The date a metro area aquired all 3 major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) on 3 stations

[gregg75]

This topic has always interested me for some reason. How long did it take a metro area to have a complete set of all 3 major networks? Sometimes smaller cities like Chattanooga got them earlier than larger ones. Most cities had NBC and CBS stations before they finally got an ABC affiliate (but that's not always true). I think Jacksonville, Florida has an interesting network history and will start the thread with that.

WMBR 4 was Jacksonville's first TV station (9-15-1949, CBS, ABC) and the second Florida TV station after WTVJ 4 Miami.

WJHP 36 (12-13-1953 to 10-25-1957, NBC, ABC) Petitioned the FCC to move to channel 7 but was not successful.

WFGA 12 (9-1-1957 NBC) (We're Florida and Georgia) After the new NBC affiliation was given to WFGA, WJHP 36 went dark (as many other UHF stations did).

WJKS 17 (2-19-1966, ABC). From Wikipedia "Jacksonville had to wait longer to gain full-time affiliates of all three major networks than other cities of its size because the surrounding suburbs and rural areas were smaller than the city itself."

So the complete set of affiliates date for the Metro Jacksonville area was: FEB. 19, 1966

What date in your area or city of interest?

 

[KeithE4]

No city, not even New York, had a full complement of networks until the spring of 1948, when the CBS and ABC networks began operations. NYC, of course, had its own CBS-owned station since the early 1930s (experimental) and commercially since 1941, but the network didn't have any other affiliates yet. The ABC network started a few months before then-WJZ-TV first went on the air. What few ABC shows aired during that time were broadcast on Dumont's WABD.

As far as Phoenix goes, it was February 28, 1955, when KTVK Channel 3 went on the air as the market's first full-time ABC affiliate. Our network history is:

12/4/1949: KPHO-TV Channel 5 signs on with all 4 networks via kinescope. The live network connection wasn't opened until 1951.

4/23/1953: KTYL-TV Channel 12 signs on in Mesa with NBC. Through several ownership changes, it became KVAR (1954), KTAR-TV (1959, after moving to Phoenix), and KPNX (1979), but is the only station in Phoenix that hasn't changed networks, although it shared Dumont with KPHO for its first couple of years. KPHO was reduced to CBS, ABC, and Dumont.

10/24/1953: KOOL-TV and KOY-TV Channel 10 began a short-lived share-time operation. Originally, neither had a network affiliation at the time (the Wikipedia article is wrong).

5/??/1954: KOOL bought out KOY-TV in May 1954, and became a part-time ABC affiliate, shared with KPHO. The network lineup at this time was KPHO-TV 5 (CBS, ABC, Dumont), KOOL-TV 10 (ABC), KVAR 12 (NBC, Dumont).

2/28/1955: KTVK Channel 3 signed on as Phoenix's first full-time ABC affiliate, taking it from KPHO and KOOL. CBS left KPHO for KOOL at the same time. KPHO was left with just Dumont.

8/6/1956: Dumont aired its last program, a boxing match. KPHO was now officially an independent.

And that's how the Big 3 networks lined up for the next 38 years: KTVK 3 (ABC), KPHO 5 (Ind.), KOOL/KTSP/KSAZ 10 (CBS), KVAR/KTAR/KPNX 12 (NBC).

 

[PTBoardOp94]

It can sometimes be hard to say, if you consider rim-shot affiliates.

For example, Terre Haute. They had WTHI-TV 10 as the only television station home to the market, carrying CBS programs primarily, from 1954 to 1965.

WTWO 2 signed on with NBC affiliation in 1965.
WIIL 38 signed on with ABC in 1973. So, that's the simple answer, 1973.

Channel 38 (WBAK by then) switched to Fox in the 1995 affiliation swaps, so you could put an end date of 1995 on the window when Terre Haute had all of the "Big 3" networks.

ABC and NBC were available from nearby markets much earlier, if Terre Haute viewers were truly dedicated to watching NBC or ABC programs. The surrounding markets of Indianapolis and Evansville had all 3 networks by 1956, and Champaign by 1959, although most were on UHF.

 

[KeithE4]

It can sometimes be hard to say, if you consider rim-shot affiliates.

For example, Terre Haute. They had WTHI-TV 10 as the only television station home to the market, carrying CBS programs primarily, from 1954 to 1965.

WTWO 2 signed on with NBC affiliation in 1965.
WIIL 38 signed on with ABC in 1973. So, that's the simple answer, 1973.

