Facing the threat of losing its NBC affiliation, WHDH-TV Boston has now decided to carry the primetime Jay Leno show launching in September. The station had previously announced plans to carry a 10:00 pm local newscast instead of Leno.
“Upon further consideration, we have decided to telecast Jay Leno at 10 pm starting in September,” said Ed Ansin, owner of Sunbeam Television Corporation, the WHDH licensee, in a brief statement reported by both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald. “Jay is from Andover where I went to school. I enjoy his humor. We hope the new show is a big success,” he continued.
WHDH itself appeared to have no mention of the change of heart on its website. The station’s announcement of the new 10:00 newscast had been removed shortly after its April 3rd release brought the threat from NBC that refusing to air five hours per week of the network’s primetime programming would violate the affiliation agreement and NBC could pull all of its programming from the station.
Boston is the largest market where NBC does not have an O&O station.
