Lottery
WBZ-TV was a local television pioneer in lottery. It was the first station, in 1975, to air official lottery drawing results from the Massachusetts Lottery. During the 6pm Eyewitness News, graphic slides featuring the Lottery and The Numbers Game logos would appear with the nightly results from the Boston and Tri-State (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) regions. This would continue in varied forms, usually as the newscast went to commercial break, for almost a decade.
In spring 1984, WBZ introduced local live lottery drawings. In response to the Mass Lottery's second major game, Megabuck$, WBZ, in conjunction, created Lottery Live, a series of hosted, 1 minute machine studio drawings done live. Done in the style of a game-show format (albeit truncated), it meant to not only let viewers see the process of lottery results, but to generate excitement and interest into the Lottery. Hosted initially by Evening Magazine contributor and 4 Today host Tom Bergeron, Lottery Live aired the daily Numbers Game following the last main segment of Evening at 7:55 weeknights. Twice a week, following the conclusion of Evening at 7:58, the Megabuck$ drawings would air. The Numbers Game also aired at 7:55 Saturdays. Beginning in July 1987 (two months before Lottery Live ended its original WBZ run), a new state sweepstakes, Mass Millions, was introduced, and was televised on Lottery Live twice a week.
The station holds the record for having the longest initial involvement with the Lottery (12 years), culminating in its decision to release the lottery rights to another station in 1987. Both WCVB and WNEV (present-day WHDH) were in the running for picking up the rights; in the end, the torch was passed to WNEV, who saw the acquisition as helping their station revenues and key ratings periods (their news was continually third-place). The CBS affiliate continued the Lottery Live title and format with different hosts, upon its move in September 1987. WNEV/WHDH aired Lottery Live for seven seasons, until new ownership terminated the contract, upon which WCVB had their turn to air the games (from 1994–1998).
Eleven years after leaving its original station, Lottery Live would return to WBZ on May 20, 1998, with long-time host Dawn Hayes (from the WNEV/WHDH era) still at the helm. By this time, in addition to The Numbers Game still airing six nights a week at 7:53, late night airings (during the 11pm news) drew Megabuck$, Mass Million$, Mass Ca$h (1991) and The Big Game (1996) on individual nights. Due to new limited contacts permitting the local stations to carry Lottery Live for only three years at a time, WBZ moved the games to sister station WSBK-TV in 2001.
Read more about this topic: WBZ-TV, Programming
Famous quotes containing the word lottery:
“I think people really marry far too much; it is such a lottery after all, and for a poor woman a very doubtful happiness.”
—Victoria (1819–1901)
“The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)