Unfortunately, the answer to the implied question in the thread title seems to be that ever last one of the great indies is pretty much gone. But they've taken several different routes in their disappearance.
Generally, the most successful of the legacy indies today are the ones that became Fox affiliates -- ie, stations like KTVU/2 in San Francisco/Oakland, KCPQ/13 in Seattle/Tacoma, or KPTV/12 in Portland (although the latter didn't become a Fox affiliate until it was joined in a duopoly with original Fox affiliate KPDX/49). KTVU and KPTV were hugely successful independent stations that have become hugely successful Fox affiliates -- but, really, they look more like the competing ABC, CBS, and NBC stations than they do like indies today. In a related category are the independents that ended up affiliated with one of the legacy "big 3" networks in the 1995 affiliate shuffles -- KPHO/5 & KNXV/15 in Phoenix, KTVT/11 in Dallas/Fort Worth, WGPR/62 in Detroit, KDNL/30 St. Louis, and a few others, fall in this category. Some (KPHO & KTVT) are doing well as network outlets, while others are failures as network stations (WGPR and KDNL).
Then there are the stations that were successful independents that are today affiliated with the CW or MNTV. The most prominent of these are the Tribune stations -- WGN/9 Chicago, KTLA/5 LA, and WPIX/11 in NYC would be the most prominent examples. Other stations in this category include the station that I grew up watching in Tacoma -- KSTW/11 Seattle/Tacoma, which has gone from "entertaining the whole northwest" as a regional superstation to being a very generic "CW11" today. The most charitable thing that can be said about these stations is that they are pale shadows of what they once were. The situation for the MNTV stations is even worse -- someone has already pointed out the current state of WUAB/43 in Cleveland/Lorain, which was once one of the top independent stations in the country.
Others are completely gone, having been converted to Spanish language programming, sold to Ion, or otherwise leaving the mainstream -- and their legacies -- behind. Dallas/Fort Worth's KXTX/39 falls in this category, having ended 30 years as DFW's second independent station (always ranking behind KTVT/11, which is now running CBS) when it became a Telemundo outlet.
Ironically enough, the few decent independent stations that do exist today are mostly stations that didn't become "mainstream" stations until fairly recently: KDOC/56 LA, WCIU/26 Chicago, and KFWD/52 here in DFW. But, really, most of the "mainstream" independent stations that are still around (aside from the ones that I just listed, and maybe a couple of others) have ended up being dumping grounds for junk programming in duopolies.
Aside from groups like this, I wonder how many folks out there remember these stations fondly and miss them in their absence?
Generally, the most successful of the legacy indies today are the ones that became Fox affiliates -- ie, stations like KTVU/2 in San Francisco/Oakland, KCPQ/13 in Seattle/Tacoma, or KPTV/12 in Portland (although the latter didn't become a Fox affiliate until it was joined in a duopoly with original Fox affiliate KPDX/49). KTVU and KPTV were hugely successful independent stations that have become hugely successful Fox affiliates -- but, really, they look more like the competing ABC, CBS, and NBC stations than they do like indies today. In a related category are the independents that ended up affiliated with one of the legacy "big 3" networks in the 1995 affiliate shuffles -- KPHO/5 & KNXV/15 in Phoenix, KTVT/11 in Dallas/Fort Worth, WGPR/62 in Detroit, KDNL/30 St. Louis, and a few others, fall in this category. Some (KPHO & KTVT) are doing well as network outlets, while others are failures as network stations (WGPR and KDNL).
Then there are the stations that were successful independents that are today affiliated with the CW or MNTV. The most prominent of these are the Tribune stations -- WGN/9 Chicago, KTLA/5 LA, and WPIX/11 in NYC would be the most prominent examples. Other stations in this category include the station that I grew up watching in Tacoma -- KSTW/11 Seattle/Tacoma, which has gone from "entertaining the whole northwest" as a regional superstation to being a very generic "CW11" today. The most charitable thing that can be said about these stations is that they are pale shadows of what they once were. The situation for the MNTV stations is even worse -- someone has already pointed out the current state of WUAB/43 in Cleveland/Lorain, which was once one of the top independent stations in the country.
Others are completely gone, having been converted to Spanish language programming, sold to Ion, or otherwise leaving the mainstream -- and their legacies -- behind. Dallas/Fort Worth's KXTX/39 falls in this category, having ended 30 years as DFW's second independent station (always ranking behind KTVT/11, which is now running CBS) when it became a Telemundo outlet.
Ironically enough, the few decent independent stations that do exist today are mostly stations that didn't become "mainstream" stations until fairly recently: KDOC/56 LA, WCIU/26 Chicago, and KFWD/52 here in DFW. But, really, most of the "mainstream" independent stations that are still around (aside from the ones that I just listed, and maybe a couple of others) have ended up being dumping grounds for junk programming in duopolies.
Aside from groups like this, I wonder how many folks out there remember these stations fondly and miss them in their absence?