The 1970s and '80s
In 1972 the Kaiser Broadcasting Corporation partnered with Field Communications in Kaiser Broadcasting Co. including WKBD-TV, four other Kaiser stations and Field's single station. In 1977, the bulk of Kaiser Broadcasting Corporation including WKBD was sold to Field.
In 1982, Field put all its stations up for sale. However, Field had a difficult time selling WKBD-TV for the amount of money it wanted, despite its success. As a result Field was forced to hold onto channel 50 for almost two years. In late 1983, Cox Enterprises offered to buy the station, which they did on January 30, 1984. Shortly thereafter, the station dropped the -TV suffix, becoming simply WKBD once again. The programming remained the same as before, with one notable exception: in the late 1980s WKBD began airing Late Night with David Letterman when NBC affiliate WDIV (channel 4) declined to clear it. This mirrored a similar situation in the mid 1970s when then-WWJ (currently WDIV) declined to air Saturday Night Live. The first two seasons of the show originally aired in the Detroit market on WKBD. Ironically, Gilda Radner who was an original castmember on the show was born in Detroit, Michigan.
The Ghoul aired in Detroit on WKBD from 1971 through 1975. The show featured late-night horror movie host Ron Sweed in the title role and was produced by WKBD's sister station WKBF-TV in Cleveland, Ohio which was also owned by Kaiser Broadcasting. When Kaiser dropped the program, the show's production moved to Detroit where it was produced by and aired on WXON (channel 20, now WMYD). The show moved briefly to WGPR (channel 62, now WWJ-TV) and then back to WXON. Although never produced at WKBD itself, the program was very popular and was one of the few local programs that aired on WKBD that was not related to sports.