfare, the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight was organized in July 1957 to investigate the practices of federal regulatory agencies.[66] During a cross-examination of FCC chairman John C. Doerfer on February 5, 1958, information was revealed that Civil Aeronautics Board chairman James R. Durfee had a 1956 golf trip paid in full by an undisclosed airline amid accusations of "personal misconduct" among four of the seven active FCC commissioners.[67] Bernard Schwartz, recently fired as subcommittee counsel[68] after alleging the committee was "trying to whitewash" behavior by Eisenhower administration officials, told reporters an unnamed commissioner engaged in bribery regarding an unspecified license application dispute.[66] Schwartz testified under oath that commissioner Richard Mack was paid several thousand dollars by Thurman A. Whiteside, a lawyer National Airlines retained as a "fixer", according to Schwartz. Letters Mack sent to the FCC in 1951 endorsed WKAT owner A. Frank Katzentine, who bid for the channel 10 license but lost out to National Airlines, who signed on WPST-TV.[69][70] Whiteside testified several days later that Mack was a part-owner of Stembler-Shelden Insurance, which handled the insurance for both WPST-TV[71] and Biscayne Television. In reply, Trammell called the Mack connection "a complete surprise" and claimed he was solicited by an unrelated agent that first contacted him in 1954.[72] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was also called in by the subcommittee to help with the investigation.[66]
Subcommittee attorney Stephen J. Angland's testimony on June 2, 1958, revealed that Knight and Trammell met with two Florida Power & Light officials—chairman McGregor Smith and vice-president Ben Fuqua—who in turn approached Mack on Biscayne's behalf.[73] Fuqua, who was a personal friend of Mack, engaged in 29 telephone conversations with him over a two-year span.[65] Mack then contacted Herald associate editor John D. Pennekamp inquiring about the character of Biscayne's officials, which Pennekamp saw as "disjointed" on Mack's end and a potential tip off of the commission's actions.[10] John S. Knight also approached President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ohio senator John W. Bricker, and previous FCC chairman George McConnaughey about applying political pressure to help Biscayne's application;[65] McConnaughey, Doerfer, and Mack all voted in favor of Biscayne and to reaffirm the license.[62] Angland's investigation found three of the four final applicants for the channel 7 license, including Biscayne, went outside of normal procedures,[65] with Sunbeam being the only one that went through proper protocol.[74][75] Subcommittee counsel Robert W. Lishman believed that internal pressure by applicants to the commission was present in nine contested TV licenses across the country.[73]
Hearings and revocation
If I had been allied with the [Miami] Herald and had not disclosed this to the FCC we would have been subject to loss of our licenses... I thought there were very serious implications to the untrue rumor, and I felt that as a member of the FCC, [Richard] Mack should know the facts.
The FCC decided to reopen the process for the channel 7 license on April 3, 1959, and hold hearings on conflict of interests among the commissioners and do so outside of Washington, D.C.,[62] conducting them in Philadelphia.[30] Mack had resigned under pressure from President Eisenhower[70] and was indicted with Whiteside on charges of influence peddling, fraud and conspiracy regarding the WPST-TV license.[74] The first trial resulted in a hung jury;[77] while Mack was too ill to be retried, Whiteside was acquitted but committed suicide.[78] Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Horace Stern presided as FCC examiner and scheduled hearings to begin on June 13, 1960, stressing they were for investigative purposes only;[79] indeed, Stern was appointed to examine potential misconduct surrounding all disputed or contested licenses.[80] Two weeks before the hearings started, Angland suffered a fatal heart attack, but his extant findings and prior testimony were admitted as evidence.[30] Under oath, Trammell admitted to speaking multiple times with FCC commissioners but denied exerting undue influence and stated that the talks were to inform the agency of his resignation from NBC.[81] Cox testified to speaking on the phone with Mack in December 1955, regarding rumors of a sub rosa arrangement between the News and Herald that Cox feared threatened not only the Biscayne bid but the licenses of his other broadcast assets.[76]
After the hearings concluded, FCC general counsel proposed revoking WCKT's license and disqualifying Biscayne, South Florida Television and East Coast Television from participating in any subsequent license applications.[82] All three companies denied any wrongdoing,[80] while Sunbeam requested a specific finding declaring they were "completely innocent" while the other applicants disqualified themselves.[82] Stern issued his ruling on September 14, 1960, agreeing with the general counsel's proposals and affirmed them in his recommendations,[83] with Sunbeam the recipient of a new license by default.[17] Sidney Ansin was "delighted" at the ruling but unsure if it meant Sunbeam would be awarded a new license outright with no bidding process.[84] The FCC revoked WPST-TV's license on July 14, 1960, and awarded a replacement license to WCKY owner L.B. Wilson, Inc., the only bidder for the channel 10 license not disqualified, but FCC chairman Frederick W. Ford said that new license was short-term and meant to ensure uninterrupted broadcasting if another bidding process took place.[85] Following a year-long review, WCKT's license was officially revoked by the FCC on July 26, 1961, but the ruling was held in abeyance to allow Biscayne an opportunity to appeal.[86] Biscayne's petition for reconsideration was rejected by the FCC, which reaffirmed the ruling on May 10, 1962, via a 5–1 vote.[87] Robert E. Lee, by that point the only remaining commissioner to vote in favor of the Biscayne license in 1956 and 1957,[62] was the lone dissenter.[87] The FCC's reaffirming stipulated that WCKT's license would remain active for four months but did not provide a definitive date for the Biscayne-Sunbeam changeover.[87]
The "Isle of Dreams" in North Bay Village, home to channel 7's studios and WIOD's studios and transmitter towers.
Biscayne president Niles Trammell filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, citing the station's Peabody Award and industrial acclaim.[88] However, the May 21, 1962, issue of Broadcasting reported Biscayne proposed donating WCKT's license and assets to the University of Miami, which would be leased back to Sunbeam; Sunbeam regarded the FCC ruling as a new license outright.[89] Sidney Ansin confirmed that the proposal was suggested two months earlier but was rejected amid plans to construct a separate transmitter tower and studios.[90] Despite the court appeal still being on file, Trammell announced on November 14, 1962, that Biscayne agreed to sell off WCKT's non-license assets to Sunbeam, while WCKR was resold back to the Cox family.[91] As part of the agreement, James M. Cox Jr. and John S. Knight pledged their share of the proceeds to the University of Miami, with an initial $400,000 down payment and an additional $1.4 million over several years; university president Henry King Stanford announced the funds would help bolster its scientific education and research programs.[92] The $3.4 million sale was approved on December 5, 1962, with Biscayne dropping all remaining challenges and appeals.[93] Ansin retained all on- and off-air personnel, including existing station manager Charles Kelly, and re-used the WCKT call sign for the new license.[94] Ownership of the island housing both WCKT and WCKR was partitioned between the two, with shared parking, a security guard booth and an agreement not to build anything else on the island without the other owner's consent.[95][96]
The second WCKT (1962–1983)
A family affair
I gave some consideration about going to Wall Street but really wanted to be in business with my father.
