Editing WBAL-TV (section)

==History==
===Early history===
WBAL-TV began operations on March 11, 1948, from its original studios on [[Charles Street (Baltimore)|North Charles Street]] in [[Downtown Baltimore]]. It is the second television station in Maryland, after [[WMAR-TV]] (channel 2).<ref name="Decades11">{{cite web|url=https://www.wbaltv.com/article/wbal-tv-11-decades-of-firsts-in-broadcasting-excellence/7064608|title=WBAL-TV 11: Decades of Firsts in Broadcasting Excellence|work=WBAL-TV 11|date=March 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=WBAL-TV; NBC Baltimore outlet begins operations. |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/48-OCR/1948-03-15-BC-OCR-Page-0097.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting - Telecasting |page=97 |date=March 15, 1948}}</ref> The station's parent, the [[Hearst Corporation]], also owned WBAL radio and two local newspapers, the afternoon daily ''Baltimore News-Post'' and ''The Baltimore American'' on Sundays–which later merged as the ''[[Baltimore News-American|News American]]'' in 1965 before shutting down in 1986.

WBAL-TV is one of two Hearst-owned broadcast properties to have been built and signed on by the company (the other being [[WTAE-TV]] in [[Pittsburgh]]), and the oldest to be continuously owned by Hearst through its various television subsidiaries through the years. At its launch, WBAL-TV was an NBC affiliate, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with the [[NBC Radio Network|NBC's radio networks]].

Early programming on channel 11 included ''Musical Almanac'', ''Look and Cook'' and ''Know Baltimore'', along with news and sports productions. In the 1950s, the station introduced ''[[Romper Room]]'', a children's program produced locally by [[Claster Television, Inc.|Bert and Nancy Claster]] that eventually became a nationally [[franchised]] and [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] program. Another long-running show of the 1950s was the weekday ''Quiz Club'', co-hosted by local personalities Brent Gunts and Jay Grayson.<ref name=JKelly>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Jacques|title='Quiz Club' had an impact|date=June 24, 2000|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|page=2E}}</ref> ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' local history columnist Jacques Kelly described it at the time of Grayson's death in June 2000, as "pure 1950s live television ... executed on a low budget ... the genial hosts ... ruled the 1 p.m. airwaves".<ref name=JKelly />

WBAL-TV produced several local [[bowling]] shows in the 1960s and early 1970s, including ''Strikes and Spares'', ''Pinbusters'', ''[[Duckpins and Dollars]]'', ''[[Bowling for Dollars]]'' and ''Spare Time''. The station even went as far as building and installing several [[duckpin bowling|"duckpin"]] bowling alleys at its studios. It also launched several children's entertainment shows during this period, such as ''Rhea and Sunshine'', ''Pete the Pirate'', ''P. W. Doodle'', ''Heads Up'', and the teen-oriented [[rock and roll music]] and the mid-1960s teen dancing on the ''Kerby Scott Show'' which introduced its "mod" fashions and "[[hippie]]" culture style of rock music to the area.

WBAL-TV has boasted many television firsts, including becoming the first Baltimore television station to broadcast in [[color television|color]], the first station in Maryland (and the eighth in the world) to acquire a videocassette machine (of the [[U-Matic]] format); the first station in Baltimore to acquire a mobile satellite news-gathering system (dubbed "NEWSTAR 11") and the first Baltimore station to hire an [[African-American]] news anchor and a Black news director.<ref name="WBALweb">{{cite web|title=Station History|publisher=WBAL-TV|url=http://www.wbaltv.com/station/574501/detail.html|access-date=October 9, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313233056/http://www.wbaltv.com/station/574501/detail.html|archive-date=March 13, 2007}}</ref>

In the late 1970s, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] steadily rose in the ratings to become the number one network in prime time. Accordingly, the network began to seek upgrades to its slate of affiliates, which included some stations that either had poor signals or poorly performing local programming. WBAL-TV was invited to switch to ABC in 1977, but opted to remain with NBC out of concerns about the poor ratings for ABC's then-recently revamped [[ABC World News Tonight#Reasoner, Smith, and Walters|evening newscasts]] (a situation that would be improved in the coming years).<ref>{{cite web|title=In brief. |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/77-OCR/BC-1977-03-21-OCR-Page-0030.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting|page=30 |date=March 21, 1977}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=In brief. |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/77-OCR/BC-1977-03-28-OCR-Page-0034.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting|page=34 |date=March 28, 1977}}</ref>

===Switch to CBS===
[[File:Wbaltv.jpg|thumb|left|215px|The WBAL-TV modernistic glass walled studio and offices facility with huge call sign letters on the roof, visible from passing on the [[Jones Falls Expressway]] ([[Interstate 83]]), on "Television Hill" near [[Woodberry, Baltimore|Woodberry]] in north-central Baltimore, opened in 1962.]]
On March 3, 1981, [[CBS]] announced that it would be ending its 33-year affiliation with WMAR-TV, then owned by the A. S. Abell Company (then-publishers of the ''[[Baltimore Sun]]''), and moving its programming to WBAL-TV. Among its reasons for making the switch, CBS cited channel 11's strength in local news ratings and overall non-network programming as opposed to WMAR-TV, which heavily preempted the network in favor of syndicated programs, local [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]] and sports coverage; CBS also cited low ratings for WMAR's newscasts.<ref>Carter, Bill. "CBS switching affiliation here from WMAR to WBAL." ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'', March 4, 1981, pp. 1, 6. Accessed April 15, 2019. [https://www.newspapers.com/image/377417961][https://www.newspapers.com/image/377418054]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CBS switches affiliation to WBAL-TV in Baltimore. |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/81-OCR/1981-03-09-BC-OCR-Page-0152.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting|page=152 |date=March 9, 1981}}</ref> WBAL-TV's first stint as an NBC affiliate ended on August 30, 1981, when the two station exchanged networks–the first affiliation swap to occur in Baltimore. The last NBC program to air on channel 11 until 1995 was a rerun from the evening before the switch of the first episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', with host [[George Carlin]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Today's Television |work=[[Baltimore Sun]] |page=B2 |date=August 29, 1981 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Television Programs |work=[[Baltimore Sun|The Evening Sun]] |page=4 |date=August 29, 1981 }}</ref>

