DMAs that should be merged into others

[ding12]

DMA are a product of Nielsen who can change them anytime it wants.

Now the federal government uses Nielsen's markets just because it's easier to do so, than create their own.

I just finished a great book on the history of cable TV and almost all of these small or odd markets were the result of strong politicians in Congress. It amazes me how much fiddling they did.

I also think in some cases the big four networks can influence DMA maps.

Suppose Comcast/NBC made a deal with WFMZ 69 in Allentown where Ch. 69 picks up NBC affiliation and Comcast agrees that WCAU and WNBC are not seen on Lehigh Valley cable systems. I think WNBC was already removed actually. In exchange, WFMZ is deleted from all the Comcast systems in the Philly DMA and there is reverse compensation involved. I don't see it happening but let's say WFMZ was losing money in it's current form and wanted the deal. Wouldn't such trigger an Allentown DMA? Or would the power from KYW (CBS), WPVI (ABC) and WTXF (Fox) work to keep it within Philly market?

I always thought Allentown was too far from the Philly region and the only thing tying it to Philly was the DMA. It's not in the same MSA and the region is supposedly having ties to the New York region more.

US Air operates a ABE-PHL flight which is indicative that area is far enough away to warrant a flight. There is also a Flagstaff to PHX flight and both are within the PHX DMA but it's likely not unusual out west. Do other airline hubs, possibly LAX or DEN, have a regional jet flight to an airport that's within it's DMA?

 

[mvcg66b3r]

The same could be said about Atlantic City. If an Atlantic City DMA were created, maybe WMGM would be saved.

Suppose Comcast/NBC made a deal with WMGM 40 in Atlantic City where Ch. 40 keeps its NBC affiliation and Comcast agrees that WCAU is not seen on Atlantic City cable systems. In exchange, WMGM is deleted from all the Comcast systems in the Philly DMA and there is reverse compensation involved. I don't see it happening but let's say WMGM was losing money in it's current form and wanted the deal. Wouldn't such trigger an Atlantic City DMA? Or would the power from KYW (CBS), WPVI (ABC) and WTXF (Fox) work to keep it within Philly market?

 

[ContinuousWave]

I don't see Bryan-College station being broken off into a separate market from Waco. I don't think they have enough viewers and advertiser to support a full slate of affiliates. That's probably why every station in the market is a satellite of one from Waco-Temple. ABC and NBC are on low-power stations.

San Angelo might seem like a logical merger. But I think if that were going to happen, it would have happened years ago. The markets are more split now than they were 20-30 years ago.

Lafayette and Lake Charles, LA, have operated as kind of operated as "complementary" markets for a long time, even though they're closer to Baton Rouge and Beaumont, respectively. A merger might prompt stations to create some kind of presence in the other city. (Of course, they wouldn't really need a market merger to do that, would they?)

LCH and LFT are not veiwable on BPT/BTR respectively.....LCH is only KPLC and KHVP.....NBC and FOX....They were supposed to be served by KLFY and KATC...well, they were on analog...but KLFY is such a flea power on digital it doesnt even cover the entire COL of LFT.....KATC, by going UHF from RF3 and 1MW of full power, covers LFT AND LCH nicely (with KLFY and KATC's 2000 ft towers side by side west of LFT north of Rayne, LA)...

KFDM became the default OTA CBS signal for LCH with those who have outside antennas (after KFDM went to RF25 and fixed their eastern signal)....KBMT does not make it to LCH (but KATC has it covered for ABC anyway) and KBTV is FOX which is already on KVHP...

Even in radio side, the two markets cannot be combined...they dont work out well....LCH is growing but the BPT area is loosing population.....LCH has the casinos...if it didnt, it would be dying as bad as BPT is....

Personally, I cannot see BCS being counted in the Waco market....they are too far apart.....KBTX 3.1 CBS is not a satellite of KWTX (used to be but hasnt been in decades...it started having its own local newscast in the late 70s or early 80s). 3.2 is CW and KYLE is carrying FOX on a high power signal...so there's 3 networks...as many as LCH has....and KVHP did not have local news until recently..(and only at noon).....

Small markets will always exists.....if they are 90-100 miles from a nearby market, they are too far to make a difference in it...a full power TV signal between BPT and HOU would be interesting but noone is going to build that.....the radio rimshots dont make much of a dent in Houston anyway....

 

[ftballfan]

The same could be said about Atlantic City. If an Atlantic City DMA were created, maybe WMGM would be saved.

