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The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the
broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
division of
Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...
. It owned several
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
and
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication. Westinghouse Broadcasting was formed in the 1920s as Westinghouse Radio Stations, Inc. After expanding into television, it was renamed Westinghouse Broadcasting Company in 1954, and adopted the ''Group W'' moniker on May 20, 1963. It was a self-contained entity within the Westinghouse corporate structure; while the parent company was headquartered in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, Westinghouse Broadcasting maintained headquarters in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. It kept national sales offices in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. Group W stations are best known for using a distinctive corporate
typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...
, introduced in 1963, for their logos and on-air imaging. Similarly styled typefaces had been used on some non-Group W stations as well and several former Group W stations still use it today. The Group W corporate typeface has been digitized and released freely by John Sizemore;
Ray Larabie Raymond Larabie (born 1970) is a Canadian designer of TrueType and OpenType computer fonts. He owns ''Typodermic Fonts'' type foundry, which distributes both commercially licensed and shareware/freeware fonts. Biography and career Larabie wa ...
's font "Anklepants borrows heavily from the typeface and is occasionally used as a substitute. The font is also used in the video game ''Damnation''. Westinghouse Broadcasting was also well known for two long-running television programs, the ''
Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went in ...
'' and ''
PM Magazine ''PM/Evening Magazine'' is a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States. In most areas, ''Evening/PM Magazine'' was broadcast from the late 1970s into the late 1980s. Orig ...
'' (called ''
Evening Magazine ''Evening Magazine'' is the name of various news and entertainment-style local television shows in different markets in the United States. Concept On August 9, 1976, Westinghouse (Group W) Broadcasting-owned KPIX in San Francisco debuted a lo ...
'' in Group W's core broadcast markets).


