In March 1976, Rush Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Jules B. LeBlanc and Cyril Vetter, purchased the station. Although Baton Rouge had been large enough on paper to support three full network affiliates since the 1950s, only two VHF licenses were allocated to that market—channels 2 and 9, occupied by WBRZ and WAFB, respectively. There was an effort to move the transmitter of proposed Houma television station KHMA to the Greater Baton Rouge area in 1964 to serve as the city's ABC affiliate, with that management of that station going as far as to establish an advertising office in Baton Rouge; however, the owners of WAFB and WBRZ successfully petitioned the FCC to block the transfer, citing the urge of UHF development in the area.