reputation as a well-equipped broadcaster. Field Communications alliance and buyout On May 26, 1972, Kaiser sold a 22.5 percent minority stake in their broadcasting holdings to Chicago-based Field Communications (excluded from this were KBSC-TV and the radio stations) while Kaiser acquired a 77.5 percent majority stake in WFLD-TV, Field's Chicago station. Completed in May 1973, the Kaiser/Field partnership was named Kaiser Broadcasting Co. (Kaiser Co.) and included KBHK-TV, WFLD-TV, WKBD-TV, WKBS-TV, WKBF-TV and majority control of WKBG-TV. The Boston Globe sold its stake in WKBG-TV to Kaiser in 1974, with the station renamed WLVI. After a prior attempt to spin off KBSC-TV to a prospective subscription television operator failed, Kaiser sold off the station to a joint venture between Oak Industries and Jerry Perenchio in December 1975, becoming the genesis of the ON TV pay television service. Faced with mounting financial losses in Cleveland, Kaiser ceased all operations at WKBF-TV on April 25, 1975, selling off the majority of assets to United Artists Broadcasting, owner of WUAB. In turn, Kaiser purchased a 36 percent equity stake in WUAB, which it held until United Artists sold off that station in 1977. WKBF-TV management and Kaiser executives conceded that, due to WUAB signing on within months of WKBF-TV, the station never turned a profit and could not find consistent viewership or advertiser support in the Cleveland market. In January 1977, Kaiser sold its stake in the station group to Field for a combined $42.625 million (equivalent to $ in ). This sale was part of a larger disposition of Kaiser Industries in which 90 percent of the conglomerate's assets were divested in 1977 alone. Programming From 1965 onward, Kaiser Broadcasting consisted of stations of independent outlets that broadcast on the UHF band. In Detroit, Boston and Cleveland, Kaiser-owned stations were the first independents in their respective markets. At a time when viewer interest in watching UHF television was still at its infancy, the Kaiser group programmed aggressively with movies, off-network programs, and children's shows. While the initial plan of creating a "fourth network" backed by this station group never came to fruition, many of these stations boasted successful local programs, several of which found varying degrees of success through syndication. WKBD-TV's early investment in sports programming enabled them to secure broadcast rights for the NBA's Detroit Pistons, the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and other area college teams. Many of the Kaiser stations