History


Radio origins

The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company entered broadcasting with the November 2, 1920, sign-on of KDKA radio in Pittsburgh. The oldest surviving licensed commercial radio station in the United States, KDKA was an outgrowth of experimental station 8XK, a 75-watt station that was located in the Pittsburgh suburb of
Wilkinsburg Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough has a population of 14,349 as of the 2020 census. Wilkinsburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough was named for John Wilkins Jr., a Unit ...
, and founded in 1916 by Westinghouse assistant chief engineer
Frank Conrad Frank Conrad (May 4, 1874 – December 10, 1941) was an American electrical engineer, best known for radio development, including his work as a pioneer broadcaster. He worked for the Westinghouse Electric (1886), Westinghouse Electrical and Manuf ...
. Westinghouse launched three more radio stations between 1920 and 1921: WJZ, originally licensed to
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
; WBZ, first located in
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
; and KYW, originally based in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. WBZA in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, a station which shared WBZ's frequency and simulcasted WBZ's programming, signed on in November 1924. Westinghouse was one of the founding owners of the
Radio Corporation of America RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
(RCA) in 1919, and in 1926 RCA established the
National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
(NBC), a group of 24 radio stations that made up the first radio network in the United States. Westinghouse initially owned a 20 percent stake in NBC, and as a result, all of Westinghouse's stations became affiliates of NBC's
Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the ...
when it was launched on January 1, 1927. Most of the Blue Network's programming originated at WJZ, which in 1923 had its license moved to New York City, and its ownership transferred to RCA. In 1931, Westinghouse switched the call letters of its two Massachusetts stations, with WBZA moving to Springfield and WBZ going to Boston. The two stations had suffered from interference problems, though the Boston facility was the more powerful of the two. In 1934, KYW was moved from Chicago to
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
following a
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
-dictated frequency realignment. Westinghouse's next station was its first purchase:
WOWO WOWO (1190 AM) – branded News/Talk WOWO 92.3 FM 1190 AM – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving primarily the Fort Wayne metropolitan area. Currently owned by Federated Media via licensee Pathfinder ...
in
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...
, joined the group in August 1936. The
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...
of 1941 saw all of Westinghouse's original stations move to their current frequencies. With WOWO's power increase to 50,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s later that year, the Westinghouse stations were now also
clear-channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...
s. A decade later, the FCC forbade common ownership of two or more clear channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage, though the commission allowed Westinghouse to keep WBZ, KYW, KDKA, and WOWO together under a grandfather clause. Among them, the four stations' nighttime signals blanketed almost all of the eastern half of
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. Despite the assignments which resulted from NARBA, WBZA became a 1,000-watt daytime-only operation as it continued to share a frequency with WBZ. The Westinghouse group survived the government-dictated split of NBC's radio division in 1943. WBZ/WBZA, KDKA, and KYW became affiliates of NBC's
Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
while WOWO, which had a secondary affiliation with the Blue Network, fell back on its primary relationship with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. Westinghouse expanded to the West Coast in 1944 with its purchase of 5,000-watt KEX in
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, a station which also shared a frequency with WOWO. Westinghouse would increase KEX's power to 50,000 watts in 1948. Later in the 1940s, Westinghouse moved on to develop FM and television stations as the FCC began to issue permits for those services. Westinghouse built FM sister stations for WBZ/WBZA, KDKA, KYW, KEX, and WOWO, all of which were on the air by the end of the decade. FM radio was, initially, an unsuccessful venture for Westinghouse, and the company would silence most of its FM stations during the 1950s. Of the early Westinghouse FMs, only the original KDKA-FM (now
WLTJ WLTJ (92.9 FM broadcasting, FM, "Q92.9") is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Frischling family through licensee WPNT Media Subsidiary, LLC, and broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format. The sta ...
) and the second WBZ-FM facility (now
WMJX WMJX (106.7 FM) – branded Magic 106.7 – is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. The WMJX studios are ...
) proved to be worth keeping, and Westinghouse sold those outlets in the early 1980s. Moving back to AM radio, Westinghouse returned to Chicago with its 1956 purchase of