Upon the change in ownership on December 19, 1962,[98] Edmund Ansin—who was Sunbeam's treasurer—was installed as the station's executive vice president, while Sidney was named WCKT board chairman.[40] Having graduated from the Wharton Business School in 1957, Edmund began working with his father Sidney's real estate holdings in South Florida as the region continued to enjoy substantial post-war growth.[97] Edmund's addition was the only substantial change made with the license changeover, which was otherwise conducted in such a manner that the new WCKT subsequently claimed the prior WCKT's history as its own.[40] Edmund's want to work with his father was his lead reason for joining Sunbeam after briefly considering working on Wall Street[97] and encompassed additional ventures; this included a life insurance company formed in 1966 that bore the Sunbeam name[99] that was divested two years later.[100] Edmund headed the most significant expansion for Sunbeam's real estate operations: a $1 million purchase (equivalent to $8,761,722 in 2023) of 637 acres (258 ha) of land in northeast Marion County, Indiana, on August 21, 1968, at the time the largest land sale in the county's history.[101] The purchased land was developed into Indianapolis's Castleton neighborhood, helping make Sunbeam one of the largest land developers in Indiana.[102]
Due to the license being a short-term permit similar to the one awarded for WPST-TV replacement WLBW-TV, Sunbeam faced another bidding process for a full-time license. Sunbeam's only opposition came from Community Broadcasting Corp., composed of advertising executive Tally Embry and other Miami-based interests.[98] FCC examiner Thomas Donahue ruled in favor of Sunbeam, saying that even though much of the station's programming output was done so "knowing ... that continued operation of the station was at stake", Sunbeam demonstrated that they knew how to operate WCKT.[103] The FCC's broadcast bureau disagreed with Donahue's findings, specifically due to Sunbeam getting credit for operating the station under pressure of the interim authority, with an FCC attorney considering the bidding process to be "very close" but Sunbeam still had an edge.[104] The FCC awarded Sunbeam a full-time license on May 15, 1965, by a unanimous 5–0 vote, concluding that they possessed all the necessary qualifications.[105] Community Broadcasting Corp. filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, arguing that the FCC's inclusion of Sunbeam's ongoing record maintaining the interim operation was unfair to their bid.[106] The court ruled in favor of Sunbeam and the FCC in June 1966, with judge Carl E. McGowan noting:
Where a qualified applicant for a licensee has been compelled, by the moral shortcomings of his original competitors and of public servants themselves, to spend 10 years in the quest... it is perhaps not arbitrary to suggest that, as against the new applicants who have been spared that frustrating and expensive experience, the commission may take note of the fact—for it is nothing more—that the four-months licensee has actually been operating the station.[106]
WCKT became the first station in the market to broadcast all local programming in color on December 27, 1965, through a $500,000 investment in new color cameras and color news film.[107] By the end of 1966, station manager Charles Kelly had left WCKT for a similar position at West Palm Beach's WEAT-TV,[108] with Edmund assuming his role as station manager.[40] After Sidney Ansin died of a heart attack on October 22, 1971,[109] Edmund succeeded him as Sunbeam's president.[40]
Hard-hitting investigative news
Miami Dade Junior College president Dr. Peter Masiko Jr. (left) interviewing an unidentified guest for the WCKT show Junior College Review.
While the news department from the first WCKT carried over directly to the second WCKT, several changes started to take place under Sidney Ansin. This included a gradual increase in the on-air quality of existing local public affairs productions via an increased budget, but Sidney explained, "...it's not enough that they be important and well done: they have to entertain, be of real interest to the viewer. I don't watch a documentary simply because it's important—not even our own—and I'm sure other viewers don't either."[110] Daily on-air editorials were instituted, with Harriette Bishop presenting the station's viewpoint, largely written by either Sidney or Charles Kelly; Fort Lauderdale News critic Joe Bryant praised Bishop for her "crisp, clean, businesslike... strong delivery" that could easily be mistaken for WCKT's news anchors.[111] One December 4, 1963, editorial in advance of a special election for Dade County sheriff attracted controversy when the station called on Republican challenger Fred A. Phillips to withdraw, saying incumbent T. A. Buchanan was "almost certain to win", prompting Phillips to file a compliant with the FCC.[112]Miami News columnist Rollene Saal criticized the editorials both for taking away time from the newscast itself and the subject matter;[113] Sidney contended that television had an obligation to editorialize and present dissenting viewpoints in accord with the FCC's fairness doctrine.[114] Bishop hoped her role would lead to females having more substantive on-air roles "a step removed from fashion and recipes" but was fired after 18 months[115] for trying to land a reporting job at the station, remarking later, "they said I was too ambitious".[116]
Sidney was the public face of Sunbeam but remained unfamiliar with television, while Edmund started to assert a larger role. When Sidney began inviting friends to appear on WCKT newscasts, Edmund threatened to quit in support of the news department's editorial independence, prompting Sidney to end the practice.[117] Under news director Gene Strul, the station furthered a reputation for hard-hitting newscasts and investigative journalism, with Strul resisting outside pressure from politicians, community members, and even the station's sales department.[118] Controversy was courted several times. Carnival operator Newell Taylor sued WCKT and Florida governor W. Haydon Burns after Burns called Taylor "one of the biggest gamblers in South Florida"[119] in an interview WCKT broadcast despite threats from Taylor.[120] Two successive documentaries on extremist groups "Let Freedom Ring" and the Ku Klux Klan in late 1965 resulted in the former circulating play money containing anti-WCKT messages, while the latter was accused of defacing one roadside billboard for the station with the message, "The KKK is watching you."[121] A three-part series in November 1968 over a proposed "power and privileges" bill in the Parliament of the Bahamas—where media outlets accused of "false or misleading" information would be called to testify before Parliament—led the Nassau Guardian-Observer to publish a front-page editorial rebuking "the meddlesome Miami television crew" and advised WCKT to "go home—and stay there!"[122] A citizens committee in Broward County accused WCKT, WTVJ, and WLBW of engaging in biased reporting regarding education in the state, focusing on WCKT and Sidney's real estate business as a conflict of interest.[123] Future NBC reporter Brian Ross later said of Strul's work, "he goes after the so-called sacred cows... no one is immune where he is concerned."[118]
WCKT's local programming extended beyond newscasts. Bob Clayton was a charter on-air staffer in 1956 and was teamed with Corine Gustafson to host the early-afternoon talk show Your Biscayne Host.[124] Gustafson left the station in October, prompting a succession of guest co-hosts in an audition process[125] before Sue Lawton was chosen as a replacement.[126] Clayton's duties were not limited to entertainment, as he teamed with newsman Charles Harrison to interview ten Hungarian refugees following the country's recent revolution for a special half-hour program.[127] By May 1957, Clayton was reassigned to host Movie 7, a daily showcase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films recently purchased by the station.[128] Competing against Chuck Zink's Popeye Playhouse on WTVJ and The Mickey Mouse Club on WPST-TV,[129] Clayton's friendly demeanor proved to be a hit among viewers[130] and was voted one of the best local TV personalities in a Herald readers' poll.[131] WCKT soon added the Sunday night MGM Theater sponsored by a local mattress company[132] and acquired rights to the rest of MGM's 300-title film library in April 1958.[133] A popular twice-weekly segment of Movie 7 focused on pet adoption.[134] Clayton teamed up with fellow announcer Don Barber for The Don and Bob Show, a late-morning daily comedy show[135] that eventually moved to Saturday late-nights, but ended production at the start of 1962 due to low ratings.[136]
Clayton's star was on the rise after playing a bell captain in the 1960 Jerry Lewis movie The Bellboy, filmed at the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach; Lewis tabbed Clayton later in the year for the unsold television pilotPermanent Waves.[137] After a female viewer referred Clayton to her daughter—a talent agent in New York City—Clayton was cast as host for the ABC game showMake a Face, which WPST-TV carried locally starting on October 2, 1961.[138] It was originally assumed that Clayton would leave the market, but Clayton arranged to commute from New York to Miami by airplane every two weeks, filming Movie 7 interstitials and commercials in advance.[139]Make a Face was cancelled the following March when ABC was obligated to honor a financial commitment for another game show, but Clayton kept his WCKT duties.[140] Clayton moved back to Miami as Barber's replacement for the station's midday program, which was reformatted to be like Today, when 1963 began.[141] By the end of the year, Hugh Downs recruited Clayton as announcer for the NBC game show Concentration, which Downs hosted; the two had been friends dating back to when Tonight Starring Jack Paar, which Downs announced, originated from Miami Beach.[142] Initially resuming the practice of filming interstitials for Movie 7 and the Saturday morning children's show Bobsville for weeks in advance,[143]Movie 7 was dropped for The Mike Douglas Show by May 1965, and Clayton relinquished Bobsville by that September.[53]
Charlie Baxter and "Toby the Robot"
Charlie Baxter's broadcast career began at age 14 when he joined a Toledo, Ohio–based radio dramatic group and, like Clayton, joined WCKT at its 1956 launch.[144] Serving as a booth announcer[145] and doing fill-in work for vacationing staffers[146] Baxter was asked by management to create a horror host character but without any direction, merely saying, "We need a monster. You're it."[147] Baxter developed the character "M. T. Graves" for the Sunday afternoon horror movie showcase titled The Dungeon[148] after improvising with makeup and establishing a design that took 45 minutes to properly apply.[149] Baxter crafted a backstory for "M. T. Graves": born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Graves learned the art of the occult after being adopted by Romani people, was imprisoned in Budapest and fled to America, then was trapped in an underground "dungeon" which the WCKT studios were built on top of.[150][151]The Dungeon became immediately popular with younger viewers who were drawn to Graves's clown-like antics and jokes,[152] were unfazed by his appearance or "villain" role, and saw him as a hero.[153] After relaying the story of a seven-year-old girl reacting with joy to a phone call from M. T. Graves similar to teenage Elvis fans, Herald critic Jack Anderson mused, "Now, what's that again about TV's scaring the daylights out of the very young? The only thought that lingers with me... is that her taste had better improve."[154] Baxter added a Saturday morning science fiction film show as "M. T. Space" (Graves's astronaut brother orbiting "the seventh moon of Jupiter") and a daily children's show as uninhibited child "Charlie Baxter"[155] but was still easily recognizable to younger fans of M. T. Graves even without the makeup.[156]
Toby the Robot (Charlie Folds) and Charlie Baxter, co-hosts of Charlie Reads the Comics.
