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 (that station's newscasts were continually in third place). Channel 7 continued the "Lottery Live" title and format with different hosts, upon its move on August 31, 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 to 1998).