Worst Stations and Markets for Local TV

[mvcg66b3r]

More on Peoria from Chip on TVNewsTalk:

I'm new to this board, but I've lived in Peoria for almost six years and I have to say....WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MARKET??? This is the worst TV market I've ever lived in! What's with all the infomercials? I'm guessing that the stations can't afford to buy syndicated programming to fill the time because they can't be making much off of the infomercials. (The station receives a percentage of the sales that can be attributed to the station.)

And when Pope Francis made appearances, WMBD carried an infomercial rather than carry CBS's live coverage that ran at 9:00am. (Does WMBD have an automation system that runs programming? I keep seeing them drop commercials in when the network programming is still running.)

The radio market is just as bad! I worked in radio for almost 40 years and watched as ownership rules changed. I started out when automation consisted of reel-to-reel music tapes and Top 40 was still on AM stations. I got out when I reached the point where ownership was consolidating stations (and staffs) and consultants took over control of the programming. The only thing I liked about my last days of radio was that computers had just taken over on-air operations. I loved having the music on hard drive and the last station I programmed used the system as live assist before the station's owners decided to totally automate and eliminated everyone on the staff, consolidating the operation with four other stations the company owned in three different studio locations into one location. All four of the stations were run by two full time employees and some high school students who ran sports broadcasts that couldn't be automated.

After the tornado went through Washington a couple of years ago it was apparent that nobody working on-air knows even FCC rules about station identification...back when JMP group simulcasted the entire group to provide news and information (a good thing) but the announcers on duty NEVER gave legal station ID's during the entire broadcast...they kept referring to the stations by image names but NOT call letters and city of license (calling them the JMP Media Group was not a legal ID).

Thanks for letting me post this rant.

http://forums.tvnewstalk.net/index....s-to-scripps-quincy.13548/page-12#post-142858

 

[johnnya2k6]

Another reason why Fairbanks is and always has been a crummy market:

KFXF (the Fox station) decided to air this year's Primetime Emmys at 7:00 pm on a delay so they would run their stupid "Hawk Shop" at 4:00. KTBY in Anchorage, on the other hand, broadcast the Emmys live at 4:00 pm followed immediately by an encore presentation (which has always been the case on the West Coast; same with the Golden Globes).

Four years prior, I also seem to remember sister station K13XD going to CBS News's coverage of the Royal Wedding at 1:30 am right after Craig Ferguson...ALREADY IN PROGRESS!!!!! (KTVF and KATN already hit to their respective NBC and ABC coverage at midnight)

But I used to have that one channels package on Dish with WPIX, KTLA, KWGN, WSBK, and WWOR (for MyNetwork TV, though Anchorage's KYES used to be on GCI Cable in Fairbanks very briefly (MNTV had "WWE Smackdown" at the time, which explained this)); so in effect, I had a wide variety in a small market. When I moved here to Atlanta, we didn't need those extra stations anymore because being in a Top 10 market now, I felt that for the first time since 1983-85 -- when I lived in Phoenix -- we would literally have everything right at our disposal once again (including local news in HD, which Fairbanks will never have anytime soon).

Peoria may be worse (no offense to Chip), but Fairbanks is still worser, and will continue to be for years to come.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

KTEL-LP has turned off its analog signal and is now in 720p HD, while its Carlsbad satellite is still in 480i SD.

The Carlsbad satellite is now in 720p HD.
http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=83707#station

 

[mvcg66b3r]

KMCT's tower was brought down by a tornado last October, and it's still off the air to this day.
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=54097

Update on KMCT from Facebook:

Our tower is completed and now we are waiting on our FCC permit to install our antenna. We currently have a Over The Air signal at a lower power on our frequency 39.1. Once our antenna is installed we can resume full power. Hoping to have this completed by the end of October.

https://www.facebook.com/KMCT.tv

 

[Sammi Brie]

I am going to make an entry: (now-deceased) XHCG-TV 12 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

A guy described his experience doing a homebrew broadcast of the Super Bowl on the local station back in 1986 and actually called it "the most miserable TV station in the universe". Outdated and poor equipment, tiny facilities, etc.