===Return to NBC===
On June 16, 1994, the [[E. W. Scripps Company]], present owners of WMAR-TV, negotiated with ABC to affiliate with its Baltimore station as part of a multi-station deal also involving [[KNXV-TV]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] and [[WFTS-TV]] in [[Tampa]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Zurawik|first=David|title=ABC-TV to Switch from WJZ to WMAR|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1994/06/17/abc-tv-to-switch-from-wjz-to-wmar/|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=June 17, 1994|access-date=September 4, 2018}}</ref> ABC agreed to the deal as a condition of retaining its affiliations with [[WXYZ-TV]] in [[Detroit]] and [[WEWS-TV]] in [[Cleveland]]; CBS was seeking to affiliate with both of those stations, as it was about to lose current affiliates [[WJBK]] and [[WJW (TV)|WJW]] to [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in a [[Fox affiliate switches of 1994|separate affiliation deal]] with [[New World Communications]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Foisie|first=Geoffrey|title=ABC pre-empts CBS in Cleveland, Detroit.|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1994/BC-1994-06-20.pdf|work=Broadcasting and Cable|date=June 20, 1994|access-date=March 18, 2013}}</ref> The move left NBC without a Baltimore affiliate and incumbent ABC affiliate [[WJZ-TV]] (channel 13) without a network;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-06-18-1994169062-story.html |title = Three suitors line up to call on jilted WJZ-TV – Baltimore Sun| date=June 18, 1994 }}</ref> one month later, CBS and [[Westinghouse Broadcasting]] (Group W) formed a partnership which renewed the network's affiliations with Westinghouse-owned [[KDKA-TV]] in Pittsburgh and [[KPIX-TV]] in San Francisco and caused WJZ-TV and two other Westinghouse-owned NBC affiliates, [[WBZ-TV]] in [[Boston]] and [[KYW-TV]] in [[Philadelphia]], to switch their affiliations to CBS (Westinghouse would eventually acquire CBS in November 1995).<ref name="tbs-switchdelay">{{cite news|last=Zurawik|first=David|title=Delaying Switches Until January Annoys WMAR, WBAL|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-08-05/features/1994217014_1_wjz-cbs-switch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309025413/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-08-05/features/1994217014_1_wjz-cbs-switch|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 9, 2012|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=August 5, 1994|access-date=September 4, 2018}}</ref>

Having lost the CBS affiliation to WJZ-TV, WBAL-TV had the choice of affiliating with either NBC or [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-15-1994196137-story.html |title = WJZ to join CBS in 3-station deal – Baltimore Sun| date=July 15, 1994 }}</ref> On July 27, 1994, NBC announced that it would move to WBAL-TV, with station management citing NBC's sports programming as a factor; Fox would remain on its existing affiliate, [[WBFF]] (channel 45).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-28-1994209115-story.html |title = WBAL will switch to NBC by year's end – Baltimore Sun| date=July 28, 1994 }}</ref> Channel 11 rejoined NBC on January 2, 1995;<ref>{{cite news|last=Zurawik|first=David|title=Get ready, get set, get confused, in TV's big switch in Baltimore Changing Channels|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/01/01/get-ready-get-set-get-confused-in-tvs-big-switch-in-baltimore-changing-channels/|access-date=June 29, 2012|newspaper=Baltimore Sun|date=January 1, 1995}}</ref> it had sought to make the switch on August 29, 1994, in time for the new television season, but Group W and CBS agreed to not make the switch until January.<ref name="tbs-switchdelay"/> In the interim, any CBS shows WBAL turned down would air on WJZ-TV instead, while WBAL aired NBC programs preempted by WMAR-TV.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-12-26-1994360002-story.html |title=Local affiliates broadcast anxiety as switch looms – Baltimore Sun|date=December 26, 1994 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Zurawik|first=David|title=Bumped CBS shows to be aired on WJZ two months late|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-xpm-1994-10-28-1994301153-story.html|newspaper=Baltimore Sun|date=October 28, 1994}}</ref> The final CBS program to air on channel 11 before it rejoined NBC was the [[made-for-TV movie]] ''A Father for Charlie'' at 9&nbsp;p.m. Eastern Time; this was directly followed by an hour-long program explaining the switch, which preempted an airing of the ''[[Chicago Hope]]'' episode "Heartbreak" (which could still be viewed in much of the market via WUSA).<ref>{{cite news |title=Sunday Prime Time |work=[[Baltimore Sun]] Statewide TV |page=8 |date=January 1, 1995 }}</ref>