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Are their any independent local stations anymore?

W

WillowsIvy

Going down nostalgia lane and long for growing up in the 90s and seeing the "mid day matinee"or the late night movie with a block called "up all night" ...does anyone know of any local TV stations who are stuck in this time period? If so can you tell me of some?
 
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We have WJTC aka UTV44, been independent for almost 10 years after UPN ended. WJTC is Deerfield-owned with sister station WPMI which is affiliate with Roar after NBC moved to WEAR 3.2. WJTC airs mostly courtroom shows, movies on the weekends, and NBC 15 news at 7pm on the weekdays.
 
Its rarer now given where we are. The ones I seen if there are "Independent" stations now are those that are part of a duopoly with the main Network O&O. KPYX San Francisco and KMAX Sacramento are owned by Paramount and may carry CBS Content whenever their main CBS affiliate like KOVR Sacramento and KPIX San Francisco airs Breaking News or conflicts with CBS Sports Broadcasts. Others I seen rebroadcast and affiliated with FAST Channels.
 
kokoroanime said:
We have WJTC aka UTV44, been independent for almost 10 years after UPN ended. WJTC is Deerfield-owned with sister station WPMI which is affiliate with Roar after NBC moved to WEAR 3.2. WJTC airs mostly courtroom shows, movies on the weekends, and NBC 15 news at 7pm on the weekdays.
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Is stereotypical of a 90s station you?
 
Y2kTheNewOldies said:
Its rarer now given where we are. The ones I seen if there are "Independent" stations now are those that are part of a duopoly with the main Network O&O. KPYX San Francisco and KMAX Sacramento are owned by Paramount and may carry CBS Content whenever their main CBS affiliate like KOVR Sacramento and KPIX San Francisco airs Breaking News or conflicts with CBS Sports Broadcasts. Others I seen rebroadcast and affiliated with FAST Channels.
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Do they remind you at all of what I described?
 
vchimpanzee said:
WCCB Charlotte is locally owned and by itself in the market. The CW dropped the station. It was Fox for years but Fox moved to the UPN/CW station and WCCB got The CW, until a station co-owned with the Fox station got The CW.

Lots of sports. I wish they still had as many movies as they once did.
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WCCB has now been dumped by three different national networks.

In the late 70s, it lost its affiliation with ABC when ABC moved to a VHF channel, displacing NBC. NBC opted to affiliate with WRET ch 36 rather than go to WCCB. When Fox launched, they affiliated with WCCB, but as you note they subsequently dropped WCCB. And, as you note, the CW has since done the same. It makes me wonder what about this station is so jinxed?
 
And to answer the original poster's question: no, those kinds of stations don't exist anymore.

While independent TV stations (ie, those that aren't affiliated with any national network) do still exist, they are pretty much always part of a duopoly with another station that is a network affiliate. 90% of the time, they serve as a dumping ground for third-rate syndicated court shows and other low-rated product, with perhaps a rebroadcast of local newscasts from their duopoly partner.

There are also a handful of independent stations that have a heavy focus on local news. A good example is WJXT in Jacksonville, FL.

But if you're looking for the sort of independent station that used to run a mix of syndicated comedy reruns, movies, sports, and children's programs, that model died over twenty years ago. It's not surprising that many of us feel nostalgic for such stations -- anyone who grew up during the 70s, 80s, or 90s probably grew up with that sort of station. And that certainly includes me.

The problem is that most of the programming mix that those stations carried is now available in multiple other places. More often than not, the programs are available on multiple diginets and cable networks, streaming services, and DVD or Blu-Ray pre recorded media.

So it's not that nostalgia doesn't pay -- apparently it can pay pretty well judging by the success that Weigel Broadcasting is having with diginets like ME-TV and Heroes & Icons -- but rather that local independent stations didn't turn out to be where that nostalgia is best fulfilled. But I have wondered how it would work if one of the multitude of nostalgia channels (ME-TV, Antenna-TV, etc) tried using some of the formatics of those old independent TV stations in their on-air imaging.
 
CHCH-11 Hamilton ON may be the closest one. Lots of classic TV shows on weekdays, local news, Nightline from ABC, and classic movies on Saturday/Sunday.
 
TexasTom said:
And to answer the original poster's question: no, those kinds of stations don't exist anymore.

While independent TV stations (ie, those that aren't affiliated with any national network) do still exist, they are pretty much always part of a duopoly with another station that is a network affiliate. 90% of the time, they serve as a dumping ground for third-rate syndicated court shows and other low-rated product, with perhaps a rebroadcast of local newscasts from their duopoly partner.

There are also a handful of independent stations that have a heavy focus on local news. A good example is WJXT in Jacksonville, FL.

But if you're looking for the sort of independent station that used to run a mix of syndicated comedy reruns, movies, sports, and children's programs, that model died over twenty years ago. It's not surprising that many of us feel nostalgic for such stations -- anyone who grew up during the 70s, 80s, or 90s probably grew up with that sort of station. And that certainly includes me.