Charlie Folds, who started at WCKT in 1958 as a editor removing profanities from movies,[157] joined The Dungeon as sidekick "Count Down the Vampire", establishing both a close friendship and partnership with Baxter.[158] In addition to "Count Down", Folds played "Buffo the Clown" on the Sunday morning Seven's Circus and "Toby the Robot" on the Saturday morning Superheroes (with The Marvel Super Heroes between in-studio wraparound segments).[159] Drawing inspiration from a similar robot character he had portrayed several years earlier,[160] Folds assembled Toby's costume from several garbage cans and assorted pieces of junk that weighed 40 lb (18 kg)[161] and intoned "beep-beep-beep" as the lone method of communication. This became Folds's defining character.[157] Success for Charlie Folds came despite substantial shyness whenever in front of a camera;[160] while performing a skit during a live broadcast, Toby's helmet accidentally fell off revealing Folds's face, which he later deemed as his "worst moment".[157] Toby was soon regarded as one of the more popular children's television personalities in Miami,[162] frequently being booked for public appearances months in advance.[160]
I communicate (when playing Toby the Robot) by beeping. By acting inside, I can make the kids laugh or cry. The kids actually know what I'm saying... kids either like a mechanical thing or a clown, if I wasn't a robot, I'd be a clown.
The Dungeon ended production on September 7, 1967, after Baxter claimed the station ran out of horror movies to show, at one point airing the Jungle Jim serial during its final year.[163]Superheroes was succeeded by Batman-Batkids, wraparounds for reruns of Batman hosted by "Charles Baxter, Esquire" that reprised several Dungeon characters, with Folds as Baxter's valet "The Count".[164] Created by Sidney Ansin, Seven's Circus had high ratings, a loyal audience and fan club boasting 200 members—with Baxter, George DeVries and Bill Barry as successive "ringmasters"—but was cancelled on January 4, 1968, after years of being a loss leader.[165] WCKT and the Herald partnered for Charlie Reads The Comics, a Sunday morning show that launched on July 22, 1969, with Baxter reading the newspaper's Sunday comic strips to a studio audience of children, and Folds as Toby.[166][167] Baxter resigned from the station on April 29, 1970, while on vacation;[168] later attributing his departure to burnout, Baxter eventually revived his "M. T. Graves" character on WKID (channel 51).[147] Stage actor Wayne Chandler was hired as Baxter's replacement for Charlie Reads The Comics, re-titled Sunday Funnies.[169][170] Even as other locally-produced children's television shows largely ceased during the 1970s due to declines in ratings and advertising,[171] WCKT kept Sunday Funnies on the air under the belief it remained an instructional tool for literacy.[172]
Struggles alongside NBC
January 1976 WCKT print ad for The Fariss-Klaas Report, debuting their version of the "circle 7 logo".
Coinciding directly with NBC's adoption of an abstract "N" logo in January 1976,[173] WCKT unveiled an iteration of the circle 7 logo similar to a design originally created for ABC's owned-and-operated stations on January 19.[174] WCKT replaced 6 p.m. co-anchor Richard Whitcomb with Larry Klass for The Fariss-Klass Report, with Carmel Cafiero taking over Klass's prior weekend duties and becoming the station's first female news anchor.[175] Klass's on-air delivery, described as "sedate" in a way that matched WCKT's overall presentation, contrasted with his youthful demeanor and penchant for cynicism.[176] The station celebrated the United States Bicentennial on July 4, 1976, with a special taped production recreating news events of July 4, 1776, with anchors Fariss, Klass and Cafiero dressed in period-appropriate attire; news director Gene Strul spent several months with pre-planning and research in advance of the taping.[177]
By September 1977, Vic Mason replaced Klass as 6 p.m. co-anchor after Klass returned to reporting; Cafiero also left WCKT to return to New Orleans but quickly returned.[178] Recently promoted to station manager, Robert Leider explained that Mason represented an effort to attract younger viewers, particularly in the 18–34 demographic.[179] Mason resigned abruptly in October 1978, with Constance Hicks replacing him as co-anchor.[180] WPLG was now on a ratings upswing led by anchors Glenn Rinker and Ann Bishop (who went by Harriette while at WCKT).[181] By the end of 1977, it was challenging WCKT for second place;[182] it overtook channel 7 in 1979.[183] WCKT reporters and cameramen, 27 in total, voted to join the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians in January 1979 despite past resistance from management in three prior attempts. Reporters were allowed to participate in the vote, as the station also had them also perform camera work and film editing.[184]
Johnny Carson accused both WCKT and Dallas–Fort Worth's KXAS-TV of 'clipping' portions of The Tonight Show during the program's July 26, 1978, installment, citing a viewer letter claiming WCKT joined Tonight in the middle of Carson's monologue after playing extra commercials.[185] Two years earlier, West Palm Beach station WTVX was accused of the same practice, prompting the FCC's Broadcast Bureau to hold hearings over their license.[186] Edmund Ansin denied the accusations, citing timing failure from a master control clock that ran 30 seconds behind throughout the newscast that preceded the program.[185] Carson later offered a written apology to Ansin, explaining his stance was based solely on the viewer letter and was not verified prior to going on air.[187]Tonight was, in fact, one of the few bright spots on NBC's entire lineup, which was experiencing a prolonged and substantial ratings downturn starting in the middle of the decade.[188] Consequently, WCKT preempted network fare more often than WTVJ or WPLG by 1978, with Leider noting the substituted programs generally performed better and NBC rarely commented on them.[179] In late 1977, WCKT substituted The Devil's Brigade and Anchors Aweigh in place of Black Sheep Squadron, briefly revived from cancellation by star Raymond Burr, causing Burr to personally call WCKT operations manager Allen Sternberg and NBC executives and protest the move on The Tonight Show; Sternberg cited the show's Wednesday night slot as consistently one of the network's weakest-performing timeslots.[189]
Revamping under Leider
He is unique among news directors. He is a Spartan, an individual totally immersed in his profession. He almost has blinders on that shield him from outside Involvements and personal contacts within the community. He is an inside operator.
Edmund Ansin relinquished his general manager duties in June 1979 to devote more time to Sunbeam's real estate holdings, with incumbent station manager Robert Leider taking over the position.[190] Leider's promotion came after the May 1979 sweeps period showed The Fariss-Hicks Report at 6 p.m. tied for third place alongside Star Trek reruns on WCIX[191] amid a significant overall decline in the station's ratings.[190] News director Gene Strul, a part of channel 7 since the first WCKT's 1956 sign-on, resigned several days later with minimal fanfare.[192] While credited for channel 7 having won over 200 regional and national journalism awards,[191] Strul was also criticized for not adding flair to the newscasts or allowing them to be more feature-driven.[118]
David Choate rejoined WCKT as Strul's replacement following a brief stint at NBC News's Miami bureau.[193] Choate initiated multiple changes that included adopting the NewsCenter 7 brand—already in use among several of NBC's owned-and-operated stations[194]—and replacing lead anchors Constance Hicks and Wayne Fariss with Steve Rondinaro[195] and Donna Hanover,[196] respectively. Fariss's removal was criticized for its abrupt nature that News critic Sherry Woods deemed "bungled" given his years of service to the station and status as the only anchor to have successfully competed against Ralph Renick.[195] At the same time, the revamped newscasts met positive reviews for better pacing and a more visually appealing set.[197] WCKT also made headlines by assisting Miami Beach police with an undercoversurveillance team that filmed the arrest of a postman for selling quaaludes with the footage admissible in court; management for WPLG and WCIX saw this as going against all journalism ethics and compromising WCKT's ability to cover police-related stories objectively.[198]
After a seven-month hiatus, Wayne Fariss returned to anchor duty on February 2, 1981, to co-anchor the noon newscast with Connie Eng; in addition, Fariss joined WKAT radio as a newscaster.[199] Hanover left the station in May 1982 to marry Rudy Giuliani before working for the Justice Department in Washington,[200] with NewsCenter 7 remaining stuck in third place.[201] Sally Fitz, who had been doing local news updates during Today[202] along with general reporting duties, was Hanover's replacement.[203] Sandra Easely of the Herald said of the switch, "Fitz is 29 and has short, dark hair. Hanover is 32 and blond. And that's all about there is to say about the changeover in female anchors at Ch. 7."[204] Discrepancies also began to emerge between Arbitron and Nielsen ratings for the Miami market: both placed WCKT's 6 p.m. news at third during July 1982 surveys, but Arbitron had it 10 points behind WPLG, while Nielsen showed the race as closer.[205] Still, station officials were optimistic about NBC's prospects entering the 1982–83 television season, with Edmund Ansin calling newly installed network chairman Grant Tinker "superb" and "the best management team they've had in 20 years".[206]Rick Sanchez, a Cuban exile[207] who joined the station in 1982, produced the five-part series Why I Left Cuba that November[208] and was part of the station's coverage of President Ronald Reagan's visit to Little Havana the following May.[209] WCKT also aligned with the Satellite News Channel, an ABC/Westinghouse Broadcasting joint venture, providing hourly local news updates; in announcing the affiliation, Leider said, "we have to become the news information center for South Florida. That's where our future lies."[210]
WSVN (1983–present)
Number-centric call letters
We first changed all the cosmetic things you can do, even the call letters from WCKT to WSVN. We had to position ourselves to know what we were... We wanted to be looked upon as the 'hometown station,' just as the slogan says, the place where you get everything from your entertainment to your news.