Channel 38 (WBAK by then) switched to Fox in the 1995 affiliation swaps, so you could put an end date of 1995 on the window when Terre Haute had all of the "Big 3" networks.

ABC and NBC were available from nearby markets much earlier, if Terre Haute viewers were truly dedicated to watching NBC or ABC programs. The surrounding markets of Indianapolis and Evansville had all 3 networks by 1956, and Champaign by 1959, although most were on UHF.

WTWO was primary NBC and secondary ABC from its 1965 sign-on until WIIL started up in April '73.

Between 1954 and 1957, WTTV transmitted from Cloverdale, about half way between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, moving to Channel 4 which allowed WTHI to sign on Channel 10. They marketed themselves as the NBC affiliate for both markets. It was the NBC affiliate for Indy the first two years, then ABC for a year, swapping with WFBM-TV 6, before losing it to WLWI 13 when it signed on in October 1957. They moved from Cloverdale to Trafalger (between Indy and Bloomington) at about the same time.

The only viewable signal from central Illinois into Terre Haute were WCIA Channel 3, which was both CBS and NBC prior to 1959, and educational WILL-TV 12. The others were low-powered UHF stations that barely covered their COLs. They were equivalent to today's Class A stations.

I'll have a rundown for Indianapolis sometime between now and tomorrow, unless someone beats me to it.

 

[KeithE4]

Indianapolis:

5/30/1949: WFBM-TV begins operations on Channel 6. It's a primary CBS affiliate, but airs programs from all networks.

11/11/1949: WTTV signs on from Bloomington (50 miles SW of Indy) on Channel 10. It's a primary NBC affiliate that also aired programs from the other three networks. Its signal barely covers Bloomington from a converted drugstore just south of downtown Bloomington, unlike WFBM-TV who had better facilities. A move to higher ground in the back of the main Sarkes Tarzian plant on the south side of Bloomington in 1952 improved their signal only slightly.

2/21/1954: WTTV relocated their transmitter to Cloverdale, between Indianapolis and Terre Haute. It moved from Channel 10 to Channel 4 and ran 100 kW ERP for the first time. The move allowed WTHI-TV to sign on from Terre Haute on Channel 10, affiliated with all 3 networks, that July. WTTV marketed themselves as the NBC affiliate for both Indianapolis and Terre Haute. The city of license remained Bloomington (which it is to this day).

7/1/1954: WISH-TV signed on Channel 8 from Indianapolis. It was a primary ABC affiliate, but aired programs from the other networks that WTTV and WFBM didn't want. This was common in middle markets in those days.

The network lineup was: WTTV 4 (NBC, ABC, Dumont), WFBM 6 (CBS, ABC, Dumont), WISH 8 (ABC, NBC, CBS).

1956: WTTV, WFBM, and WISH swapped affiliates, with ABC going to WTTV, NBC to WFBM, and CBS to WISH. With Dumont gone, each station had its own single network. This was the first time that the Indianapolis market had the Big 3 on one station each.

The network lineup was: WTTV 4 (ABC), WFBM 6 (NBC), WISH 8 (CBS).

10/30/1957: WLWI Channel 13 signed on as the ABC affiliate for Indianapolis, leaving WTTV an independent. WTTV moved its transmitter from Cloverdale to Trafalgar, about halfway between Indianapolis and Bloomington, at about the same time. The problem in Cloverdale was that WTTV didn't cover the northern suburbs of Indianapolis well. This was, and is, the "money" area. Trafalgar was little better.

The network lineup was: WTTV (Ind.), WFBM 6 (NBC), WISH 8 (CBS), WLWI 13 (ABC).

This is how it was for the next 22 years. WFBM became WRTV in 1972, and WLWI became WTHR in 1976. They swapped affiliations in 1979. WTTV and satellite WTTK 29 Kokomo took the CBS affiliation away from WISH in 2015.

 

[gr8oldies]

I can't give you dates but when my family moved to within range of the Dayton, Ohio VHF stations, Dayton was a hodge podge, patchwork quilt of programming from all 3 networks on each station, including WKEF. If memory serves, WHIO was mostly NBC and CBS, WLW-D was ABC and NBC, WKEF got whatever was left over. I don't know if the stations bid on individual programs or what the deal was. I believe it was the short-lived WKTR's sign on that got Dayton a full time CBS affiliate.

 

[Ccook55]

Atlanta had their compliment of the three networks on self-contained affiliates as early as 1951.

