More Questions About Stations With Multiple Networks

[Gregg]

In an earlier thread, we talked about stations in smaller markets that had affiliations with several networks. Yet there were other stations that were miles from any competitors and still only ran one network. There are still some stations like that.

For instance, WMUR 9 Manchester NH was the only commercial VHF station in that state. (Other than a Telemundo station, I believe WMUR is still the only network affiliate in NH.) Yet from its earliest days it only carried ABC programs. It originally served for several years as Boston's ABC affiliate when Boston only had VHF stations for CBS, NBC and Educational WGBH. Once Boston got a fourth VHF station, why didn't WMUR pick up other networks for its viewers? I'm sure plenty of New Hampshire residents got great signals from two ABC affiliates since WMTW 8 was also an ABC station. Even though WMTW is licensed to Poland Spring, Maine, just north of Portland, its transmitter till a couple of years ago was on top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, covering much of Northern New England. So why didn't WMUR run CBS and NBC shows as well?

For a short time, I believe WMUR operated a low-power Fox station in Manchester too, and that allowed WMUR to pick up Fox's NFL coverage. WMUR is now co-owned with Boston's ABC affiliate, WCVB, so they pretty much run the same schedule of ABC and syndicated programs now, with only their newscasts being different. But why didn't WMUR ever start running The Simpsons or American Idol when so few New Hampshire residents get a clear Fox signal?

One more question... when a market had only one or two VHF stations, what forced those stations to affiliate with only one network when a UHF or two signed on? Did the networks pressure them? If I owned, let's say Channel 3 and had a market all to myself, and I've been cherry-picking the best shows for years, why would I agree to affiliate with only one network just because a couple of UHFs with limited signals and no news departments came into my market?



Gregg
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[Prais]

First, money (of course) then market size, then ratings (if there are any).

Some stations are compensated, some are not. Networks these days are lowering their compsnsations to local stations. Some stations with similar situations get more than other stations with the exact same circumstances. It depends on a zillion factors. Nowadays, stations are going after "non-traditional" revenues; like internet, etc.

Fox does not often compensate, but offers stations LOTS of "local avails" - that NBC and CBS do not. Local stations can sell those.

NBC and CBS have lots of local avails in Today, Tonight, Leterman, etc - but FEW local avails in the rest of the schedule. Of course, every station can sell BETWEEN the programs. They can also sell local syndicated shows and local live (in house) productions, religion, program length commerials, and per inquiry ads.

Jack Paar (TV host) once owned the Poland Spring tv station - and I believe it was NBC affiliated, (and probably well compensated) then.

Big market TV is certainly a license to steal.

 

[azumanga]

For a short time, I believe WMUR operated a low-power Fox station in Manchester too, and that allowed WMUR to pick up Fox's NFL coverage.

Actually, WMUR ran only two low-powered stations in northern New Hampshire that carried Fox programming -- the reason being was that WMTW had exclusive rights to ABC in that region, due to its transmitter on Mount Washington. These LPTV stations became full repeaters of WMUR after WMTW moved off the mountain.

 

[cd637299]

At age 50, I can't explain what actually happened in the early 1950s; but it would seem at that time, that the new UHF stations that popped up were supposed to be "the rage," and networks may have offered contracts to the stations to take secondary/tertiary affiliation from the main cherry picker.

In Miami, we had WITV 17 & WFTL (or WGBS) 23....17 had ABC, 23 had NBC, prior to chs 7 & 10 debuting in 1957. I used to read the Miami Herald on microfiche in the library; next to the TV listings were ads for antennas and professional UHF conversions & UHF converters. I suppose that many folk weren't buying into it, and the stations were kaput in a short time. VHF was still the default thing. (It sure didn't help that UHF wasn't required on TVs until the 60s.)

cd

 

[Stanislav]

Where did Manchester-area OTA viewers traditionally turn to for CBS and NBC? I'm assuming they looked to Boston for those networks -- how reliable was reception of Boston stations there with a halfway decent antenna? I'm guessing that Manchester is far enough south that WCAX or WPTZ weren't even in the equation. (Although WCAX did penetrate well into southern Vermont -- I know they had translators in Rutland and Manchester [VT, not NH] and, IIRC correctly, even in Brattleboro, which is in the extreme southeastern part of the state, near both the NH and MA borders.)