Sunbeam filed paperwork with the FCC in mid-March 1983 to change WCKT's call sign to WSVN, derived from "seven", while retaining their existing "South Florida 7" slogan.[1] Calling it "one of the biggest moves" made by the station in recent years, general manager Robert Leider explained that the Miami market was now more familiar identifying the station by channel number, saying, "if someone asks you if you saw Hill Street Blues last night, you say, 'Yeah, I saw it last night on Ch. 7'... you don't say 'on WCKT.'"[211] The station was also being placed on different channel positions over area cable systems, in some cases on channels "O" and "D", and felt the WSVN name helped provide a competitive advantage.[212] As part of the change, Sunbeam acquired the rights for the WSVN call letters from PBS member WBRA-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, which had used them for their Norton-licensed satellite.[211]
Sunbeam invested a total of $150,000 into this change, including $50,000 for the call letter purchase and FCC paperwork and $100,000 for an extensive marketing campaign.[1] The call sign change was effective at 7 a.m. on June 7, 1983, with News radio critic Tom Jicha joking, "...the station should have gone all the way and done it at 7:07 on July 7".[212] NBC engaged in cross-promotion to help unveil the new "WSVN" name with mentions on both Today and The Tonight Show, with Grant Tinker and Steve Sohmer congratulating Leider for the move; Sohmer also began advising NBC affiliates to stress their respective call letters for future promotions.[1] Even with the name change, WSVN continued to struggle in the ratings at both 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., often finishing in third place after WTVJ and WPLG. News director David Choate admitted, "we're not the favorite station for news in Miami... we keep battling Channel 4 for second place".[213]
Wayne Fariss left the station on January 31, 1984, initially retiring after a 36-year broadcasting career;[214] a brief comeback attempt as vice president of news for WEVU-TV in Naples ended after Fariss suffered a heart attack.[215] Lead anchor Steve Rondinaro left in August 1984 after declining an offer to return to field reporting, calling wages paid to anchors "hazard pay" due to their jobs being dependent on ratings.[216] Rondinaro's coverage of the 1984 Democratic National Convention garnered praise, having done so knowing his contract was not renewed.[213] His replacement was CNN Headline News anchor Peter Ford, an Australian native.[216] WSVN debuted Live at Five, an hour-long lifestyle-centered newscast anchored by Denise White and Frank Robertson, on August 1, 1986.[217] While in development for nearly a year with a $2 million investment, production manager Frank Biancuzzo said, "we're going to be the David Letterman of the 5 p.m. shows, in that we'll try anything."[218] WSVN also began a series of remote broadcasts spotlighting the region's history titled Celebrating South Florida[219] and billed themselves as "Your Hometown Station".[202]
When a major story breaks in Miami, you don't turn to WSVN... If a major bank failed and a truck carrying pigs overturned on the freeway on the same day, WPLG would lead with the pigs, WTVJ probably would go with the bank and WSVN would miss the stories altogether.
Live at Five struggled in the ratings; the May 1987 sweeps book showed minimal improvement over Quincy, M.E. reruns that it replaced, with Sun-Sentinel critic Bill Kelley saying, "the way I look at it, if you're determined to keep that ailing family dog that everyone in town has been telling you to put to sleep, you do more for him than give him a bath."[217] Rick Sanchez, who was in consideration to co-host Live at Five, was suspended in March 1986 after revelations of ties to influence peddler Alberto San Pedro came to light.[221][222] While not directly implicated in any criminal activity, Sanchez left the market to take a reporting job with Houston's KHOU.[223] Choate expressed frustration at continued perception of WSVN as a "perennial third-place station" while critics noted the newscasts had improved substantially since Fariss's 1980 removal from evenings.[202] The station even made the news on October 17, 1985, when an electrical fire broke out in the studio during the 11 p.m. newscast, temporarily forcing the station off the air.[224]
Wayne Chandler and Toby the Robot.
Veteran weatherman Wayne Chandler's career ended abruptly on December 7, 1984, after suffering a severe head injury when another driver collided into his 1970 Volkswagen Beetle.[225] By coincidence, Chandler's hospitalization occurred hours after Wayne Fariss was hospitalized for his heart attack.[215] Chandler's Sunday Funnies co-host Toby the Robot had previously "retired" on April 1, 1984, when Charlie Folds accepted a full-time role as WSVN's public relations director, but the program continued in a modified form.[226] Folds's last day playing the robot was an emotional one, saying, "when I put on that costume, I became Toby."[157] Despite hopes of an on-air return, Chandler never fully recovered from his injuries and was forced to retire.[225] Folds took over as host of Sunday Funnies,[227] which continued production through 1986. Long-running public affairs shows Impacto, Perspectives and Florida Forum, which operations manager Dave Bieber called "holdovers from a significant number of years ago", were all cancelled at the end of 1986 in advance of NBC's planned spring 1987 launch of Sunday Today.[228] The presence of Live at Five as a daily program that already covered similar topics to those shows was regarded as an upgrade.[229]
WSVN became the central figure in a complicated dispute between Sunbeam, NBC and CBS that lasted nearly two years. WTVJ's founding owner, Wometco, was acquired by merchant bankerKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in a 1983 leveraged buyout worth $1 billion.[230] KKR also took over Storer Communications in 1985.[231] The FCC directed KKR to divest either Storer's cable systems in Miami and Wometco's cable systems in Atlanta—or WTVJ and Storer's WAGA-TV—within 18 months to satisfy then-existing cross-ownership rules.[b][232][233] KKR initially sold WTVJ and Storer's station group to Lorimar-Telepictures for $1.85 billion on April 25, 1986,[234] with WTVJ alone selling for $405 million.[235] The Lorimar deal collapsed after CBS inquired with Taft Broadcasting about purchasing WCIX for as much as $125 million;[236][237] CBS's subsequent $170 million offer for WTVJ was deemed unacceptable by KKR,[238] which offered WTVJ to Capital Cities/ABC and NBC parent General Electric (GE)[239] under the belief a competing network would not be intimidated by a CBS disaffiliation threat.[238][240] After months of rumors,[237][239] KKR agreed to sell WTVJ to the General Electric Property Management Co., a holding company within GE, for $270 million on January 16, 1987.[241] It was universally accepted in the media and the industry that NBC was the pending owner:[242] for the first time in the history of North American television, a broadcast network purchased an affiliate of a competing network.[17][243]
Ansin later described his reaction to the WTVJ purchase as "bewilderment", telling network executives visiting the station it was "bizarre and certainly unprecedented".[229] The same executives described Ansin cursing at them[239][17] and pointed at a satellite dish used to receive NBC programming, deadpanning, "why don't you take it home on the airplane?"[17] No formal announcement was made to WSVN's staff that day beyond a terse internal memo,[244] with some staffers admitting to checking job openings in Broadcasting magazine amid a combination of anxiety and gallows humor.[238] One unidentified WSVN manager described it as a difficult day because they also had to report the story on the evening newscasts.[244] During their coverage of the sale, Ansin revealed GE executives previously offered to purchase WSVN, which he rejected under the belief that they would not buy a competitor.[245] Likewise, one NBC executive told the News NBC had preferred to buy WSVN, but the station was not available.[244] Complicating matters, WSVN's NBC contract ran until January 1989 and had been extended 15 days before the WTVJ sale announcement was made,[239] while WTVJ's CBS contract ran through April 1988.[245] Industry speculation centered over where the CBS affiliation would go to in the market, along with the possibility WTVJ could be owned by NBC and operate as a CBS affiliate for a prolonged period of time.[238][243][246] NBC pledged to honor WSVN's contract, while CBS showed renewed interest in WCIX, itself in the process of being sold to TVX Broadcast Group.[247]