WIND Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...
. In 1962, Westinghouse re-entered the New York market when it bought WINS, then a local Top-40 powerhouse, from J. Elroy McCaw. Having reached the FCC's then-limit of seven AM stations, Westinghouse sold KEX to actor and singer
Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...
, and later decided to shut down WBZA and return its license to the FCC. In 1966, Westinghouse agreed to buy another top-rated music station,
KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications, and airs a classic regional Mexican music radio format. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. On April 19, 1965, WINS dropped music and instituted a 24-hour, all-news format. KYW went all-news six months later on September 12, three months after Westinghouse regained control of the station (see ''The 1956 Trade with NBC'', below). KFWB would adopt the format on March 11, 1968. The three stations all prospered with their new formats, usually ranking among the five highest-rated stations in their markets. During the 1970s and 1980s, WIND also tinkered with a part-time news format, though it had little success against the dominant all-news station in Chicago, CBS-owned WBBM. In the 1970s, Westinghouse Radio also developed a prodigious reputation for its innovation in analytical techniques and tools for radio sales and buying. Using sophisticated mathematical modeling, the group promoted its "New Math Calculator" which became extremely popular in ad agencies for planning radio campaigns. This was no simple look-up table; it introduced innovative measures such as "reach index" and "gross cume" to operationalize its core models. Westinghouse later introduced an even more comprehensive tool, stylized as the "Numa Radio Planner". In the days before desktop computers, these "slide rules" were state-of-the-art in audience planning research. Over the next quarter-century, Westinghouse would purchase several other radio stations, including KFBK in
Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
;
WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary-Radio format, formatted radio station, City of license, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy faci ...
in New York,
KTWV KTWV (94.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a rhythmic adult contemporary radio format. KTWV has studios ...
in Los Angeles, and
WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...
in Philadelphia. WOWO was sold to other interests in 1982 and WIND was spun off in 1985, two years before Group W bought WMAQ from NBC after that network announced it was closing its radio division.


Expansion into television

Westinghouse entered television on June 9, 1948, with the sign-on of
WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...
in Boston; it is the only television station to have been built by the company. Westinghouse's first station purchase was with WPTZ (now
KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3), branded as CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPSG (channel 57 ...
) in Philadelphia, in 1953.
KPIX KPIX-TV (channel 5), branded on-air as CBS Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the CBS network outlet for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS ...
in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
was bought in 1954; WDTV (now
KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPKD-TV (channel 19), a ...
) in Pittsburgh was added in 1955; and WAAM (now
WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Woodberry, B ...
) in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
was purchased in 1957. Westinghouse's only other outright television station purchase was in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
, where it purchased WRET-TV from
Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...
in early 1980, and changed its call letters to WPCQ-TV. Turner used the proceeds from the sale of the Charlotte station to help him launch
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
. In 1961, the company expanded into television production by launching television and radio distributor WBC Productions. In 1980, the company bought out a majority share of Home Theater Network from
Diversified Communications Diversified Communications (doing business as Diversified) is a multimedia company, headquartered in Portland, Maine. The company provides market access, education and information through global, national and regional face-to-face events, digital ...
. The company also purchased cable TV system operator
TelePrompTer A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually bel ...
in 1981, which it renamed Group W Cable the following year. Also that year, the company formed Group W Satellite Communications to maintain operations of its satellite business through its TelePrompTer acquisition, as well as that of Home Theater Network. The TelePrompTer acquisition also brought animation producer
Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...
into the Group W fold. However, Westinghouse would leave the cable TV system business in 1986, and would later sell the Filmation library to
L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris
in 1989. During that period, Group W was known in full as Westinghouse Broadcasting and Cable, Inc.


