Boston's Son of (TV) Liberty Ansin says 'LeNO'

Ed Ansin is a killer businessman. His real estate and television station businesses are surviving during this brutal recession because he's too smart to fail.  I worked for him when I was hired to be a reporter an anchor at WHDH-TV in Boston back from 1994-1998.

Ansin took over a perennial third-rated station (that used to be WNEV), switched affiliations to NBC and set off sprinting from number 3 to number 1 by spending money on top equipment and hiring gutsy, aggressive talent. 

He's always been controversial (aren't most business renegades?) particularly when he turned WSVN in Miami, a Fox affiliate, into the top-rated station there by giving viewers real news---granted it was scary and bloody news--but it grabbed people's attention.  This was at a time when Fox affiliates were still considered the "little guy" in every market.

So here he comes again.  This time, Ansin's saying NO to NBC. He is refusing to carry Jay Leno's new 10pm talk show. Ansin thinks he can make more money by putting news in that slot.  As you can imagine, NBC is livid and says Ansin will be in big trouble if he refuses to carry Leno.  We'll see.

This renegade "son of liberty" is facing down NBC which has threatened to strip WHDH of its affiliation with the peacock if it doesn't carry Leno.   You can bet other independently-owned stations are watching closely too.  They may want to say 'LeNO' too, if Ansin wins.  See what InTouch magazine thinks about this. The story is going national bigtime.