WJZ-TV Baltimore - Channel 13 switches from ABC to CBS

[Ladyaftermath]

Wow I forgot they switched in the mid 90s...channel 23 used to be ABC because I remember watching Full House on it. What did channel 12 and 21 used to be?

[wonspot1]

Unedcated is not a word. So can you please repost your comment in English...

[tweetylns]

man i dont remember this i didnt kno they was abc at first well probably thats cuz i was born in 1990 im a youngin lol

[diamondhead09]

I REMENMBER THAT WBFF WAS GOGING TO MOVE IN WMAR STUDIOS BUT NEVER HAPPEN

[sickandtiredofmorons]

@diamondhead09 can you please repost that in English and not ebonics you unedcated idiot

[newscaster13]

Westinghouse buying CBS?

Don't you mean CBS buying the Westinghouse stations, including WJZ?

[tyson83782]

Recorded in 1995

[johnissoevil]

On one newscast not long before the switch, Marty had said that Westinghouse was also negotiating to switch all of its TV stations to FOX or NBC, but CBS signed the deal first.

[asnycnow15]

LOL

[uxbnkuribo]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

everyone complains about the screen gems logo, but the spinning CBS is the stuff of horrors

[jhshifris1]

@uxbnkuribo What's wrong with the spinning CBS logo?

[TSquared2001]

I remember this. I was leaving middle school around this time.

[Pedro4life09]

I think it will happen again one day especally with all these ownerships going around. There is a rumor saying that the TV Stations down in D.C. may sawp affiliates.

[donjabroni]

I hope not!

[HillValley85]

Man, was this confusing. I hope they don't switch stations again.

[kenman923]

I predict that the next affiliation switch will be Fox on 2, ABC on 11, NBC on 24, and MyNetwork on 45.

[Pedro4life09]

I cannot imagine Fox being with WMAR-TV 2.

[j0ckfeet]

WMAR 2 considered FOX when losing CBS, but decided against it & they were totally shocked that WBAL 11 had stolen away CBS from them! That kinda deal rarely happened back then. At the time CBS said it was due to WMAR aIring so many Orioles games, which is funny since WJZ, CBS owned, now airs Orioles games. Ironic, huh? As far as any future switches, unlikely. CBS owns WJZ, FOX owns WUTB 24, but FOX has a deal with Sinclair/45/54 because Sinclair owns so many FOX stations. 11 or 2? Possible.

[Pedro4life09]

I just can't imagine fox going to WMAR-TV 2 or wbff tv 45 getting NBC or abc being on WBAL -TV 11.

[ElJefeNLA]

I hated this switch I remember when Channel 2 was CBS Channel 13 was ABC and Channel 11 was NBC then Channel 2 and 11 switched, then in 1995 they messed everything up and on top of that, they had ABC soaps airing a day behind!

[johnissoevil]

Blame ABC for abandoning WJZ after so many years. Group W only did this as a safeguard from another abandonment.

[donjabroni]

Blame Westinghouse, WJZs owners. Westinghouse bought CBS and WJZ had no choice but to change.

[johnissoevil]

Actually, Westinghouse didn't buy CBS until a year after the affiliation switches. CBS did gain minority ownership in the stations upon the deal.  But Scripps' deal with ABC to switch WMAR to ABC and strip WBZ of the affiliation is what triggered the whole thing.

[altfactor]

@johnissoevil I had heard (I'm from Boston) that Group W came close to selling-off WBZ Boston to NBC, but talks broke down because NBC was more interested in getting an O&O in Philadelphia, where the combined Group W/CBS had to ell either KYW or WCAU, than buying it's longtime Boston affiliate.

[bulldagga]

I have always, always hated Marty Ass. You should have seen his wig. It looked like it hovered over his head. A perfect 70s part-down the middle. Don Scott - MR. Personality! Before this gig, he was a reporter, no facial hair, absolutely zero personality and zero sense of humor. I remember way back in the day when Denise Koch was a reporter. She was covering Divine's concert at Cignal's. Some guy told her she had a nice drag. He thought she was a man, Now, she's Queen of WJZ , bigtime 'tude.

[aresef]

"Lemme get this log out of my pocket."

[TaziqBeorBorn]

I still get this shit mixed up! I still go to Channel 11 for CBS and Channel 2 for NBC. How many years has it been? I need to get my shit together.

[Pedro4life09]

I say they switch abc back to 13, nbc back to 2, and cbs back to 11

[kenman923]

That's going to be an impossibility, as CBS owns 13. The reason the whole switch took place was that Channel 2's owner, E.W. Scripps, made a deal with ABC to affiliate its stations with ABC to keep the existing affiliations in Detroit in Cleveland. Because CBS was losing their affiliations in those markets to Fox, they tried to get these stations to come from ABC to CBS.