XHCG faded away in the 90s due to a labor dispute. It was never heard from again, though part of its transmitter facility still stands today. The government eagerly took the channel 12 allotment, made it a channel 11, and allowed a noncommercial TV station to sign on there in the late 2000s.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

Here's another Mexican station with a shady history: XHJMA Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XHJMA-TV

 

[Sammi Brie]

Here's another Mexican station with a shady history: XHJMA Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XHJMA-TV

I wrote the article. XHCG, XHJMA and XHIA in Torreón were related (same owner, José Manuel Acosta Castañeda) and have some incredibly convoluted histories. Labor strikes plagued XHIA and killed XHCG. In addition, there were concession irregularities that dated back to 1975 and a complicated expropriation of a bunch of the stations that comprised the network to which they were associated, and ultimately that claimed XHJMA. (In one case, one of the stations remained bank-owned until 1981, and it was still black-and-white! Other stations were folded into the Canal 13 network which was being built at the time, and one or two more disappeared altogether.)

Here's a clip of XHIA in 2005, during its final years. That's actually a fairly noteworthy clip — the guy appearing as a guest on the program is none other than Felipe Calderón, who became president of Mexico the next year.

Also, here is the XHCG transmitter shack I mentioned. Note the red lettering: "XHCG T.V. 12". All of the TV and radio stations on Mochis are on this mountain which is surprisingly in Street View. If you go up the mountain you'll see a bunch more towers and the facilities for the other stations in Mochis, including XHCG's replacement XHSIM/Canal Once.

 

[crainbebo]

The only Los Mochis station I knew before this article was the XHI Ciudad Obregon-2 relayer, also on channel 2. Culiacan, not that far from there, has a channel 3 (XEQ I think?) with high power. But wow, what a story about channel 12. I'm sure the equipment was from the 1960s.

-crainbebo

 

[mvcg66b3r]

From the AVS Forum, SpencerKarter85 on Baltimore:

Baltimore sucks!

Why Baltimore is lame?
1.)WJZ-TV (then ABC and Group W) refused to carry Dark Shadows (same story for my ABC station from 1967-68)
2.)WMAR-TV (when it was NBC) dropped the late Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in 1983 because they cited "low-ratings" and aired Alan Thicke's ill-fated Thicke Of The Night instead and later off-network syndication of sitcoms. Johnny ended up on an independent in Balmer.
3.)The late Dick Clark's American Bandstand was not shown in Baltimore and aired Buddy Deane's dance show (which they refused to integrate dancers from both races) instead...Watch the movie Hairspray.

Baltimore is lame...hands down! I like Washington, DC better!

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-lo...2947-greenville-sc-hdtv-359.html#post31642369

I added three of my own reasons:

4. WBAL delays Live with Kelly and Michael to 10am, one hour later than DC.
5. No ION, Univision, Telemundo or Daystar; not many diginets.
6. The new station on RF5 (VC36) licensed to Dover DE has its transmitter in the Baltimore market, but is assigned by Nielsen to the DC DMA.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-lo...2947-greenville-sc-hdtv-359.html#post31653673

 

[Sammi Brie]

The only Los Mochis station I knew before this article was the XHI Ciudad Obregon-2 relayer, also on channel 2. Culiacan, not that far from there, has a channel 3 (XEQ I think?) with high power. But wow, what a story about channel 12. I'm sure the equipment was from the 1960s.

-crainbebo

Mochis has 2 (shadow), 4, 6, 7, 11 and 28. The shadow XHI is notable because it's basically treated like its own station — it's owned by Televisoras Grupo Pacífico and broadcasts local news and programming. If you go to their website there's even a separate stream. XHI serves as the local station in Mochis precisely because XHCG wasn't doing well.

Culiacán has 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 22 (the station that disappeared there was on 13; the 5 is relatively recent and, like the Mochis 11, is Canal Once). The channel 3 is XHQ — it's another Grupo Pacífico outlet (XHMZ-7 Mazatlán completes the chain).

