Markets With More Than One General Entertainment Independent Station

[Markxxx]

I know in Chicago we have WCIU and WJYS as independent stations but WJYS focuses on religion and infomercials. So that is only one.

Los Angeles has KCAL and I think another UHF station that is an independent and a general entertainment station.

Are there any other TV markets with more than one general entertainment independent station. I would exclude stations affiliated with ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, ION, MyNetwork, and the Spanish affiliates Telemundo, Univision and there are a few others.

I tried looking at a few lists but they list them as Independent so it's hard to know if they are religious or infomercials or general entertainment, which is what I'm looking for.

Also I would only count full service TV not class A or other low powers.

 

[stationi]

Here are a few off the top of my head...

LA - KCAL, KDOC
San Francisco - KFTY, KOFY, KICU
Seattle - KONG, KVOS

Nearly what you described...

Phoenix - KTVK, and KAZT Full-Power with Class-A translator

 

[ansky212]

New York:

WLNY - they have shows like Ellen, Dr. Phil, Jeopardy, and some movies, as well as a 10pm newscast focused on Long Island

WRNN - they are mostly infomercials, but show Law&Order, Inside Edition, and an evening newscast focused on the Hudson Valley area.

WMBC - mainly foreign language programming and infomercials, but they have a 5pm local newscast

 

[BRNout]

I know in Chicago we have WCIU and WJYS as independent stations but WJYS focuses on religion and infomercials. So that is only one.

Also I would only count full service TV not class A or other low powers.

I don't know that you can still make that exclusion.

Here in Chicago, yes there's WCIU (I wouldn't even count WJYS anymore), but WCIU's "Me TV," "Me Too," and "This" channels are broadcast on subs, LPTV and cable. They provide truly independent, local (at least the first 2) content and would count as far as I am concerned. Yes, all are owned by Weigel Broadcasting - but KCAL, which you cite, is owned by CBS and paired administratively with KCBS-2. Shared ownership is commonplace now.

Furthermore, shopping and religious channels generally regurgitate birdfeed and are hardly "independent" as far as content is concerned. For the most part, I would not count them as 'independent' when their programming is purely from a satellite.

Programming-wise, I'd say that Chicago is blessed with at least 3 independents. Unlike Philadelphia (WFMZ) or Boston (WSBK) which only have 1 each (and Philly's is actually from Allentown/Bethlehem).

 

[Mediafrog+]

Houston has both KNWS/51 and KTBU/55, both full power, with syndication and reruns...and a large dose of infomercials.

 

[TexasTom]

Here in Dallas, we have two general market independents: KFWD/52 and KTXA/21. The first is in a joint operating agreement with WFAA/8 and the second is a duopoly with KTVT/11 -- but they are both independent stations.

From earlier lists, I wouldn't count Seattle/Tacoma -- while KONG/16 is a general market independent (albeit, not a very good on) that serves the whole market, KVOS/12 is up near the Canadian border and not available in most of the market.

 

[fybush]

Philadelphia had two for a while - WGTW 48 (since sold to TBN) and WFMZ 69, which reaches most of the market despite being based up north in Allentown.

Milwaukee has two Weigel-owned indies - "Me TV" on WBME 49 (full-power) and indie WMLW-CA 41 (low-power, but with good cable coverage).

 

[mleach]

Hampton Roads, Virginia has two....I think

WSKY-TV channel 4: Even though their COL is Manteo NC ( The Outer Banks ) it is clear that Hampton Roads is the market they focus on since, well after all they do brand themselves as "Channel 4 Hampton Roads".

http://www.4hamptonroads.com/

WGBS channel 7: Even though Virginia's VARTV has them listed as a low power, from looking at WGBS's coverage map they just about cover all of the Hampton Roads metro area and that can be tricky in its own right. Then again after looking at WGBS's site I noticed it was outdated such as saying that Ford Motor Company is a big employer in the region, actually Ford closed down their Norfolk plant some time ago.

http://www.wgbs7.com/index.htm

Virginia Beach's channel 21 I believe was to have been a general entertainent station at one time but instead TBN got their hand on it.

 

[YEKIMI]

Cleveland has WUAB-43, WBNX-55 , WQHS-61 {Spanish language], and a couple of low power stations that serve the Akron/Cleveland market 29/35 that are simulcast.

 

[tripinva]

WUAB is My Net, WBNX is CW, and WQHS are Univision. None of those are Independent.

- TRip

 

[Morgan Wick]

Seattle - KONG, KVOS

Already mentioned, but KVOS comes out of Bellingham and isn't on most Seattle cable systems.

 

[hintomedia]

Seattle - KONG, KVOS

Already mentioned, but KVOS comes out of Bellingham and isn't on most Seattle cable systems.

And KVOS, if anything, serves Vancouver BC more than it does Seattle.

 

[willcail]

Columbus Ohio:

WDEM CA 17.1 General Entertainment 17.2-17.4 Color Bars

W23BZ Guardian Television Network Mixture of General "family friendly" shows and Christan's themed shows. True it is carried on the Sky Angel IPTV service. The owners of the upcoming .2 Network.

Both are low power stations.

 

[pabsungenis]

I think a better question is how many markets have even ONE general entertainment independent station any more. For example, unless you count out-of-market WFMZ, piped in via cable or satellite, Philadelphia has none. I don't think New York does any longer, either, do they?

 

[tripinva]

WLNY?

And technically speaking, WFMZ is in the Philadelphia market.

- Trip