Network Differences in Number of Affiliates

[w9wi]

I think there may be one television market, Glendive, Montana, that only has one
television station affiliated with three networks, but i'm sure with the advent of
digital TV, they will split them into three different signals, which brings up a
question, will the day come when only one or two stations will serve their entire
market?, only time will tell.

I wonder if some smaller markets may have to forego HD in order to receive OTA signals from all networks?

The FCC seems to be anticipating this possibility with regard to low-power "translator" stations. In their DTV proceeding for these stations, they seem to be accepting the possibility one digital translator will relay more than one primary station. For example, at Sylva, North Carolina, four analog translators exist:

ch. 2 // WYFF-4
ch. 5 // WLOS-13
ch. 9 // WSPA-7
ch. 66 // WHNS-21

A single digital translator could relay all four stations, but only in SD. But if the local translator authority couldn't afford to convert all four translators to digital, (or couldn't find four available channels) well, four channels of SD beats nothing at all!

============
(disclaimers:
- Actually, in the Sylva case I believe the translators are owned by their primary stations. That's definitely the case with channel 66. However, governmental translator authorities do operate many translators in the West.
- A single translator probably *could* provide HD on *one* of these stations and still carry SD versions of two more. All three stations would be somewhat degraded - and who would decide which channel gets to be HD?!
)

 

[taylorjsdad]

Some markets have a secondary network affiliate; for example, both Washington DC and Philadelphia have two NBC stations included in their markets. I presume satellite stations are included in the figure as well, which would further explain the discrepancies.

Same thing in Boston where WCVB-Boston and WMUR-Manchester are both ABC affiliates. I know WMUR has been with ABC for just about as long as they have been on-the-air and WCVB picked up ABC in 1972 after the 'new' Ch 5 went on-the-air. CBS was on the 'old' ch 5 (the original WHDH-TV) but moved to RKO General and WNAC because the new owners of WCVB promised more local programming and were concerned about programs not being cleared by WCVB. Was the idea of having 2 affiliates in the Boston market because Ch5 was later signing on (it was originally allocated to Worcester) and the ABC affiliation was shared between WBZ, WNAC, and WTAO?

And in the Tampa Bay DMA ABC also has two affiliates WFTS-28 Tampa and WWSB-40 Sarasota. I believe this came about because ABC was for a long time on WLCY (now WTSP) and their tower is north of Tampa due to being short spaced with WPLG-Miami. Sarasota could not receive ch 10 over the air and I think that is why when WWSB went signed on they were able to affiliate with ABC.

 

[BRNout]

Some markets have a secondary network affiliate; for example, both Washington DC and Philadelphia have two NBC stations included in their markets. I presume satellite stations are included in the figure as well, which would further explain the discrepancies.

Same thing in Boston where WCVB-Boston and WMUR-Manchester are both ABC affiliates. I know WMUR has been with ABC for just about as long as they have been on-the-air and WCVB picked up ABC in 1972 after the 'new' Ch 5 went on-the-air. CBS was on the 'old' ch 5 (the original WHDH-TV) but moved to RKO General and WNAC because the new owners of WCVB promised more local programming and were concerned about programs not being cleared by WCVB. Was the idea of having 2 affiliates in the Boston market because Ch5 was later signing on (it was originally allocated to Worcester) and the ABC affiliation was shared between WBZ, WNAC, and WTAO?

And in the Tampa Bay DMA ABC also has two affiliates WFTS-28 Tampa and WWSB-40 Sarasota. I believe this came about because ABC was for a long time on WLCY (now WTSP) and their tower is north of Tampa due to being short spaced with WPLG-Miami. Sarasota could not receive ch 10 over the air and I think that is why when WWSB went signed on they were able to affiliate with ABC.

