Stations that don't serve their city of license

[mjlarochelle]

WUAB Channel 43 has been licensed to Lorain, Ohio since its launch in 1968. For most of its life its studios were in suburban Cleveland, and are now located in downtown Cleveland with co-owned WOIO CBS 19.

Prior to the mid-1980s (possibly later), WUAB had an hour of Lorain programming on Saturday mornings. Lorain News aired at 10 AM, and Lorain Conversation aired at 10:30. Today you wouldn't know they're licensed outside Cleveland, other than their IDs. Their transmitter is co-located with the Cleveland VHFs at Parma too. WOIO, incidentially, is licensed to Shaker Heights, which is merely part of Cleveland.

In Upstate New York, WWNY TV7 is licensed to Carthage, and its original studios in 1954 were near Carthage. Today it operates out of Watertown, but its transmitter remains closer to Carthage. Also in that area is WPTZ, licensed to North Pole but serving Plattsburgh. They have attempted to get their license changed to Plattsburgh, but as is my understanding, the FCC isn't too keen on making that change.

Just across the border to the south, how much does XETV serve Tijuana?

And, just across the border to the north, there's a station near Kitchener on Channel 6, licensed to Paris. That station, CIII, doesn't even give two hoots about that area - they pretend they're a Toronto station. CHWI is licensed to Wheatley (Leamington) but serves Windsor; CKVR is licensed to Barrie but for awhile was pretending to be a Toronto station while ignoring Barrie; and all over the place full-power relay stations broadcast generic signals with the local programming of other markets. I doubt in my lifetime I'll ever see WABC's Eyewitness News on an ABC affiliate in Ohio, but those kinds of distances between studios and transmitters are very common north of the border.

 

[mleach]

Martinsburg, WV's WWPX channel 60. When they signed on in 1991 they were WYVN a FOX afflilate with an actual studio and offices in Martinsburg.

Today they are an "I" affilate and only their transmitter remains in Martinsburg along side WLTF-FM's. Rather than having a Martinsburg studio, they simply re-transmit whatever is on the Washington DC "I". WWPX doesn't even show local Martinsburg commericals, only DC.

What was their studios and offices today houses an office for Nationwide Insurance.

People there to this day still mourn the loss of their "local TV", however that will somewhat change soon as a new ABC affiliate in the area is set to go on the air next month from nearby Frederick County, Virginia plus they still have Hagerstown, MD's WHAG-TV NBC 25 and WJAL-TV 68 ( though barely !! ).

Still though it isn't the same as having you own local station.

 

[bpatrick]

I'd have to add WNCN/NBC17, the NBC affiliate for
Raleigh/Durham. It's officially licensed to Goldsboro,
about 50 miles east of Raleigh, but it maintains studios
and offices in Raleigh and is, as I say, the NBC affiliate
for the entire market.

 

[Apollo7979]

Indianapolis has a few that qualify...

WNDY 23, the Indy My Network TV affiliate, is licensed to Marion, which is about 60 miles northeast of Indy. Their transmitter is located about 25 miles away from Indianapolis and, as far as I know, their studios and offices have always been in the Indianapolis metro (currently housed with sister stations WISH-TV/DT & WIIH-CA). I don't think 23 has ever effectively served the city of Marion.

WTTV 4 and WIPX 63, the CW and i affiliate, respectively, are licensed to Bloomington, a city 40 miles southwest of Indianapolis.

WTTV prior to their duopoly with WXIN (the Indy Fox station), they used to have community-oriented programs that served Bloomington on Saturday and Sunday mornings and quite a few I.U. basketball games and coaches shows, but now the station is just another Indy television station not to mention an absolute shell of it's former self compared to when it was a standalone independent.

WIPX is i all the time with the exception of, I believe, one public affairs show once a week. DirecTV even stopped carrying the local feed of WIPX in favor of the i satellite feed on channel 63 due to lack of local content. Before, i/PAX, 63 was WIIB, which carried all informercials (via inTV) in the mid-90s and was an HSN affiliate before that.

WTTV, WIPX, and WCLJ 42 (the Indianapolis TBN affiliate also licensed to Bloomington) transmit from Trafalger, IN, which is about 25 miles south of Indianapolis.

