Unusual Network Affiliates

[OhioMediaWatch]

From the "More than one market" thread, I posted this message about Lima OH:

It looks like WLIO/8 has NBC on 8.1 and Fox on 8.2, and WOHL-CD/35 has ABC on 35.1 and CBS on 35.2.

This is despite the fact that WOHL(-LP) was the long-time call sign of the Fox affiliate.

All are in HD, except for Fox on 8.2 for some reason.

 

[taylorjsdad]

Two PBS members in the Seattle area, KCTS 9 (Seattle) and KBTC 28 (Tacoma).

That ain't as unusual as you think -- many parts of the country have two or more PBS stations, such as Los Angeles (KOCE, KLCS and, until recently, KCET), Chicago (WTTW, WYCC and WYIN), New York City (WNET, WLIW, Connecticut Public TV and NJN), Cincinnati (WCET, WPTO and KET station WCVN), Tampa Bay (WEDU and WUSF), Miami (WPBT and WLRN), Orlando (WDSC, WBCC and, until June, at least, WMFE), and Flint / Saginaw (WDCQ and WCMU), among many others.

Boston too... WGBH and WGBX (3 if you include NH Public Television.)

Burlington/Plattsburgh too... WETK (and satellites/translators) Burlington and WCFE, Plattsburgh

 

[William_Yeager]

Bowling Green, KY has three PBS affiliates for the area as well: WKYU (Western Kentucky University), WKGB (KET), and WNPT (Nashville). Bowling Green also has two CBS affiliates, as Nashville's WTVF has been supplanted a CBS subchannel on Bowling Green's WNKY.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville had two ABC affiliates for years
in the '50s, '60s, and '70s: WLOS/13 Asheville and WAIM/40 Anderson, SC.
In the '90s 40 was a satellite of WLOS briefly.

I used to buy a TV Guide when I would go to the mountains and WAIM was listed as a CBS affiliate as well.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Another unusual situation here in the Raleigh-Durham market is our NBC affiliate being on a UHF channel licensed to an outlying city on the market's eastern edge, WNCN-TV 17/Goldsboro. As regular visitors to this board have likely read, NBC has come up with the short straw in this market, which had only two successful commercial TV stations WRAL-TV 5 in Raleigh (ABC) and WTVD, channel 11 in Durham (CBS and NBC), until 1968 when WRDU-TV 28/Durham signed on. The station was NBC, but mostly the less-popular programs WTVD didn't air until the FCC stepped in. The Peacock Network stayed on channel 28 through two different owners, with nowhere to go on VHF (WTVD became an ABC O&O in 1985, with CBS going to WRAL, who had no interest in going NBC). By 1995, channel 28 was now known as WRDC with no news operation for the past four years and weaker ratings than the then-Fox affiliate WLFL. NBC bought independent station WNCN-TV and literally built a network affiliate from the ground up out of a station that, just a few years earlier was known as WYED-TV, a 1988 sign-on airing home shopping and weekend fishing shows. Media General owns the station now.

I have a TV Guide from the days when WTVD and WRDU split up CBS and NBC programming and CBS shows aired on WRDU too, at weird times. I can only assume they were there because they didn't air on WTVD. I need to pull out that TV Guide sometime and put the schedule here.

 

[vchimpanzee]

In analog days I could pick up WDBJ, WSLS, and WSET;
I never picked up WBRA.

Major funding from Victoria's Secret.

In 1970 that market had two ABC affiliates. WRFT, channel 27, is now the Fox station. I watched WLVA, which is now WSET. Actually, I should say listened. WGHP occasionally pre-empted "The Partridge Family" and I was so happy to actually see as well as hear when the episodes were rerun. WDBJ, on the other hand, had a perfect signal and I could see "Tom and Jerry" in its normal slot when WFMY ran "Oral Roberts".

"Something good is going to happen to you ..."