Manchester's ABC affiliate came to be back in the early days of television and was to be the cornerstone of a "Manchester" market. If I'm not mistaken, the Loeb family (of Manchester Union Leader fame) was involved with WMUR back in the early days and wanted a corner on the TV market. It worked because ch. 9 has been the go-to place for NH news ever since. And, despite many tries (including a failed CBS affiliate in Concord, NH back in the '80s) - the NH market has yet to take off, beyond WMUR. So, it was lumped in with Boston - also helping Boston remain a top 10 market. With NH being the fastest-growing state in the northeast, one wonders if the whole Manchester market thing could still take off.

At the moment, it also helps matters with cable carriage in northern MA that WMUR and WCVB (Boston) share the same owner - Hearst-Argyle. But, despite some erroneous posts here to the contrary, WMUR is an independent entity and is not a satellite of WCVB. They have a very strong local presence in NH.

 

[Ultimajock]

And I know in some cases like in Grand Rapids, ABC is on Channel 13 and the transmitter had to be farther north to protect other channel 13's (in this case WTHR in Indianapolis) so in Grand Rapids they needed another Channel.

Actually, there's another channel 13 that's closer to Grand Rapids than WTHR -- WTVG in Toledo.

...and I believe WREX in Rockford is slightly closer to Grand Rapids than Indianapolis is...

 

[hammondo]

When Rockford only had 2 stations, WREX was an affiliate of both CBS and ABC, and WTVO (39) was NBC. REX had quite a signal on the NW Side of Chicago. I often watched it.

What is on the Janesville station? Is that not half-way between Rockford and Madison?

 

[KeithE4]

What is on the Janesville station? Is that not half-way between Rockford and Madison?

WBUW Channel 57 is the CW station for Madison and transmits from the west side of that city, in the same area as WMTV Channel 15, if not the same tower (the lat./long. coordinates are the same per W9WI.com). Their digital transmitter on Channel 32 transmits from NW of Janesville per its STA, but will move to its current (analog) tower when it goes to full power, if it hasn't already.

 

[taylorjsdad]

Some markets have a secondary network affiliate; for example, both Washington DC and Philadelphia have two NBC stations included in their markets. I presume satellite stations are included in the figure as well, which would further explain the discrepancies.

Same thing in Boston where WCVB-Boston and WMUR-Manchester are both ABC affiliates. I know WMUR has been with ABC for just about as long as they have been on-the-air and WCVB picked up ABC in 1972 after the 'new' Ch 5 went on-the-air. CBS was on the 'old' ch 5 (the original WHDH-TV) but moved to RKO General and WNAC because the new owners of WCVB promised more local programming and were concerned about programs not being cleared by WCVB. Was the idea of having 2 affiliates in the Boston market because Ch5 was later signing on (it was originally allocated to Worcester) and the ABC affiliation was shared between WBZ, WNAC, and WTAO?

And in the Tampa Bay DMA ABC also has two affiliates WFTS-28 Tampa and WWSB-40 Sarasota. I believe this came about because ABC was for a long time on WLCY (now WTSP) and their tower is north of Tampa due to being short spaced with WPLG-Miami. Sarasota could not receive ch 10 over the air and I think that is why when WWSB went signed on they were able to affiliate with ABC.

Manchester's ABC affiliate came to be back in the early days of television and was to be the cornerstone of a "Manchester" market. If I'm not mistaken, the Loeb family (of Manchester Union Leader fame) was involved with WMUR back in the early days and wanted a corner on the TV market. It worked because ch. 9 has been the go-to place for NH news ever since. And, despite many tries (including a failed CBS affiliate in Concord, NH back in the '80s) - the NH market has yet to take off, beyond WMUR. So, it was lumped in with Boston - also helping Boston remain a top 10 market. With NH being the fastest-growing state in the northeast, one wonders if the whole Manchester market thing could still take off.

At the moment, it also helps matters with cable carriage in northern MA that WMUR and WCVB (Boston) share the same owner - Hearst-Argyle. But, despite some erroneous posts here to the contrary, WMUR is an independent entity and is not a satellite of WCVB. They have a very strong local presence in NH.

