Full-power stations that exist only to retransmit other stations

[justthenumbers]

The article linked below (about the pending loss of Gannett TV stations on DISH Network) mentions that their Flagstaff, AZ station (KNAZ-TV, Channel 2) is exempt from this drama.

This is presumably because KNAZ is a 100% retransmission (sorry if that's not the right term) of Gannett's KPNX-Phoenix. There was a time when they had their own local newscasts and ad insertion, but that ended a few years ago.

KNAZ is a full-power station. What other full power stations exist solely to retransmit another station?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/blackout-looms-for-2m-dis_n_1943979.html

 

[fybush]

The word you're looking for is "satellite status," and there are still a fair number of those in thinly-populated parts of the country. The grant of a "satellite" waiver allows a station to operate without the fully-staffed main studio that would otherwise be required. Perhaps w9wi can find an easy way to sort the FCC database to identify the remaining satellites out there?

 

[Mr Tony]

KNAZ is owned by Gannett and would be pulled if Dish carry it. If its a satellite station the satco's only need to carry one network per market unless they are licensed in different states

 

[Mr Tony]

What other full power stations exist solely to retransmit another station?

Minnesota only

WIRT Hibbing, MN (satellite of WDIO Duluth) ABC
WRPT Hibbing, MN (satellite of WDSE Duluth) PBS
KFTC Bemidji, MN (satellite of WFTC Minneapolis) MY
KCCW Walker, MN (satellite of KCCO Alexandria)...CBS...see below
KRWF Redwood Falls, MN (satellite of KSAX Alexandria)...ABC...see below
KAWB Brainerd, MN (satellite of KAWE Bemidji)...PBS
KSMN Worthington, MN (satellite of KWCM Appleton)...PBS

now if we are talking possible commercial differences you can add
KRII Chisholm, MN (satellite of KBJR Duluth....a few local commercials and a 8 minute news insert)
KCCO & KCCW are satellites of WCCO Minneapolis (except maybe commercials...but I think they are straight satellite station now).
KSAX & KWRF are satellites of KSTP Minneapolis. Use to have a local news but that was dropped. Now straight satellite of KSTP

There are lots of "state run" PBS where its the same PBS across the board in a state. Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana come to mind

 

[crainbebo]

WGVK 52/5 Kalamazoo (repeats WGVU 35/11-PBS)

-crainbebo

 

[Darth_vader]

"There are lots of 'state-run' PBS stations where the same programming is duplicated state-wide. Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana come to mind."

Oregon. Everything there's a satellite of KOPB.

 

[mjlarochelle]

WNPI/18 Norwood, N.Y., a PBS station fully rebroadcasting WPBS/16 Watertown.

In Northern Michigan, all four of the "big four" affiliates have full-power satellites, and PBS comes from a full-power rebroadcast transmitter of a PBS station from the Flint-Saginaw-Bay city market:

- WPBN/7 (NBC) Traverse City is rebroadcast on WTOM/4 Cheboygan; both are owned by Barrington Broadcasting
- WGTU/29 (ABC) Traverse City is rebroadcast on WGTQ/8 Sault Ste. Marie; they are owned by Tucker Broadcasting but are operated by Barrington through a shared-services agreement with WPBN/WTOM
- WWTV/9 (CBS) Cadillac is rebroadcast on WWUP/10 Sault Ste. Marie; both are owned by Heritage Broadcasting Group
- WFQS/32 (FOX) Cadillac is rebroadcast on WFUP/45 Vanderbilt; both are owned by Cadillac Telecasting Company but are operated by Heritage through a shared-services agreement with WWTV/WWUP
- The Traverse City/Cadillac market does not have its own locally-based PBS station, but WCMV/27 in Cadillac rebroadcasts WCMU/14 Mount Pleasant.

 

[Charles1]

What other full power stations exist solely to retransmit another station?

In the Birmingham market...

WDBB-17 Bessemer/Tuscaloosa rebroadcasts WTTO-21 Homewood/Birmingham (CW)
WCFT-33 Tuscaloosa and WJSU-40 Anniston rebroadcast WBMA-LD Birmingham (ABC)

 

[nathannah]

In Northern Michigan, all four of the "big four" affiliates have full-power satellites, and PBS comes from a full-power rebroadcast transmitter of a PBS station from the Flint-Saginaw-Bay city market:

- WPBN/7 (NBC) Traverse City is rebroadcast on WTOM/4 Cheboygan; both are owned by Barrington Broadcasting
- WGTU/29 (ABC) Traverse City is rebroadcast on WGTQ/8 Sault Ste. Marie; they are owned by Tucker Broadcasting but are operated by Barrington through a shared-services agreement with WPBN/WTOM
- WWTV/9 (CBS) Cadillac is rebroadcast on WWUP/10 Sault Ste. Marie; both are owned by Heritage Broadcasting Group
- WFQS/32 (FOX) Cadillac is rebroadcast on WFUP/45 Vanderbilt; both are owned by Cadillac Telecasting Company but are operated by Heritage through a shared-services agreement with WWTV/WWUP
- The Traverse City/Cadillac market does not have its own locally-based PBS station, but WCMV/27 in Cadillac rebroadcasts WCMU/14 Mount Pleasant.