 

[bpatrick]

WAIM always carried a few CBS programs, especially
when ABC was down, in the late '50s/early '60s and
again in the late '70s. From the late '60s at the latest
well into the '70s it carried mostly CBS programs, although
it did, in the '70s, carry ABC News at 6 and CBS News at
6:30.

WRDU was a lot like WBMG in Birmingham; both stations
got the CBS and NBC castoffs from the VHF (WTVD and
WAPI), although WRDU was always considered a primary
NBC affiliate and WBMG a primary CBS one. We know from
records of FCC proceedings that it was WRDU that forced
WTVD to choose one network; that also applied to WAPI,
with TVD going with CBS and API with NBC.

WRFT actually lasted a lot longer than I thought; I have
one TV Guide from 1971 with its listings but the station
started in the mid-'60s, as I think someone on this board
once told me. I don't remember why WGHP occasionally
pre-empted "The Partridge Family" (I wasn't living in North
Carolina when it was on ABC) but I know it used to carry it
and "The Brady Bunch" back-to-back in the afternoons.

Also, of the three CBS affiliates in the Central Virginia Edition
of TV Guide in the '60s and '70s WTVD was the only one that
would have cleared all of CBS's Sunday-morning programming:
the cartoons, "Lamp Unto My Feet," "Look Up And Live," "Camera
Three," and "Face The Nation." IIRC, Capital Cities had a policy
against "paid religion" (like Oral Roberts, who came on WRAL in
the Triangle) and TVD could still earn some FCC brownie points with
the CBS block minus the cartoons.

 

[Poledo]

Also, South Georgia/North Florida: WJCT Jacksonville and
WXGA Waycross, GA.

A little late in the reply but... GPTV covers the entire Georgia/Florida state line very well. Besides WJCT and WXGA covering Jacksonville and South East Georgia there's also WFSU and WABW covering Tallahassee and South West Georgia. In fact, the original DT CP for GPTV's WABW would have had the station competing for viewers in Tallahassee from a tower in Florida (along side most other Tallahassee network affiliates) but GPTV never went through with building it out and WABW wound up using the old analog tower site to better serve the fine people of the great state of Georgia.

Not far to the west in the Mobile/Pensacola TV market (DMA #60?) we also have two PBS stations, WSRE and WEIQ, both broadcasting from towers about 10 miles apart. Strangely though, Alabama Public Television does NOT compete for viewers on the Florida side of the state line and is the only full power TV station in this market that has never been carried on cable in Florida (I don't have a clue why WEIQ/APTV does not enforce "must carry" on Florida cable systems in the Mobile DMA). On the other hand, Pensacola's WSRE-DT is now broadcasting from a tower in Alabama. Since WSRE produces and provides local area programing, unlike Alabama's statewide APTV network, Pensacola, Florida's WSRE is becoming the preferred PBS station for South West Alabama and during PBS pledge drives WSRE should be making a significant dent in APTV donations from Alabama's second largest TV market (and possibly the most affluent TV market, unless that honor goes to Huntsville.)

The Florida PBS stations, WJCT, WFSU, and WSRE all all independent PBS stations affiliated with state colleges in Florida. Most south-eastern states, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, etc...have a statewide PBS network. Even though there are a few stations that simulcast (ie. WFSU Tallahassee/WFSG Panama City Beach), Florida does not have a statewide PBS network. I don't know why.

 

[azumanga]

Also, South Georgia/North Florida: WJCT Jacksonville and
WXGA Waycross, GA.

A little late in the reply but... GPTV covers the entire Georgia/Florida state line very well. Besides WJCT and WXGA covering Jacksonville and South East Georgia...

Though I believe the Comcast system in Jacksonville never carried WXGA, opting instead for Gainesville PBS station WUFT. Cable systems in the Georgia portion of the market carry WXGA and WJCT, however.

...there's also WFSU and WABW covering Tallahassee and South West Georgia. In fact, the original DT CP for GPTV's WABW would have had the station competing for viewers in Tallahassee from a tower in Florida (along side most other Tallahassee network affiliates) but GPTV never went through with building it out and WABW wound up using the old analog tower site to better serve the fine people of the great state of Georgia.

