ABC in upstate New York is an interesting set of contrasts. ABC affiliates are or have in the past been strong first-place finishers in Buffalo (WKBW), Rochester (WOKR/WHAM-TV) and Syracuse (WIXT/WSYR-TV). The Rochester and Syracuse stations both went worst-to-first during ABC's late-70s surge and never looked back. WKBW's "Eyewitness News" owned that market for decades, but the station lost its edge under Granite in the 90s and is now mired deep in third place.
But in the smaller upstate markets, the ABC affiliates tend to be incredibly weak. Elmira's WENY-TV has always been a distant second to WETM/NBC. Binghamton's WIVT made a run at decent ratings a decade ago, but couldn't sustain it and ended up dropping local news almost entirely. The ABC affiliates in Watertown (WWTI) and Utica (WUTR) were both Us competing with strong Vs, and after trying to do local news in the late nineties/early 2000s, both stations dropped their local newscasts a few years back. WUTR is working to restart a news operation now, but it will have a tough time against dominant WKTV. Both stations would be contenders for "weakest ABC affiliates," I'd think.
Also worthy of mention is Altoona's WATM, across the state line in Pennsylvania. It's the descendant of the old WOPC-TV 38, absolutely one of the weakest ABC affiliates ever. In the 70s, WOPC ("Wopsy," for its location atop Wopsononock Mountain) signed on in the evening, carried ABC prime-time, then signed off immediately afterward. WOPC became WWPC and then WATM on channel 23 (and spawned a sister station, Fox affiliate WWCP-TV 8), but never really managed to get past its "distant number three" image in the market. Much of the market got other ABC affiliates anyway - Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV in Johnstown and Scranton's WNEP in State College.
Up until a few years ago, WATM/WWCP did just one newscast, which aired at 10 on WWCP and then repeated at 11 on WATM. Now the stations are in a shared services agreement with NBC affiliate WJAC, which produces a 10 PM newscast for WWCP and simulcasts its own 11 PM show on WATM.
But in the smaller upstate markets, the ABC affiliates tend to be incredibly weak. Elmira's WENY-TV has always been a distant second to WETM/NBC. Binghamton's WIVT made a run at decent ratings a decade ago, but couldn't sustain it and ended up dropping local news almost entirely. The ABC affiliates in Watertown (WWTI) and Utica (WUTR) were both Us competing with strong Vs, and after trying to do local news in the late nineties/early 2000s, both stations dropped their local newscasts a few years back. WUTR is working to restart a news operation now, but it will have a tough time against dominant WKTV. Both stations would be contenders for "weakest ABC affiliates," I'd think.
Also worthy of mention is Altoona's WATM, across the state line in Pennsylvania. It's the descendant of the old WOPC-TV 38, absolutely one of the weakest ABC affiliates ever. In the 70s, WOPC ("Wopsy," for its location atop Wopsononock Mountain) signed on in the evening, carried ABC prime-time, then signed off immediately afterward. WOPC became WWPC and then WATM on channel 23 (and spawned a sister station, Fox affiliate WWCP-TV 8), but never really managed to get past its "distant number three" image in the market. Much of the market got other ABC affiliates anyway - Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV in Johnstown and Scranton's WNEP in State College.
Up until a few years ago, WATM/WWCP did just one newscast, which aired at 10 on WWCP and then repeated at 11 on WATM. Now the stations are in a shared services agreement with NBC affiliate WJAC, which produces a 10 PM newscast for WWCP and simulcasts its own 11 PM show on WATM.