In an interview on WSVN's 6 p.m. newscast on March 10, 1987, Ansin announced Sunbeam would challenge the WTVJ sale before the FCC,[17] citing "anti-competitive overtones ... adverse" to the public interest.[246] With former channel 7 operations manager Allen Sternberg as legal counsel,[17] Ansin retained former FCC commissioner Charles D. Ferris as his lead representation.[229] Ansin also reached out to Florida's congressional delegation for additional lobbying,[248] including Rep. Dante Fascell[229] and Sen. Lawton Chiles.[239] The petition to deny claimed WSVN's status among programmers and advertisers was damaged to WTVJ's benefit[229] and that an NBC-owned CBS affiliate threatened to disenfranchise Miami television viewers.[249] In a statement Ansin submitted to various Washington agencies, he likened the nature of the sale to the extortion-driven 1956 asset swap between NBC and Group W for stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia the commission eventually overturned nine years later.[250] In a subsequent interview, Ansin explained that his bitterness with NBC was the result of the network simply discarding decades of loyalty, especially when the network was mired in third place in the late 1970s.[251] Ansin's visibility protesting the sale was also a marked departure from his reputation as a modest, conservative owner that rarely sought public attention and who barely knew his own station personnel.[117]
The day before WCIX's sale to TVX was completed, TVX president Tim McDonald told the News that WCIX was not only not for sale, but TVX was committed to owning the station, forcing CBS to negotiate with Ansin by default.[252] In multiple interviews, Ansin expressed a hope to keep WSVN as a network affiliate and eventually pass control of Sunbeam to his children; when asked about WSVN possibly becoming an independent station, Ansin replied, "that's not good... I don't think it'll happen."[251] One Wall Street analyst suggested that Ansin's objections really centered around the risk of losing untold millions of dollars if WSVN failed to secure an affiliation.[248] The FCC approved the sale of WTVJ to GE on September 17, 1987,[253] despite Sen. Chiles introducing an amendment into an FCC appropriations bill that requested a full hearing on the sale.[239] Ferris also acknowledged he held doubts from the beginning about the FCC being receptive to Ansin's challenge;[251] undeterred, Ansin pledged to appeal the FCC's approval.[253] Because WTVJ's CBS affiliation was set to end in April 1988, a temporary arrangement was reached that had the contract extended on a two-week basis for as long as was deemed necessary.[254] The temporary arrangement resulted in WTVJ—now run by NBC management[255][256]—preempting CBS primetime programming liberally,[257][258][259] while CBS initially refused to invite WTVJ management to the network's 1988 affiliate convention.[260]
Changes in the news
Rick Sanchez rejoined WSVN in May 1988 as a reporter and anchor.
The uncertainty at WSVN was not limited to their network affiliation. News director David Choate abruptly resigned in December 1987; his replacement, Joel Cheatwood, came to Miami from WEWS-TV in Cleveland, where he had been that station's assistant news director.[261] Cheatwood took the job under assurances WSVN would remain a network affiliate under Sunbeam in what he called a "blood oath" by Ansin.[262] By that March, WSVN's newscasts started to take a more aggressive tone, ostensibly to make the station more palatable to a CBS affiliation,[263] while multiple staffers were either dismissed or resigned.[264] Some also left WSVN directly due to the affiliation uncertainty, including sports director Bret Lewis and weekend sports anchor Doug Vaughn.[265] By happenstance, Lewis and anchor Jill Beach left to take jobs with NBC:[266] Lewis went to KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, while Beach went to WKYC-TV in Cleveland, which at the time was a higher-ranked TV market than Miami.[267] Lewis's replacement, Jim Berry, also joined WSVN under this assumption, viewing a network affiliation as "a sign of privilege, it's like a badge."[268]
Following the conclusion of the May sweeps period, Cheatwood fired lead anchor Peter Ford despite the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts posting their best ratings in recent years.[269] Reports of on- and off-air discord between Ford and co-anchor Sally Fitz was seen as the determining reason for the move; while Fitz was regarded in market research as being highly recognizable, some critics suggested it was her prior relationship with Ed Ansin—which Ansin himself admitted to previously[17]—that factored into personnel decisions, which station officials denied.[264] After Alberto San Pedro's murder trial concluded,[270] Rick Sanchez returned to the station as the new co-anchor for Live at Five, which was initially developed with him in mind as the lead host.[271] Sanchez replaced Frank Robertson, who was dismissed by Cheatwood in early May after market research showed him as the program's "weak link."[272] In an outreach attempt to Miami's Cuban community, Cheatwood announced Sanchez's return during an on-air interview at Spanish-language radio station WQBA.[270]
Spurned by CBS
Conventional wisdom suggested from the beginning[238] that a WSVN-CBS affiliation was the most likely outcome,[264] but an impasse developed between Ansin and CBS. The network desired to move off of WTVJ as soon as possible, but Ansin insisted a CBS contract take effect on January 1, 1989, when WSVN's NBC contract was set to end.[257] Sports broadcasts were the core reason: NBC was committed to carrying the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 1988 World Series,[260] and a majority of Miami Dolphins football games thanks to the network's NFL-AFC broadcast rights.[273] Tony Malara, president of CBS's affiliate relations division who handled the negotiations, insisted CBS was deeply distressed at having to remain on an NBC-owned station; WSVN general manager Bob Leider countered such distress was never mentioned by CBS during negotiations,[239] and Ansin insisted CBS agreed to his timeframe early on in the talks, which Malara denied.[274] Ansin made arrangements to fly to New York City on April 26 to sign a CBS contract at Black Rock when Malara called off the meeting, citing that they were reaching out to other parties regarding a purchase or affiliation.[257] Malara said to Ansin the trip was pointless if he would not waver off of the January 1 date.[274]
One week after the negotiations broke down,[275] Ansin filed an antitrust lawsuit against NBC, CBS, and the GE subsidiary that held WTVJ's license alleging collusion between the networks over WTVJ's sale with intent to cause WSVN "irreparable injury".[276] An additional letter of protest Ansin sent to NBC charged that WTVJ was supplying stories to NBC News with their Miami news bureau dealing exclusively with WTVJ.[264] Initially bolstered by a verdict that awarded $3.5 million in damages to the owner of a former ABC station in Springfield, Missouri, after Capital Cities/ABC Inc. disaffiliated them[260]—which was later thrown out on appeal[277]—Ansin insisted the lawsuit would not hurt WSVN's chances regarding a network contract[275] but talks between him and CBS never resumed.[264]
Meanwhile, TVX was under financial duress by principal creditor Salomon Brothers, which helped finance TVX's purchase of WCIX and four other Taft stations and in turn held more than 60 percent ownership of TVX.[278] After a missed payment of $200 million to Salomon earlier in 1988,[279] the creditor induced TVX to sell off two stations[280][281] and pressured them to divest further.[282] By July 1988, Electronic Media reported CBS quietly was in talks with Salomon to purchase WCIX.[283]Howard Stringer, recently appointed as president for CBS's owned-stations division, told the News on August 5 he expected a resolution of the Miami affiliation dilemma "... probably by next week".[284] WCIX's general manager said CBS's negotiations with Salomon made it much more than a threat aimed at Ansin.[285] On August 8, 1988, CBS announced their purchase of WCIX for $59 million,[286] a price far below TVX's $90 million valuation of the station two years earlier.[239] Several Wall Street analysts estimated WSVN's market value dropped by as much as $200 million after CBS's announcement,[287] with one analyst suggesting the station now had one-third of the cash flow it had while an NBC affiliate.[274]
Concurrent with CBS's purchase of WCIX, the network announced a new affiliation agreement with West Palm Beach's ABC affiliate WPEC,[288] addressing WCIX's multiple technical disadvantages in the Miami market[289] but pulled a second media market into the affiliation switches that now involved six stations and three million television viewers in both markets.[290][287][291]
Forced into independence
Immediately after the sale of WCIX, Ansin publicly announced that WSVN's news operations would not be contracted[266] and would be expanded.[262] Ansin and Leider offered Joel Cheatwood an opportunity to leave if he wanted, due to Ansin's "blood oath" of WSVN having an affiliation with CBS or NBC not being kept, but Cheatwood decided to stay.[292] At a staff meeting called by Cheatwood the following Monday, the majority of the personnel present verbally committed to staying in a show of support.[293] Dave Beiber resigned as operations manager shortly after WSVN's independent status was confirmed:[294] management, assuming WSVN would still link up with CBS, failed to purchase enough syndicated programming at the start of the fall season to compensate for the loss of a network.[295] Ansin retrospectively said he considered WSVN to be an appendage of NBC instead of just a network affiliate, resulting in the station largely operating on autopilot.[296]