I don't think Manchester will ever be a local market. With only ABC, PBS affiliates (and yes I know WENH is licensed in Durham out in the seacoast) and WPXG being a satellite of WBPX, we are still very dependent on Boston for most of network viewing and with CBS and Fox having O&O's in Boston I doubt very much we would get an affiliate with either of those networks. Of course then there is the WNHT failure as a CBS affiliate too.

I am not sure about the Loeb family being involved at all with WMUR. I know among the first ownership group was former Governor Francis Murphy (from where WMUR got its call letters) but I have never heard that the Loeb's were invovled.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Here in western Pennsylvania, both Johnstown and Altoona were separate television markets until the early 1980's. Johnstown had a CBS (WJNL) and NBC (WJAC) affiliate, and Altoona had a CBS (WTAJ) and ABC (WOPC) affiliate. There was a PBS (WPSX) affiliate north of both cities in State College.

Then both Johnstown and Altoona were collapsed into a single television market. WTAJ was given the exclusive right to carry CBS because it was on VHF signal with greater coverage. WJNL, which always had a weak signal, was then forced to become an independent, and ended up going dark at least twice before it was finally liquidated in a bankruptcy sale and moved to Pittsburgh. WOPC, which was never really a success story, went dark and then came back as a repeater station (as WWPC Channel 23...it had been on 38) for the new Channel 8 independent in Johnstown. When 8 landed the Fox affiliation, 23 became an ABC station, but it had to be spun off because of FCC regs. Peak Media owns 8 and leases 23, which has allowed the market to keep its ABC affiliate. If owned separately, it might have gone dark again. I believe that WPSX is now part of the Johnstown-Altoona market as well.

As we're starting to see populations shift towards the sunbelt, we can see more smaller markets collapsing into single larger ones, and repeater TV stations popping up in markets that are getting too small to support their respective stations. I think northern Michigan had the right idea when they simulcast their network programming over two or more stations in cities close to 100 miles apart. 9 & 10, 7 & 4, and 29 & 8 are just a couple of examples that TV can be successful if it's done right.

WJAC and WTAJ have also enhanced their local news coverage by operating "satellite" news departments out of bigger cities like State College and DuBois. They're usually staffed by no more than two people...one to shoot the video and the other to do the standup. In some cases, the one carrying the camera sets up a tripod and does both. It's made their operations more desireable to those who live in towns that don't really get afforded adequate TV news coverage, but are still large enough to deserve it to some degree.

 

[KML0224]

So now you have channels 3, 6, 8, 10 and 23 in that market...how was channel 8 dropped in with WGAL-TV (NBC) channel 8 of Lancaster being so close? Also, does your market have a CW affiliate?

 

[BRNout]

I don't think Manchester will ever be a local market. With only ABC, PBS affiliates (and yes I know WENH is licensed in Durham out in the seacoast) and WPXG being a satellite of WBPX, we are still very dependent on Boston for most of network viewing and with CBS and Fox having O&O's in Boston I doubt very much we would get an affiliate with either of those networks. Of course then there is the WNHT failure as a CBS affiliate too.

I am not sure about the Loeb family being involved at all with WMUR. I know among the first ownership group was former Governor Francis Murphy (from where WMUR got its call letters) but I have never heard that the Loeb's were invovled.

Having done a little more research, it would appear that you are correct: the Loebs were not involved with WMUR. It was Murphy, then Richard Eaton followed by the Imes family and - finally - Hearst Argyle. H-A has done a lot to improve the station too - it's very slick and professional now.

The WNHT failure was a real shame - a bright experiment that was done 15 years too soon. It would have worked if done in 1997, for example. Much of NH gets very poor OTA reception of Boston signals, a point that will become clear when more people try to hook up new HD sets to antennas for OTA reception. Not to mention that this growing state really has very few news options at this point - the Boston stations generally ignore NH in their newscasts. As do the Portland stations.

That being said, you're probably right - because of corporate politics. There is more money to be had by the big players if Boston keeps its top 10 market status than by splitting off a new Manchester market that would be in the neighborhood of market #100 (and would lower Boston down to about #14 or so?).