The 1956 trade with NBC

In June 1955, Westinghouse announced that it would sell its Philadelphia stations, KYW radio and WPTZ, to NBC. In exchange Westinghouse received NBC's
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
stations, WTAM radio and WNBK television, along with $3 million in compensation. The deal was approved in January 1956; one month later Westinghouse moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland and NBC renamed the Philadelphia stations WRCV (AM) and WRCV-TV. Both companies also transferred much of their respective management and some on-air personnel to their new cities. Most notably, both ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...
'' and the ''
Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action videos, instead of the older ,"man-on-camera" style of newscast, and is most prominently featured in the New York City metropolitan area. Hi ...
'' format originated on KYW-TV during its tenure in Cleveland. However, the ink had barely dried on FCC approval of the trade when the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
opened an investigation into the deal, on claims that NBC had employed
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
and
coercion Coercion involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner through the use of threats, including threats to use force against that party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to i ...
. The Justice Department believed that NBC abused its power as a broadcast network by threatening to withhold or cancel affiliations with Westinghouse-owned stations unless the latter company agreed to the network's terms and participate in the trade. Specifically, it was determined that NBC threatened to drop its programming from both WPTZ and Boston's WBZ-TV; to withhold a primary affiliation from newly acquired KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh (that station would sign with CBS as a primary affiliate); and to withhold or pull an NBC affiliation from any other major-market station Westinghouse would purchase in the future. Based on these findings, a civil
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
suit was filed against NBC and its parent company RCA, on behalf of Westinghouse in December 1956. During this ordeal NBC attempted to circumvent the investigation by trading the Philadelphia stations in return for
RKO General RKO General Inc. (previously General Teleradio Inc. and RKO Teleradio Pictures Inc.) was an American broadcasting company that, from 1952 through 1991, served as the main holding company for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber C ...
's radio and television properties in Boston, which would have resulted in WBZ-TV losing its NBC affiliation to rival station
WNAC-TV WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing ...
; the proposed NBC-RKO station swap never materialized. In August 1964, after a nearly eight-year-long investigation, the FCC ordered a reversal of the swap. NBC appealed the ruling, extending the ordeal by another year, but the ruling was upheld on appeal. Westinghouse was also allowed to keep the cash compensation from the original deal. When Westinghouse regained control of the Philadelphia stations on June 19, 1965, it restored the KYW calls to the radio station and renamed the television station
KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3), branded as CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPSG (channel 57 ...
. And in a reversal of nine years prior, both NBC and Westinghouse relocated various personnel between both cities.


Later years in television

Throughout its history as an operator of television stations, Westinghouse Broadcasting had relationships with all three major networks. KYW-TV (in both Cleveland and Philadelphia), WBZ-TV, and WPCQ-TV were NBC affiliates, KPIX and KDKA-TV were aligned with CBS, and WJZ-TV was an
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
station. All of Group W's stations were located within the top 40 television markets. Westinghouse's television stations were all known for their very deep connection to their home markets. They often pre-empted network programming in favor of local programs, and all of them carried programming produced by Group W, which was a major force in
television syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
(see ''Syndication programs'', below). However, for the most part the networks did not seem to mind. Most of them were among their networks' strongest performers. KDKA-TV and WJZ-TV dominated their markets, while WBZ-TV and KPIX were solid runners-up. The only exceptions were KYW-TV and WPCQ. KYW-TV had been one of Westinghouse's (and NBC's) crown jewels for many years, but faltered in the late 1970s and eventually became NBC's weakest major-market affiliate by the mid-1980s. Westinghouse found no success in the Charlotte market, as WPCQ-by far the smallest station ever owned by the company-remained an also-ran during its Group W years. Despite the record purchase price, Group W ran the station on a shoestring budget. Under Group W, WPCQ had a marginal signal, a minimal local news presence and a program schedule more typical of an independent station, with a large number of cartoons and second-hand syndicated programming. WPCQ was also a UHF network affiliate competing against two long-established network stations on VHF. It also had to deal with three longer-established NBC affiliates, on VHF channels from nearby cities, that were also available over-the-air in large parts of the Charlotte market. Westinghouse was able to escape Charlotte when it sold WPCQ (now
WCNC-TV WCNC-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WCNC-TV's studios are located in the Wood Ridge Center office complex off Billy Graham Parkway (Ch ...
) to Odyssey Television Partners (later to become
Renaissance Broadcasting Renaissance Broadcasting, founded in 1982 by Michael Finkelstein, was a company that owned several UHF television stations, it was sold to Tribune Broadcasting in 1997. The company was headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. History Renaissa ...
) in 1985. The subpar performance of KYW-TV and WPCQ was particularly embarrassing for NBC, as it came during a very prosperous period for the network as a whole. Aside from WPCQ, Group W almost expanded into the country's top two markets; it emerged as a leading bidder for RKO General's independent stations WOR-TV (currently
WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...
) in
Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a Town (New Jersey), town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 United St ...
(serving New York City), and came to a deal to buy KHJ-TV (currently
KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). The two stations share studios at the ...
) in Los Angeles. However, protracted legal issues that had dogged RKO General for years delayed the transfer of KHJ-TV, and Westinghouse ultimately withdrew its offer. They were also outbid for WOR-TV by a consortium of
Cox Enterprises Cox Enterprises, Inc. is an American private company, privately held global conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employees and $21 billion in total revenue. Its major ope ...
and
MCA/Universal Universal Studios, Inc. (formerly known as MCA Inc., also known simply as Universal) is an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate and holding company which owns Universal Pictures and other media and entertainment assets. It is the ...
(though the former company dropped out over questions of who would be running the station). In 1987, Westinghouse attempted a bid for the station group handled by investment firm
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...
, with six stations formerly held by
Storer Broadcasting Storer Communications, known from 1927 to 1952 as the Fort Industry Company and from 1952 to 1983 as Storer Broadcasting, was an American media company that owned television and radio stations and cable television systems. Founded by George Butle ...
, but the deal ultimately fell through.