The station's plans were revealed as September 1988 began. Rebranded to Channel 7 News with an aggressive press-room feel, both Live at Five and the hour-long 6 p.m. news were relaunched as faster-paced, half-hour newscasts.[297] Addressing the loss of NBC, WSVN announced its 11 p.m. news would move to an hour-long 10 p.m. slot on January 1,[287] along with an expansion of its early-morning local newscastToday in Florida in Today's timeslot and locally produced news magazineInside Story replacing the NBC Nightly News.[295] Hosted by WSVN anchor Penny Daniels, Inside Story was a pet project of Cheatwood, similar in tone to A Current Affair.[292] WSVN signed up as a CNN affiliate for national and international news coverage, simulcasting Headline News in the overnight hours.[295] Altogether, the station committed to producing 7+1⁄2 hours of local newscasts on weekdays under the belief their current audience would not defect to other channels.[287] Station promos began to reorient WSVN as "your news station";[290][298] in one instance, a promo for their forthcoming 10 p.m. news ran prior to the start of an episode of L.A. Law, which aired at 10 p.m. on Thursday nights.[299]
WSVN quickly acquired the rights to 650 feature films for a nightly prime time movie showcase at 8 p.m., boasting a library of over 750 titles.[290] Leider himself noted that over two dozen movie packages meant for over-the-air broadcasters had been previously unclaimed in the market, making the purchases a relatively easy process.[298] The station also signed up with Fox, replacing WCIX in the role,[300][297] but still billed itself as an independent as Fox only programmed in prime time on the weekends.[262] In a marked contrast to its weekday schedule, WSVN was programmed like a conventional independent on the weekends with a mix of cartoons, syndicated professional wrestling, off-network reruns, and movies, in addition to Fox programming and half-hour newscasts at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.[295]
The timing of WCIX's purchase by CBS resulted in the series of affiliation switches all taking place on January 1, 1989, the date Ansin had preferred from the beginning.[239] While CBS was unable to assert control of WCIX until the following day,[254][287] multiple CBS and NBC programs were cleared by their future affiliates,[301][302][303] including several NBC shows WSVN either dropped or declined to carry.[304][305] The final night prior to the switches, on December 31, 1988, had both WSVN and WTVJ broadcast the King Orange Jamboree Parade simultaneously; WTVJ's local parade coverage included multiple NBC network stars, while WSVN aired NBC's network coverage.[306][307]
Defying conventional wisdom
WSVN archival betacam news tape, c. 1989, at the Florida Moving Image Archive.
WSVN's news expansion, at the time unheard of for any television station in the United States, was ridiculed and pilloried in the local media. Conventional wisdom suggested that independent television stations had to operate with a strong focus on sitcom reruns and movies because they were unable to compete on the same level with original network programming.[274] Up to the switch, WCIX's news output only consisted of a single half-hour 10 p.m. newscast,[266] raising doubts that four full-time English-language television news operations would be feasible in a market like Miami.[287] Market consensus also assumed WCIX would be more than able to compensate for their signal coverage issues simply by becoming CBS-owned.[308] Ansin later said, "everybody predicted, I say the world predicted, that this was not going to work... we had to be creative and innovative."[309]
WSVN's ratings, as predicted, declined significantly in prime time and in other periods after losing NBC fare, but as an independent, the station was quickly seen as a major success story.[308] By April 1989, the station's early-evening news began to outdraw WTVJ's newscasts, with Inside Story an unexpected hit.[292] By November 1989, WSVN's 6:30 p.m. news beat the NBC Nightly News on WTVJ in both Nielsen and Arbitron ratings, with WSVN's Today in Florida competitive against WTVJ's Today.[310] This contrasted heavily against WCIX, which, despite being network-owned and with higher ratings than the year prior, was badly hampered by its poor signal and saw itself in fourth place.[308] At years' end, WSVN was in second place against WPLG in most time slots and the 10 p.m. news increasingly visible against the networks,[311] prompting the Sun-Sentinel's Tom Jicha to write, "[I]n this case, the conventional wisdom wasn't wise."[308] WSVN's performance prompted WTVJ management to issue a memo in May 1990 directing their newscasts to find additional "intensity, involvement and innovation" in their presentation, implying a need to emulate WSVN.[312]
The station's success resulted in Sunbeam launching a production company by May 1989, headed by Cheatwood, who relinquished his news director role; Sunbeam planned to sell Inside Story to syndication as Inside Report and develop two additional television programs.[292] As 1990 began, Fox hired Cheatwood to help develop a possible newscast for the network; this also resulted in Inside Report being withdrawn from syndication.[311] After Fox's newscast plans were put on hold and following the failure of the newsmagazine Personalities, Cheatwood returned to WSVN as vice president of news.[312] Under Cheatwood, WSVN launched a 7:30 p.m. newscast in the lead-up to the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict; after the war ended, the newscast was converted to 7:30, a newsmagazine hosted by Daniels and Joan Lovett described by Cheatwood as "news with a real flair".[313] The station also openly floated the possibility of bidding for broadcast rights to Miami's expansion baseball team, with comparisons drawn to both Superstation WGN and TBS, two superstations that featured local baseball play-by-play for a national audience.[312][313] By 1992, WSVN ranked first in mornings and late evenings and second in late afternoons, and was regarded as the highest-rated independent in the country.[314]
"If it bleeds, it leads"
The Book of Revelations [sic] does not say whether the apocalypse will be televised. But if it is, WSVN in Miami will not have to interrupt its regular programming.
The style for WSVN's newscasts became as attention-grabbing as the output of news the station now produced. Terminology in reporting was shifted to a more casual approach, with authority figures like the chief of police being called "Miami's top cop".[316] Raw video footage would sometimes be altered to present a film noir effect,[317] or in slow-motion, particularly with vehicular accidents.[316] One competing news director claimed to The Christian Science Monitor that WSVN employed inexperienced reporters with little pay, placing them in cars with police scanners in order to "...see how many crime scenes they could get to".[318] A typical hour-long newscast now featured as many as fifty stories, all short in duration.[317] Coverage of area and statewide government functions, including area city council and school board meetings, was eliminated, and WSVN's bureau in Tallahassee was closed.[117] Anchors, in particular Fitz and Sanchez, accentuated their on-air delivery with theatrics including raised eyebrows, head shaking, and dramatic pauses.[317] By 1994, the station's newscasts and newsroom were incorporated into a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) set dubbed the "Newsplex".[319]
The phrase "if it bleeds, it leads" originated in a 1989 New York story about WABC-TV in New York City,[320] but Boston magazine,[296]Newsweek,[319] the Miami New Times,[321] the New York Times,[317] the Associated Press,[322] and The American Prospect[315] all used the phrase to describe WSVN. Cheatwood defended WSVN's emphasis on crime, saying it "has helped in preventing other people from becoming victims, and let people know what was happening on the street".[318] Such reporting contrasted with FBI statistics that showed violent crime in Miami to be in decline (albeit still the highest in the nation[318]), but a 1993 NBC poll of area residents showed 73 percent believed the murder rate in Miami had increased.[315] A University of Florida study revealed WSVN was issued 239 subpoenas for video footage or testimony in court proceedings between August 1988 and March 1992, well above the average of 17 subpoenas for competing media outlets in the market.[117]University of Miami journalism professor Joseph Angotti tabulated the amount of airtime WSVN devoted to violent crime, discovering it made up 48.9 percent of their news coverage in the month of November 1993.[316] The Prospect noted that WSVN's July 18, 1993, newscast devoted 22 out of the station's allotted 34 minutes of news airtime to stories about people being robbed, injured or killed, with a visit by President Bill Clinton to Miami relegated to a quick soundbite 14 minutes into the broadcast.[315]
The WSVN newsroom, commonly referred to as the "Newsplex".
