User blog:Cbcarter34/Journal promises retaliation after WHLA decision

When the ratings came in from Eau Claire and La Crosse, WI, people were shocked at how WHLA finished. One of those people that was shocked was WHLA's owner: Journal Media Group. After the announcement that after 63 years, WHLA will leave CBS on April 2, 2018, Journal had one thing on their mind: Retaliation.

"I feel bad for Billy (Carson) and Kevin (Sullivan). They worked really hard at making WHLA the best that it can be. The fact that our station finished dead last is inexcusable, and someone had to answer for it. We all thought that we had some quality programming, but for our station to come in at the bottom, we knew that we were wrong," CEO Stephen J. Smith said during his press conference.

CBS wanted to give WHLA 3 months to improve, but Smith said that three months just wouldn't be enough time to turn the station around. "We all have to be realistic. If you're expecting a station to turn around in three months, you're crazy, and that's what I had to realize that as much as we want to remain a CBS affiliate, them giving us three months just wouldn't be enough time," Smith said. Smith added that WHLA will become a CW affiliate on Apr. 2, taking the affiliation away from WTMB's second subchannel.

Usually when a company loses a betwirj's affiliation with one station, they yank that network's affiliation with other stations that they own in retaliation. Smith declined to answer whether or not if Journal would retaliate against CBS for WHLA's lose of affiliation, but he didn't put it off the table, either. "That is something to ponder on. It's up to Journal's board of directors to decide, and I'd leave it in their hands," Smith said.