It always struck me (maybe an opinion colored by those who told it first) that it was a think-skinned Fred Silverman that just said yank the episode. It could have been edited creatively just to keep the worst of the rant out of it, and maybe have Gene Wood vamp a long ticket plug the next time they are in the studio. Since there was no puzzle played between breaks, maybe shoot an "audience alphabetics" for a reduced payout with Alan wearing the same suit at a later date (at NBC's expense). Likely, though, there wasn't time to do that.
NBC could have very rightly stuck to the contestant agreement, but I would guess $5,200 even then was a small price to pay for the contestant's silence on the matter (plus $200 to the other contestant who was ethered for decades). It would have also kept the FCC at bay from poking around and maybe determining it was a very arbitrary reason to preempt, ironically touching on the very topic that was being censored.