Worst Stations and Markets for Local TV

[Rob Jason]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

WTVH channel 5, in Syracuse. One of the "original 108" (that got their construction permit before the freeze in 1948). Went on the air Dec. 1, 1948 as WHEN channel 8. A CBS affiliate from the earliest days. They produced one of the most popular local TV children' shows of all time, Magic Toy Shop. Started in 1955, the show's producers actually researched for effective and worthwhile content, and featured a female Director/Producer, Jean Dougherty. Their news came to prominence in the 1970s, under the "NewsCenter 5" moniker, when Ron Curtis was their chief anchor. They were first to have a live truck in upstate NY (first use: election night 1976).

But due to a number of mis-steps (too numerous to go into here), they fell from grace in the 90s. At one point, a few years ago, their 5PM news block was turned into a sponsor-driven pseudo-news program, doing paid features. Just a month and a half ago, under (bankrupt) Granite ownership, they essentially shut down their news operation, and handed the station over to up-the-street neighbor, WSTM, the NBC affiliate. The building at 980 James St. will be sold.

I wonder how many other of the "original 108" have shut down news operations?

 

[Bob1370]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

Following up on what happened to WTVH...back in the 70s, when it was WHEN-TV, it had not only the highest rated news operation, but the best-staffed and best-equipped, a major market operation in quality in a medium-large market (at the time, just within the top 50 Nielsen ADIs). I saw it first hand, working across the hall from the TV news shop in the WHEN-AM news operation that shared the building (and owned the city's Arbitron radio ratings lead). When Meredith (who had originally built the station) still owned it, WHEN-TV, like its radio sister, was always expected to be the market leader and they made sure they invested enough in talent to get the job done. And as far as facilities, the 980 James St. studio complex was the best in the region back in the day.

I've heard that a commitment to quality still holds true for the radio and TV stations Meredith Corporation has retained. It's sad that a good owner like Meredith left the market.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

Alaska is not alone in this.

KIMO in Anchorage back in the mid-1970's was the #1 station for news; this came at a time when their network ABC finally became #1 themselves. During that period, they had an award-winning magazine program, "Journal 13" (later renamed "Alaska's People") as well as "Alaska Statewide News."

And then, the bubble burst. KTUU together with NBC's dominant ratings -- largely thanks to "The Cosby Show" -- beefed up their news operation in 1986 with the hire of a young reporter named John Tracy (who would later become their News Director from 1990 to last year) and went from last place to first overnight, while KIMO crashed to third place. KTUU, despite NBC's overall ratings troubles, is still #1 over 20 years later, while KTBY with the help of "American Idol" has sent KIMO to last place.

Here in Fairbanks, KTVF always had the highest-quality newscasts for a small market, even well into their affiliation switch from CBS to NBC in 1996. That changed when the current ownership (Clear Channel) took over some years ago and tainted the station's long legacy. All of a sudden, KFXF Fox 7 and KXD CBS 13 -- the only two locally-owned stations from Tanana Valley Television -- began picking up steam...and ratings...and last summer, anchor Bob Miller from KTVF!

 

[LynnW]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

KTVF was acquired by Newport Televison, LLC. on March, 14, 2008.

 

[Ultimajock]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

...did I simply miss it, or has nobody yet mentioned WGN-TV/9 Chicago? All of those kiddie shows that ran for years (Bozo's Circus, Ray Rayner & His Friends, Garfield Goose, Romper Room, Family Classics with Frazier Thomas, even B.J. & Dirty Dragon for a while after WFLD/32 cancelled that one), home base for Donahue, Great Music from Chicago when Fritz Reiner conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Jack Brickhouse pulling triple duty on both baseball (the Cubs AND White Sox) and Fred Kohler's NWA Wrestling shows, The Cromie Circle, It's Academic, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert...of which only the baseball survives today (minus Brick or Harry Caray), and WGN-TV's biggest pulls are CW "network" fare...