 

[BRNout]

Where did Manchester-area OTA viewers traditionally turn to for CBS and NBC? I'm assuming they looked to Boston for those networks -- how reliable was reception of Boston stations there with a halfway decent antenna? I'm guessing that Manchester is far enough south that WCAX or WPTZ weren't even in the equation. (Although WCAX did penetrate well into southern Vermont -- I know they had translators in Rutland and Manchester [VT, not NH] and, IIRC correctly, even in Brattleboro, which is in the extreme southeastern part of the state, near both the NH and MA borders.)

Most of the population of NH lives in the southeastern 1/3 of the state and that's been the case for as long as I can remember. With a good rooftop antenna, people living in a triangle roughly from Nashua through Manchester into Concord and southeast to Rye tended to get their NBC and CBS affiliates from Boston. Portsmouth/Dover/Durham viewers got them from Portland or Boston and from Rochester northwest through Lake Winnepesaukee tended to be served by Portland stations. The Boston and Portland stations probably weren't crystal clear for most people, but were certainly watchable.

Western NH was (and is) trickier. Even WMUR didn't always have the greatest signal there. I guess what you could get via antenna depended greatly on where you lived and how high up the hill you were. Live high enough up and you might get numerous stations; live in the valley and even WMUR came in lousy. WCAX probably came in best in areas just across the CT River from Vermont, as well as along the northern and eastern slopes of the White Mountains. WMTW served the northern part of the state and parts of VT (in addition to ME). And, let's not forget channel 31 (WNNE) - licensed to Hartford, VT but really based in Hanover/Lebanon, NH. Their predecessor on channel 49 filled in a TV-less gap starting in the mid 60's as an NBC affiliate and moved to 31 with more power in 1971.

Still, UHF doesn't do that well with rough terrain and none of the VHF signals were located less than 60 miles from those parts of the state. People in parts of NH just had to take what they could get. This is why the mill towns in the valleys were quick to have cable TV systems and often had cable before the city folks in Boston ever thought of it.

 

[mjlarochelle]

First, money (of course) then market size, then ratings (if there are any). Jack Paar (TV host) once owned the Poland Spring tv station - and I believe it was NBC affiliated, (and probably well compensated) then.

As far as I know, WMTW was always an ABC affiliate, although it did pre-empt some ABC programming.

 

[Markxxx]

Cherry picking was a practice that the big networks preferred over using low quality UHF. I recall reading a history of ABC and the interesting thing is in every city where ABC had quality stations it was very competitive with NBC and CBS. It only lost nationwide (till the 70s) simpy 'cause its stations were often poor

Then in the early 70s things changed. The FCC ruled that if a market has an open station that wants to take a network affiliaton that the network must go with that station rather than allow the stronger stations to cherry pick. This ruling was also tied into the XETV mess where Channel 6 was ABC in San Diego and a UHF wanted ABC affilition. Though the direct reasoning in that case was slightly different it opened up the gates, where smaller weaker UHFs could demand a network affiliate.

In some markets like Bowling Green, KY where you have a sole ABC station it was easier to get an affiliation and harder for the other stations covering the market to demand that station give it up.

Some markets like St Joseph, MO were probably intended to be seperate markets but it never materialized. You can bet that if KQTV ever went dark or became independent or lost it ABC affiliation it'd be folded into the Kansas City market.

 

[KML0224]

The station Jack Paar was involved in was WMTW-TV (ABC) channel 8 of Poland Spring, ME (Portland market). As far as I know, they've always been an ABC affiliate. NBC in Portland is WCSH-TV channel 6.