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What are NBC's strongest affiliates?

S

ssetta

Since we have a thread like this for ABC, I thought I'd do it with some of the other networks.

I have to say that I think WHDH channel 7 in Boston is one of NBC's worst affiliates. They seem to eat up most of their schedule with local news. And remember, they almost didn't air Jay Leno's prime time show, and almost lost their affiliation with NBC. And next year, when Oprah leaves the airwaves, Regis & Kelly is going to move from channel 7 to WCVB channel 5, the ABC affiliate in Boston, not only leaving WHDH with no decent syndicated programming, but in place of R&K, they're going to be doing a 9am morning newscast. What about the shift of the Today show? I think they should air the entire Today show live, and put the extra hour of news on at 11am.

In the neighboring Providence/New Bedford market, the NBC affiliate there, WJAR-10 is much stronger. It can also be seen in many parts of the Boston DMA, mostly Southeastern MA, Cape Cod, and parts of southern Worcester county on Charter cable. (I'm a bit surprised Charter still offers that channel). I think it has always been the #1 news station in Providence. I think WPRI channel 12 (CBS) might have beaten them a few times, but rarely. And all their syndicated shows are top-rated. They have Regis & Kelly on at 10 am, delaying the final hour of the Today show. They also air the Ellen DeGeneres show and Oprah Winfrey, at least for now. The only downside is I don't think they have a local HD newscast, and I'm not positive, but I think WPRI might as I haven't checked in awhile.

What other NBC affiliates in other parts of the country would be considered strong and weak?
 
I can't vote for my local NBC affiliate, KPNX. Their network programming is weak and in my house they are the fourth (out of four) network affiliates. They are even surpassed by ION (oh, the shame!).

On a related note, it seems stations, not only NBC affiliates, are packing their broadcast day (including very early morning) with repetitive news programs. Since broadcasting repetitive news doesn't cost much it seems this is done as a cost-reduction tactic.
 
Ahh.....But KPNX's sister station KUSA 9 is one of the best stations NBC has. They're consistently a VERY close 2nd (Only to CBS O&O KCNC 4) to tops in all newscasts (Have been since the 1980s when KCNC 4 was an NBC O&O & KUSA 9 was an ABC affiliate).

Their two achillies heels (Neither of which are the fault of KUSA) are primetime & (The BIGGEST one of all) daytime. Because of a poor daytime, they have to keep the only show they produce that's not a newscast on KUSA 9 instead of putting it on duopoly sister station KTVD 20 (MyNetwork TV).

This causes them to delay the last hour of Today till 11:00 AM so they have SOMETHING between the show & the noon news. It also forced them to move the daytime version of DoND over to KTVD 20 when it was on although they probably could've (And some would say SHOULD HAVE kept DoND on KUSA 9 & simply aired it in the afternoon instead of airing the tabloid show EXTRA or one of the court shows afterwards.

Otherwise, not bad.

Cheers :D
 
I can think of one NBC affiliate who thinks that they are the strongest...WHAG in Hagerstown, MD. Recently WHAG has expanded their news and coverage area to include ALL of Northern Virginia as they really really really believe that they can beat NBC O&O WRC-TV in that region dittos with the Maryland suberbs like Rockville and Gaithersburg. WHAG's plans of expanding is already causing some sort of backlash in Hagerstown as many of the local businesses there for years had marketed themselves as being "tri-state"..no they can't even do that if they wish to advertise on WHAG since that station "serves Virginia now".

Oh the news product on WHAG itself. Ah...I caught one of their newscasts a month ago. For 20 minutes all they did was a news story on the Westboro Baptist Church. At one point one of their reporters had approched one of the members of the chruch asking "..how do you feel about gay marriage and those who have mental illness?

WHAG has a long long long long long long way to go before they can shine WRC's shoes.
 
landtuna said:
I can't vote for my local NBC affiliate, KPNX. Their network programming is weak and in my house they are the fourth (out of four) network affiliates. They are even surpassed by ION (oh, the shame!).

On a related note, it seems stations, not only NBC affiliates, are packing their broadcast day (including very early morning) with repetitive news programs. Since broadcasting repetitive news doesn't cost much it seems this is done as a cost-reduction tactic.
Click to expand...

KPNX is number four on my list of the five Phoenix news channels in terms of my viewership (ahead of FOX 10), but I still rarely watch their news.

Personal preferences aside, KPNX still has good ratings for all of its newscasts, despite NBC's woes.
 
