Closest "Full" Markets To Each Other

[BRNout]

Quite unlike Dallas and Fort Worth (which is the model that you inadvertently proposed), Washington and Baltimore do not and never have shared the same cultural interests. And, back when TV markets were first established, Baltimore was considered to be a very big city. It's population has remained relatively stable while Washington has exploded into a top 10 market. However, they have remained distinct - the new DC commuter communities near Baltimore not withstanding.

It's not just a TV thing. Look at sports, culture, food and self-identity. Baltimore, for the most part, has it's own stuff and doesn't depend on Washington much more than Philly depends on New York. It's not just 'blue-collar,' it's also a historic port city. It's more ethnic (like Philadelphia) and far more Catholic than Washington. And (now) far, far less hispanic than the DC market. Culturally and demographically, there are a lot of differences.

If you've ever spent any time in Baltimore, then in Washington (or vice versa), you would no longer be mystified as to why they aren't one market. It's appropriate that they are separate markets.

 

[mimic001]

I believe upon closer inspection you would find many markets within 60 miles of each other with a full complement of TV affiliates, especially in the Northeast.

However, Buffalo-Rochester is a strange case.

The Rochester official Arbitron metro area includes the counties of Orleans and Genesee (these counties are directly west of Rochester) and are counted among the radio ratings for Rochester. BUT, these two counties are a part of the Buffalo TV DMA and are counted in the Nielsen Ratings for Buffalo. I think, and I may be wrong it's a rare case of a cross-pollination of market areas differentiated by medium. So technically, people in these two counties recevie advertisement equally from both markets.

 

[kenrayc]

The San Francisco and Sacramento/Stockton market is the same way ,ther are several North and East bay cities like Fairfield, Concord , Pittsburgh, and the Napa Valley that Has Grade A reception from both markets. The cable companies in most of those areas carry both markets with no blackout rule so you get 2 choices of all 7 networks.

 

[fybush]

I believe upon closer inspection you would find many markets within 60 miles of each other with a full complement of TV affiliates, especially in the Northeast.

However, Buffalo-Rochester is a strange case.

The Rochester official Arbitron metro area includes the counties of Orleans and Genesee (these counties are directly west of Rochester) and are counted among the radio ratings for Rochester. BUT, these two counties are a part of the Buffalo TV DMA and are counted in the Nielsen Ratings for Buffalo. I think, and I may be wrong it's a rare case of a cross-pollination of market areas differentiated by medium. So technically, people in these two counties recevie advertisement equally from both markets.

That's not atypical for the border area between closely-spaced markets. Genesee and Orleans have bounced back and forth between the Buffalo and Rochester markets over the years, depending on which end of the counties gets more diaries.

If you live in eastern Orleans or eastern Genesee (Albion, Le Roy, Pavilion), you probably shop in Rochester, listen to Rochester radio and watch Rochester TV, regardless of what the official market definitions say. If you live in western Orleans or western Genesee, you're more likely to shop in Buffalo and consume Buffalo media.

Neither county represents a particularly large fraction of the total market population in either adjacent big city, so it's never about much more than bragging rights for the Rochester and Buffalo stations.

Aside from a few car dealers that advertise on both Rochester and Buffalo TV, the local businesses in Batavia (the commercial center of Genesee County) tend to advertise almost exclusively with their local media - WBTA radio, the Batavia Daily News, etc.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Chicago and Milwaukee should certainly qualify in this situation. The two cities' downtown centers are roughly 90 miles apart, and there are only three counties in between Milwaukee and Cook (Chicago) Counties--Lake in Illinois, Kenosha and Racine in Wisconsin.

ABC: 7-Chicago, 12-Milwaukee
CBS: 2-Chicago, 58-Milwaukee
CW: 9-Chicago, 18-Milwaukee
Fox: 6-Milwaukee, 32-Chicago
My: 24-Milwaukee, 50-Chicago
NBC: 4-Milwaukee, 5-Chicago
PBS: 10, 36-Milwaukee, 11, 20, 56-Chicago

If you want to extend it to Ion, there's 38 in Chicago and 55 in Milwaukee.

Los Angeles and San Diego would qualify here as well, if you leave out Ion, since they have no over-the-air station in San Diego (the cable companies in S.D. provide either a West Coast feed or KPXN from L.A.). Outside of that, full over-the-air affiliations across the board with all major networks.

Tampa-Saint Peterburg and Orlando-Daytona Beach

ABC: 9-Orlando, 28-Tampa (you could also include Sarasota's WWSB, since it's part of the Tampa Bay market)
CBS: 6-Orlando, 10-Tampa
CW: 18-Orlando, 44-Tampa
Fox: 13-Tampa, 35-Orlando
My: 38-Tampa, 65-Orlando
NBC: 2-Orlando, 8-Tampa
PBS: 3, 16-Tampa, 15, 24, 68-Orlando

Bringing in Ion again...56-Orlando, 66-Tampa

 

[kenrayc]

The San Francisco and Sacramento/Stockton markets are much closer together than the Los Angeles and San Diego markets when you go by distance of transmitters. Los Angeles to San Diego is 100 miles , SF to Sac./Stockton is 60 miles. KCRA the NBC affiliate for Sacramento at one time had a News and sales office in San Francisco.

 

[fybush]

In the national scheme of things, I think 60-100 miles between markets is more normal than not, though obviously not always with the "full complement" of networks that was in the original qualifier in this thread.

Even so, there are plenty of market pairs in the "60-70-mile club" with a full or nearly-full complement - Miami/West Palm Beach, with significant overlap in Broward County; Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point to Raleigh; Madison to Milwaukee; Detroit/Toledo - and some even closer ones without full complements of affiliates: Kansas City/Topeka, Syracuse/Utica, Binghamton/Elmira, Pittsburgh/Wheeling-Steubenville, Wheeling-Steubenville/Youngstown...just to name a few.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

In the national scheme of things, I think 60-100 miles between markets is more normal than not, though obviously not always with the "full complement" of networks that was in the original qualifier in this thread.

Even so, there are plenty of market pairs in the "60-70-mile club" with a full or nearly-full complement - Miami/West Palm Beach, with significant overlap in Broward County; Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point to Raleigh; Madison to Milwaukee; Detroit/Toledo - and some even closer ones without full complements of affiliates: Kansas City/Topeka, Syracuse/Utica, Binghamton/Elmira, Pittsburgh/Wheeling-Steubenville, Wheeling-Steubenville/Youngstown...just to name a few.

As a more extreme example, you could also add the likes of Kansas City/St. Joseph (you could also make a case to flip St. Joe's KQTV-2 from ABC to NBC).

 

[jerseyfla]

Miami and West Palm Beach are very close, in fact so close I feel that half the stations newscasts in the Palm Beach market cater more to Broward County than Indian River County which is in their DMA. The two biggest stations in the the WPB market WPTV and WPEC's signals completely cover Broward County but don't cover Indian River County at all. There are many commercials on the Palm Beach stations that advertise happenings in Broward and Dade County.