 

[KeithE4]

Bloomington IN Stations

Indianapolis has a few that qualify...

WNDY 23, the Indy My Network TV affiliate, is licensed to Marion, which is about 60 miles northeast of Indy. Their transmitter is located about 25 miles away from Indianapolis and, as far as I know, their studios and offices have always been in the Indianapolis metro (currently housed with sister stations WISH-TV/DT & WIIH-CA). I don't think 23 has ever effectively served the city of Marion.

IIRC, the last Marion station that actually served that city was the old WTAF-TV 31, which was an independent in the '60s. It only lasted 7 or 8 years.

WTTV 4 and WIPX 63, the CW and i affiliate, respectively, are licensed to Bloomington, a city 40 miles southwest of Indianapolis.

Actually, it's about 50 miles, but I'm nitpicking. ;D

WTTV prior to their duopoly with WXIN (the Indy Fox station), they used to have community-oriented programs that served Bloomington on Saturday and Sunday mornings and quite a few I.U. basketball games and coaches shows, but now the station is just another Indy television station not to mention an absolute shell of it's former self compared to when it was a standalone independent.

I don't believe WTTV has actually had a studio in Bloomington since Sarkes Tarzian sold it in the early '80s. It was at the back of the main Tarzian property and was never equipped for color. They used it for a couple of Bloomington-oriented daily news & public affairs shows that were in B&W until sometime in the '70s - long after the Indy studio converted to color.

The Bluff Rd. studio in Indy opened in 1953 or '54, when they moved from Channel 10 to 4 and built the Trafalgar tower (they'd transmitted directly from the Tarzian facility on the south side of Bloomington when they were on Channel 10). They were the CBS affiliate for Indy at that time, having swapped NBC for CBS with WFBM-TV 6 somewhere in that time frame.

WIPX is i all the time with the exception of, I believe, one public affairs show once a week. DirecTV even stopped carrying the local feed of WIPX in favor of the i satellite feed on channel 63 due to lack of local content. Before, i/PAX, 63 was WIIB, which carried all informercials (via inTV) in the mid-90s and was an HSN affiliate before that.

I remember a Bloomington-based public-affairs show in the '80s when they ran HSN. I don't know if they ever had a real studio anywhere, in Bloomington or Indy, or if they contracted with another station.

WTTV, WIPX, and WCLJ 42 (the Indianapolis TBN affiliate also licensed to Bloomington) transmit from Trafalger, IN, which is about 25 miles south of Indianapolis.

That's so they can put a city-grade signal into both Bloomington and Indy. The only true Bloomington TV station is WTIU/30, the IU-owned PBS affiliate, which transmits from the south side of the city and doesn't serve Indy at all.

 

[azumanga]

Re: Bloomington IN Stations

WTTV 4 and WIPX 63, the CW and i affiliate, respectively, are licensed to Bloomington, a city 40 miles southwest of Indianapolis.

Don't forget WTTV's satellite, WTTK channel 29 in Kokomo.

I don't think 23 has ever effectively served the city of Marion.

IIRC, the last Marion station that actually served that city was the old WTAF-TV 31, which was an independent in the '60s. It only lasted 7 or 8 years.

And it wasn't very independent -- most of its programming came from WTTV's signal (but only in black and white). And ironically, they had a low-powered repeater in Kokomo on channel 29, which is now the aforementioned full-powered satellite of... guess who?

 

[Charles1]

Aside from an occasional news story from Tuscaloosa or Anniston, and commercials from car dealerships in both areas, neither WCFT-TV (33) nor WJSU-TV (40) technically serve their cities of license. The ABC simulcast partners strictly serve Birmingham.

 

[oldschooltv]

I'd like to add

WTXX-TV 20 Waterbury, CT. They have ignored their city of license since the early 80s when they lost the NBC affiliation for Western Connecticut because of a Hartford area NBC station's signal upgrade. There is no more local news, sports, weather, or public affairs, nor does the station contribute anymore to Greater Naugatuck Valley charities, or organizations. Now it wouldn't make a difference if WTXX was run out of Stamford or Rhode Island.

