In 1984, the FCC—which protected the combination of WHMA-AM-FM-TV and the "Anniston Star" under a grandfather clause from forced divestiture, when the agency prohibited common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market in 1967—forced the Ayers family to break up its media empire. Later, in a 1985 deal that concerned avoidance of paying high tax rates more than profit, the Ayers sold the station to Jacksonville State University; the new owners changed the television station's call letters to WJSU-TV (for the university), but continued to operate it as a commercial station (unlike most TV/radio stations owned by colleges or universities, which operate as non-profit public broadcasters), retaining its CBS affiliation. In 1989, Jacksonville State University sold the station to the Osborne Communications Corporation.