Nevertheless, the Comcast system in Tallahassee does offer both WFSU and WABW.

Pensacola's WSRE-DT is now broadcasting from a tower in Alabama. Since WSRE produces and provides local area programing, unlike Alabama's statewide APTV network, Pensacola, Florida's WSRE is becoming the preferred PBS station for South West Alabama and during PBS pledge drives WSRE should be making a significant dent in APTV donations from Alabama's second largest TV market (and possibly the most affluent TV market, unless that honor goes to Huntsville.)

If so, WSRE is doing it without the support of cable viewers in Mobile -- according to zap2it, neither Comcast nor Mediacom in Mobile offer WSRE -- only WEIQ.

 

[kilamanjero]

Also, South Georgia/North Florida: WJCT Jacksonville and
WXGA Waycross, GA.

A little late in the reply but... GPTV covers the entire Georgia/Florida state line very well. Besides WJCT and WXGA covering Jacksonville and South East Georgia there's also WFSU and WABW covering Tallahassee and South West Georgia. In fact, the original DT CP for GPTV's WABW would have had the station competing for viewers in Tallahassee from a tower in Florida (along side most other Tallahassee network affiliates) but GPTV never went through with building it out and WABW wound up using the old analog tower site to better serve the fine people of the great state of Georgia.

Not far to the west in the Mobile/Pensacola TV market (DMA #60?) we also have two PBS stations, WSRE and WEIQ, both broadcasting from towers about 10 miles apart. Strangely though, Alabama Public Television does NOT compete for viewers on the Florida side of the state line and is the only full power TV station in this market that has never been carried on cable in Florida (I don't have a clue why WEIQ/APTV does not enforce "must carry" on Florida cable systems in the Mobile DMA). On the other hand, Pensacola's WSRE-DT is now broadcasting from a tower in Alabama. Since WSRE produces and provides local area programing, unlike Alabama's statewide APTV network, Pensacola, Florida's WSRE is becoming the preferred PBS station for South West Alabama and during PBS pledge drives WSRE should be making a significant dent in APTV donations from Alabama's second largest TV market (and possibly the most affluent TV market, unless that honor goes to Huntsville.)

The Florida PBS stations, WJCT, WFSU, and WSRE all all independent PBS stations affiliated with state colleges in Florida. Most south-eastern states, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, etc...have a statewide PBS network. Even though there are a few stations that simulcast (ie. WFSU Tallahassee/WFSG Panama City Beach), Florida does not have a statewide PBS network. I don't know why.

The most affluent and largest DMA in Alabama is Birmingham.

 

[Poledo]

I thought that WSRE-DT might have the largest coverage area of any Mobile DMA TV station so I started looking online for a coverage map before I posted (WEAR has the largest coverage area, WSRE isn't much smaller). I found a coverage map on the WSRE website with a note that they were carried on cable systems from Destin, Florida to south east Mississippi. I never thought to look at the actual cable lineups... I know that WSRE has been on cable on the Eastern Shore of Mobile bay for decades (WSRE never had an analog OTA signal in that area.)

Mediacom in Santa Rosa county Florida carries the SD feed of APTV but it has never been listed on any channel lineups and it doesn't show up at all if you have a cable box, you have to hook up a regular QAM tuner to cable in order to pick up the station... so as usual, not all published channel lineups are correct... most are probably out of date.


A little off topic, but I just spent some time to look it up so I'll post it.

The easiest way I can think of to gauge which Alabama community is the most affluent is by median household income.

Mobile, AL - $37,439
Huntsville, AL - $41,074
Birmingham, AL - $26,735

Looks like those NASA folks way up in Huntsville win.

Birmingham is obviously the largest city in the state and their TV DMA is absolutely huge, covering about 1/3 of the state. Mobile is the second largest city. I doubt Huntsville is the third largest city... Montgomery probably is, but outside Alabama government, there's no money in the Gump.