Merger with CBS

Within a year-long span during 1994–95, a series of surprising events occurred which not only changed the look of the television industry but also ended Westinghouse's uniqueness among television station operators. In 1994, the
Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an Television in the United States, American commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television broadcaster, television network serving as the flagship proper ...
agreed to a multi-year, multi-station affiliation deal with
New World Communications New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment, New World Communications Group, Inc., and New World International) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia comp ...
, resulting in most of New World's stations switching to Fox. Among these stations were longtime CBS affiliates
WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities ...
in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and
WJW-TV WJW (channel 8) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside independent station, independent WBNX-TV (channel 55). The two s ...
in Cleveland. To avoid being consigned to the UHF band in two major markets, CBS heavily courted ABC affiliates
WXYZ-TV WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside independent station WMYD (channel 20). The two stations shar ...
in Detroit and
WEWS-TV WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of three stations that have been built and signed on ...
in Cleveland. Both stations were owned by the
E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...
, who used this leverage to strike a similar multi-station affiliation deal of its own with ABC. Unwilling to risk losing two of its strongest and longest-standing affiliates, ABC and Scripps agreed to a 10-year affiliation contract with WEWS, WXYZ and three
other Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), ...
stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...
. One of these additional stations was Baltimore's then-NBC affiliate,
WMAR-TV WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( Maryland Route 45) in Towson north o ...
, which would displace that city's longtime ABC affiliate, Group W-owned WJZ-TV. ABC was initially skeptical of including WMAR in the deal; WJZ-TV had been one of ABC's strongest affiliates, and had been the dominant station in Baltimore for a quarter-century. In contrast, WMAR had been a ratings also-ran for over 30 years. However, Scripps demanded that WMAR be included if the deal was to go through. Well aware that there were few viable choices for replacement affiliates in Detroit or Cleveland, ABC gave in. The loss of WJZ-TV's ABC affiliation did not sit well with Westinghouse. At the time, WJZ-TV had been affiliated with ABC for 46 years, longer than any station that wasn't owned by the network. Westinghouse sought an affiliation deal of its own, and after several months of negotiations with the other networks, Westinghouse agreed to affiliate its entire television unit with CBS. Under the terms of the deal, all five Group W stations would carry the entire CBS schedule with no pre-emptions except for local news emergencies (as noted above, prior to this, Group W stations were known for pre-empting selected programming of their affiliated networks with Group W-mandated content). The deal resulted in a three-way transaction between Group W, CBS, and NBC, which unfolded between the summer of 1994 and the summer of 1995. The terms were as follows: * In September 1994, KPIX and KDKA-TV ended their long-standing policies of pre-empting some CBS shows, and began carrying the entire CBS schedule with no pre-emptions. (KPIX however at the time aired CBS prime time programming an hour earlier than normal, a practice that continued until 1998.) * On January 2, 1995, WJZ-TV and WBZ-TV switched from ABC and NBC, respectively, to CBS, while
WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole ra ...
and
WHDH-TV WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (n ...
affiliated with NBC; WMAR-TV took on WJZ-TV's ABC affiliation. * On September 10, 1995, at 1:00 a.m. EDT, KYW-TV switched from NBC to CBS. CBS traded its previous Philadelphia station,
WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed Tel ...
, to NBC in return for
KCNC-TV KCNC-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Colorado, is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios on Linc ...
in
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
and
KUTV KUTV (channel 2) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside independent station KJZZ-TV (channel 14) and St. George, Utah, St. George–licensed MyNetwor ...
in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, while
KUSA Kusa or KUSA may refer to: * Kusa, Russia, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia * Kusa, Latvia, a village in Madona district, Latvia * Kusa, Oklahoma, United States * Kusa, indigenous name of Beles River (in Gumuz language) * KUSA (TV), a televisi ...
and
KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...
affiliated with NBC and
KMGH-TV KMGH-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sterling-licensed independent station KCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-based translator ...
affiliated with ABC. CBS then traded controlling interest in KCNC and KUTV to Westinghouse in return for a minority stake in KYW-TV. (KCNC'
station history page
erroneously implies that this trade was between NBC and Westinghouse.) The swap in Philadelphia was delayed when CBS discovered it would face a massive
capital gains Capital gain is an economic concept defined as the profit earned on the sale of an asset which has increased in value over the holding period. An asset may include tangible property, a car, a business, or intangible property such as shares. A ca ...
tax bill if it sold WCAU to NBC outright. ** As a result of the trade, CBS-owned WCIX in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
swapped channels with NBC-owned
WTVJ WTVJ (channel 6) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Fort Lauderdale–licensed WSCV (channel 51), a flag ...
. CBS and NBC traded their Miami broadcasting facilities to compensate each other for the loss of stations. WCIX changed its call letters to
WFOR-TV WFOR-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Miami, is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WBFS-TV (channel 33). ...
, and CBS sold controlling interest in WFOR to Westinghouse. * Westinghouse and CBS formed a joint venture that assumed ownership of KYW-TV, KCNC, KUTV and WFOR, with Westinghouse as majority owner. Giving Group W control of the venture allowed CBS to have some interest in its affiliates and avoid violating FCC rules at the time that forbade groups from owning TV stations that covered more than 25% of the country (CBS O&Os reached 21.8% prior to the purchase, and Group W reached 9.7%.) A short time later, Westinghouse announced it was buying CBS outright, a transaction which closed in late 1995. As a condition of the merger, both CBS and Group W were forced to sell off several radio stations due to the FCC's then-current ownership limits. CBS also had to sell
WPRI-TV WPRI-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to dual Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/The CW, CW a ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
(which was acquired in March 1995 and would swap affiliations with
WLNE-TV WLNE-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Providence, Rhode Island, area. The station is owned by Standard Media, and maintains studios in the Orms ...
one hour before KYW-TV assumed the CBS affiliation) due to a significant signal overlap with WBZ-TV, which provides a city-grade signal to much of the Providence market. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of stations with overlapping signals, and would not even consider granting a waiver for a city-grade overlap; the FCC began to allow common ownership of stations with overlapping signals without a waiver in 2000.


