WHDH-TV sale - 1993

This sequence contains excerpts from local newscasts about the sale of Boston's WHDH-TV/Channel 7 by David Mugar to Edmund Ansin, owner of Miami-based Sunbeam Television and WSVN-TV.

Under Sunbeam's control, Channel 7's newscasts became fast-paced, highly stylized and focussed on sensational subject matter. These changes delivered ratings improvements. Boston's other two big stations, WCVB and WBZ, took notice of this success and gradually shifted their newscasts towards the model set by "7 News."

All rights are acknowledged.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• New
• England
• Television
• Corporation

[gweagraff]

I vividly remember sometime in July of 1993, there was a special that aired called "7 Remembers." I would really love to see clips of it sometime. I believe it aired on 7/28/93 to be exact.

[28traviscampbell]

the best thing he could have done is sold it

[VaultMasterDBT]

All of these newscasts would be from April 22, 1993, when Mugar and Ansin signed the agreement to transfer ownership of WHDH. The FCC took the following two months to review the conditions of the sale, during which a community action group known as Foundation to Improve Television challenged Sunbeam's purchase. They protested the focus on news headlines with a violent and tragic slant. In late June, the FCC approved the sale, and Ansin officially took over in late July.

[newscaster13]

Suppose I ran a television station, which is solid in news content.

Some big conglomerate wants to buy the station, and wants to change the news content. Plus, I knew the owner's history.

I would tell them this...

I know all about your history, and how you are changing your content, and how you are ruining the viewers way of thinking; so no thank you!

[mediadude08]

The "Sold" graphic over R.D.'s shoulder looks to be Sunbeam-Style...

[VaultMasterDBT]

Did you have this video set to private before? It didn't appear on your channel until just yesterday.

Great compliation. Clearly, all local media insiders knew what was ahead for WHDH-TV in terms of the format changes and the possibility for better ratings, both of which occurred pretty fast. Little did they know yet that WHDH 850, which had been sold to Atlantic Ventures the previous year, was going to shut down within the next year, further wiping out the legacy that 7 (even as 'NAC) had.