The problem is that most of the programming mix that those stations carried is now available in multiple other places. More often than not, the programs are available on multiple diginets and cable networks, streaming services, and DVD or Blu-Ray pre recorded media.

So it's not that nostalgia doesn't pay -- apparently it can pay pretty well judging by the success that Weigel Broadcasting is having with diginets like ME-TV and Heroes & Icons -- but rather that local independent stations didn't turn out to be where that nostalgia is best fulfilled. But I have wondered how it would work if one of the multitude of nostalgia channels (ME-TV, Antenna-TV, etc) tried using some of the formatics of those old independent TV stations in their on-air imaging.
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Great post, and I have said the same thing about a creation of a station like the 80s/90s...it would be interesting to know if there is still one station like that out in america that we dont know about.
 
TexasTom said:
WCCB has now been dumped by three different national networks.

In the late 70s, it lost its affiliation with ABC when ABC moved to a VHF channel, displacing NBC. NBC opted to affiliate with WRET ch 36 rather than go to WCCB. When Fox launched, they affiliated with WCCB, but as you note they subsequently dropped WCCB. And, as you note, the CW has since done the same. It makes me wonder what about this station is so jinxed?
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There is also WAXN in that market, nominally independent, but as a practical matter, a sidecar of WSOC.

WCCB is owned by the Bahakel group, which has a handful of TV stations in the Southeast. It might be that networks prefer to affiliate with larger companies that have more resources, and that are possibly in a better position to pay reverse compensation. I'm just guessing.
 
WillowsIvy said:
Do they remind you at all of what I described?
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Yes when TV 20 San Francisco was owned by James Gabbert, KBHK-TV when Field Communications owned the station, KICU was really in San Jose they were independent TV Stations in San Francisco that got by with syndicated programming in the 1980’s to the early 1990’s. But that was prior to KBHK becoming a UPN affiliate, KOFY getting the WB affiliation and KICU being a secondary Fox affiliate.



 
CJON-21 St. John's and Labrador, Newfoundland:

en.wikipedia.org

CJON-DT - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

You can watch their daily local newscasts live at https://ntvplus.ca/ when they're airing on CJON-21. Otherwise NTV+ streams archives of old CJON programming produced in-house from decades past. It doesn't get any more "small town local television" than that.

Direct links for playback in VLC and other HLS-compatible video players:

https://2-fss-1.streamhoster.com/pl_122/201748-1431018-1/playlist.m3u8 (480p)
https://2-fss-1.streamhoster.com/pl_122/amlst:201748-1431018/playlist.m3u8 (1080p)
 
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radialentertainment.com

Radial Entertainment

Radial Entertainment
radialentertainment.com radialentertainment.com

Also there’s another one there are production companies that deal with syndicated content. But their distribution deals go to FAST channels and other on demand content as seen here. Also some shows are syndicated to YouTube via Radial Entertainment as we seen here. If one is wondering why we cannot have independent TV stations operate in the same way when James Gabbert owned KOFY-TV/KTZO-TV 20 San Francisco in the 1980’s and 1990’s or KDOC-TV Los Angeles pre TCT affiliation it’s because the business model shifted to TV apps. Likewise in other threads we mentioned that NBC shut down their syndication division as part of the move to protect and generate viewers to the Peacock app. It’s all part of where we are now with independent television.

Radial Entertainment boasts a diverse library of over 70,000 movies and episodes, making it the largest independent catalog in the industry. The company delivers high-quality entertainment across all major consumer platforms including FAST channels, AVOD, SVOD, TVOD, physical product, theatrical film and more. Its programming spans a wide range of genres, including true crime, reality, animation, action, westerns, award-winning titles, classics, creator content, U.K. content, medical, food, cult classics, and horror.
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m.youtube.com

FilmRise Television

Find your next TV obsession on FilmRise Television. Binge iconic series like UNTOLD STORIES OF THE ER, CHEATERS, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, THE RIFLEMAN, IRON CHEF and more. FilmRise Television is operated by Radial Entertainment, a newly formed global entertainment company brings timeless...
m.youtube.com m.youtube.com

deadline.com

NBCU Exits First-Run Syndication; 'Access Hollywood', 'Steve Wilkos' End

NBCUniversal is exiting the first-run syndication business. 'The Steve Wilkos,' 'Karamo', 'Access Hollywood' & 'Access Live' will end this season.
deadline.com deadline.com
 
vchimpanzee said:
Forgot that one. It was Pax at one time, but not a very loyal affiliate of that network.
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Kind of a side thought, four stations in the Charlotte market (five if you count WUNG) are not actually licensed to Charlotte, but rather to suburban and exurban cities in the area, WJZY (Belmont), WMYT (Rock Hill), WAXN (Kannapolis), WWJS (Hickory), and WUNG (Concord). With the exception of WWJS, which continues WHKY's long-running local news on 14.2, none of these stations specifically cover issues in their COL. WMYT does air South Carolina lottery drawings.

I suppose WNSC Rock Hill, SCETV's station in that part of the state, should also be included.
 