Epilogue and legacy

Following the completion of the CBS takeover, the former Westinghouse Broadcasting operations took on the CBS name and identity, though the Group W name survived until the end of the 1990s as a holding company within the merged entity's structure. The Westinghouse-CBS merger resulted in several longtime rivals on the radio dials of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia becoming sister stations. From that point forward, however, Westinghouse proceeded to transform itself from its legendary role as a diversified conglomerate with a strong industrial heritage into a media giant. Over the next year, it sold off almost all of its non-broadcast properties. In 1997, Westinghouse changed its name to CBS Corporation and moved its headquarters to New York. Westinghouse's cable television network properties—consisting then of
The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...
(now the general-interest
Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...
) and
Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...
, which CBS/Westinghouse purchased from
Gaylord Entertainment Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and media company named for one of its assets: the Ryman Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's legal lineage can be traced back to it ...
in 1996, and equity stakes in
regional sports network A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major L ...
s
Midwest Sports Channel FanDuel Sports Network North is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as a FanDuel Sports Network affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involvin ...
(now split into
Fox Sports North FanDuel Sports Network North is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as a FanDuel Sports Network affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involving ...
, serving Minnesota and the
Dakotas The Dakotas, also known as simply Dakota, is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geo ...
, and
Fox Sports Wisconsin FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Spor ...
, both of which CBS purchased in conjunction with its 1992 acquisition of Midwest Television and its two stations,
WCCO-TV WCCO-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Minnesota, is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations divisi ...
in
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
/
St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...
and
WFRV-TV WFRV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on East Mason Street in Green Bay and a transmitter north of Morrison, Wiscon ...
in Green Bay) and
Home Team Sports Monumental Sports Network, formerly NBC Sports Washington, is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sport ...
(now
NBC Sports Washington Monumental Sports Network, formerly NBC Sports Washington, is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sport ...
) in the
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
area—were consequently reorganized as CBS Cable (a name used prior by CBS Inc. for an arts-oriented basic cable channel it operated from October 1981 to December 1982). In 1998, the company created a new licensing subsidiary under the
Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...
name. In this sense, the Westinghouse-CBS merger turned out to be a "
wag the dog ''Wag the Dog'' is a 1997 American black comedy political satire film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. Produced and directed by Barry Levinson, the film centers on a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war in Al ...
" transaction. After selling off its nuclear assets to BNFL in 1999, CBS Corporation was merged into
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...
in 2000, thus ending the corporate legacy of the original Westinghouse for good. TNN and CMT were consolidated into Viacom's
MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...
basic cable unit post-merger, with HTS being sold to
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
and Midwest Sports Channel being sold to
News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...
shortly afterward. Viacom, however, changed its name to
CBS Corporation CBS Corporation was an American multinational media company with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing and television production. It was split from Viacom on December 31, 2005, alongside an entirely new Viacom; both ...
at the end of 2005 and spun off most of its cable and movie interests as a new Viacom. With a few exceptions, the "new" CBS Corporation retained the same television properties that the old CBS Corporation held prior to the Viacom merger, including the ''new'' Westinghouse. Theater chain
National Amusements National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned movie theater operator and mass media holding company incorporated in Maryland and based in Norwood, Massachusetts. The company owned 69 theaters and 667 screens throughout the United Stat ...
, which had held controlling interest in the "old" Viacom since 1986, retained controlling interest in both the "new" CBS and Viacom. Excluding WMAQ (shut down in 2000 to allow all-sports
WSCR WSCR (670 AM radio, AM) – branded 670 The Score – is a Commercial radio, commercial sports radio station, licensed to Chicago, Illinois, which serves the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station wit ...
to move to its old dial position) and KFWB (placed in a holding trust as a consequence of CBS's purchase of KCAL-TV; the trust divested the station in 2016), all of the former Group W radio stations were part of CBS Radio until its merger with Entercom (now
Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
) on November 17, 2017. While the merged company took Entercom's name, CBS shareholders held controlling interest in the enlarged Entercom. Following the merger, one of the former Group W stations, WBZ, was spun off to iHeartMedia. CBS had previously announced in 2016 that it had been looking to leave the radio business. In 2019, Viacom and CBS reunited as ViacomCBS (renamed
Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...
in 2022), with National Amusements as the majority shareholder. Currently, only one station continues to use the classic Group W font: radio station WOWO (owned by Pathfinder Communications Corporation). The other stations gradually discontinued using the typeface during the 21st century.


Former stations

* Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and
city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...
. * Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station built and signed on by either Westinghouse Broadcasting. * Does not include
KCNC-TV KCNC-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Colorado, is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios on Linc ...
in
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
WFOR-TV WFOR-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Miami, is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WBFS-TV (channel 33). ...
in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, and
KUTV KUTV (channel 2) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside independent station KJZZ-TV (channel 14) and St. George, Utah, St. George–licensed MyNetwor ...
in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
.


Syndicated programs

Some of their best-known programs were syndicated and seen in primetime and early/late fringe through its syndication division, Group W Productions, which was originally known as WBC Productions until 1968. It was originally founded in 1961 to sell syndication of radio and television programming. Many of these programs were also sold internationally (under the name of Westinghouse Broadcasting International). In 1992, the Westinghouse Broadcasting International unit has signed a deal with
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
to represent the catalog for the Japanese market.


Late night talk/variety shows

* '' PM East'' (with
Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade car ...
and Joyce Davidson)/'' PM West'' (with Terrence O'Flaherty) (1961–1962) * ''
The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,
'' (1962–1964) * '' That Regis Philbin Show!'' (1964–1965) * ''
The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...
'' (1965–1969) * ''The
David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...
Show'' (1969–1972) * ''
The Howard Stern Radio Show Howard Stern is an American radio personality who is best known for his radio show ''The Howard Stern Show''. Stern (along with his followers) describes himself as the "King of All Media" for his successes in the radio, television, film, music a ...
'' (1998–2001) (as Eyemark Entertainment)


