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Stations that changed affiliations and stayed with the new network longer

B

bpatrick

To clairify that gobbledygook, I'll give a few examples:

Atlanta: WXIA was an ABC affiliate for 29 years (1951-80);
it's been an NBC affiliate 32 years come Sept. 1. WSB was
an NBC affiliate for 32 years (1948-80) and will mark 32 years
with ABC this September.

Raleigh/Durham: WRAL was with NBC for six years (1956-62),
ABC for 23 (1962-85), and CBS for 27 (1985-present).

Richmond: WTVR has been with CBS for 52 years after stretches
with NBC and ABC in the '50s; WRIC and WWBT swapped networks,
with WRIC going to ABC and WWBT to NBC, in 1965 and have stayed
put.

Charlotte: WSOC was an NBC primary from 1957-78 (21 years); it's
been the market's ABC affiliate for 34 years.

Birmingham: WBRC has been affiliated with all of the big four; its longest
stretch was with ABC (1961-96).

Can you think of others?
 
WEWS Cleveland has been with ABC continually since March 2, 1955 (57 years)

WXEL had a secondary affiliation with CBS for some shows from 1950-55 before becoming full CBS for over 39 years (total 44 years)..Of course, they've been Fox for 18 years..
 
WFBM-TV/WRTV Ch. 6 Indianapolis was CBS primary from sign-on in 1949 to 1956 (7 years), NBC from 1956 to '79 (23 years), and ABC since then (33 years, swapped with WTHR).

WISH-TV Ch. 8 Indianapolis was ABC primary from sign-on in 1954 to 1956 (2 years) and CBS since then (55+ years).

WLWI/WTHR Ch. 13 Indianapolis was ABC from sign-on in 1957 to 1979 (22 years), and NBC since then (33 years).

KNXV-TV Ch. 15 Phoenix was Fox from 1986 to 1994 (8 years) and ABC since then (17+ years).
 
Spokane'sKXLY-TV was a CBS affiliate for 23 years before switching to ABC. That affiliation has stayed put for going on 36 years. Sister radio station KXLY (AM) kept its CBS affiliation until the mid-'90s, before switching to ABC.

Consequently, KREM's 22-year affiliation with ABC ended on the same day. Their affiliation with CBS will also exceed 36 years in August.

Less interestingly, KSKN was affiliated with UPN for nearly five years, before switching to The WB for the last four years of the network's existence. Their affiliation with The CW has lasted longer than their affiliations with either defunct network.
 
KOMO 4 Seattle was NBC from 1953-59 [6 years] and has been an ABC affiliate since 1959 [over 50 years!]. This is the exact opposite for KING 5, which had all four at first, CBS primary, then ABC from '53-'59, followed by NBC.

-crainbebo
 
Milwaukee: WISN has been an ABC afilliate for the majority of its life as a station, going on 58 years. They were ABC for their first seven years (1954-61), then CBS for sixteen ('61-77), and has been back with ABC since March 1977 (35 years and counting); so, that's 42 of its nearly-58 years of existence.

WITI had two stints as a CBS affiliate totaling 19 years ('59-61, '77-94), with a 16-year stint with ABC in-between, and this coming December will mark the station's 18th anniversary as a Fox station. Previous to their first stint with the Eye, they were an independent for their first three years.

Minneapolis-St. Paul: Three of their four commerical VHFs (KSTP, KMSP, KARE) have had sort of a "musical chairs" with network affiliations, with the only other one (WCCO) staying with their network (CBS) since day one. KSTP was with NBC for 31 years (1948-79), and has been with ABC since '79 (33 years); KMSP had three stints as an indie ('55-61, '79-86, '88-95), followed by a 16-year ABC affiliation ('61-79), and two Fox stints ('86-88, 2002 to the present); WTCN/KARE was ABC from '53-61, an indie from '61 to '79, and has been with NBC since '79.
 
Huntsville: WAAY-31 and WAFF-48 flipped affiliations (31 from NBC to ABC, 48 from ABC to NBC) in '77; both have remained with their current affiliations since: 35 years. Both had their previous affiliations since '68, when NBC moved from what was then WMSL-23 in Decatur to Channel 31. WMSL would change its city of license the following year and move to Channel 48.
 
