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Worst Stations and Markets for Local TV

KDUL-LP channel 12 in Duluth...lasted all of 11 months (October 2000-August 2001)

First off they were only to be at like 1000 watts due to short spacing with KCCW in Walker (Bemidji, MN) and the NBC in Rhinelander/Wausau WI
Then someone screwed up and blew half the transmitter so they only were at 502 watts

Originally was to sign on Tax Day 2000 with UPN and America One
Then pushed back to May 15...then June 1 due to not getting the equipment yet
Then Mid June....Then October 1st.
Then they switched from America One to "AIN" (American Independent Network) before even signing on
Finally started broadcasting on October 1.....and got cable coverage which blacked out the UPN stuff on KMSP 9 that was piped in from Minneapolis (at the time KMSP was UPN)

Then the glitches began....out of sync audio, black and white picture on UPN shows, long times of dead space and just horrible programming from AIN. What made it worse is they held "exclusive" rights to UPN shows so Charter HAD to black out KMSP...even though KDUL-LP had all those issues

Even on OTA it barely came in.....I remember being in downtown Duluth and the tower is all of 2 miles away and having a very snowy picture

June 2001 they got rid of everyone but one guy and put the station up for sale
August 2001 Charter says they're taking KDUL off cable due to the tenchical issues on September 15th
August 31, 2001 station goes off air due to building being sold and getting kicked off the tower they were using (from one of the other stations)
 
It's funny that someone started a thread about cursed TV stations. I was thinking there are a lot of cursed TV stations that were saved by flipping to Spanish language programming. Off the top of my head:

Channel 18 Hartford, Connecticut
Channel 27 Worcester, Massachusetts
Channel 60 Manchester, New Hampshire
Channel 14 Washington DC
Channel 65 Vineland, NJ/Philly
Channel 67 Smithown Long Island/Channel 68 Newark, NJ
 
KML-224 said:
WHPX-TV channel 26 of New London, CT has their transmitter in Montville, CT. WPXQ-TV channel 69 of Block Island/Providence, RI has their transmitter within a mile of the Connecticut border. Except for the top-of-hour legal ID, they're exactly the same. I get a weak signal of WPXQ-TV here in southern Hartford County once in a while.
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Many PAX/ION stations just barely reach their intended audience, due to their transmitters being placed 30-50 miles from the main population center.

WNPX Cookeville/Nashville (pre-digital) – transmitter near Gordonsville
WPXD Ann Arbor/Detroit (pre-digital) – transmitter near Chelsea
KKPX San Jose/San Francisco (pre-digital) – transmitter atop Loma Prieta
KPXN San Bernardino/Los Angeles (pre-digital) – transmitter atop Sunset Ridge
WPXW Manassas/Washington (pre-digital) – transmitter near Fairfax Station
WPXE Kenosha/Milwaukee (pre-digital) – transmitter in Racine County
WIPX Bloomington/Indianapolis – transmitter near Trafalgar
WUPX Morehead/Lexington – transmitter atop McCausey Ridge (was a satellite of UPN station WBLU-LP)
WPXA Rome/Atlanta – transmitter atop Bear Mountain
KPXM St. Cloud/Minneapolis – transmitter near Big Lake
KFPX Newton/Des Moines – transmitter near Baxter
WPXJ Batavia/Buffalo/Rochester – transmitter near Pavilion (is carried on cable in suburban Monroe County, but not in the city of Rochester)

Boston’s original PAX affiliate WPXB (now WNEU Telemundo) was/is COLed to Merrimack NH and has its stick in Goffstown NH.
 
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bpatrick said:
Bowling Green, KY, lived in the shadow of Nashville for years. Although it had, and has, its own ABC affiliate, WBKO/13, it relied on Nashville for CBS (WTVF/5) and NBC (WSMV/4) until WNKY/40 signed on. WNKY/40.1 is Bowling Green's NBC affiliate; WNKY/40.2 is CBS, so there's no longer a need for Nashville stations (or Louisville's CBS affiliate, WLKY/32).
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As recently as a couple of years ago, I saw Nashville's channel 5 on a motel room TV there. It was like being here at home in Nashville! Although I also checked out that ABC station in Bowling Green while we were there.
 
mvcg66b3r said:
Many PAX/ION stations just barely reach their intended audience, due to their transmitters being placed 30-50 miles from the main population center.