 

[radioman148]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

...did I simply miss it, or has nobody yet mentioned WGN-TV/9 Chicago? All of those kiddie shows that ran for years (Bozo's Circus, Ray Rayner & His Friends, Garfield Goose, Romper Room, Family Classics with Frazier Thomas, even B.J. & Dirty Dragon for a while after WFLD/32 cancelled that one), home base for Donahue, Great Music from Chicago when Fritz Reiner conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Jack Brickhouse pulling triple duty on both baseball (the Cubs AND White Sox) and Fred Kohler's NWA Wrestling shows, The Cromie Circle, It's Academic, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert...of which only the baseball survives today (minus Brick or Harry Caray), and WGN-TV's biggest pulls are CW "network" fare...

I remember all those shows very well. Sadly locally produced shows have disappeared.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Re: ONCE GREAT STATIONS THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE

KTVF was acquired by Newport Televison, LLC. on March, 14, 2008.

My bad.

But KTVF was much better under Northern Television's ownership until the mid-'90s.

 

[jd]

Worst TV stations in History

It's a topic borrowed from the Classic TV board. We all know there is and has been a lot of bad TV out there, but for the sake of relevance let's limit this to full-power stations. The time frame, however, can include the really old losers to today's failures.

For openers, suggested nominations might include the old KLMG 51 (now KFXK) Longview and KMEC-TV 33 (now KDAF) Dallas along with the not so dynamic duo of KLDT 55 Lake Dallas and Houston's KNWS 51. Some deserve more discussion than others, of course, but let's get some details about their inclusion on your "worst" list.

 

[bturner]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

Anybody recall the old TV 21 KFWT in Dallas Ft. Worth. I think they went under in 1971 or 1972. As I recall their schedule was something like 4-10pm weekdays, midnight Friday and Noon to Midnight Weekends (10pm Sunday).

They were very low budget as I recall. Sometimes I'd catch their sign on weekday movie, only interrupted by a 5 second Buddy's Grocery Store spot advertising one item for sale that week.

 

[mmnassour]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

I'd like to nominate the Valley's first attempt at a PBS station, the forgotten KZLN. There were some wonderful people who sweated blood to get it on and keep it on but it was hard for it to survive...

1. a complete lack of support from the Valley public (at one point only 400 memberships)
2. a break-in which saw much of its equipment stolen (it's hard to run a TV station without any CG)
3. opposition from the mayor of Harlingen to its very existence

Given the conditions, it may be amazing it lasted as long as it did. However, those last weeks were anything but professional television.

 

[gbranch]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

KVVV Channel 16 Galveston-Houston. It only lasted about a year in 1968-69. One of their featured personalities was "No-No the Clown."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVVV-TV

 

[Mediafrog+]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

During the 1970's the old KMOM Channel 9 in Monahans (then the ABC affiliate for the Midland-Odessa area) was generally considered bottom of the barrel in Texas. Stone-age equipment, crappy programming, indifferent and cheapskate ownership. The only reason it continued to plod along was because there were only two other choices on the dial in those mostly pre-cable days.

In the 1980's after some ownership changes, much needed money was invested and improvements to the physical plant and news product were made. The calls were changed to KTPX, and later KWES.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

And moving on to the 1980's, I'll also put in a discouraging word for both KJAA Channel 34 in Lubbock and its sister KJTV Channel 14 in Amarillo.

KJAA went on in 1981, occupying a channel that had once been home to a failed Spanish language effort in Lubbock. The studio equipment was new, but bottom of the barrel cheap, and the transmitter was an ancient piece of crap. When KJAA first hit the air, they had so much transmitter trouble that the station was completely unwatchable. I recall that after a month or two of operation, the owner pulled the plug, and laid off the staff. Having learned a lesson, a brand new transmitter was purchased, installed, and the station was relaunched with a greatly improved signal.

Even with the new transmitter, the product could be sloppy--it appeared to be all cheap 3/4 inch machines, with lots of glitches and rolls between commercials, and often blurry and pastey video.

Sister KJTV in Amarillo went on in 1982, with equally cheap equipment and ancient transmitter. During its much hyped first evening of operation, the transmitter died, and the station did not reappear until later the next day. Programming was fed from KJAA by a combination off-air and microwave link, which often had video hum rolling through the somewhat blurry picture. And, since all the (cheap) equipment was housed in the transmitter building (the original KVII transmitter site along highway 87/287 north) listeners would often hear video RF buzz in the audio. The transmitter was not very powerful (128kw, IIRC) so the coverage area was rather limited, even though it was supposedly a "full-power" station.

