WHDH-TV (channel 5) was a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The station ceased operations on March 18, 1972, following the revocation of the station's license. The channel 5 allocation in the market was taken over by WCVB-TV the following morning, March 19, 1972. WCVB operates using a separate license from WHDH-TV; conversely, the original WHDH-TV is also of no relation to the current WHDH (channel 7), which is a news-intensive independent; it served as the Boston market's NBC affiliate from January 2, 1995, through December 31, 2016.
History
The station first signed on the air on November 26, 1957. It was owned by the Boston Herald Traveler Corporation, along with WHDH radio (850 AM, now WEEI; and 94.5 FM, now WJMN). Before the Herald-Traveler signed the station on, the DuMont Television Network applied for the channel 5 construction permit to replace WDTV (now KDKA-TV) in Pittsburgh among its owned-and-operated station group, but DuMont shut down its network before being able to acquire the permit. WHDH-TV was originally an ABC affiliate, but switched to CBS on January 1, 1961. The move was initiated by CBS after its existing Boston station, WNAC-TV (channel 7) was agreed to be sold by RKO General to NBC in a deal which ultimately never materialized.
Initially, WHDH-TV shared studio facilities with WHDH radio located at 6 St. James Avenue in Boston's Back Bay; but this facility was far from ideal for television and in early 1960, the station moved into a newly built studio center at 50 Morrisey Boulevard in the Dorchester section of Boston. Channel 5 was the first television station in New England to originate live (and later taped) local programming in color. In 1959, WHDH-TV debuted a local version of Bozo the Clown with Frank Avruch as Bozo; in 1966, 130 episodes taped by WHDH-TV that year would go into national syndication for television stations that did not want to produce a local Bozo show.
Almost as soon as it signed on, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began investigating allegations of impropriety in the granting of the television license. This touched off a struggle that lasted 15 years. As a result, WHDH-TV never had a license longer than six months at a time (television station licenses at the time lasted for three years). In 1969, a local group, Boston Broadcasters Incorporated (BBI), was granted a construction permit for a new station on channel 5 under the call letters WCVB-TV after promising to air more local programming than any other station in America at the time (even though WHDH often broadcast more local programming, in terms of hours per week, than any other commercial television station in the market). The challenger was also critical of the combination of the Herald-Traveler newspaper and WHDH-AM-FM-TV. Herald-Traveler Corporation fought the decision in court, but lost its battle in 1972; and Boston Broadcasters was awarded a full license.
In the months after the Herald-Traveler lost then channel 5 license, it was under court order to sign off daily at 1:00 a.m. so that WCVB-TV could test its equipment. WHDH-TV declined to sell its studios, transmitter and tower to the new WCVB-TV, which subsequently leased space on the tower belonging to WBZ-TV (channel 4) and remodeled a former International Harvester sales and service facility in Needham to serve as its studios and offices. All of WHDH-TV's talent, however, transferred to WCVB.
Fixed Bayonets! (1951), a late movie, wound up serving as the last telecast from the original Channel 5; the telecast began at 11:30 p.m. on March 18, 1972, and ended at 1:00 a.m. on March 19, 1972. CBS balked at the prospect of massive preemptions in Boston and moved its affiliation to WNAC-TV, leaving the new WCVB-TV to take on the ABC affiliation, which it retains to this day.
The WHDH-TV call letters were subsequently reassigned to channel 7 almost 18 years to the day of their last use, on March 12, 1990, where they remain to this day.
News operation
WHDH's newscasts were known as WHDH-TV News, a title that was used until March 18, 1972, when the station signed off for the last time and was replaced by WCVB.
Among the anchors who worked there were John Day, Jack Hynes, John Henning, and Chet Curtis. The lead sports anchor beginning in 1962 was Don Gillis (prior to that, sports scores were read by the news anchor) while weather reports were done first by Fred B. Cole, then Ray Miller, and finally Bob Copeland.