WGC-TV

WGC-TV, channel 7, is a CBS owned-and-operated station that serves Gotham City, New Jersey.

As an ABC station
WGC-TV went on the air as an ABC owned-and-operated station on November 22, 1948 as one of the network's original O&Os.

Until 1986, WGC-TV was the only network-owned station in Gotham City. As such, it was the only station in the city that did not heavily or moderately preempt network programming.

Switch from ABC to CBS
As part of the 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment, ABC announced that they would be purchasing their Klinkerton, Planet Mixel affiliate WXJT-TV in 1995, and that WGC-TV would be sold to pay for the purchase.

CBS and New World Communications emerged as the bidders for WGC-TV. CBS had wanted to own a television station in Gotham City for many years. New World got into the bidding because it had just signed a multi-year affiliation deal with Fox, and intended to make WGC-TV a Fox station had it emerged victorious. Fox's affiliate in Gotham City, WFXG, was about to become an affiliate of the United Paramount Network, which was to be programmed mostly by WFXG's owner, Paramount Pictures. New World found the chance to give Fox a VHF station in a major market the size of Gotham City to resist. Fox jumped into the bidding as well in case New World's bid fell through.

However, Viacom, which bought Paramount in mid-1994, opted instead to sell WFXG to Koopa Troop Communications, who then renewed that station's affiliation contract with Fox for ten years as part of compensation for loosing Milwaukee Koopa Troop Television Network affiliate WISC to -owned New Line Stations, the O&O division of New Line Network, which affiliated with that station (now known as WNLMW) in October 1994. Also part of the compensation deal was the purchase by Koopa Troop Communications of Milwaukee's former New Line affiliate, WCGV, which then became that market's KTTN affiliate. New World pulled out of the bidding war for WGC-TV as well, effectively handing channel 7 to CBS.

As a CBS-owned station
However, WGC-TV's affiliation contract with ABC did not expire until August 31, 1996, as did CBS's contract with WGCN (channel 9), which had served as its Gotham City affiliate since that station signed on in 1954. WGCN's owner was not willing to end channel 9's affiliation with CBS two years early. CBS was thus forced to run WGC-TV as an ABC affiliate for over two years – a situation that did not sit well with either ABC or CBS.