WSB (Sept. 29, 1948) was NBC with ABC as secondary. They'd drop ABC in 1951 when WLTV signed on. WSB switched to ABC full time on Labor Day 1980.

WAGA (March 8, 1949) was CBS with ABC and Dumont as secondaries. They dropped ABC when WLTV signed on then they dropped Dumont in 1955 before that network went dark. WAGA switched to Fox in 1994 with CBS going to WGNX (today WGCL).

WLTV (Sept. 30, 1951--today as WXIA) was ABC with no secondaries (although they did air a fingerful of NBC and CBS shows passed up by WSB and WAGA for a short period in the early 60s). They switched to NBC on Labor Day 1980.

 

[charlestondxman]

Charleston got their big 3 stations relatively early compared to some of its neighboring markets.

WCSC 5 (CBS) signed on 6/19/1953 as a CBS affiliate. It split all 4 networks (NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont) for its first year of existence.

WUSN 2 signed on 9/25/1954 as the NBC affiliate. This was logical as ABC wasn’t very much at the time. WUSN was secondary ABC until 1962. WCSC and WUSN split the ABC lineup, but for a few months in 1962, there were very few ABC shows aired in the market.

WCIV 4 signed on 10/23/1962 as the NBC affiliate, causing WUSN to flip to ABC shows full time.

Charleston got their 3 networks about a year after Columbia, which got full time ABC in 1961, but well before Savannah. Savannah didn’t get its third stations, WJCL, until July of 1970. WTOC 11 and WSAV 3 split ABC programs there until that happened.

Florence/Myrtle Beach waited even longer. It was really until 2008 before they got all the big 3 stations, but Florence was a one station market until 1980 when WPDE 15 signed on as the ABC. WBTW 13 split CBS and ABC programs until then. NBC in the market was left to either WIS in Columbia, WCIV, WECT in Wilmington, or other stations.

Charleston’s educational TV station, WITV, signed on in January 1964. Charleston was very lucky to have four low-VHF channels at this early of a point. People on the outer edges of other markets relied on Charleston’s stations to get full network coverage. We didn’t get our fifth channel (WTAT 24, the independent) until 1985.

 

[fybush]

For upstate New York, it's a patchwork.

Albany technically got there first, but only for those viewers lucky enough to have UHF. By 2/17/1954, there was full three-network service: NBC on WRGB-TV 6, ABC on WROW-TV 41 and (the final piece) CBS on WTRI-TV 35. Those UHF stations eventually got to move to VHF, as WTEN 10 and WAST 13, respectively.

Buffalo came next, with a brief flicker of three-network service from August 1954 (when WGR-TV 2 signed on with NBC, joining WBEN-TV 4 with CBS and WBUF-TV 17 with ABC and DuMont) until WBUF went off in 1955. WBUF returned to the air in 1956 as an NBC O&O, with WGR going to NBC. WBUF signed off for good in Sept. 1958, and in November of 1958 WKBW-TV 7 went on with ABC, WGR-TV went to NBC and all three nets have been in the same dial positions ever since.

Three more markets got full three-network service in late 1962, all within a few months, thanks to new ABC affiliates: WNYS-TV 9 Syracuse (9/9/62), WOKR 13 Rochester (9/15/62), WBJA 34 Binghamton (11/24/62).

That left a bunch of partial-service markets for decades afterward. Elmira was a one-station market (WSYE-TV 18, a satellite of WSYR-TV Syracuse) from 1956 until ABC affiliate WENY-TV 36 signed on in 1969; CBS came from Binghamton's WNBF-TV 12 until WENY added a CBS subchannel in the DTV era. Watertown was a one-station market (WCNY-TV/WWNY-TV 7, primarily CBS but with some NBC and ABC) from 1954 until the 1980s, when an ABC affiliate, WWTI 50, hit the airwaves. NBC came from Syracuse or Plattsburgh until just a couple of years ago, when a low-power NBC affiliate hit the air there. And Utica was a one-station market (WKTV 13, later 2, primarily NBC) from 1949 until 1970 when ABC affiliate WUTR 20 came on. CBS came from Syracuse or Schenectady (WTVH or WRGB) until just a few years ago, when WKTV added a DTV subchannel.