KPXM St. Cloud/Minneapolis – transmitter near Big Lake
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they do have a CP to move to Shoreview at the "AntennaFarm" (where the other stations are)
 
firepoint525 said:
WBBJ-TV of Jackson, TN, at least used to be "cursed." Whether they are still "cursed" or not, I do not know, as I no longer live in west Tennessee. Anotherguy, are you here?
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I'm sure folks there "Curse" alot because WBBJ added MeTV but only for a few hours a day on WBBJ-DT3 (when they dont have CBS programming)
 
Here are some more examples of cursed stations:

WICC/WBCT/WHAI/WIPX/WBPT/WSAH/WZME Bridgeport CT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WZME

WGPR/WWJ Detroit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWJ-TV

WKBS/WGTW Burlington NJ/Philadelphia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGTW-TV

KCPM Grand Forks ND
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCPM_(TV)

WNEG/WUGA Toccoa GA (was a semi-satellite of WSPA CBS, then an indie owned by the University of Georgia, now a noncommercial station airing GPB Knowledge programs)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUGA-TV

WCEE/WPXS Mount Vernon IL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPXS

WAZE Madisonville KY/Evansville IN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAZE-TV

WNAC/WNEV/WHDH Boston (best known for the Jay Leno fiasco)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHDH_(TV)

The original WHDH Boston on channel 5 (now WCVB)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHDH-TV_(defunct)

KWWF Waterloo IA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KWWF

KTGF Great Falls MT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTGF

KCTF/KWBU/KDYW Waco TX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDYW

WVUE Wilmington DE (now noncommercial WHYY)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WVUE_(Delaware)

WYLE Florence AL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYLE_(TV)
 
What about ITV in England? Whether or not they've been cursed after it became a corporate entity in the early 2000's is up for debate.

WITI (Milwaukee) and WJW (Cleveland) should also be on the list; they were among the several key CBS affiliates that jumped to Fox in 1994-95 (dunno about O&Os WAGA, WJBK, WTVT, KDFW, and KSAZ).

And then there's KCET (Los Angeles), whose curse after their disaffiliation with PBS still lingers a few years later.
 
johnnya2k6 said:
WITI (Milwaukee) and WJW (Cleveland) should also be on the list; they were among the several key CBS affiliates that jumped to Fox in 1994-95 (dunno about O&Os WAGA, WJBK, WTVT, KDFW, and KSAZ).
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I'm not sure if I'd agree with putting WITI on this list. They've managed to do decently with FOX. IIRC news wise, they were in 3rd place in the pre-FOX days, and they hold onto third now. Prime-time, there was a time when FOX was number one. WITI for sure wins Sundays when the Packers are playing.
 
WLNE in Providence/New Bedford has been the most cursed station in the New England region. WLNE had the worst luck of owners and parents since Pulitzer sell WLNE to Freedom, then Freedom sell it to Global and continues to be cursed under Philip Lombardo and his Citadel Communications. Philip Lombardo still has KLKN and WLNE after selling KCAU, WOI, and WHBF to Nexstar. Lombardo seemed to have trouble with KLKN at times other then WLNE.

NTV aka KHGI and KWNB has always have curses with various owners and parents since Joseph Amaturo and Amaturo group bought NTV in 1979. Amaturo seperated KCNA Channel 8 Albion into independent KBGT Big 8 in 1983. KBGT Big 8 crashed and burned due to financial losses that Amaturo decided to sell KBGT to Lombardo in 1986 and turn it into a satellite of KCAU as KCAN with ABC programming being back on Channel 8 again. Lombardo had less curses with Channel 8 moving to Lincoln as KLKN. NTV with KHGI, KWNB, and KSNB, would later get sold to Gordon in 1985, later into receivership under Amaturo control in 1989, later get bought by Fant in 1993, and currently under Pappas Telecasting since 1996 with NTV being into receivership under Lee W Shubert in 2012 and David Stapleton in 2013 due to Pappas bankruptcy turmoil and Harry Pappas just recently reclaiming NTV since March 2014. KSNB and KTVG under the FOX 4 & 17 incarnation went dark under Pappas control.

NTV would still continue to get cursed with bad luck if Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting decided to sell NTV to Mark Nalbone (cursed with KLWY/KFNB/KFNE/KFNR, KTWO, and KGWC/KGWL/KGWR), Brian W Brady (cursed with KVTV, KYMA/KSWT as Pappas sold KSWT to Brady), or Sinclair (continuing to have the most bad luck with KDNL and continues to bully the Buckeye CableSystem in Toledo, Ohio over the retransmission consent dispute for the carriage agreement to carry WNWO).