As is bottom line is always the bottom line and public service is of vastly less importance, things will more likely stay as they are.

 

[bpatrick]

So now you have channels 3, 6, 8, 10 and 23 in that market...how was channel 8 dropped in with WGAL-TV (NBC) channel 8 of Lancaster being so close? Also, does your market have a CW affiliate?

It's not my market but I think I can answer your question.
The key phrase is "dropped in." Back in the late '70s the FCC
authorized "drop-ins" of reduced-power VHFs in a few markets;
for example, Channel 8 was dropped into Knoxville (despite the
relative closeness of stations on 8 in Nashville, High Point, NC,
and Athens, GA); Channel 11 into Charleston/Huntington (there
are stations on 11 in Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Johnson City, TN);
and Channel 13 into Salt Lake City (I don't know where the nearest
13 is). Channel 8 in Johnstown/Altoona was one of
the drop-ins and, I feel certain, does not
operate at full power because of the proximity of WGAL.

Another one like that is Channel 8 in Morehead City, NC, Fox
affiliate WFXI, and actually a satellite of WYDO/14 in Greenville, NC.
It, too, is a drop-in and operates on reduced power because (1)
otherwise it short-spaces Channel 8 in Richmond/Petersburg, and
(2) Channels 7 and 9 are also located in the Greenville/New Bern/
Washington market.
know it was one of the drop-ins

 

[BRNout]

So now you have channels 3, 6, 8, 10 and 23 in that market...how was channel 8 dropped in with WGAL-TV (NBC) channel 8 of Lancaster being so close? Also, does your market have a CW affiliate?

It's not my market but I think I can answer your question.
The key phrase is "dropped in." Back in the late '70s the FCC
authorized "drop-ins" of reduced-power VHFs in a few markets;
for example, Channel 8 was dropped into Knoxville (despite the
relative closeness of stations on 8 in Nashville, High Point, NC,
and Athens, GA); Channel 11 into Charleston/Huntington (there
are stations on 11 in Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Johnson City, TN);
and Channel 13 into Salt Lake City (I don't know where the nearest
13 is). Channel 8 in Johnstown/Altoona was one of
the drop-ins and, I feel certain, does not
operate at full power because of the proximity of WGAL.

Another one like that is Channel 8 in Morehead City, NC, Fox
affiliate WFXI, and actually a satellite of WYDO/14 in Greenville, NC.
It, too, is a drop-in and operates on reduced power because (1)
otherwise it short-spaces Channel 8 in Richmond/Petersburg, and
(2) Channels 7 and 9 are also located in the Greenville/New Bern/
Washington market.
know it was one of the drop-ins

In the Pennsylvania example, though it was a "drop in", terrain also plays a huge role. Lancaster is well east of the Appalachain Mountains and Johnstown lies west of them. In between is an unbroken chain of low, yet solid, mountains. TV and FM signals have an extremely difficult time penetrating these mountains and - with the assistance of great distance between Lancaster and Johnstown - there is virtually no overlap between these channel 8s. One serves much of western PA (aiming at Pittsburgh) while the other serves central and adjacent eastern PA.

WGAL and WTNH (New Haven) are more likely to interfere than these two are.

 

[mleach]

Some markets have a secondary network affiliate; for example, both Washington DC and Philadelphia have two NBC stations included in their markets. I presume satellite stations are included in the figure as well, which would further explain the discrepancies.

Washington DC somewhat has a secondary ABC affiliate as well in Winchester, Virginia some 70 miles to the west.
True tv3winchester is coming from WHSV Harrisonburg, VA's tower and right now this channel is nothing more than a copy of WHSV with Winchester news and commercials inserted in rather than Harrisonburg's ( though I have heard that will be changing ) and Harrisonburg isn't in the DC market but Winchester's ABC afiliate is on a number of cable systems in Northwestern Virginia ( all of which ARE in the DC market ) and being available over the air ( though only to those with HDTV sets ) I would not be surprised within a year or two they will end up as part of the DC locals package on either Dish Network or Direct TV. Something they may have to do if they want to survive with so many viewers out there who already susbribe to one of those services.

