since it has been one of the network's strongest affiliates. NBC was also helped by then-independent station WVTV often picking up NBC programs declined by channel 4 for their own schedule, with WCGV also doing so when that station signed on in March 1980. The station's most controversial move came in 1979 when it asked NBC for permission to delay The Tonight Show to 11:00 p.m., in order to air reruns of Maude in the talk show's 10:30 slot; although the network vetoed the move (even though its Birmingham affiliate WAPI-TV/WVTM-TV had aired the program on delay from the time it cleared Tonight in 1967 until 1996), WTMJ went ahead and did it anyway as it was already running a promotional campaign for Maude and began delaying Tonight to 11:00 that September. It tried again in 1984, wanting to move Tonight to 11:30 p.m., in order to air reruns of Trapper John, M.D. after the 10:00 p.m. newscast starting that September. NBC, already not happy with WTMJ moving the program to 11:00 p.m., refused again, and opted to contract WVTV to carry the program instead, airing it at 10:30 p.m. from September 1984 to September 1988, when WTMJ gave in to airing the program in its network-designated timeslot. The station also delayed Late Night with Conan O'Brien to 12:05 a.m. from the program's September 1993 debut until September 2001, and aired Days of Our Lives at 2:00 p.m. (one of the program's alternate network timeslots), before moving it to the network-standard 1:00 p.m. slot on September 10, 2007 to replace the canceled Montel Williams Show. (The soap opera moved exclusively to the network's streaming service Peacock effective September 12, 2022, with NBC News Daily taking over its 1:00 p.m. timeslot.) WTMJ aired paid programming in place of the low-rated prime time poker game show Face the Ace for its entire run starting in August 2009, marking the first time any Milwaukee station preempted a significant portion or the entirety of a prime time network series (other than for extended news coverage) since the early 1990s. It is unknown if moral objections by WTMJ management (as sister station WGBA carried the series) or ratings concerns played a factor in the move. The Morning Blend The Morning Blend is a local talk show format originated by former parent company Journal Broadcast Group and presently owned by the E. W. Scripps Company that