Sinclair would've been better off selling KDNL and WUCW to Gannett and give WNWO, WEYI/WBSF, WLUC, and WPBN-WTOM/WGTU-WGTQ, and control of WTVH (from the Barrington acquisition), WTTA, and WWHO to Media General with Media General giving KRON to Sinclair in a trading and swapping deal whereas Buckeye Cable would have better luck with Media General than Sinclair if WNWO were under Media General control while KRON were under Sinclair control. I feel Sinclair would've love to have KRON more than KDNL and all Barrington stations including WNWO combined.
 
techguy1975 said:
I'm not sure if I'd agree with putting WITI on this list. They've managed to do decently with FOX. IIRC news wise, they were in 3rd place in the pre-FOX days, and they hold onto third now. Prime-time, there was a time when FOX was number one. WITI for sure wins Sundays when the Packers are playing.
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Yeah, I agree with this; WITI has done very well as a Fox affiliate, with the market's replacement CBS affiliate WDJT starting out rough but now doing pretty well for itself. Also, WITI's morning news is by far in first in the market, so they have that going for them, and already their national news product is much better with their new Tribune ownership.

WTMJ since they went tabloid though in 2005 has been very cursed, and their news staff is quickly deteriorating towards AJ Clemente levels of ineptness (and because of the lack of walls between their conservative radio station, overt political influence) with each new person. Their graphics package is unrelentingly terrible too, and their sister station WGBA in Green Bay was about to break through when they were purchased by Journal in 2004. Unfortunately, Milwaukee middle-managed them to death, refused to fund any station upgrades and they're still stuck in the same small little set they had when they started in 1996 despite flush ownership. Even with Larry McCarren as their sports director it's still a news effort outshined by the other Green Bay ops.
 
jamesjimcie said:
WLNE in Providence/New Bedford has been the most cursed station in the New England region. WLNE had the worst luck of owners and parents since Pulitzer sell WLNE to Freedom, then Freedom sell it to Global and continues to be cursed under Philip Lombardo and his Citadel Communications. Philip Lombardo still has KLKN and WLNE after selling KCAU, WOI, and WHBF to Nexstar. Lombardo seemed to have trouble with KLKN at times other then WLNE.

NTV aka KHGI and KWNB has always have curses with various owners and parents since Joseph Amaturo and Amaturo group bought NTV in 1979. Amaturo seperated KCNA Channel 8 Albion into independent KBGT Big 8 in 1983. KBGT Big 8 crashed and burned due to financial losses that Amaturo decided to sell KBGT to Lombardo in 1986 and turn it into a satellite of KCAU as KCAN with ABC programming being back on Channel 8 again. Lombardo had less curses with Channel 8 moving to Lincoln as KLKN. NTV with KHGI, KWNB, and KSNB, would later get sold to Gordon in 1985, later into receivership under Amaturo control in 1989, later get bought by Fant in 1993, and currently under Pappas Telecasting since 1996 with NTV being into receivership under Lee W Shubert in 2012 and David Stapleton in 2013 due to Pappas bankruptcy turmoil and Harry Pappas just recently reclaiming NTV since March 2014. KSNB and KTVG under the FOX 4 & 17 incarnation went dark under Pappas control.

NTV would still continue to get cursed with bad luck if Harry Pappas and his Pappas Telecasting decided to sell NTV to Mark Nalbone (cursed with KLWY/KFNB/KFNE/KFNR, KTWO, and KGWC/KGWL/KGWR), Brian W Brady (cursed with KVTV, KYMA/KSWT as Pappas sold KSWT to Brady), or Sinclair (continuing to have the most bad luck with KDNL and continues to bully the Buckeye CableSystem in Toledo, Ohio over the retransmission consent dispute for the carriage agreement to carry WNWO).

Sinclair would've been better off selling KDNL and WUCW to Gannett and give WNWO, WEYI/WBSF, WLUC, and WPBN-WTOM/WGTU-WGTQ, and control of WTVH (from the Barrington acquisition), WTTA, and WWHO to Media General with Media General giving KRON to Sinclair in a trading and swapping deal whereas Buckeye Cable would have better luck with Media General than Sinclair if WNWO were under Media General control while KRON were under Sinclair control. I feel Sinclair would've love to have KRON more than KDNL and all Barrington stations including WNWO combined.
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Go away, James Cieloha.
 
Avid Listener said:
So, if people in Charlotte, NC, want to watch old reruns, I guess they're stuck with Netflix or Hulu. That doesn't sound like much of a curse, does it?
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Yeah, but there are movies too and I don't have a DVD player or the desire to spend money renting.

And I don't have fast enough Internet, or sound, to watch online.
 
KAPP-TV is probably cursed. They had their own newscasts, then in December 2008, KAPP got rid of their 6PM newscasts, all weekend newscasts and all weather reports. The weather now comes from 3 hours away in Spokane, taped from KXLY. Their building was also put up for sale and now the limited amount of newscasts they have are all from a Tri-Cities studio at KVEW. (Which also suffered from the 08 cuts). 17 employees were laid off with the budget cut.

-crainbebo
 
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