 

[Ccook55]

San Diego, where I lived in my second and third grade salad days:

XETV/ch. 6 (April 29, 1953) started as a Tijuana-based independent then acquired ABC affiliation in 1956 to serve San Diego full time. That was born out of necessity as San Diego proper had no room for a channel 6 allocation (KSBY/ch. 6 in San Luis Obispo had a signal that could traverse the California coast and interfere with any signal) so XETV was a supplemental station but since it was based in Tijuana, they had to have ABC shows recorded elsewhere and bicycled to them for broadcast. Today they're Canal 5.

KFMB/ch. 8 (May 16, 1949) was and still is CBS. They had NBC as secondary to 1953 when KFSD signed on, ABC as secondary to 1956 when XETV took up the affiliation, and Dumont to 1956 when it went dark.

KFSD/ch. 10 (September 13, 1953) was NBC with ABC as secondary until XETV took ABC affiliation in 1956. They switched to ABC in 1977 with NBC going to KCST/ch. 39 (now KNSD).

 

[KeithE4]

Tucson's history is simple, since no station has changed its primary affiliation since sign-on.

1/15/53: KOPO-TV 13 signed on as Tucson's first station. It was CBS primary and the other networks secondary.

9/15/53: KVOA-TV 4 signed on as the NBC affiliate, with ABC shared with KOPO. Dumont remained on KOPO.

6/3/56: KDWI-TV 9 signed on as the ABC affiliate. This was the date that Tucson first had one Big 3 affiliate on each channel.

8/6/56: Dumont shut down, leaving KOPO as exclusive CBS.

1957: KOPO-TV became KOLD-TV, and KDWI-TV became KGUN, adding the "-TV" suffix in 1961.

2/1/1967: KZAZ 11 signed on as an independent, licensed to Nogales. The call letters changed to KMSB-TV in 1985, and was an original Fox affiliate starting in 1986.

 

[Ccook55]

Macon, Ga., another city of misspent youth (at least for a couple of years):

WNEX/ch. 47 (August 25, 1953) was Macon's first station, an NBC affiliate. It went off the air in 1955 due to the old bugaboo of TV sets not being equipped with UHF tuners.

WMAZ/ch. 13 (Sept. 27, 1953) went on as CBS which it still is today. It had ABC, NBC and Dumont as secondaries although it carried more from ABC during off-CBS times. Full time ABC came in from Atlanta (WLTV/WLWA/WAII/WQXI/WXIA to 1980; WSB afterwards) and Columbus (WTVM which doubled with NBC) while NBC came in from Atlanta (WSB to 1968 when WCWB signed on) and Columbus (WTVM to 1968, ditto).

WCWB/ch. 41 (Sept. 30, 1968) went on as a self-contained NBC affiliate, although they'd carry delayed broadcasts of a couple of ABC shows early on.

WGXA/ch. 24 (April 21, 1982) signed on as a full time ABC affiliate. This left WMAZ solely with CBS. Today they're Fox with ABC on its first subcarrier where they are curiously branded as "ABC 16" (their previous RF channel; they're now on 26).

 

[anotherguyTN]

In Memphis WMCT (Now WMC) 5 started in 1948 and carried NBC as their primary network and CBS, ABC, and Dumont as secondary networks until 1953. In 1953 WHBQ 13 took CBS as the primary network and ABC as secondary. In 1956 WREC (Now WREG) 3 took CBS and WHBQ kept ABC. WMC kept Dumont until it folded in 1956. The 3 stations remained the same until 1995 when WHBQ was sold to Fox and became a Fox O&O, and ABC moved to WPTY (Now WATN) 24.

 

[gr8oldies]

I lived for a very short time in the Quincy, IL/Hannibal, MO market. At the time there were 2 actual local network stations, KHQA-7 with CBS and WGEM-10, NBC. KTVO-3, Kirksvkille/Otumwa, had become the defacto ABC affiliate for the market as well as its own. St. Louis came in on the cable, but the St. Louis CBS and NBC stations were switched to KHQA or WGEM during duplicated programming.

From what I've read, chiefly in the UHF Morge, ABC piggybacked on KHQA's signal before failed superstation WJJY-14 came on the air. WJJY picked up ABC briefly until the whole thing collapsed in bankruptcy shortly thereafter. I dpn't know exactly the details about KTVO and how it became the ABC affiliate. When I was there, there was a PBS station (I think on 14) and a new religious station with a horrible picture.