And to make things even more interesting, the WPBN/WTOM combo rebroadcasts WGTU/WGTQ on their DT2 subs, and vice versa for WGTU/WGTQ. Also it's the same for WWTV/WWUP rebroadcasting WFQS/WFUP over their DT2, thus assuring many options to get all for affiliates in however way you can receive them in the market.

Also just outside that market, WJMN 3 (CBS) in Escanaba/Marquette broadcasts most everything from WFRV 5 in Green Bay, but with local ads, weather cut-ins and promos with an hour bump-up for Eastern time.

 

[azumanga]

"There are lots of 'state-run' PBS stations where the same programming is duplicated state-wide. Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana come to mind."

Oregon. Everything there's a satellite of KOPB.

Except for KSYS Medford and its satellite, KFTS Klamath Falls -- they are PBS stations that are operated and programmed separately from OPB.

 

[Mr Tony]

Another example is WYMT in Hazard, Ky.--which is a semi-satellite of WKYT in Lexington.

I wouldn't consider them a satellite station. They are their own station compared to WKYT. While they share news stories and stuff but the question is more full powered stations that just rebroadcast another station with the minor commercial or news insert

 

[Mr Tony]

Beyond that, almost all of the main commercial stations in the DMAs that cover the Dakotas,

Western ND yes...but Eastern ND is its own setup (even though Forum owns all the ABC's and Hoak owns the NBC's)

 

[fybush]

Another example is WYMT in Hazard, Ky.--which is a semi-satellite of WKYT in Lexington.

I wouldn't consider them a satellite station. They are their own station compared to WKYT. While they share news stories and stuff but the question is more full powered stations that just rebroadcast another station with the minor commercial or news insert

Which is why what we really need here is a list of the stations that actually have "satellite station" waivers from the FCC. WYMT certainly does not; it maintains its own main studio and just happens to simulcast some news with WKYT. Same with WLBZ/WCSH.

I'm less certain about the legal status of some of EJM's other examples. I'm pretty sure WYOW is legally a satellite of WAOW. I'm not sure about WQOW/WXOW or WOGX/WOFL. I know WOGX maintains its own studio/office in Ocala.

 

[Mr Tony]

Yes, but among each of the four DMAs that--between them--cover the Dakotas (Fargo/Valley City, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and Bismarck/Minot/Dickinson/Williston), there are plenty of satellite stations. For Fargo, maybe the best example involves KVRR and its satellites.

There are only 2 markets in ND (I'm not worried about SD)
Fargo/Grand Forks
Bismarck/Minot/Dickinson/Williston

Fargo has one and that is KVRR as you noted. (PBS is state wide. WDAY & WDAZ are sister stations but are independent of each other in MOST cases.
But in Western ND each station has a satellite station...the main difference between the time shift from Central to Mountain time.

 

[tmanokc]

Northwest Arkansas is an interesting situation since all six network affiliates repeat one another's signal. The only true satellite station in the market is KHOG/Fayetteville (fun fact: the callsign comes from the University of Arkansas Razorbacks), which repeats ABC affiliate KHBS/Fort Smith. KFTA/Fort Smith used to have a satellite in KNWA out of Rogers until 2006, when KNWA became the sole NBC station for the area and KFTA broke off the NBC simulcast and joined Fox.

KNWA and KFTA, as well as CBS affiliate KFSM and MyNetworkTV/Antenna TV affiliate KXNW/Eureka Spings all have digital subchannels that rebroadcast programming from the other station since KFTA and KFSM's signals can't adequately reach far northwestern Arkansas and far southwest Missouri, while KNWA and KXNW can't adequately reach Fort Smith and most of west-central Arkansas, since over-the-air TV signals are harder to receive because of the terrain of Northwest Arkansas (in KFSM and KXNW's case, this is partly the reason why Antenna TV doesn't have a full-time affiliate like other cities where Local TV owns a station do).

 

[dhett]

But in Western ND each station has a satellite station...the main difference between the time shift from Central to Mountain time.

Between Bismarck, Minot, Williston and Dickinson, only Dickinson is in Mountain TZ, however much of the Bismarck and Williston stations' coverage area is in Mountain TZ.

 

[w9wi]

OK, here's the official list from the FCC DB. Stations noted with an * are those where I'm thinking the satellite situation no longer exists...

(City, Satellite, Master st., Network) (this is not going to format well!)