KING-TV in Seattle continues to lead the news ratings, and continues to have a strong image in the market. This station has been doing it right for many decades, starting with Dorothy Bullitt in the late 40's. Amazing story. It has even survived the recent NBC problems without major pull-back.
 
mleach said:
I can think of one NBC affiliate who thinks that they are the strongest...WHAG in Hagerstown, MD. Recently WHAG has expanded their news and coverage area to include ALL of Northern Virginia as they really really really believe that they can beat NBC O&O WRC-TV in that region dittos with the Maryland suberbs like Rockville and Gaithersburg. WHAG's plans of expanding is already causing some sort of backlash in Hagerstown as many of the local businesses there for years had marketed themselves as being "tri-state"..no they can't even do that if they wish to advertise on WHAG since that station "serves Virginia now".

Oh the news product on WHAG itself. Ah...I caught one of their newscasts a month ago. For 20 minutes all they did was a news story on the Westboro Baptist Church. At one point one of their reporters had approched one of the members of the chruch asking "..how do you feel about gay marriage and those who have mental illness?

WHAG has a long long long long long long way to go before they can shine WRC's shoes.
Click to expand...

Didn't WHAG carry "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" until recently? What happened with those?
 
ssetta said:
mleach said:
I can think of one NBC affiliate who thinks that they are the strongest...WHAG in Hagerstown, MD. Recently WHAG has expanded their news and coverage area to include ALL of Northern Virginia as they really really really believe that they can beat NBC O&O WRC-TV in that region dittos with the Maryland suberbs like Rockville and Gaithersburg. WHAG's plans of expanding is already causing some sort of backlash in Hagerstown as many of the local businesses there for years had marketed themselves as being "tri-state"..no they can't even do that if they wish to advertise on WHAG since that station "serves Virginia now".

Oh the news product on WHAG itself. Ah...I caught one of their newscasts a month ago. For 20 minutes all they did was a news story on the Westboro Baptist Church. At one point one of their reporters had approched one of the members of the chruch asking "..how do you feel about gay marriage and those who have mental illness?

WHAG has a long long long long long long way to go before they can shine WRC's shoes.
Click to expand...

Didn't WHAG carry "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" until recently? What happened with those?
Click to expand...

WHAG wants to be more of a Washington DC/Northern Virginia television station than Hagerstown's. In short WHAG just gave it up because WJLA was already airing them.
 
In the list of bad NBC affiliates, at or near the top of the list would have to be WVTM-13 in Birmingham. It's the only VHF "Big Three" affiliate in the market (even post DT-transition), yet its newscasts rank 4th in the market. The irony is, when Media General bought the station in '06, it gladly sold long-time market bottom feeder WIAT-42 (CBS). Now, Channel 42's newscasts are no worse than 2nd rated, while Channel 13 muddles along.
 
As for WRC itself, I'd have to list it among the top affiliates. It helps that it's been an O&O since day one. It still gets the highest ratings for newscasts in DC in spite of all of NBC's troubles, as well as some key departures in recent years. And I the Jim Vance/Doreen Gentzler anchor pairing is the longest current pairing in DC.

Can't really say much about the rest of the O&O's being that strong these days, though.
 
I would think KNSD San Diego, KNTV San Francisco and KSNV Las Vegas being the strong affiliates.
 
searadiofreak said:
KING-TV in Seattle continues to lead the news ratings, and continues to have a strong image in the market. This station has been doing it right for many decades, starting with Dorothy Bullitt in the late 40's. Amazing story. It has even survived the recent NBC problems without major pull-back.
Click to expand...

With the exception of an awful period in the early 80's, I agree that KING is king in Western Washington.
 
Eric Stein said:
Personal preferences aside, KPNX still has good ratings for all of its newscasts, despite NBC's woes.
Click to expand...

Eric --

Do you have info on current news ratings? We've been wondering over the Phoenix TV thread.
 
I know that in the Northwest. KING 5 in Seattle and their sister station KGW 8 in Portland, and KTVB 7 in Boise are the strongest NBC affiliates. KGW 8, KTVB 7,, and KING 5 are #1 when it comes to sign-on to sign off. Also, KHQ Q6 from Spokane, and their sister station KNDO/KNDU in Tri-Cities are #1 news station in that market. Also, KOBI 5 NBC Medford, and KCRA 3 in Sacramento (#1 from sign on to sign off and their newscast). However, almost all NBC Owned and Operated station except for KXAS in Dallas, and WCAU in Philadelphia have one of the weakest programming and newscast. WNBC 4 in New York used to be #1 station back in the 80's and early 90's for their news and programming. Now, they are rank behind WNYW FOX 5.
 
WWBT Richmond supplanted WTVR as number one in that market
almost as soon as Jefferson-Pilot acquired it in 1968, and I don't
think it has ever let go of top spot.

WXII Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point is in a spirited battle
with WFMY (CBS) and WGHP (Fox), and often finishes first or second.
They have Regis & Kelly, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Inside Edition, and ET, which
doesn't hurt. Sister station WYFF Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville also
tends to lead; it has all the same syndicated shows except Dr. Phil, who's
on WSPA.

WIS Columbia, SC, has seen some audience erosion at the expense of
CBS affiliate WLTX in recent years, but is still number one in the Midlands.

