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Cable systems carrying three stations of the same network
- Thread starter the golden boy
- Start date
In SC, this mainly happened in the Myrtle Beach area. Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet, Surfside Beach and a couple other towns carried three NBCs all the way till 2008. They carried WCBD, WECT and WIS. When Myrtle Beach got a new NBC, WMBF, WIS and WECT were dropped, but WCBD stayed on. WIS's syndicated programming was blacked out, because almost all of it aired on Myrtle Beach stations or WECT. They kept it for local news for the vacationers from the Columbia area.
They had two CBSs (WBTW and WCSC), two ABCs (WCIV and WPDE), and two Fox (WFXB and WTAT), but 3 NBCs.
They had two CBSs (WBTW and WCSC), two ABCs (WCIV and WPDE), and two Fox (WFXB and WTAT), but 3 NBCs.
S
searadiofreak
Guest
As evidenced by the responses, this exists in various places, a more likely scenerio would be two stations of a single network on a cable system. How many blackout duplicate programming is probably another topic.
I recently was in NW Arkansas and found the network stations on cable in Fayetteville to be all over the place. Some truely local, (Fayetteville and environs), one from Springfield, MO, and one, KTUL, from Tulsa, OK! What a weird hodge-podge, and quite a few duplicate network signals on the system.
I recently was in NW Arkansas and found the network stations on cable in Fayetteville to be all over the place. Some truely local, (Fayetteville and environs), one from Springfield, MO, and one, KTUL, from Tulsa, OK! What a weird hodge-podge, and quite a few duplicate network signals on the system.
ajc_trw said:
I think they have to carry Philadelphia because it's IN DMA. Fios has to carry Salisbury because the stations out of Salisbury, with the Salisbury COL are closer to Dover, than Philadelphia. Unlike satellite, cable companies must carry the closest network affiliate of a network. It permits WGAL to be kept in Reading, PA and some parts of the Chester County in the Philadelphia region.
Salisbury is 10 miles closer than Philadelphia. Baltimore is a somewhat of bonus though, though it's closer than Philly as well. I don't think Comcast offers Baltimore in Central DE. Only Southern DE.
But Verizon is generally more tolerant about carrying multiple affiliates, as seen in areas like Howard County, MD and Princeton, NJ - while Comcast, on the other hand, has tried to remove redundancies to what is possible.
Cablevision still carries Philly stations in southern Monmouth County on low tier numbering. If it was Comcast operating the system, the out of market stations would have been removed or relegated to 3 digit numbering SD only.
Given that Central DE isn't technically in Philadelphia's metropolitan region, and Philly could care less about it (they prefer PA and NJ counties, and last would be DE), it'd be interesting if it was shifted into Salisbury DMA one day. The Salisbury stations would love to add that county, and it'd bump the DMA status significantly.
Until our cable company pulled up stakes, we always had three NBC stations: WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio; WBOY, Clarksburg, WV and WTAP, Parkersburg, WV. We also had two CBS offerings: WDTV, Clarksburg and WTRF in Wheeling, WV. We didn't get a FOX affiliate until a couple of years or so before the end of our 'name the new cable company this week' run.
In the early days of Akron Cablevision here in NE Ohio:
NBC (WKYC/3 Cleveland, WFMJ/21 Youngstown, WSTV/9 Steubenville)
CBS (WJW/8 Cleveland, WKBN/27 Youngstown, WTRF/7 Wheeling WV)
I seem to recall that WSTV and WTRF had part-time carriage - perhaps to get around Cleveland Browns blackouts - and shared a channel.
They went away first, then the Youngstown stations did. I believe Akron Cablevision never carried the Youngstown ABC affiliate, WYTV/33, probably because it's always had the weakest signal.
I don't recall if they carried PBS affiliate WNEO/45 Alliance in the 4 years it was alone, before simulcaster WEAO/49 Akron showed up.
NBC (WKYC/3 Cleveland, WFMJ/21 Youngstown, WSTV/9 Steubenville)
CBS (WJW/8 Cleveland, WKBN/27 Youngstown, WTRF/7 Wheeling WV)
I seem to recall that WSTV and WTRF had part-time carriage - perhaps to get around Cleveland Browns blackouts - and shared a channel.
They went away first, then the Youngstown stations did. I believe Akron Cablevision never carried the Youngstown ABC affiliate, WYTV/33, probably because it's always had the weakest signal.