IntroductionKBFD

KBFD is the only locally owned independent television station in Honolulu, Hawaii. KBFD is devoted to entertaining Hawaii’s people. KBS, MBC, SBS, the three largest television networks in Korea, and Y
kbfd.com kbfd.com

KBFD-TV Honolulu It is one of a few TV stations around the country to air programs in Korean.

KBFD is the only locally owned independent television station in Honolulu, Hawaii. KBFD is devoted to entertaining Hawaii’s people.

KBS, MBC, SBS, the three largest television networks in Korea, and YTN provide KBFD-TV with the most popular programs including traditional and modern dramas, mini-series, comedy, children’s programming, variety shows, local and national news.

KBFD’s experience in broadcasting dates back to 1976 when it was operating as Voice of Korea.
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KIKU-TV is another one of these notable TV stations that air content thats in Japanese and Tagalog. But in practice is an extension of ABC affiliate KITV. In other words there are independent TV station that air content that is not in English or Spanish but thats rare example and increasingly that content is mainly seen on various TV apps.

www.animenewsnetwork.com

Hawaii's KIKU-TV Relaunches as Part of KITV4 Network

Channel resumes airing Japanese, Filipino programming; will add Hawaiian cultural programming
www.animenewsnetwork.com www.animenewsnetwork.com

The official website for Hawaii's KITV4 channel announced on January 31 that the KIKU-TV channel has relaunched as KITV4's sister channel. Byron Allen, owner of Allen Media Broadcasting and KITV4, closed the purchase of the channel on January 31.

The channel started airing on February 1 and features Japanese and Filipino programming, with plans to add Hawaiian cultural programming in the future. In addition, the channel also airs KITV4 Island News programming. The channel plans to air programming that had been aired on KIKU-TV before for the first few months, and then plans to add new programming. KITV4 newscasters stated the programming will include English subtitles.
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And KTSF San Francisco the station most notable for airing local Bay Area news in Cantonese and Mandarin is one of a few TV stations to air a local newscast in those languages. They are also notable for airing a network newscast from the Philippines. Lets just say there were independent TV stations in the United States that at one time peaked because they aired content specific to demographics of their cities and it worked back then. However as always the production companies that made the content moved their distribution to Youtube only or other TV apps because thats where the audience went in the past decade.

TV Patrol: International Edition Promo (1993)
 
A long time ago, my dream was to be program director for an independent station. In the 80s, many of them would show their movies uncut and uncensored. I thought by the year 2000, they'd have even more freedom of content but instead it got far more repressed. KTXL in Sacramento started editing movies after numerous complaints, and it was never the same after that- of course the Fox network soon started also and completely killed what that station used to be. If I ran a station now I'd still try to be daring and show things that were hard to find elsewhere. REALLY glad I didn't end up working in TV though, I likely would have found some way out of it by now if I had.
 
Alan Smithee said:
A long time ago, my dream was to be program director for an independent station. In the 80s, many of them would show their movies uncut and uncensored. I thought by the year 2000, they'd have even more freedom of content but instead it got far more repressed. KTXL in Sacramento started editing movies after numerous complaints, and it was never the same after that- of course the Fox network soon started also and completely killed what that station used to be. If I ran a station now I'd still try to be daring and show things that were hard to find elsewhere. REALLY glad I didn't end up working in TV though, I likely would have found some way out of it by now if I had.
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KTXL was a top shelf, first class shop back in the 1970s and 1980s. I was privileged to know one of its lead engineers there for more than a decade. He was a consummate audiophile and videophile past whom nothing technically unprofessional or incompetent could slip without being noticed. He made sure everything important coming out of KTXL (non-newsie and non-spot material) looked and sounded like it was rolling virtually off the original master tapes, and he waged extensive "battles" on the phone with various uplink centers and tape distributors over time to have re-feeds done, or substandard film/tape shipments re-sent, whenever the station was sent slop that fell short of absolutely professional broadcast audiovisual standards. He actually insisted, well into the era of full playout automation, on continuing to roll everything full manual in master control during his shifts (which included prime time) because it simply "looked better." If you recall how nothing airing on KTXL during those years ever looked upcut or downcut -- how the ends of episode and movie segments with trailing musical fade-outs or reverbs always reached their absolute ends, even if it meant the screen staying black for 4-5 seconds before the commercials began, that was always him, doing it by hand. Same with going back into program segments from breaks. The spots end, a few seconds of black so the audience can exhale after all the noisy dancing energizer rabbits, etc., and the film gracefully resumes. Very old guard in his respect for content creators and the audience. And I also heard testimony through him about how good the management was during that era, like about their willingness to do the things you just described.

Compared to the kinds of perfectionists the broadcast industry had working in it during its peak, it pains me every time I see Youtube smash-cut an ad into a video I'm watching mid-sentence. Same with platforms like Pluto and the like. The people running those services are pure technicians, not artisans. Broadcast engineering used to require having one foot on each side of the fence.
 


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