AR
Rogers KNWA-TV* KFTA-TV NBC

CO
Fort Collins KFCT KDVR Fox
Glenwood Springs KREG-TV KREX-TV CBS
Montrose KREY-TV KREX-TV CBS
Sterling KCDO-TV* KTVD IND

HI
Hilo KHVO KITV ABC
Hilo KHAW-TV KHON-TV Fox
Wailuku KMAU KITV ABC
Wailuku KGMV KGMB CBS
Wailuku KWHM KWHE IND
Wailuku KMEB KHET PBS
Wailuku KOGG KHNL NBC
Wailuku KAII-TV KHON-TV Fox

IA
Davenport KQIN KDIN-TV PBS
Fort Dodge KTIN KDIN-TV PBS
Iowa City KIIN KDIN-TV PBS
Mason City KYIN KDIN-TV PBS

IL
Urbana WCCU* WRSP-TV Fox

KS
Ensign KBSD-DT KWCH-TV CBS
Great Bend KSNC KSNW NBC
Hays KBSH-DT KWCH-TV CBS

MA
Adams WCDC-TV WTEN ABC
Vineyard Haven WDPX-TV WBPX-TV Ion

MI
Calumet WBKP* WBUP CW
Cheboygan WTOM-TV WPBN-TV NBC
Escanaba WJMN-TV WFRV-TV CBS
Sault Ste. Marie WGTQ WGTU ABC

MN
Chisholm KRII KBJR-TV NBC

MT
Miles City KYUS-TV KULR-TV NBC

NC
Greenville WYDO WFXI Fox
Jacksonville WPXU-TV WEPX Ion

NE
Scottsbluff KSTF KGWN-TV CBS

NM
Clovis KVIH-TV KVII-TV ABC

ND
Dickinson KQCD-TV KFYR-TV NBC
Minot KMOT KFYR-TV NBC
Williston KUMV-TV KMOT NBC

NH
Concord WPXG-TV WBPX-TV Ion

OR
Coos Bay KMCB KMTR NBC

PA
Williamsport WQMY* WOLF-TV My

PR
Mayaguez WNJX-TV WAPA-TV IND
Ponce WKPV WJPX IND
Ponce WTIN-TV WAPA-TV IND
Ponce WSUR-DT WLII-DT Univision
San Sebastian WJWN-TV WJPX IND
Yauco WIRS WJPX IND

SD
Aberdeen KABY-TV KSFY-TV ABC
Florence KDLO-TV KELO-TV CBS
Lead KIVV-TV KEVN-TV Fox
Pierre KPRY-TV KSFY-TV ABC
Reliance KPLO-TV KELO-TV CBS

TX
Big Spring KWAB_TV KWES-TV NBC
Bryan KYLE-TV KWKT-TV Fox
Bryan KBTX-TV KWTX-TV CBS
Llano KBVO* KXAN-TV NBC
Lufkin KTRE KLTV ABC
Waco KWTX-TV* KBTX-TV? CBS

VA
Lynchburg WWCW* WFXR Fox

WA
Kennewick KVEW KAPP ABC

WI
Crandon WMOW WAOW ABC
Eagle River WYOW WAOW ABC

WV
Martinsburg WWPX-TV WPXW-TV Ion

WY
Lander KGWL-TV KGWC-TV CBS
Rawlins KFNR KLWY Fox
Rock Springs KGWR-TV KGWC-TV CBS

This list is obviously not complete. But it's what's marked in the facility table in CDBS.

 

[tmanokc]

OK, here's the official list from the FCC DB. Stations noted with an * are those where I'm thinking the satellite situation no longer exists...

IL
Urbana WCCU* WRSP-TV Fox

Actually, WCCU is still a WRSP satellite.

 

[Darth_vader]

.

 

[blizzard59]

But in Western ND each station has a satellite station...the main difference between the time shift from Central to Mountain time.

Between Bismarck, Minot, Williston and Dickinson, only Dickinson is in Mountain TZ, however much of the Bismarck and Williston stations' coverage area is in Mountain TZ.

The Dickinson stations don't time shift programming, either. Prime time starts at 6 PM if you live in that area. Stark County (which includes Dickinson) has in the past considered moving into the Central Time Zone to better align itself with the rest of the state, but so far that has been nothing but talk.

The CBS and NBC stations in the market are probably more appropriately considered "semi-satellites." On the CBS side, KXMC in Minot is the flagship, with KXMB in Bismarck and KXMD in Williston being semi-satellites. KXMA in Dickinson is a semi-satellite of KXMB (or semi-semi-satellite of KXMC?). With NBC, KFYR in Bismarck is the flagship, and KMOT in Minot and KQCD in Dickinson are semi-satellites. KUMV in Williston is a semi-satellite of KMOT (so semi-semi-satellite of KFYR). All 8 of the stations have their own identities, and, to varying extents, they air separate newscasts and commercials, so it's not entirely true to say that any one of them does nothing but retransmit another station.

The ABC and Fox affiliates in the market don't have newscasts, but can, and do, air separate commercials, so I don't know if you could say they are necessarily satellites of each other either.