Cheatwood told the Monitor that WSVN's tabloid style was designed to counter public perception of local news being boring, staid, and slow.[318] Newscasts opened with flashy graphics and punchy headlines like "Tiny Victims", "Kids Who Kill"[319] or "Mauled to Death".[316] Scott Chapin, a rock radio disc jockey for WGTR-FM and WIOD's program director, became WSVN's announcer,[323] chosen as his voice better stood out against the competition.[324] Chris Crane, a computer hacker with no formal music training and who by his own admission "couldn't read a score", was hired to compose WSVN's news themes.[325]: 45 Even WSVN's logo took a red and blue color scheme, as they were determined by Bob Leider to be "the boldest colors".[326] WSVN's visual cues were frequently compared to MTV,[317]Hard Copy,[319]Miami Vice,[316]NFL Films, and The March of Time[325]: 45 and were derisively labeled "new wave news"[327] and "all-crime-all-the-time".[328] The Times described WSVN as "stories... zooming across the screen at a dizzying speed, accompanied by graphics and sound bigger, brighter and bolder than anything Miami viewers can find elsewhere".[317]
Paul Steinle, University of Miami communications professor, criticized WSVN for not coherently presenting information beyond the flashy presentation, loud music and bold headlines, specifically with failures to clearly attribute sources, using footage with minimal information or context, and substandard writing.[325]: 45–46 7:30 was criticized for focusing on sensational and lurid subject matter and gossip with cynicism: when introducing a report about the Genitorturers, reporter Jessica Aguirre said, "hey, we do what it takes to get ratings, and you're watching".[317] In June 1994, seven area hotels owned by the Continental Companies began a blackout of WSVN's newscasts objecting to the heavy emphasis on crime, saying their frustration with WSVN "reached the breaking point"; this followed the Thunderbird and Chateau by the Sea hotels blacking out the station altogether.[329] The month prior, WCIX retooled their newscasts to a "family sensitive" format intentionally eschewing violent footage,[330] which was a ratings failure and ultimately abandoned after a year.[331][332]
Criticism of the station's stylized approach was also internal. One of the station's remaining Black anchors, Denise White, left WSVN in 1990 for a job in Tampa,[117] telling the New Times, "if you watch Crime Check regularly, you'll believe that black folks do nothing but commit crime," echoing the sentiments of a coalition of area Black leaders protesting the Rick Sanchez-led segment.[333][316] While delivering a weather report in June 1989, Bob Soper disputed a Teleprompter cue that a hurricane was "barreling out of control toward Miami" as his data showed otherwise.[117] Three years later, Soper was replaced by Jillian Warry—who, at age 25, wore short skirts on-air while delivering the weather—under claims his genial personality no longer aligned with the station, with Cheatwood saying, "the Willard Scott era is gone."[314] Soper left the station six weeks before Hurricane Andrew hit Miami, damaging WSVN's credibility at the same time Bryan Norcross and WTVJ won industry acclaim and a Peabody Award for their coverage;[117] Cheatwood claimed a chief meteorologist was unnecessary, as all stations were fed the same information from the National Hurricane Center.[334] Carmel Cafiero disagreed with the "if it bleeds, it leads" descriptor for WSVN, later saying, "people use that phrase because it's catchy, but I just don't buy it. I think people were jealous, frankly."[316]
Influence on the industry
Despite the criticisms, WSVN's tabloid format proved heavily influential to the industry and was widely imitated throughout the country.[97] The station and its unlikely success was even the subject of a Harvard Business School case study.[335] In one week in 1993, Cheatwood received requests for news tape in cities ranging from Los Angeles to Louisville, Kentucky.[336]Frank Magid consultant Eric Braun likened WSVN to an updated form of the Eyewitness News and Action News formats 20 years earlier[336] and even compared it to radio commentator Walter Winchell.[317] Braun consulted other news departments nationwide on incorporating elements of the WSVN format but advised against the format being copied outright,[317] telling the Herald, "It's something you could only do in Miami. No other city in North America has the rhythm of Miami."[336] One of Braun's clients was WTVJ,[325]: 49 which began emphasizing crime coverage, larger graphics, and a pressroom feel in its newscasts amid frequent on-air turnover and criticisms of a lost identity.[337] Another client was WKYC-TV, a former NBC-owned station that experienced significant off- and on-air turnover under Multimedia, Inc., and adopted WSVN's emphasis on a higher volume of shorter stories, minimal crosstalk, and bold headlines like "TOP STORY" or "SPECIAL REPORT".[338] While WKYC's ratings did not immediately improve, the station was regarded as having finally found a direction not seen under NBC ownership.[339]
Other stations across the country attempted to import WSVN's format outright. Bill Applegate, who oversaw WABC-TV's late 1980s tabloid format,[320] joined WBBM-TV, the CBS-owned outlet in Chicago; WBBM incorporated much of WSVN's visual presentation and hired away some of the station's air talent,[340] including Penny Daniels, Joan Lovett, Jim Berry,[341] and Rick Leventhal, along with hiring WSVN producer Mark Toney to be its news director.[342] WBBM's changes eschewed their long-standing reputation of investigative, serious journalism and ultimately produced mixed results in the ratings.[340] Scott Jones, a former WSVN producer, was hired as news director for KRBK-TV in Sacramento, California, and quickly promoted to sister KPLR-TV in St. Louis, but his tenure lasted less than nine months as ownership disagreed with his implementation of the WSVN format.[343] By 2002, Applegate, now heading WOIO/WUAB in Cleveland,[340] relaunched the station's low-rated news operation with a slickly produced tabloid style, again drawing comparisons to WSVN's early 90s ascendency and impact on the market.[328]
The most notable imitation of WSVN came from within. In April 1993, Sunbeam purchased WHDH-TV, then Boston's CBS affiliate, from David Mugar for $215 million.[318] Former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, a part-time Florida resident, publicly protested the sale,[315][318] referring to WSVN's newscasts as "a collection of the bizarre, tragic and bloody".[336] Ed Ansin's brother Ron, who previously served in Dukakis's cabinet, arranged a dinner between the two as a mediator.[117] After the deal closed, Cheatwood was appointed as vice president of news for both stations; Cheatwood stressed WHDH would not become a direct copy of WSVN but hold a style unique to the market, saying a philosophy for newscasts is "not a franchise you can lift and open like a Kentucky Fried Chicken down the street."[336] Long the third-rated news service in Boston,[117] WHDH emerged as a ratings contender in the market by the end of the decade, with the more traditional competition—WBZ-TV and WCVB-TV—incorporating tabloid elements themselves.[296]
WSVN's success also signaled an industry trend to increase local news production, particularly as a way to stand out against stiffer competition from cable.[344] This included coverage of national and international stories, formerly material seen as network-exclusive, with WSVN dispatching crews to report on the Waco siege, a train wreck in Alabama, and the assault of Nancy Kerrigan.[318] In the wake of Today in Florida's success, Fox-owned stations began launching their own local morning shows including Good Day New York and Good Day L.A., while KCAL-TV in Los Angeles debuted a three-hour prime time newscast.[344] Fox president Lucie Salhany hailed WSVN as "the station of the future" and a model for newscasts on other Fox affiliates.[345] Fox's 1994 groupwide affiliation agreement with New World Communications saw multiple long-tenured, large-market "Big Three" affiliates switching to Fox[346] between 1994 and 1996, furthering the news production boom; Ball State University professor Bob Papper estimated as many as 1,500 to 2,000 jobs were created nationwide, with the possibility of thousands more jobs among older Fox affiliates yet to create or expand their news services.[347] By 1994, WSVN was generating more revenue that it ever had with NBC thanks to increased control over programming and local advertising via Fox's limited prime time schedule, which was regarded as a factor in the Fox-New World pact.[345][348]
When Fox launched Fox News in 1996, WSVN reporter Shepard Smith was hired as its lead reporter; by 1999, Smith was anchoring Fox Report, the channel's nightly flagship newscast, which focused on a high story count, tight writing, and a flashy presentation.[349][350]
Maturing in a competitive market
Already it's hard to remember a time when television news wasn't paced like an action movie, edited like an MTV video, and scored like a horror flick.