 

[joebtsflk1]

KTVO was CBS from its start in 1955 until 1968 when it switched to ABC. It spent over ten years in legal challenges from threatened UHF stations (I believe it was the ABC station on ch. 17 in Columbia MO) before the station was able to build its 2000' tower between Kirksville and Quincy in the mid 80s. It lasted only a year before it fell in 1987. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTVO-TV_Tower

 

[Ccook55]

Panama City, Florida:

WJDM (today WJHG)/ch. 7 (Dec. 1, 1953) started out as ABC, splitting airtime with NBC while having CBS and Dumont as secondaries. They dropped Dumont after it went dark, then they dropped CBS in 1961 when WTVY in Dothan AL moved from channel 9 to channel 4 and became Panama City's "default" CBS outlet. Their transmitter was moved to Bethlehem FL for their signal to reach Panama City.

WDTB (today WMBB)/ch. 13 (Oct. 4, 1973) signed on as NBC, leaving WJHG with ABC affiliation. In 1982, Channels 7 and 13 swapped networks.

WECP/ch. 18 (Sept. 24, 2012) went on the air as Panama City's first self-contained CBS station. They're low-powered (15,000 watts), so their signal is rebroadcast on a subcarrier of WJHG for full-power reach.

 

[Route66Fan]

I lived for a very short time in the Quincy, IL/Hannibal, MO market. At the time there were 2 actual local network stations, KHQA-7 with CBS and WGEM-10, NBC. KTVO-3, Kirksvkille/Otumwa, had become the defacto ABC affiliate for the market as well as its own. St. Louis came in on the cable, but the St. Louis CBS and NBC stations were switched to KHQA or WGEM during duplicated programming.

From what I've read, chiefly in the UHF Morge, ABC piggybacked on KHQA's signal before failed superstation WJJY-14 came on the air. WJJY picked up ABC briefly until the whole thing collapsed in bankruptcy shortly thereafter. I dpn't know exactly the details about KTVO and how it became the ABC affiliate. When I was there, there was a PBS station (I think on 14) and a new religious station with a horrible picture.

From what I have read, WJJY-TV's signal could be seen as far South as Cape Girardeau, MO (I have wondered if it could have been picked up in Carrollton, MO, probably by tropo.). I think the "religious station" that you're referring to is WTJR-TV, Ch. 16 in Quincy, IL, which came on the air on Janurary 1, 1986. They are now a CTN O&O.

 

[ftballfan]

Traverse City/Cadillac, MI had to wait until 1971 just to get a full-time ABC affiliate.

In January 1954, WWTV (Cadillac) signed on on channel 13, with a primary CBS affiliation and secondary affiliations with ABC and DuMont. DuMont left when that network folded. WWTV then moved to channel 9 in 1962, which allowed WZZM to come on the air on channel 13 in the Grand Rapids area.

A month later, WPBN (Traverse City) signed on on channel 7, with a primary NBC affiliation and a secondary ABC affiliation.

WGTU (Traverse City) signed on in 1971 with a full-time ABC affiliation, but it had a weak signal that only reached about half the market (the market is a very large one geographically, and both WWTV and WPBN had signed on full-power rebroadcasters in the Straits/Eastern UP by the early 1960s). In 1976, WGTU signed on its rebroadcaster in Sault Ste. Marie. Until the sign-on of WGTU (and for years after WGTU signed on in outlying parts of the market), cable customers (or OTA viewers in some areas) could get ABC via the aforementioned WZZM in Grand Rapids, WLUK in Green Bay, or WJRT in Flint depending on location. (Some areas, such as Ludington and Manistee, could get both WZZM and WLUK)

 

[onairb2014]

San Francisco:
KPIX signed on December 22, 1948. It was primary CBS, but carried programming from NBC(until 1949), Dumont, and even the short-lived Paramount Television Network, becoming exclusively CBS after August 6, 1956.(Aside from the boxing series that ended on that date, most other Dumont programming ended April 1, 1955. I'd need to research how much of their programming KPIX was still carrying by then).
KGO-TV went on the air May 5, 1949, ABC O & O from the start.
KRON started up on November 15,1949, exclusively NBC.

 

[Mr Tony]

Minneapolis

KSTP was first 4/27/48 as NBC (they switched to ABC in March 1979)
WCCO signed on as WTCN July 1, 1949 as CBS (as they still are...callsign switched to WCCO in 1952)
KARE signed on as WTCN (after WCCO gave up the callsign) September 1, 1953 as ABC (they switched to Independent 4/16/61 as KMSP took ABC)

March 1979 a 3 way switch happened...KSTP went form NBC to ABC, WTCN went from Independent to NBC and KSMP went from ABC to Independent