If just Charlotte proper counted, WCNC would be number one; while it is
so in the city itself, WSOC tends to dominate the eastern side of the market,
as well as Gastonia and Rock Hill, and WBTV's strength is still to the northwest,
toward the mountains. the only thing that has kept it number one in the last
few years, given that--at least when it was on Ch. 3 in the analog days--it
has the best reception the closer you get to Boone/Blowing Rock.

And in eastern North Carolina it's become essentially a two-way race, especially
at news time, between WITN (NBC) and WCTI (ABC). It seems to be to CBS
affiliate WNCT's disadvantage that it doesn't do a 5 PM newscast.

And I'm going to go out on a limb here. It's not number one, but keep your eye
on WMBF Myrtle Beach/Florence. It has practically passed ABC affiliate WPDE,
and is making some headway against WBTW (CBS). It may be awhile, but I
think WMBF has the potential to eventually become number one down there;
one thing that won't hurt is that WBTW loses Oprah after this year.
 
Bpatrick missed Charleston, Augusta and Savannah, but those stations are usually middling. WAGT was a very weak #3 in that market until about five years ago (didn't even have news until 1995), but merged with the much stronger WJBF in order to stay afloat.

WSAV is a good #2 in Savannah, but they are well behind WTOC, and WJCL is catching up. WSAV didn't even have a 5 or 5:30 news until this year, when they added a 5:30 (they had a 5pm news until a few years ago).

WCBD is still #2, but very far behind WCSC, and WTAT is catching up along with WCIV. They have no sports department except on weekends and high school football Friday nights, and incorporate the big sports events into the news. They were a weak #3 until they switched to NBC in '96 (before that, they were ABC).
 
Re: What are NBC's strongest affiliates?, not KCRA(p)

e-dawg said:
Also, KCRA 3 in Sacramento (#1 from sign on to sign off and their newscast).
Click to expand...

I hate KCRA(p) because it's an overrated ego stroking atrocity of a station. The people there are overegotistical loudmouths who think they can pwn other stations and humiliate them just to make their station look good. OTOH, KSBW 8 in Salinas is a smaller station but at least their newscast is more laid back and more eastgoing rather than their atrocious sister station.

KSEE 24 Fresno
KSBY 6 San Luis Obispo
KSHB 41 KC
KSDK 5 STL
KSL SLC
Those are strong

I can tell you about the weak stations

KIEM Eureka
KNVN Redding
KTVZ Bend, OR
KMIR Palm Springs
KYMA Yuma/El Centro
KRNV Reno
 
Charles1 said:
In the list of bad NBC affiliates, at or near the top of the list would have to be WVTM-13 in Birmingham. It's the only VHF "Big Three" affiliate in the market (even post DT-transition), yet its newscasts rank 4th in the market. The irony is, when Media General bought the station in '06, it gladly sold long-time market bottom feeder WIAT-42 (CBS). Now, Channel 42's newscasts are no worse than 2nd rated, while Channel 13 muddles along.
Click to expand...

I know there are a lot of naysayers about Media General but I would argue one NBC's stronger affiliates is Media General owned WFLA-TV Tampa.

Here in New England... I would say the strongest NBC affiliates are probably in Maine... Gannett owned WCSH-6, Portland and WLBZ-2 Bangor. You could maybe add WPTZ, North Pole, NY as well since it serves the Burlington-Plattsburgh DMA.

The weakest... WHDH, Boston. They have dropped most of their better syndicated programming (Regis and Kelly going to WCVB/WMUR next season will be the last of the good ones) and replaced it with cheaper stuff and Tabloid style newscasts.

I have not seen WJAR since Media General purchased them and I have not seen WVIT in years.

WSTM in Syracuse (home of my alma mater) would be at best a mediocre NBC affiliate...
 
charlestondxman said:
Bpatrick missed Charleston, Augusta and Savannah, but those stations are usually middling. WAGT was a very weak #3 in that market until about five years ago (didn't even have news until 1995), but merged with the much stronger WJBF in order to stay afloat.

WSAV is a good #2 in Savannah, but they are well behind WTOC, and WJCL is catching up. WSAV didn't even have a 5 or 5:30 news until this year, when they added a 5:30 (they had a 5pm news until a few years ago).

WCBD is still #2, but very far behind WCSC, and WTAT is catching up along with WCIV. They have no sports department except on weekends and high school football Friday nights, and incorporate the big sports events into the news. They were a weak #3 until they switched to NBC in '96 (before that, they were ABC).
Click to expand...

Which is why I passed over them. Charleston and Savannah have practically belonged to CBS for as long as I can remember, and Augusta has been a good ABC town for years. Macon is also one where I'd say the NBC affiliate (WMGT) is middling at best; I've never known a time when WMAZ (CBS) didn't dominate that market.
 
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