I don't recall if they carried PBS affiliate WNEO/45 Alliance in the 4 years it was alone, before simulcaster WEAO/49 Akron showed up.
I'm not sure if that ever happened in the Pittsburgh area, but until not so long ago one could get, along with KDKA-2 (CBS), WTAE-4 (ABC), WIIC/WPXI-11 (NBC, I'm referring to its original callsign here as well) and WPGH-53 (Fox) depending on the system:
WDTV-5 (CBS) Weston, WV
WJAC-6 (NBC) in Johnstown (still available, I think on Channel 192, on the Greensburg Comcast system because of WJAC's occasional coverage of Westmoreland County news and regular coverage of its weather)
WTRF-7 (first NBC, then CBS) in Wheeling
WWCP-8 (Fox) in Johnstown
WSTV/WTOV-9 (first CBS, then NBC) in Steubenville.
WBOY-12 (NBC) in Clarksburg
I'm southeast of Pittsburgh, but northwest of the city one would have often found (and still do) WFMJ-21 (NBC), WKBN-27 (CBS) and WYTV-33 (ABC) out of Youngstown. (I give you Greenville and New Wilmington, PA, as such communities, where cable has both Pittsburgh and Youngstown network affiliates.)
Morgantown, which has been (and I believe still is) part of Pittsburgh's ADI, has Channel 24, a PBS station (I don't recall the callsign) that certainly also is a factor in the Weston-Clarksburg-Fairmont area (which also has a Fox UHF that at one time was a religious station and a low-power UHF repeater of Greensburg's religious WPCB-40 in the Pittsburgh market).
I've noted before how WSTV/WTOV turned up on cable as far east as Philipsburg, PA, just west of State College. That area once had on cable Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lancaster/Harrisburg outlets (including WGAL-8, even after WWCP was short-spaced into Johnstown), though again I don't know if any three-of-the-same-network turned up in Happy Valley.
WDTV-5 (CBS) Weston, WV
WJAC-6 (NBC) in Johnstown (still available, I think on Channel 192, on the Greensburg Comcast system because of WJAC's occasional coverage of Westmoreland County news and regular coverage of its weather)
WTRF-7 (first NBC, then CBS) in Wheeling
WWCP-8 (Fox) in Johnstown
WSTV/WTOV-9 (first CBS, then NBC) in Steubenville.
WBOY-12 (NBC) in Clarksburg
I'm southeast of Pittsburgh, but northwest of the city one would have often found (and still do) WFMJ-21 (NBC), WKBN-27 (CBS) and WYTV-33 (ABC) out of Youngstown. (I give you Greenville and New Wilmington, PA, as such communities, where cable has both Pittsburgh and Youngstown network affiliates.)
Morgantown, which has been (and I believe still is) part of Pittsburgh's ADI, has Channel 24, a PBS station (I don't recall the callsign) that certainly also is a factor in the Weston-Clarksburg-Fairmont area (which also has a Fox UHF that at one time was a religious station and a low-power UHF repeater of Greensburg's religious WPCB-40 in the Pittsburgh market).
I've noted before how WSTV/WTOV turned up on cable as far east as Philipsburg, PA, just west of State College. That area once had on cable Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lancaster/Harrisburg outlets (including WGAL-8, even after WWCP was short-spaced into Johnstown), though again I don't know if any three-of-the-same-network turned up in Happy Valley.
In my hometown of Amherst, NS north of the border, through the 70s into the early 80s we had 3 flavors of CBC (CHSJ Saint John, CBCT Charlottetown, and CBHT Halifax) and 2 CTVs (CKCW Moncton and CJCH Halifax, both ATV but with more local differences in those days-i.e. local news in each area). CBCT, CHSJ (now CBAT) and CKCW were/are OTA signals in the area, with the Halifax stations fed via microwave. These days, cable viewers get CBHT and CKCW for signals. Sat viewers have it better off- Bell TV, which I subscribe to, picks up CBHT and CJCH and relays news from CBCT and CBAT on their news overflow channels.
mescutia said:
Years ago when the cable system in Manchester was United Cable Company of NH it carried WCVB, WMUR and WMTW. WMTW was eventually dropped in favor if carrying CKSH out of Sherbrooke, PQ full time if I remember correctly.
Before the Myrtle Beach market got their own local NBC affilate (WMBF) their used to be 3 NBC stations.