 

[kilamanjero]

I thought that WSRE-DT might have the largest coverage area of any Mobile DMA TV station so I started looking online for a coverage map before I posted (WEAR has the largest coverage area, WSRE isn't much smaller). I found a coverage map on the WSRE website with a note that they were carried on cable systems from Destin, Florida to south east Mississippi. I never thought to look at the actual cable lineups... I know that WSRE has been on cable on the Eastern Shore of Mobile bay for decades (WSRE never had an analog OTA signal in that area.)

Mediacom in Santa Rosa county Florida carries the SD feed of APTV but it has never been listed on any channel lineups and it doesn't show up at all if you have a cable box, you have to hook up a regular QAM tuner to cable in order to pick up the station... so as usual, not all published channel lineups are correct... most are probably out of date.


A little off topic, but I just spent some time to look it up so I'll post it.

The easiest way I can think of to gauge which Alabama community is the most affluent is by median household income.

Mobile, AL - $37,439
Huntsville, AL - $41,074
Birmingham, AL - $26,735

Looks like those NASA folks way up in Huntsville win.

Birmingham is obviously the largest city in the state and their TV DMA is absolutely huge, covering about 1/3 of the state. Mobile is the second largest city. I doubt Huntsville is the third largest city... Montgomery probably is, but outside Alabama government, there's no money in the Gump.

You can't gauge a TV market based on its central city's median income. If that was the case there would be poor ranking markets.

 

[Sammi Brie]

Phoenix in the fall of 1994 is a historic example of the very weird. It was one of the hardest hit victims of the 1994 affiliate switcheroos.

-ABC programs were split between two stations: KTVK, the longtime incumbent, and KNXV, who would be the full station for ABC starting in 1995. Programs were floating over from one to the other. Good Morning America and the ABC primetime lineup aired on two different stations in Phoenix for the last three months of 1994, as KTVK opted to go local in the mornings.
-The Arizona Cardinals were a staple of KSAZ since their 1988 inception. But now many of their games were on KNXV, which also still was the Fox affiliate, or on KPNX when AFC teams came to town, or on KTVK (which still carried ABC's sports shows) if they appeared on Monday Night Football. KSAZ took Fox on December 11, so some games in the 1994 season did air there. (To this day KTVK airs ESPN's Monday Night Football matchups if they feature the Cardinals. They also aired one of the Coyotes playoff games (they got swept in round one) this year.)
-CBS settled in with KPHO, once a regional independent. KPHO had a pre-switch news department, unlike KNXV, but it had to expand big time from producing 11:30 and 9:30pm newscasts to a full suite of shows.
-KNXV had to launch news, too. They were building a very different newscast, intended to match the feel of the Fox network, but those plans went out the window fast. "News 15" launched on August 1, 1994, with a news staff three times the planned size.
-CBS didn't want to move during the season, and Fox wouldn't come to KSAZ until December 11. KSAZ ran movies in primetime as the independent station, and it, too, was expanding. "Arizona Prime News", the first 9pm newscast in the Valley*, debuted probably as soon as CBS left.
-NBC stuck with KPNX, which had recently overhauled its image in a bid to become "Arizona's News Station". The fact that there was no change in affiliation – plus NBC's strengths after the switch nationwide – soared it to first place in the news ratings from a perennial third-runner. KPNX had some 50 consecutive 10pm sweeps victories from 1996 to 2008, when the decline of the NBC network, plus the retirements of good reporters and staff, sent it back.

*There had been historical attempts to run 9pm news in other parts of the state. KZAZ-Nogales, which would become KMSB and a Fox affiliate, had a 9pm news from 1967 to 1984. The news was one hour, and later – once the station bought a satellite downlink and began airing INN news – 30 minutes. ProJo bought it in 1984 and closed the news department. This was the first modern 9pm news in Arizona – KPHO's aired at 9:30, remember. I don't think KTVK's came on the air until more recently.