Although this pushed back channel 12's planned sign-on to 1954, CBS refused to let WNET carry its programming in the meantime due to a weak signal, preferring to keep its secondary affiliation with WJAR. This did not change even after Hurricane Carol destroyed WPRO-TV's transmitter just before it was due to sign on. WNET struggled against dominant WJAR because television manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuning capability. Viewers had to buy an expensive converter to receive WNET, and even then the picture quality was marginal at best. It did not help matters that Boston's WBZ-TV and the original WNAC-TV, also in Boston, both decently covered the Providence area.