...Green Bay market: WNAM-TV/5* started out in 1955 as ABC (4 years), switched to NBC as WFRV in 1959 (24 years), switched back to ABC in 1983 (9 years), then flipped to CBS when that network bought the station in 1992 (20 years and counting). WMBV/11 started out in 1954 as NBC (5 years), swapped with WFRV for ABC (24 years), swapped with WFRV back to NBC (12 years), and then flipped to Fox in 1995 when they were acquired by Fox-owned SF Broadcasting (17 years and counting). WLRE/26 started out as an independent (12 years), changed call sign to WGBA after a few years, picked up the Fox affiliation when charter affiliate WXGZ/32 went belly-up in 1992 (3 years), then picked up NBC when Fox bought WLUK in '95 (17 years and counting)...

*WNAM-TV originally went on the air on 10 December 1953, COL of Neenah, on Channel 42 with an ABC affiliation. It broadcast there until 2 January 1955; the Channel 5 license, which the FCC considered to be separate from the Channel 42 license despite the same call sign, didn't take to the air until 21 May 1955. Ironically, WFRV's digital signal transmits today on the channel WNAM-TV quit, Channel 42.
 
In Memphis the biggest affiliate change was when WHBQ 13 and WPTY 24 swapped ABC and Fox after Fox bought 13. 24 had been independent from 1978 to 1990, Fox for 5 years from 1990 to late 1995, and ABC 16+ years from 1995 to the present.

13 was originally CBS with ABC secondary for 3 years (1953-1956) but when WREC 3 started in 1956 it picked up CBS and WHBQ went to ABC full time, which lasted for 39 years until the swap with 24 in 1995, and has been with Fox until the present.

WLMT 30 started as an independent (WMKW), was Fox for 3 years (1987-1990) until Fox moved to 24 and then independent again until 1995 when UPN started until the CW merger 2006, which 30 still carries. That would be 11 years for UPN and 5+ for CW, or would that count as 16+ total?

In Jackson, TN WBBJ 7 carried CBS for 12 years (1955-1967) and ABC for 45 years (1967-present)
 
WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama was affiliated with FOX when they presented their first network program "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers" on Monday, October 6th, 1986 (the station was broadcasting independently since their first broadcast day, which was Friday, March 12th, 1982). The station remained a FOX affiliate until Sunday, December 31st, 1995, when they swapped their FOX affiliation for NBC affiliation, which was held by WALA-TV in Mobile until then.

I still wish WPMI-TV and WALA-TV would swap network affiliations again, since WALA-TV lost their affiliation to NBC as a result of the station being sold to Savoy-Fox, which had the FOX Broadcasting Company as a shareholder. I hope WALA-TV does not remain with FOX longer than they had remained with NBC (from 1953 to 1995).
 
In Buffalo, WGR-TV Ch. 2, which began in 1954 as an ABC basic with some NBC and CBS shows that primary CBS affiliate WBEN-TV didn't carry, flipped to NBC in the fall of 1958 when NBC O&O WBUF Ch. 17 packed it in, and new ABC primary WKBW-TV Ch. 7 signed on...Channel 2's been NBC for the last 54 years, after being a primary ABC only 4 years.
 
Ultimajock said:
...Green Bay market: WMBV/11 started out in 1954 as NBC (5 years), swapped with WFRV for ABC (24 years), swapped with WFRV back to NBC (12 years), and then flipped to Fox in 1995 when they were acquired by Fox-owned SF Broadcasting (17 years and counting)...
Click to expand...
...forgot to mention that WMBV changed COL (Marinette to Green Bay) and call sign (to WLUK) before flipping to ABC...
 
...Madison: WKOW-TV/27 took to the air as a CBS affiliate in 1953, and picked up ABC from WMTV/33 in 1956 after WISC-TV/3 signed on and CBS went with them. WKOW has maintained ABC affiliation for the last 56 years...
 
