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What 3rd-place stations were able to make comebacks?

Does anyone know why, WRIC was known as WXEX. Like previously mention, the RIC in WRIC stands for Richmond, but what does XEX stand for in WXEX?

I remember WRIC promoting the hell out of WLEE when I was kid, which made me think they were known as WLEE...I was a stupid kid, trust me. ;D

WLEE would of worked for WRIC, somewhat, because of Fort LEE.


When I go home to visit, I always watch WTVR, I was born and raised watching them, so when I go home, I watch them.

I think it's amazing that, I currently live in a bigger market then the Richmond/Petersburg Market, yet all 3 of the Richmond/Petersburg "News Stations" are far more superior than what we have. Even WRIC is better than our lowest rated station.
 
I think we can safely assume that the "XEX" in WXEX-TV in Richmond did not stand for anything. But the reason channel 8 did not use the WLEE calls was because the FCC had a regulation that co-owned stations could not use the same call letters for their radio and tvs if the col was not the same. WLEE-AM was Richmond and WXEX-TV was (is) Petersburg. Before the 1970s, WXEX could only identify itself as WXEX-TV, Petersburg, not Petersburg/Richmond as they do now. That was also due to FCC regs, which have since been loosened. I grew up in the 50s and 60s in the Richmond area, watching 6, 8, and 12 and we kids always liked 8 the best since they had better syndicated programing (and looking back, 8 promoted itself much more aggressively) but all three stations were operated on the cheap, with horrible news operations and lots of technical problems. I remember always being amazed, when I visited relatives in North Carolina, about how much slicker and professional the TV stations there were--and that continues to this day, though the Richmond stations have improved. I live in Charlotte now, and there is no comparison between stations here and in Richmond.
 
Bob's right about WIVB's resurrection - but there's an even bigger ashes-to-riches story in Buffalo down the dial at channel 2, where after many years in the ratings cellar, WGRZ's been posting first-place finishes. The destruction of WKBW-TV under Granite has certainly helped, giving a lot of Buffalonians a good reason to finally edge the dial away from channel 7, where it was locked for many years.

Down the road here in Rochester, channel 13 (then WOKR) was the dog of the market from its 1962 debut until the late seventies, when a combination of a resurgent ABC network schedule, some excellent self-promotion ("Hello Rochester...13 Loves You"), a strike that disrupted former market leader WROC-TV, and management willing to be patient over the very long run in letting its anchor team develop all came together to make channel 13 #1 for many years. It still is, in many dayparts, though it trades leads back and forth with channel 10...and its lead anchor is still Don Alhart, who marks 40 years at the station this year.
 
In Portland, Oregon (my native city), KGW-TV was mostly in 3rd place for most of the 1980s and early 1990s. I believe that KOIN-TV (CBS) was #1 with their strong line-up including "M*A*S*H," "Wheel of Fortune," and "People's Court." KATU-TV (ABC) was mostly second with their strong local programming including "AM Northest" (which still airs to this day).

KGW-TV is a NBC station that was owned by Seattle-based King Broadcasting for several years. King had a great media portfolio in the Pacific Northwest with great stations like KING-TV in Seattle and KREM-TV in Spokane. Providence Journal brought the King Broadcasting group in the early 1990s. When Providence took over KGW-TV, they were able to acquire "the Oprah Winfrey Show" from rival station KATU-TV (an ABC station) and invested more money into their news department. Then in 1997 or 1998, Belo Corp. purchased KGW-TV. Belo, mostly a newspaper and publishing company, owns several television stations including WFAA-TV in Dallas.

Despite a strong lead-in from "Oprah" and improved promotion of the newscasts, it took a few years for KGW-TV to achieve high honors in Portland television. They final hit their goal in the late 1990s and still to this day KGW is #1. However, KPTV (a strong FOX station) has been #1 in the morning with their successful "Good Day Oregon" and have given KGW a run for their money. KPTV's "10'O Clock News" is the #1 late-night newscast in Portland. Last year, KPTV launched a 11PM newscast to compete against KGW and has improved slowly in the last rating book.
 
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