Lack of Big Three affiliates likely cost some markets counties. For example, if Gainesville had more than one commercial station in the 70s, I feel Bradford, Columbia, and Union counties would have been in the Gainesville market instead of the Jacksonville market (WCJB, the only commercial station from Gainesville for years, gets cable carriage in all three counties).

 

[golden eagles97]

How about Gulfport-Biloxi merging into Mobile-Pensacola? I was in a hotel in Biloxi a few years ago and just about all the M-P stations were carried on the cable system there. G-B has an OTA ABC and Fox affiliate, but no NBC and CBS (though I believe WLOX is carrying CBS on a subchannel).

 

[bpatrick]

What are the chances of any of the following happening:

Birmingham ABC moves to 6.2, 13.2, 21.2, or 42.2

Charleston ABC moves to 2.2, 5.2, 24.2, or 36.2

In particular, would WBRC be willing to take ABC back? Personally, I doubt it for the same reason I don't anticipate a WGHP/WXLV swap--too much potential loss of the revenue that comes in because Fox programs fewer hours per week than ABC. However, I remember that WGXA/24 Macon, GA went from ABC to Fox, ABC landed on WPGA/58, 58's owner complained about the content of some of ABC's programs (particularly the soaps) and dropped ABC, and now ABC is on 24.2. Likewise, KBMT/12 Beaumont, TX (ABC), put NBC on 12.2 when KBTV/4 switched from NBC to Fox.

I also wonder, with Media General wanting to buy LIN Broadcasting (both of which own stations in Birmingham), if ABC will try again to buy WIAT. When WBRC went to Fox, ABC went after Channel 42, which at the time was owned by Media General and elected to stay with CBS. But now 42 could be in play again.
(Actually, 42 has gone from one of CBS's weakest affiliates to one of its strongest in the last five years or so, which makes me doubly curious as to whether ABC could cut a deal.)

Or will Sinclair keep the former Allbritton stations with ABC?

 

[thomwim]

Washington DC is right next to Baltimore, but those markets will never merge for the following reasons.

** Sinclair owns Washington's ABC, and THREE Baltimore stations (CW, Fox, and MyNetworkTV).
** CBS owns its Baltimore Station. NBC, Fox, and MyNetworkTV are Washington's O&O's.
** The market would have FOUR PBS member stations.

 

[ftballfan]

How about Gulfport-Biloxi merging into Mobile-Pensacola? I was in a hotel in Biloxi a few years ago and just about all the M-P stations were carried on the cable system there. G-B has an OTA ABC and Fox affiliate, but no NBC and CBS (though I believe WLOX is carrying CBS on a subchannel).

A more likely merger would have been Gulfport-Biloxi with Hattiesburg

 

[bpatrick]

I retract my speculation about where ABC could go in Birmingham; it's apparently a done deal that WABM will get ABC despite being on Channel 68. Actually, it's not a terrible thing, since WBMA-LP could barely put a signal past the city limits; WABM is on digital 36 (I don't know how great that is, since WSB is on digital 39 and had to have boosters to get into Athens and Rome). I do have a feeling, though, that one county in east Alabama, Cleburne, will stay in the Atlanta DMA; with Anniston's WJSU no longer carrying ABC (or anything else, apparently), WSB on virtual Channel 2 would still seem to be the logical first choice for viewers looking for ABC. What will be even more interesting is, if Media General and Lin merge, does WVTM or WIAT go?

As for Charleston, SC, it doesn't appear that WCBD or WCSC would put ABC on a subchannel.

 

[TVCOOL]

The Boston and Providence DMAs can merge into one.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

The Boston and Providence DMAs can merge into one.

Why is that? Each market has its own set of Big 4 affiliates, and each one has a different owner. Of course, Providence's CW is owned by a spectrum speculator, and who knows where it's going. Also, MNT in Providence is on a subchannel.

 

[ftballfan]

I retract my speculation about where ABC could go in Birmingham; it's apparently a done deal that WABM will get ABC despite being on Channel 68. Actually, it's not a terrible thing, since WBMA-LP could barely put a signal past the city limits; WABM is on digital 36 (I don't know how great that is, since WSB is on digital 39 and had to have boosters to get into Athens and Rome). I do have a feeling, though, that one county in east Alabama, Cleburne, will stay in the Atlanta DMA; with Anniston's WJSU no longer carrying ABC (or anything else, apparently), WSB on virtual Channel 2 would still seem to be the logical first choice for viewers looking for ABC. What will be even more interesting is, if Media General and Lin merge, does WVTM or WIAT go?

