The station's most controversial move came in 1979 when it asked NBC for permission to delay "The Tonight Show" to 11:00 p.m., in order to air reruns of "Maude" in the talk show's 10:30 slot; although the network vetoed the move (even though its Birmingham affiliate WAPI-TV/WVTM-TV had aired the program on delay from the time it cleared "Tonight" in 1967 until 1996), WTMJ went ahead and did it anyway as it was already running a promotional campaign for "Maude" and began delaying "Tonight" to 11:00 that September. It tried again in 1984, wanting to move "Tonight" to 11:30 p.m., in order to air reruns of "Trapper John, M.D." after the 10:00 p.m. newscast starting that September. NBC, already not happy with WTMJ moving the program to 11:00 p.m., refused again, and opted to contract WVTV to carry the program instead, airing it at 10:30 p.m. from September 1984 to September 1988, when WTMJ gave in to airing the program in its network-designated timeslot.