By mid-December, two ValueVision representatives visited the station and made multiple pledges to the staff, including no reduction in newscast output, no layoffs, and that WAKC would not become a 24-hour home shopping channel; other promises even included the establishment of a news bureau in Washington, D.C. Despite the assurances, Beacon Journal TV columnist Bob Dyer questioned the company's motives based on their prospectus, suggesting that WAKC was bought to help get their home shopping programming on cable thanks to the FCC's "must-carry" regulations for full-power television stations that apply to all cable systems. One of those representatives, vice president of broadcast operations Mike Jones, took over as WAKC's vice president and general manager when the deal closed on April 18, 1994; concurrently, ValueVision and ABC came to an agreement on a new affiliate contract for WAKC, effectively keeping the home shopping programming off of the station entirely.