[Hanssen69]

Where was I when this happened?  I live in Glen Burnie, Maryland. A town south of Baltimore.

[WayneAlexanderM]

Great Network Switch of 1995.

WMAR 2 was NBC before it became ABC

WBAL 11 was CBS before it became NBC

. . . And at once WJZ was ABC

[johnissoevil]

Hmm. More than sister stations KYW 3 Philly and WBZ 4 Boston did for their CBS switches.

[DJRakow]

WBZ-TV Boston switch to CBS the same day WJZ-TV Baltimore did on January 2nd 1995.

CBS Ownership moved to KYW-TV Philadelphia on September 10th also in 1995.Philly was delayed due to the other CBS Ownership sale of WCAU-TV which is now Owned by NBC.

[johnissoevil]

Yep. When the Philly and Boston switches took place, KYW and WBZ didn't do much of anything, just put up their IDs and said "KYW-TV/WBZ-TV is now your CBS station."

[ForceEight]

uh, WHY? nbc would never want the newscasting failure that is WMAR, and WUTB already tried to get Fox from WBFF a few years ago, unsuccessfully.

[faysal21adigun]

I think we could use another switch,if it's OK with other viewers.WJZ keeps CBS,but WBAL & WMAR switch stations.Plus i would like to see WUTB & WBFF switch stations too.

[TIMMF65]

channel 11 does what its title says NEWS marty ass should have been taking off baltimore tv when he was caught trying to pick up an undercover cop by patterson park back in the 80's thats when he took on the bald look, many forget about the toupee

[ForceFieldEnt]

Marty Ass. Classic. Vic & Denise destroy all of the other evening anchors.

[diamondhead09]

@TIMMF65 channel 13

[benravensfan02]

@TIMMF65 Matt. 7:1-Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

John 8:7-Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

[kirkstate]

this is horrible tv, its like everyone that works there i feel sorry for. They all fresh new faces and ideas...Especially denise koch, she looks a mess !

[bdlyles]

gosh... their talent speaks for itself doesn't it. "Rise and Shine?" Should be "Rise, Shine and Change the Channel" away from the babbling idiots. I've always wondered about the sanity of my fellow Baltimoreans, since this has been "THE" local morning news team for years... Where's the news? It's taking them minutes to even get around to explaining their own network change, for God's sake.

[burns1210]

There's something better on at 5:30am?

[Nadav34]

yeah, you could look at color bars from channels still signing off during 1am.

[yomamadontdanz]

marty bass ..alwayas looking to get inside your "HEAD"

[jkress613]

marty bass is the best, happy 30 years marty, today.

[springloadedchicken]

oh man i remember this cast.. oh man.. those guys were great.. i miss al sanders also and jerry turner... oh the old school...

[sidewalkpilot]

this channel sucks

the weather girl with the bad hair sucks too (the new one)

[FaysalAA21]

You think Bernadette Woods sucks?

I think the same for for their traffic control woman Sharon Gibala.She looks drunk.

[Charmer06]

Anybody notice that Marty Bass isnt funny?

[WhatsAYak]

I think Baltimore was the hardest hit market, since it involved all of their Big 3 affiliates (unlike such markets as Philly and Boston, where only 2 of the 3 affiliates were switched). And as a result, WMAR is now one of a handful of stations to have been, at one time or another, individually affiliated w/all of the Big 3.

[wxtulsa]

Denver had a change of all 3 too.

[TIMMF65]

WJZ didnt change to all three that was WMAR channel 2

[Squirrel3D]

LOL, I remember this. It took me a while to adjust to the change too. Good to see others posting here from baltimore!

[jimbeartn]

Wooof to the guy with a beard!

[TJL31SJ]

I think it may have had to do with Westinghouse's purchase of CBS.

[videonut33]

IT IS.

[wxtulsa]

I think it actually started with Scripps' deal with ABC to switch 2 to ABC, Westinghouse didn't purchase CBS until after the affilate switch, from what I remember.

[WhatsAYak]

You are correct on both counts...as for the 1981 switch between 2 and 11, that was b/c CBS was getting tired of WMAR's constant pre-emptions, including frequently bumping their primetime lineup for coverage of Orioles games.

[EmperorKinetic]

When I first found out that day... I was confused... I was like... "What The fuck is going on?"

[innsaane]

January 1, 1995....dont' ask my WHY I remember such a trivial thing.

[torgman]

it was just a confusing as it was 15 years earlier when WBAL(11) and WMAR(2) switched affliates. I gew up with 2=CBS, 11=NBC, 13=ABC, then it became 2=NBC, 11=CBS, 13=ABC IN 1981, then 2=ABC, 11=NBC, 13=CBS IN 1995.

[678BUMPERLOVER]

till this day i still don't know why they did that shit with switching the networks i hated the whole fucking thing i was so mad when it happend