WCBD 2 - Charleston, SC
WECT 6 - Wilmington, NC
WIS 10 - Coulmbia, SC
WCBD 2 - Charleston, SC
WECT 6 - Wilmington, NC
WIS 10 - Coulmbia, SC
Wow, this is a much more common practice that what I thought! But out of curiosity, what's the purpose of carrying so many same-network stations?
...to a certain extent, we had that on the Oshkosh WI Warner Amex system in the late '70s. WBAY-TV/2 Green Bay and WITI/6 Milwaukee were CBS affiliates at the time, and the CBS O&O in Chicago, WBBM-TV/2, would be seen when WVTV/18 Milwaukee signed off the air for the night. No network programs over WBBM-TV, mind you, but they were all on the system every day...
the golden boy said:
Some out of market stations may carry some syndicated programs that a station in the primary market doesn't. They may also show different teams. Probably news mostly.
And in the early days of cable, it was more "Community Access TV", with a master antenna to bring clear reception of broadcast channels.
This was long before today's 500 channel universe. There was no CNN, no HBO, or anything of the sort.
This was long before today's 500 channel universe. There was no CNN, no HBO, or anything of the sort.
In the late '60s/early '70s Cocoa, FL had three NBC
affiliates on its cable system:
2 WESH Daytona Beach/Orlando
5 WPTV West Palm Beach
8 WFLA Tampa
There were two CBS affiliates:
6 WDBO (now WKMG) Orlando
13 WTVT Tampa
But oddly, only one ABC affiliate:
9 WFTV Orlando
although southern Brevard County also got 12 WPEC
West Palm Beach (ABC at the time)
The ABC affiliate in St. Petersburg was not available in
Brevard County, although independent WTOG was (perhaps
because WTOG was an independent).
affiliates on its cable system:
2 WESH Daytona Beach/Orlando
5 WPTV West Palm Beach
8 WFLA Tampa
There were two CBS affiliates:
6 WDBO (now WKMG) Orlando
13 WTVT Tampa
But oddly, only one ABC affiliate:
9 WFTV Orlando
although southern Brevard County also got 12 WPEC
West Palm Beach (ABC at the time)
The ABC affiliate in St. Petersburg was not available in
Brevard County, although independent WTOG was (perhaps
because WTOG was an independent).
I used to get 5 very clear ABC's off the air in Central MA-NW of Worc- Mt. Greylock 75 mi NW, Manchester NH-60 mi NE, Prov-New Bedford 60 mi S, Boston, 35 mi E and Mt Tom-Springfield at 50 mi SW.
Plus 2 more on Ch 8- New Haven and Mt. Wash but those were quite weak and fuzzy.
Proves that we are paying more for less today particularly when the primary (and usually only) affiliate is running infomercials on a weekend afternoon.
Places that have terrible OTA reception like Brattleboro VT still have multiple affiliates on their cable systems.
Plus 2 more on Ch 8- New Haven and Mt. Wash but those were quite weak and fuzzy.
Proves that we are paying more for less today particularly when the primary (and usually only) affiliate is running infomercials on a weekend afternoon.
Places that have terrible OTA reception like Brattleboro VT still have multiple affiliates on their cable systems.
nomadcowatbk said:
News certainly is a reason today. While Pittsburgh stations do a decent job of covering major stories throughout the city's ADI, in some areas chances are the better job will be from a closer station (Youngstown in Lawrence and Mercer counties, Wheeling to some extent in Greene and western Washington).
Heritage is another. WJAC was NBC for many Pittsburgh area viewers until WIIC (now WPXI) came on the air. Youngstown's Channel 33 originally was New Castle's WKST-TV.
I remember back in the early 1980's in Connecticut. we had 3 NBC affil's.WNBC New York ,WVIT Hartford and WATR ch 20 Waterbury which is WCCT now.Was on Rollins cable at the time.Now Comcast.
Arizona's DMAs are huge, so the answer is no in most all cases. Only area that might be like that is the Fredonia-Beaver Dam area on the AZ Strip with connections to Utah, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. Not sure. Page's lineup is all-AZ.
Casa Grande once had two of some affiliates (2004 channel lineup). They've gone to all Phoenix now, sadly.
Casa Grande once had two of some affiliates (2004 channel lineup). They've gone to all Phoenix now, sadly.
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