Jim Mullin, the Miami New Times, on Joel Cheatwood's departure from Sunbeam[321]
In February 1997, Joel Cheatwood left his role at Sunbeam Television to become news director for Chicago's NBC-owned station, WMAQ-TV.[335] Cheatwood's tenure at WMAQ lasted 16 months and was punctuated by a short-lived experiment with Jerry Springer as a commentator;[351] he later attempted to implement a tabloid format at WCBS-TV in New York City.[352] Cheatwood was succeeded as vice president of news by existing news director Alice Jacobs,[353][354] a position she still holds.[355]
By the end of the 1990s, all English-language stations in Miami–Fort Lauderdale adapted portions of the WSVN format. WHDH news director Bill Pohovey joined WPLG in 1998 as vice president of news;[356] under Pohovey, WPLG remained number one among English-language stations in 1999, emphasizing investigative journalism and human interest stories, combining it with elements of WSVN's tabloid format.[357] Pohovey remains at WPLG in that position into the present day.[358] In 1998, three years after WCIX moved to channel 4 as WFOR-TV,[c] that station's newscasts were reformatted to feature bold colors and a news theme with a salsa feel;[359] by 2004, WFOR and WTVJ employed multiple WSVN alumni.[349] In response, WSVN began emphasizing breaking news, investigative and consumer stories.[357] Carmel Cafiero's reports were branded Carmel on the Case and given priority; a 2010 story on a Broward County pill mill as part of an ongoing series on the opioid crisis earned Cafiero and the station an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award.[360]
7:30 was relaunched on January 8, 1996, as Deco Drive, a Miami-centric newsmagazine with Jessica Aguirre and Kelly Mitchell as hosts; WHDH also carried the program.[361] Along with the relaunch came a significant influx of personnel: while 7:30 operated with a staff of five people, Deco Drive debuted with a staff of 28. Deco Drive was a ratings failure at WHDH and removed from that station's lineup within five months, while the format was continually adjusted and subject to staff turnover, including Mitchell's departure in April 1996. Aguirre left the show in February 1997 and was replaced with Belkys Nerey.[362] Lynn Martinez, who has co-hosted Deco Drive since the summer of 1996, continues in that role today.[363]
WSVN outdoor marquee, promoting meteorologist Phil Ferro.
Rick Sanchez left WSVN in April 2001 for a role at MSNBC.[364][207] His replacement was anchor-reporter Craig Stevens, who was paired with Nerey in August 2003 following the departure of Laurie Jennings. Stevens and Nerey continue to be the station's lead anchor team in the present day, praised for having a "dynamic" on-air chemistry between the two[365] and strong knowledge of the region.[355] Joining WSVN in 1994 as a reporter,[366] Nerey became interested in TV news by watching Molly Turner's consumer reports on WPLG.[367] The continuity has extended beyond the anchor desk: Steve Shapiro joined WSVN in 1997 as sports director and host of Sports Xtra on Sunday nights, a role he held until retiring at the end of 2020.[368] Since 1998, Patrick Fraser has hosted Help Me Howard, a consumer advocacy/legal advice segment with former Broward County public defender Howard Finkelstein;[369] Finkelstein also serves as WSVN's legal analyst.[370] Carmel Cafiero retired in July 2016 after a 43-year run at channel 7; her retirement was regarded as the end of an era given her journalistic background and longevity.[316]Marilyn Mitzel was the station's health reporter from 1988 until 2005, when the station dismissed her. Mitzel subsequently filed an age discrimination lawsuit against WSVN,[371] initially prevailing in court; the ruling was overturned on appeal.[372][373]
News production has steadily increased, including the debut of a daily 4 p.m. newscast in 2006,[374] additional news on the weekends,[375] and a 2011 expansion of Today in Florida to five hours.[376] In March 2015, the "Newsplex" newsroom/newscast set was given a $500,000 upgrade to allow for more graphical elements to be displayed on-air.[377] The newscast expansions and investment came against increased competition from the Internet and other technologies.[374] Since 2010, viewership for all television stations in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale market, including WSVN, have declined per data from Nielsen Media, attributed to the growth of video on demand services and free ad-supported streaming television.[316] WSVN continues to be a steady performer in a deeply competitive market: in the first half of 2022, WSVN placed second in nearly every timeslot among English-language stations.[355]
As of 2022, WSVN produces 68 hours of local news every week.[355]
Digital and leadership transitions
WSVN activated its digital signal on September 1, 1999,[378] and ended programming on its analog signal over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 8 to channel 7.[379] The station was one of four that operated digital signals on the VHF band to be granted a power increase later that month after stations experienced signal problems on VHF that did not occur with the UHF band following the transition.[380] On September 27, 2017, three workers were killed after a crane collapsed off the side of WSVN's television tower. The tower, shared with WPLG, was having to install a new transmitter for WSVN as part of the mandated FCC spectrum repack.[381] Since December 4, 2023, WSVN has hosted ATSC 1.0 broadcasts for WPLG, which transitioned to ATSC 3.0 transmissions; WSVN's primary channel also broadcasts over WPLG's ATSC 3.0 "lighthouse".[382]
As part of Sinclair Broadcast Group's attempted 2017 purchase of WSFL owner Tribune Broadcasting, Sinclair offered to resell WSFL to Fox Television Stations.[383][384] Ansin affirmed WSVN would remain a Fox affiliate through June 2019 and "continue to be the news leader in South Florida" with or without Fox programming;[385] Ansin also stated network executives had yet to meet with him over their plans for WSFL.[386] Fox's purchase of WSFL was nullified after the FCC voted to have an administrative law judge review the Tribune-Sinclair deal, prompting Tribune to terminate it.[387] On September 26, 2019, WSVN announced that it had renewed its Fox affiliation.[388]
Edmund Ansin died on July 26, 2020, at the age of 84; his death was announced on WSVN that evening.[309] Adam Jacobson of Radio & Television Business Report credited Ansin for having overseen what became a "legendary, revolutionary news-driven station".[389] Ansin was also remembered for his philanthropy and strong work ethic, continuing to show up at his office every day right up to his death[309] and frequently dismissing the idea of retirement or selling off his stations.[97] In a January 2020 interview with the Boston Globe, Ansin boasted, "I want to die with my boots on."[390] As was Ansin's wish in 1987,[251] Sunbeam Television was taken over by sons James and Andy Ansin.[391] Ansin's death came one year after Bob Leider's death in June 2019 at age 75; Leider retired in 2014 (briefly returning from 2016 to 2017[392]) and was remembered for his 43-year tenure with the station, his leadership during the 1989 affiliation switch, and extensive volunteer work in the community.[326][393]
Future studios and reuniting the "Isle of Dreams"
Sunbeam announced in 2023 that it would build a new facility for WSVN in Miramar, near Florida's Turnpike on the southeast corner of Red Road and Miramar Parkway. The site is in a business park owned by the company's real estate interests; completion is scheduled for 2026. The 71,000-square-foot (6,600 m2) facility would contain two studios, allowing for commercial and other production to take place in parallel with live newscasts, and be centrally located in the region. It also would sit on elevated land and be designed to operate during a Category 5 hurricane, with backup air conditioning, two generators, and a fuel tank for station vehicles. The construction of the new WSVN facility is contingent on Miramar approving other development in the area to provide sufficient services for the station and other business park tenants. The primary reason for the move is to clear the North Bay Village land on which the station is located for high-density development.[394]
As part of the redevelopment, Sunbeam purchased the other side of the island long used by WIOD radio in 2021 for $29 million.[395][96] In 2002, Ed Ansin and WSVN staff raised concerns about the physical condition of the WIOD towers when rust from the tower directly facing the WSVN studio entrance fell, damaging a car.[396] By 2003, WIOD's then-owner Clear Channel Communications sold their half of the island to "Isle of Dreams LLC", a developer that initially planned to build a 21-story high rise over the parcel then changed the plans in favor of a five-story strip club, both of which Ansin publicly campaigned against.[95][397][398] After the strip club plans fell through in 2012, Sunbeam sued the developer to foreclose on a mortgage; the developer counter-sued in response.[395] The WIOD towers were decommissioned and dismantled on February 8, 2024.[396]
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