In 1996, a year after the affiliation change, station management opted not to renew channel 2's carriage of "The Oprah Winfrey Show", deciding instead to take a chance on the new "The Rosie O'Donnell Show". The move proved costly in the long term, as market leader WBAL-TV picked up "Oprah" until its 2011 end, and "Rosie" (which moved to WJZ-TV in late 2000) lasted only seven years. The switch resulted in a change of fortune between the two stations, with WBAL's 5:00–6:30 p.m. news block sustaining strong ratings, with WMAR having a sustained decline in the same timeslot.