 

[kenhawk1160]

So now you have channels 3, 6, 8, 10 and 23 in that market...how was channel 8 dropped in with WGAL-TV (NBC) channel 8 of Lancaster being so close? Also, does your market have a CW affiliate?

It's not my market but I think I can answer your question.
The key phrase is "dropped in." Back in the late '70s the FCC
authorized "drop-ins" of reduced-power VHFs in a few markets;
for example, Channel 8 was dropped into Knoxville (despite the
relative closeness of stations on 8 in Nashville, High Point, NC,
and Athens, GA); Channel 11 into Charleston/Huntington (there
are stations on 11 in Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Johnson City, TN);
and Channel 13 into Salt Lake City (I don't know where the nearest
13 is). Channel 8 in Johnstown/Altoona was one of
the drop-ins and, I feel certain, does not
operate at full power because of the proximity of WGAL.

Another one like that is Channel 8 in Morehead City, NC, Fox
affiliate WFXI, and actually a satellite of WYDO/14 in Greenville, NC.
It, too, is a drop-in and operates on reduced power because (1)
otherwise it short-spaces Channel 8 in Richmond/Petersburg, and
(2) Channels 7 and 9 are also located in the Greenville/New Bern/
Washington market.
know it was one of the drop-ins

In the Pennsylvania example, though it was a "drop in", terrain also plays a huge role. Lancaster is well east of the Appalachain Mountains and Johnstown lies west of them. In between is an unbroken chain of low, yet solid, mountains. TV and FM signals have an extremely difficult time penetrating these mountains and - with the assistance of great distance between Lancaster and Johnstown - there is virtually no overlap between these channel 8s. One serves much of western PA (aiming at Pittsburgh) while the other serves central and adjacent eastern PA.

WGAL and WTNH (New Haven) are more likely to interfere than these two are.

Terrain and power did make a difference in this particular drop in. This station operates at 166kw visual and 16.6kw aural. This was initially supposed to be a Pittsburgh channel, but Evergreen Broadcasting (the former owner) petitioned the FCC to move the channel to Johnstown, because of potential interference problems with WJW in Cleveland, and programming costs are lower in smaller markets.

Though 8 is licensed to Johnstown, it transmits from an antenna farm atop Laurel Hill Mountain in Westmoreland County, because as a condition of the move, 8 has to provide a Grade B signal to viewers in the Pittsburgh market. It doesn't go very far east of Altoona.

There is no CW affilate in the Johnstown-Altoona market, nor is there one for MyNetwork TV. There is an LPTV in Indiana, Pennsylvania, about a half hour northeast of Johnstown, operating on Channel 49, that's been fighting for must-carry status on the local cable system. An affiliation would guarantee it, but the owner tells me there's rules prohibiting LPTV's from having full-powered station network affiliations.

 

[KeithE4]

There is no CW affilate in the Johnstown-Altoona market, nor is there one for MyNetwork TV. There is an LPTV in Indiana, Pennsylvania, about a half hour northeast of Johnstown, operating on Channel 49, that's been fighting for must-carry status on the local cable system. An affiliation would guarantee it, but the owner tells me there's rules prohibiting LPTV's from having full-powered station network affiliations.

That's a new one. There are quite a few LPTVs and Class A stations with network affiliations: South Bend IN (WCWW-LP/25 CW, WBND-LP/57 ABC & WMYS-LP/69 My), Bangor ME (WFVX-LP/22 Fox), Corpus Christi TX (K47DF/47 Fox), Binghamton NY (WBGH-CA/20 NBC), & Youngstown OH (WYFX-LP/62 Fox) among others, have them.

K02MT/2 Parker AZ was a standalone ABC affiliate in the early '90s, but is not shown to have an affiliation of any kind today, assuming it's still on the air (it's still licensed, though).