Over on the WTFDA Forums they gave me my own board where you can find all the Mexico information anyone could ever want. I do a fair amount of historical investigation too, so it's worth a read even if you're not too interested in Mexico.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

St. Joseph, MO, a 1 1/2 station town, has a ABC station that has coexisted with KMBC on the local cable system and a low power Fox station that booted WDAF off cable, Kansas City stations can be picked up OTA with a good antenna

 

[nomadcowatbk]

possibly St. Louis and Detriot, shrinking but still top 30 markets where only 3 of 4 Network stations have news departments, MNTV is confined to a subchannel of KMOV in STL

 

[crainbebo]

Ah, forgot the H. Thanks!
I wonder if there were any other Central/Southern Mexican stations that would be titled "Worst TV stations" as well. Come on, I'm sure some network relayers are still running 30 year old equipment.

-crainbebo

 

[mvcg66b3r]

From the "Worst Markets" thread:

And there’s WNMN, which airs MyNetworkTV on its third subchannel! (RetroTV is on 40.1) Its transmitter is in COL Saranac Lake, so its signal doesn’t reach Plattsburgh or Burlington. It has four translators, all analog-only. This was rumored to be the market’s CW affiliate, but was passed over in favor of WFFF (and later WPTZ).

Just today, WNMN entered into a consent decree, agreeing to pay a $30,000 fine for "numerous potential violations of the Commission’s Public File Rules", as well as building its analog transmitter at the wrong location.
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db1104/DA-15-1244A1.pdf

Three of WNMN's four translators are now off the air, never having converted to digital. A fourth (which has made the switch) has been sold to another company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNMN#Repeaters

And here's WNMN's schedule:
http://tvschedule.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=66255&channel=80&aid=tvschedule

Oddly enough, it's carried on Comcast Burlington and Charter Plattsburgh, but not on Time Warner Cable in city of license Saranac Lake!

 

[Sammi Brie]

Ah, forgot the H. Thanks!
I wonder if there were any other Central/Southern Mexican stations that would be titled "Worst TV stations" as well. Come on, I'm sure some network relayers are still running 30 year old equipment.

-crainbebo

There just aren't enough local TV stations in southern Mexico to qualify. Most of the network relayers have had their equipment changed out as part of digitalization, in the biggest change to Televisa's broadcast plant since they added stations in 1994/95.

I might put the Quintana Roo state network in that category, though.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Here in Atlanta, WGCL should be on there, and why?

Under CBN ownership, they were just like when WUPA was in their early years: airing some low-budget syndicated shows though they were somewhat restrictive in their programming. But after Tribune bought the station and changed the call letters to WGNX, they went on a shopping spree, picking up as many first-run syndie shows and movie packages (Universal Pictures Debut Network, MGM/UA Premiere Network, Embassy Night at the Movies, etc.) as they can. 46 immediately established themselves as Atlanta's #1 independent station, occasionally beating WSB, WAGA, and WXIA among younger viewers!

But those glory days came to an end when WGNX got the CBS affiliation from WAGA in 1994, which resulted in selling most of 46's syndicated content to WUPA and WATL. It continued to get worse even after Meredith took over, and the station has remained at a dead solid fourth behind Atlanta's Big Three...though just recently, they notched a victory at 3:00 pm (when they air Young and the Restless).

In the last few months, several of 46's top talent including anchors Scott Light and Stephany Fisher have been, as WWE would say, "future endeavored". Light is now at WBNS in Columbus, Ohio, while Fisher's next TV home is expected to be Fox 5.

(Back to Fairbanks: In addition to KTVF, I should also include KFXF and K13XD, as they couldn't afford any HD studio equipment unlike their Anchorage counterparts. From the way things are concerned (and unless new owners come in, which would be unlikely), they'll remain stuck in the past in terms of local programming: Still in bad ol' SD!)

 

[mvcg66b3r]

From another thread:

Cable-only "WNFM" ("My TV 8") in the Fort Myers/Naples market was shut down by Comcast on July 1st of this year.

More on WNFM from Wikipedia:

This channel began on January 11, 1995 as a WB affiliate. It aired exclusively on MediaOne channel 10 (then Southwest Florida's cable provider) and was not available over-the-air. It used the fictional call letters "WSWF" and was branded as "WB 10". In March 1998, WSWF switched affiliations with WTVK (now WXCW) and became a UPN affiliate.