After a few years of operation the station was sold and became KCIT. With an infusion of much-needed money, a new downtown studio/operations center was built, and an entirely new and more powerful transmitter was put on the air. Today it is the Fox affiliate for the Panhandle.

 

[fredcantu]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

The stories I could tell about XHRIO-TV Matamoros, step-sister station to KRIO-AM in McAllen and KRIX-FM (now KKPS) Brownsville. It was quite a roller coaster ride for those of us who were there for its sign-on.

 

[mmnassour]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

C'mon Fred! I was going to mention XHRIO, but wanted to yield to you!

 

[newsmark]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

Well, one or both of you tell us the stories. Please! (Makes me feel a whole lot better about some of my small market days. And some of my larger market days.)

 

[X-Man]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

For openers, suggested nominations might include the old KLMG 51 (now KFXK) Longview and KMEC-TV 33 (now KDAF) Dallas along with the not so dynamic duo of KLDT 55 Lake Dallas and Houston's KNWS 51. Some deserve more discussion than others, of course, but let's get some details about their inclusion on your "worst" list.

I see you beat me to the punch with KLDT Ch. 55. They were the worst TV station in DFW, there were all kinds of programming on that channel in the past I've lost count. I remember when they first signed on around 1992, the station only broadcast for 3 hours in the evening airing Christian music videos, then Televangelist Robert Tilton bought time on the station airing his programming 24/7, then there was a mix of Christian programs & Home Shopping at one time, and for a hot minute they aired the late Dr. Gene Scott 24/7. And we can't forget that they were an Independent station trying to compete with the other DFW stations when they had a bad siginal when Johnson took over the station. That's the best of my knowledge of some of the programming that's been on that channel in the past. I know I left some other programming out. Does anyone else know what was on 55 in the past?

 

[azumanga]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

I'd like to nominate the Valley's first attempt at a PBS station, the forgotten KZLN.

This article from the August 1979 Texas Monthly (via Google) gives a brief glimpse on what KZLN was -- and at the time, it wasn't even on the air yet. They signed on in the summer of 1982 (per this Texas Monthly article from September of that year), which by then were struggling at the gate with only 400 members.

Of course, it seems that public broadcasting in the RGV is a hard sell -- in 2008, KMBH's radio counterpart ended its pledge drive early -- after receiving only six pledges in the first few days.

 

[TexasTom]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

I see you beat me to the punch with KLDT Ch. 55. [...] Does anyone else know what was on 55 in the past?

You don't have to go into the past -- KLDT has carried church services for Water of Life in East Plano for several years.

For those who don't know, this was the church that the woman (and her husband) who cut off her baby's arms attended. During the trial there were a number of claims made about the cult-like nature of this church, and I've seen similar claims online. Watching those church services on KLDT...well, it's just a very strange experience. My personal favorite moment was when the pastor was speaking in tongues and the members of the church were just moved to tears by the experience.

Only thing that ruined the moment was that on TV you could clearly see the pastor checking his watch as he continued to speak in tongues...

 

[fredcantu]

Re: Worst Texas TV stations in History

XRIO was the braninchild of Charlie Trub, then GM of KRIO & KRIX. No one wanted to be first UHF in the market so he partnered with a Mexican operator to launch Channel 2 licensed to Matamoros. The first transmitter was a hand-me-down from KPRC in Houston. Power at the site was rural so power outages were frequent. There was also on STL so all programs were pre-produced on 3/4-inch tape and played back at the transmitter site. Needless to say channel 2 was a low budget independent. It signed on at 10am with 2 hours of PTL CLub. Then the afternoon movie which happened to be last night's prime time movie. The place ran with one engineer. He was so worn out that they had to assign a driver to to take him to the transmitter so he wouldn't doze off while driving. The mobile production unit was a pop-up Toyota camper. Speaking of production, some commercials ran as slides with audio track produced by the radio stations. My favorite part of the programming was the top-of-the-hour cartoons. Rather that fill the unsold time with promos and PSAs, Charlie opted to let the program run short and get to the top of the hour with a classic Warner Brothers cartoon. Oh, BTW, this in 1979... not 1950s.