Daytime shows

* ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...
'' (1963–1980) * '' The John Davidson Show'' (1980–1982) * ''Hour Magazine'', hosted by Gary Collins (1980–1989) * ''The
Wil Shriner Wil Herbert Shriner (born December 6, 1953) is an American actor, comedian, film director, screenwriter and game show host. Life and career Shriner was born in New York City, New York, the twin brother of soap opera actor Kin Shriner, and the ...
Show'' (1986–1987) * ''
Couch Potatoes Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and/or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soc ...
'', game show hosted by
Marc Summers Marc Summers (born Marc Berkowitz; November 11, 1951) is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and talk show host. He is best known for hosting '' Double Dare'' on Nickelodeon and '' Unwrapped'' on Food Network. ...
(1989; co-production with
Saban Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...
) * '' Every Second Counts'', game show hosted by
Bill Rafferty William Rafferty (June 17, 1944 – August 11, 2012) was an American comedian and impressionist who hosted the game shows '' Every Second Counts'' (1984–1985, syndicated), ''Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show ...
, produced by Charles Colarusso Productions (1984) * ''House Party''; talk show hosted by
Steve Doocy Stephen James Doocy (; born October 19, 1956) is an American television host, conservative political commentator, and author. He served as a co-anchor of ''Fox & Friends'' on the Fox News Channel from 1998 through 2025. Doocy now works in a limit ...
(1990; co-production with
NBC Productions Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...
) * '' The Chuck Woolery Show'' (September 12, 1994 – September 5, 1997) * ''
Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
'', unsold syndicated run pilot with
Steve Edwards Steve, Steven or Stephen Edwards may refer to: *Steve Edwards (American football) (born 1979), American football player for the Arizona Rattlers *Steve Edwards (field hockey) (born 1986), New Zealand Olympic field hockey player * Steve Edwards (phy ...
as host (1990; co-production with
Reg Grundy Productions Reg Grundy Organisation (founded as Reg Grundy Enterprises, later known as both Reg Grundy Productions and Grundy Television and known informally as Grundy's) was an Australian-based multinational mass media company, primarily involved in tele ...
) * ''That's Amore'', game show hosted by
Luca Barbareschi Luca Giorgio Barbareschi (born July 28, 1956) is an Uruguayan-born Italian actor, filmmaker, businessman, and politician. He represented Sardinia in the Chamber of Deputies between 2008 and 2014. Early life Barbareschi was born in Montevide ...
(1992-1993, co-production with Four Point Entertainment and RTI Mediaset) * ''
Vicki! ''Vicki!'' is a Broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show hosted by actress and ''Carol Burnett Show'' alumna Vicki Lawrence from 1992 to 1994. The show earned a number of Daytime Emmy Award nominations, including Daytime Emmy Award for Outstan ...
'', talk show hosted by
Vicki Lawrence Vicki Lawrence (born Vicki Ann Axelrad, March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Thelma Harper, Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence also originate ...
(1992–1994) * ''Marilu'', talk show hosted by
Marilu Henner Marilu Henner (born April 6, 1952) is an American actress and author. She began her career appearing in the original production of the musical ''Grease (musical), Grease'' in 1971, before making her screen debut in the 1977 comedy-drama film ''B ...
(1994–1995) * ''Morning Stretch'', exercise and fitness program hosted by Joanie Greggains (produced at KPIX during the 1980s) * ''
Day and Date ''Day & Date'' is an American daily news magazine program that aired in syndication for two seasons from September 11, 1995, to January 3, 1997. Syndicated by Group W Productions (later renamed Eyemark Entertainment following the 1996 merger o ...
'', hosted by
Dana King Dana King (born March 7, 1960) is an American broadcast journalist and sculptor. She served as an anchor for the CBS owned-and-operated station KPIX-TV in San Francisco. In 2012, King left KPIX to pursue her passion in sculpting and art. Her out ...
and Patrick Vanhorn (also produced at KPIX, 1995–1997; initially went under Group W name before switch to Eyemark name mid-season) Group W and KPIX also created, in 1975 (with its premiere in 1976), America's first non-news magazine series, ''
Evening Magazine ''Evening Magazine'' is the name of various news and entertainment-style local television shows in different markets in the United States. Concept On August 9, 1976, Westinghouse (Group W) Broadcasting-owned KPIX in San Francisco debuted a lo ...
'' with host Jan Yanehiro. After the first few years, it franchised to Group W stations and eventually to other markets through local stations, using the name ''
PM Magazine ''PM/Evening Magazine'' is a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States. In most areas, ''Evening/PM Magazine'' was broadcast from the late 1970s into the late 1980s. Orig ...
'' on non-Group W stations airing the show.


Made-for-TV movies

* ''Mafia Princess'', starring
Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...
and
Susan Lucci Susan Victoria Lucci (born December 23, 1946) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Erica Kane on the ABC daytime drama ''All My Children'' during that show's entire network run from 1970 to 2011. The character is considere ...
(1986)


Children's/animated series

* ''
Dino Babies ''Dino Babies'' is a 1994–1996 children's animated television series about six baby dinosaurs who share stories and adventures. Production and airings Originally produced between 1991 and 1994, ''Dino Babies'' first aired in the United Kingdo ...
'' * ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' (1987 version) * ''
Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-re ...
'' (1993 version) * ''Way Cool'' (1991–1992)