There also several satellites that are technically translators, but are licensed as LPTVs so they could originate programming if they wanted to. KPSN-LP/22 Payson AZ, a satellite of KPNX Phoenix (NBC) is one of those.

 

[hammondo]

"the owner tells me there's rules prohibiting LPTV's from having full-
powered station network affiliations."

Who's rule? No such rule that I know of. I believe CBS in Milwaukee and ABC in South Bend have them.

 

[KeithE4]

I believe CBS in Milwaukee and ABC in South Bend have them.

CBS in Milwaukee is full-powered WDJT-TV 58.

 

[KML0224]

The arguement can be made for the channel 6 drop-in for New Bedford, MA (WLNE-TV), due to distance from Schenectady, NY (WRGB-TV) and Portland, ME (WCSH-TV). Do any other drop-ins exist in New England? The closest examples I can think of:

WNYA-TV channel 51 Pittsfield, MA. Transmitter on Mount Greylock in Berkshire County, MA. How far is it from the Gray, ME site for WPXT-TV (CW) channel 51 of Portland, ME?

WVNY-TV (ABC) channel 22 of Burlington, VT. Transmitter on Mount Mansfield to the east of Burlington. How far is it from the Agawam, MA site of WWLP-TV (NBC) channel 22 of Springfield, MA?

Lastly, both New Haven, CT and Poland Spring, ME have ABC affiliates on channel 8. However, I think Madmere Mountain of Hamden, CT and WMTW-TV's Baldwin, ME site are far enough apart to not interfere with each other. (It should be noted that WTNH-TV has never operated with 316,000 watts visual ERP.)

 

[bpatrick]

I think that most of the "drop-ins" were placed
in mountainous terrain; certainly Knoxville, TN and
Charleston, WV are. The big problem in Knoxville
is that the mountains peter out to the west, so I
think interference with Channel 8 in Nashville might
have entered the FCC's thinking.

I pointed out in the case of Charleston/Huntington
that Channel 11 is assigned to Louisville, but Channel
3 is also assigned to both markets, so I doubt that interference
between WVAH and WHAS was a real issue. As for
interference with WPXI and (especially) WJHL in Johnson
City, TN, that might be something else again.

 

[w9wi]

authorized "drop-ins" of reduced-power VHFs in a few markets;
...
13 is). Channel 8 in Johnstown/Altoona was one of
the drop-ins and, I feel certain, does not
operate at full power because of the proximity of WGAL.
...
affiliate WFXI, and actually a satellite of WYDO/14 in Greenville, NC.
It, too, is a drop-in and operates on reduced power because (1)

WWCP's (Johnstown) power reduction is required by an unsually high antenna. 368m above average terrain - 300m is the normal limit in Pennsylvania. WGAL Lancaster - which has been there since 1949 - is actually running even less power, 110kw. Because WGAL's antenna is even higher. (419m) WWCP does use a directional antenna, and the pattern does protect WGAL.

WFXI operates at a full 316kw power. It too is directional - I haven't looked at the pattern. The antenna is only 249m high - and 600m is permissible in North Carolina - it's impossible to know whether the lower tower was required due to interference concerns, or simply because the station felt it didn't make economic sense to build it any taller.

WVLT (Knoxville) is also a full 316kw, at 510m. Again it's *possible* the tower height was limited due to interference concerns, but I don't think the difference between 510 and 600m would be noticable. I strongly suspect WVLT's directional antenna is the only interference-mitigation scheme in use.

It is difficult to tell whether WVAH (Huntington WV) or KSTU (Salt Lake City) are on reduced power for interference reduction. Both stations have extremely high antennas. And both are directional.

There were other dropins proposed. (I sure regret leaving those 1970 Broadcasting magazines behind when I moved from Wisconsin!) I recall specifically channel 10 in Clarksville, Tenn. which I imagine would have ended up being the Fox affiliate for Nashville. That channel is now the permanent DTV assignment for Nashville's WSMV-4.