basketball, and select NBA on CBS games WJKW deferred—but dropped much of these sports packages in the summer of 1985 for schedule consistency. The Ghoul was cancelled in the spring of 1984, attributed to low ratings, but it was later suggested that Brandt dropped it after an on-air skit involving a shed being set on fire outside of the studios. Balaban Broadcasting and the other partners in Cleveland Associates sold WCLQ-TV to Channel Communications, a subsidiary of Nashville, Tennessee–based NASCO, Inc., on May 4, 1984, for $14 million (equivalent to $ in ). NASCO, which primarily handled National Football League merchandise, established Channel as a diversification move, purchasing WCLQ-TV along with two small-market network affiliates—KAIT in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and KPLC in Lake Charles, Louisiana—for a combined $48.8 million. Brandt resigned in late April 1985, with Channel director of operations Jack White taking over as interim general manager; rumors among staffers suggested Brandt was not asked to leave willingly. In a bid to remain competitive, WCLQ-TV acquired syndication rights to Dallas, Simon & Simon and The Love Boat in expensive contracts and began using Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) in promotional spots and billboards. Later purchases included reruns of The A-Team and "lost episodes" of The Honeymooners. Dallas reruns fared poorly, only running on WCLQ-TV for six months before being removed from the schedule entirely. The summer of 1985 saw both WOIO and WBNX-TV sign on as independents: while WBNX-TV was owned by the ministry of televangelist Ernest Angley and positioned itself on family-oriented and religious fare, WOIO was financially backed by Malrite Communications (owners of WHK and WMMS) and Metroplex Communications (later owners of WNCX and WERE). WCLQ-TV's purchasing of expensive syndicated programming, in turn, increased prices for programming at both WOIO and WUAB substantially. The addition of competition also drove down ratings and advertising rates, with WOIO charging basic cable rates for a typical commercial. Driven into a financial crunch, WOIO's ownership group sought to sell outright to Malrite for an infusion of capital by June 1986, permissible by FCC regulations that typically barred common ownership of radio and UHF television stations except when the television station was in need of financial assistance. WCLQ-TV filed a petition to deny the sale. Channel Communications's aggressiveness with WCLQ-TV failed to yield a positive return, with the station losing "a few million dollars" annually. The May 1985 sweeps period saw WUAB with