However, anyone in the market that did not have cable could not get "TV 10" as it was later called, so UPN made an affiliation deal with low-powered WEVU-LP which would allow for additional coverage over-the-air. Several months later, WEVU owner Caloosa Television made a deal with MediaOne to have the cable system take over programming of the off-air station on analog VHF channel 7.

MediaOne then discarded the faux WSWF call letters in favor of WEVU-LP (already is use officially as assigned by the Federal Communications Commission) and adopted the on-air moniker "UPN 8" after changing its cable channel to that location (previously used by over-the-air WEVU). MediaOne replaced the over-the-air station's non-network programming with its own thus unifying the UPN affiliates in the market. During this period, the network could also be seen in Naples on low-powered WBSP-LP on VHF channel 9 because this translator repeated WEVU-LP's weak signal to the market's southern locations.

The working relationship lasted until midnight on September 1, 2004 shortly after Holston Valley Broadcasting (then owner of over-the-air WEVU-LP) struck a deal for carriage of the station on DirecTV. However, this forced VHF channel 7 to seek UPN programming via microwave from UPN owned-and-operated station WTOG in St. Petersburg, Florida. Eventually, Comcast merged with MediaOne and took over as the area's cable provider. The company continued to operate the UPN affiliate on cable channel 8 which resumed using fictional call letters, "WNFM".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNFM-TV

And it was still listed on Comcast's on-screen guide for a time after it went dark.

So why is there still a listing on TV Guide? My best guess? Once Comcast made the decision to shut down, they stopped buying syndicated programs. As contracts ran out, large blocks of their day were filled by This TV, one of the country’s digital networks, usually carried by on a television station’s digital sub channels. Eventually, and before My 8 signed off, This took over the bulk of the schedule.

http://www.naplesnews.com/columnist...er-holt-and-wnfm-ep-1133630077-334590361.html

 

[mvcg66b3r]

God’s Learning Channel – four stations in Texas with short towers, crappy signals, crappier shows.

KPCB Snyder – supposed to serve Abilene, but barely gets out of Snyder. It used to have a translator in Abilene, but it’s now off the air.

KPTB Lubbock – same situation as the Odessa station.

From tvfan2011 on the AVS Forum:

Looks like God's Learning Channel is having some financial problems. KPTB-DT 16-1 is off the air right now. It doesn't even show up on a rescan. I'm guessing their station down in Snyder, KPCB-DT 17-1, might be off air as well.

Found this on the GLC Facebook page tonight:

"URGENT! GLC has disconnected from the SES-1 satellite. This means that we cannot broadcast to several of our markets. We GREATLY need your financial support to finalize our complete transition to the Galaxy 19! Viewers in those areas will appreciate your support!"

 

[mvcg66b3r]

From The TeeVee Guyd on Facebook on the lack of diginets in San Diego:

In the past 5 years, as diginets have exploded onto the scene, it's been interesting to see how the networks gain affiliates via charter affiliation deals, as well as subsequent deals to gain entry into other markets. One thing is clear, among the top 40 markets, San Diego is the worst for diginets. Only 6 are available there. It's not unusual for small markets to have only a few because of less available stations, but San Diego has more than enough stations to have many other diginets. Antenna TV and This TV are there because of Tribune-owned KSWB. Cozi TV is there because of NBC-owned KNSD. Laff is there because of Scripps' deal with the network. Only Me-TV on KFMB is there because of choice on the part of the station's owner. The sixth diginet is public TV Spanish-language network, V-me, on KPBS. Independent KUSI has no diginets/subchannels at all. Some markets are very diginet friendly. Sadly, a Top 30 market like San Diego is not.

https://www.facebook.com/TheTeeVeeGuyd/posts/903760039714972

 

[Sammi Brie]

From The TeeVee Guyd on Facebook on the lack of diginets in San Diego...

It doesn't help that there are a bunch of Mexican stations in Tijuana. In Mexico, you have to get IFT approval to multiplex your station (complete with having to describe your programming and whatnot), and I think that adds a whopping two or three additional signals (Once Niños, Proyecto 40 and Canal 5, which isn't on its own station in Tijuana and all of which are national).