NBC To End Affiliation WHDH 7, Announces New Network-Owned Station

On Thursday, NBC announced that it will end its affiliation with Boston’s Channel 7 WHDH-TV, and open a new Boston station, owned by the network, in 2017.

According to Boston.com, the announcement from NBC came Thursday in an employee memo acquired by the Boston Globe, and stated that the network plans to create a local news team to staff the new station.

The memo did not specifically specify where the NBC Boston station would broadcast from, but WHDH-TV owner Ed Ansin stated that the network had plans to move programming to WNEU-TV, an NBC-owned station in New Hampshire that currently broadcasts Telemundo.

Ansin stated that the move has not been finalized, but he plans to fight NBC’s decision on the grounds that the move violates a Federal Communications Commission agreement with the network. Ansin also cited concerns as to whether the move to a smaller media market would best suit public interest, as NBC has committed to producing a certain amount of free broadcasting.

If NBC does win the fight for a network-owned station in the Boston media market, Ansin stated that he plans to continue to operate WHDH-TV as an independent station broadcasting news.

With additional reporting by Sal Lopez