As for Charleston, SC, it doesn't appear that WCBD or WCSC would put ABC on a subchannel.

I could see some rebranding in Birmingham. WABM becomes ABC 12 (it's on cable 12 in Birmingham) while WABM-DT2 (and WBMA-LD [which is staying on the air if I read correctly]) becomes the new home of MNTV.

 

[golden eagles97]

A more likely merger would have been Gulfport-Biloxi with Hattiesburg

At one time, this definitely would've had some merit. I found recently that Comcast is no longer carrying WLOX in Hattiesburg (don't know about the satellite providers). I'm not positive about this, but I think Hattiesburg may have their own Fox. If that's the case, it's probably cable only or a subchannel.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

At one time, this definitely would've had some merit. I found recently that Comcast is no longer carrying WLOX in Hattiesburg (don't know about the satellite providers). I'm not positive about this, but I think Hattiesburg may have their own Fox. If that's the case, it's probably cable only or a subchannel.

WLOX has been replaced with WDAM-DT2. FOX is on WHPM-LD. Hattiesburg now has all Big 4 networks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDAM-DT2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHPM-LD

 

[ShawnHill1]

Going back to the Palm Springs market, it would be a "no-go" as well...they have the full set of network affiliations, although PBS has translators in the area via KOCE (Orange County/Los Angeles) and KVCR (San Bernardino/Riverside), and both are on cable there. Palm Springs is just over 100 miles from Los Angeles, and almost 130 miles away from Mount Wilson, where the L.A. TV stations mostly transmit from; that and terrain issues are why Palm Springs would never be folded into the L.A. market, even as vast of a market that L.A. TV market.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Peoria/Bloomington is big enough, and far enough from the Quad Cities, Springfield, and Rockford to justify being its own market. Somehow I think Springfield/Decatur and Champaign/Urbana/Danville could have survived as separate markets, though, but the stations that were built would have had to expand quickly, and the old WCHU/33 Champaign and WAND/24 Danville (originally a standalone ABC affiliate) would not have merged as satellites of WICS.

The old channel 24 in Danville's original calls were actually WDAN (co-owned by the radio station of those same calls). A great website devoted to central Illinois TV history has an excellent story on the history of WDAN-TV on the first page of the WICD-TV history page: http://www.dougquick.com/wicdchampaign2.html

The WAND calls didn't come to the Champaign-Decatur-Springfield-Danville market until the then-WTVP Channel 17 (Decatur) changed to their current WAND calls in 1966. Five years later, the WTVP calls would return to central Illinois--albeit the Peoria-Bloomington part of the region with the sign-on of the PBS outlet at channel 47.

 

[KeithE4]

The old channel 24 in Danville's original calls were actually WDAN (co-owned by the radio station of those same calls). A great website devoted to central Illinois TV history has an excellent story on the history of WDAN-TV on the first page of the WICD-TV history page: http://www.dougquick.com/wicdchampaign2.html

The WAND calls didn't come to the Champaign-Decatur-Springfield-Danville market until the then-WTVP Channel 17 (Decatur) changed to their current WAND calls in 1966. Five years later, the WTVP calls would return to central Illinois--albeit the Peoria-Bloomington part of the region with the sign-on of the PBS outlet at channel 47.

I know very well that Channel 24 in Danville was WDAN-TV and WAND was and is in Decatur. That was commonly called a "brain-fart," or more politely, a "typo."

 

[mvcg66b3r]

Harrisonburg and Charlottesville used to be in the same market, IIRC.

Also, it's kind of strange that Alpena and North Platte can support full local newscasts yet northern Arizona (Flagstaff-Kingman), southeast New Mexico (Roswell-Carlsbad-Hobbs-Clovis), northwest New Mexico (Farmington-Durango-Cortez), western Kansas (Hays-Great Bend-Garden City-Goodland), western Minnesota (Alexandria-Willmar-Bemidji-St. Cloud), southwest Utah (St. George-Cedar City), northeast Nevada (Elko-Ely), northeast North Dakota (Grand Forks), etc. couldn't support even local news inserts and most, if not all, of the areas I mentioned have a higher population than Alpena and North Platte.

Added Grand Forks due to the cancellation of WDAZ's newscasts.