Sister station WKYT Lexington had the ABC affiliation from
1961-68; when WBLG (now WTVQ) came on the air, WKYT
returned to CBS, where it had started in 1957, so
it's been with CBS continuously since '68.
 
In Phoenix, KPAZ 21 started independent and in 1977, became TBN's first acquisition after KTBN. KPAZ has been a TBN O&O since.

Tucson's KZAZ/KMSB started as an independent station in 1967, and has been a Fox affiliate since 1986.

In the Yuma/El Centro market, KYMA 11 started as an ABC affiliate in 1988, switched to NBC in 1991, and has been NBC ever since. KAJB 54 started as an indie in 2000, became a charter affiliate of TeleFutura in 2002, and remains so to this day.
 
Well, let's see in NYC...

5 was DuMont WABD until 1955 when it became an indie when Metropolitan Broadcasting (Metromedia) took it over and it became WNEW. Was indie for 31 years and has been a Fox o&o WNYW since 1986.

9 was WOR-TV (ind) from 1949 until 1995 when UPN came on. Then in 2006, it became My Network TV's My9

11 WPIX was indie from its 1948 sign-on until 1995 (WB). Like 9, in 2006, 11 became the CW.

13 is very interesting. It began as commercial indie WATV in 1948. Ten years later it stayed indie as WNTA-TV. In 1962, WNTS'a owners National Telefilm Associates put 13 and a couple of other stations in the US up for sale. Thirteen's new owner then the New York City-based group Educational Television for the Metropolitan Area (ETMA) bought the station. In September that year, along with some help from Edward R Murrow, the new educational WNDT signed on the air. In 1970, WNDT swapped the D for an E and became the present WNET for National Educational Television.. the precursor to PBS.

In CT

8 was the state's first TV station signing on as 6 WNHC and affiliating with NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont. In 1954, not only did it change networks, but channels as well going to ABC and channel 8 respectively. 1971--WNHC-TV became WTNH.

30 came on in 1953 as WKNB with an NBC affiliation and despite many call letter changes (WNBC, WHNB and the present WVIT), has been with the peacock and is an O&O now.

3--1957 WTIC-TV, first as an indie, but in 1958, 18 WGTH went to independent subscription TV to allow 3 to become a CBS affiliate where it still is today as WFSB. As for 18, the subscription experiment failed and as WHCT was a struggling station despite carrying the Whalers who in 1987 made a big Stanley Cup push. In the 1990's WHCT signed off due to lack of money, but was reborn as WUVN an owned station of Univision.

20 was on 53 as WATR and a secondary NBC station for those who didn't get 30. After 30's early 80's power boost, WATR was sold and became independent WTXX (30 years ago by the way).

In 1995, 20 became UPN 20. Six years later it switched with 59 WBNE to become a WB station while 59 became a UPN station as WCTX.

In 2006, 20 became a part of the CW while 59 went to MyTV9. Last year 20 changed calls to WCCT and featured the name cancelled (thank GOD) face logo.

61 was indie from 1984, joined Fox in 1986...has been with them since.
 
It's worth noting that channel 30 of New Britain/Hartford has always been a primary NBC affiliate. They signed on as WKNB-TV, with the letters standing for "K"ensington/"N"ew "B"ritain (Kensington is a village in Berlin, which borders the city of New Britain on its south). Then the letters went as WNBC (for "N"ew "B"ritain, "C"onnecticut), WHNB ("H"artford/"N"ew "B"ritain) and finally WVIT-TV around 1978, with the purchase of the station by Viacom Broadcasting, Inc.

In 2012: Virtual channel 30, digital channel 35. City of license is New Britain. Studio is in West Hartford by a couple hundred of feet. The transmitter is on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington. :)
 
KML-224 said:
It's worth noting that channel 30 of New Britain/Hartford has always been a primary NBC affiliate. ...Then the letters went as WNBC (for "N"ew "B"ritain, "C"onnecticut)...
Click to expand...

They were called WNnnnnnnnBC because not only did it stand for "New Britain Connecticut," they were an NBC O&O, between 1956 and 1959. The NBC New York stations were called WRCA at that time (1954-60).
 
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