* The in-house
Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...
library (''
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' (often referred to simply as ''He-Man'') is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show was one of the most popular an ...
'', ''
The Archie Show ''The Archie Show'' (also known as ''The Archies)'' is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, ''The Archie Show'' aired Saturday morning ...
'', '' She-Ra: Princess of Power'', ''
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' (often referred to simply as ''Fat Albert'') is an educational American animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a nu ...
'', ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...
'', ''
BraveStarr ''BraveStarr'' is an American Space Western animated television series that aired 65 episodes from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. The show was created a year after Mattel had released a line of action figures. ''BraveStarr'' wa ...
'', '' Mission: Magic!'', among other titles)


First-run syndicated shows

* '' Fight Back! with David Horowitz'' (1976–1992) * ''
Bob Vila Robert Joseph Vila (born June 20, 1946) is an American home improvement television show host known for ''This Old House'' (1979–1989), ''Bob Vila's Home Again'' (1990–2005), and ''Bob Vila'' (2005–2007). Early life and education Vila, a C ...
's Home Again'' (1990-2005) * '' The George Michael Sports Machine'' (1995) * ''
Martha Stewart Living ''Martha Stewart Living'' is a magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), ...
'' (1993–2004) * "Hour Magazine" with Gary Collins and Pat Mitchell co-hosting (1981-1991)


End of Group W Productions

After the merger with CBS in 1996, Westinghouse acquired Ed Wilson and Bob Cook's MaXam Entertainment and merged it with Group W Productions and CBS Enterprises (including CBS Broadcast International) to form Eyemark Entertainment,CBS TO ACQUIRE MAXAM ENTERTAINMENT
January 24, 1996
with CBS Broadcast International acquiring the overseas rights to the Group W backlog. Eyemark was in turn folded into
King World Productions King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and syndicator of television programming in the United States founded by Charles King (1912–72) that ...
following the latter company's acquisition by CBS in 2000. King World gained control of most of the Group W and Eyemark libraries from 2000 to 2005. These libraries are now controlled by
CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Paramount Domestic Television and CBS Television Distribution) is the television broadcast syndication arm of CBS Studios, a division of the CBS Entertainment Group, in turn a division of Paramount Global, ...
. The
Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...
library and '' The George Michael Sports Machine'' are owned by
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
(the former through
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
/
Classic Media DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded as Classic Media in 2000 by Eric Ellenboge ...
), ''Bob Vila's Home Again'' is owned by
Bob Vila Robert Joseph Vila (born June 20, 1946) is an American home improvement television show host known for ''This Old House'' (1979–1989), ''Bob Vila's Home Again'' (1990–2005), and ''Bob Vila'' (2005–2007). Early life and education Vila, a C ...
with Telco Productions handling distribution rights, and the 1987 ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' series is also owned by CBS Media Ventures with DVD rights licensed to
Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lionsgate Studios Corp. (simply known as Lionsgate Studios) is a Canadian-American film and television production and distribution conglomerate, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and primarily based in Santa Monica, California. It was f ...
(formerly
Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was found ...
).


Cable networks

*
The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...
(then co-owned with
Gaylord Entertainment Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and media company named for one of its assets: the Ryman Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's legal lineage can be traced back to it ...
; Group W later bought Gaylord's stake in the channel; later owned by
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...
's
MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...
as Spike (currently
Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...
as of 2018)) *
The Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Launched on April 18, 1983, under the na ...
(then co-owned with
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
; Disney later bought Group W's 50 percent stake prior to its launch) *
Home Team Sports Monumental Sports Network, formerly NBC Sports Washington, is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sport ...
(
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
\
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
network) and Bally Sports Southwest, Home Sports Entertainment (Dallas, Texas, Dallas) * Home Theater Network (1978–1987) * Satellite News Channel (co-owned with ABC; network went defunct after a year) * Showtime (TV channel), Showtime (50 percent stake with Viacom from 1981 (when Group W acquired
TelePrompTer A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually bel ...
), until they sold their half of Showtime back to Viacom in 1982) * Wisconsin Sports Network (co-owned with the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Time Warner Cable franchise from 1996 to 1998, then merged into CBS Cable's Midwest Sports Channel (MSC). Later bought by Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox in 2000 and became Bally Sports North, FSN North and Bally Sports Wisconsin, FSN Wisconsin ''(No relation to the present-day Wisconsin Sports Network, website of the same name.)'' * Z Channel (under TelePrompTer-owned Theta Cable)


Notes


References


External links


Group W (the Westinghouse Broadcasting Co.) audio tapes
at the University of Maryland Libraries {{Animated television series created for syndication Westinghouse Broadcasting, Audacy, Inc. Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States Defunct radio broadcasting companies of the United States CBS Media Ventures Westinghouse Electric Company Mass media companies based in New York City Mass media companies established in 1995 Mass media companies disestablished in 1999 1995 establishments in New York (state) 1999 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York City Filmation Television syndication distributors Defunct radio networks in the United States