You could probably add WVIT-TV 30 New Britain, CT to the list since it's more of a Hartford station. There has not been anything 'New Britain' about it for the last several decades. I believe the transmitter is in Farmington, and the studios in West Hartford.

WHPX-26 New Longon, CT is no longer a "New London" station. Up until the early 90s, they had their own, small news division for South East Connecticut, but now it's an "i" station available to Connecticut and RI. It wouldn't matter if this station was run out of Danbury or Mars (which is what it seems like at times).

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

I beg to differ about WVIT. They may be located at 1422 NEW BRITAIN AVENUE i nWest Hartford, but I think they most decidely do talk about New Britain.

Im sure there are several news stories a week outta that town. Sure, if may be shootings and stuff.. but that's still covering their COL.

 

[KML0224]

Speaking of WVIT-TV/DT, just why IS New Britain the city of license anyway? I'm from the city and have never seen anything which indicates when they were here. Also, has their transmitter always been on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington?

WTXX-TV/DT, currently the CW affiliate here in Hartford/New Haven, was WATR-TV, a secondary NBC affiliate until 1982. Their analog transmitter is still just south of Waterbury, very visible to your left if on I-84 West by the exits for CT Route 8. Their old Waterbury studio/office was at 414 Meadow Street (06702).

Lastly, channel 26 of New London? I don't watch them anymore. At one time, this station had a VERY strong southeastern CT identity, with their own 10 PM news. I think they still have an office on Shaw's Cove in New London. As the I affiliate for this market, they have crappy sound and no programming worth watching anymore.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

Yeah, they sitll have an office at 3 Shaws Cove, which is an office complex.

You wouldn't know they're there except for several large satelitte dishes.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

WTTV prior to their duopoly with WXIN (the Indy Fox station), they used to have community-oriented programs that served Bloomington on Saturday and Sunday mornings and quite a few I.U. basketball games and coaches shows, but now the station is just another Indy television station not to mention an absolute shell of it's former self compared to when it was a standalone independent.

WTTV is currently dual-licensed to "Bloomington-Indianapolis", is it not?

WTTV was definitely more interesting when they produced even a few hours of local programming, such as "At the Zoo"

 

[KeithE4]

WTTV is currently dual-licensed to "Bloomington-Indianapolis", is it not?

It's "official" COL is Bloomington and always has been. Channel 4 has been allocated there, not Indianapolis, by the FCC since 1952, probably due to spacing issues with St. Louis and/or Columbus OH.

But despite Channel 4 not being allocated to Indianapolis, WTTV was allowed to move its offices and main studio to Indy and its transmitter to Trafalgar soon after the allocation change for Bloomington from Channel 10 to 4 in '52. The Bloomington metro area just wasn't big enough at the time (about 35,000 people back then compared to 120,000 today) to support a network affiliate (which it was at the time) with almost no coverage of or ad dollars from Indy. They probably would have gone dark if they weren't allowed to move.

 

[dhett]

Several such stations in Arizona:

KFTU 3 Douglas (Telefutura): The station's offices are in central Tucson, about 120 miles away by highway, shared with Tucson's Univision affiliate. The station's primary signal covers its COL, but it brands itself as Telefutura 34, from its Class A LPTV repeater in Tucson. No office in or coverage of Douglas that I know of.

KWBA 58 Sierra Vista (CW): The station has its transmitter in the Santa Rita mountains SE of Tucson, so it puts a city-grade signal into both its COL and Tucson, about 75 miles away by highway, but its offices are in north-central Tucson. No office in or coverage of Sierra Vista that I know of.

KDTP 11 Holbrook (Daystar): Recently moved from channel 39 in Phoenix, but its local coverage (yes, this Daystar station shows services from local churches) is from Phoenix (Spanish-language services from Phoenix-area churches). The station has no studios to my knowledge, and gets its network coverage via DirecTV. (KeithE4, do you have the address from the YouTube post of KDTP during that thunderstorm?) No coverage of Holbrook (pop. 4917) whatsoever.

KFPH 13 Flagstaff (Telefutura): The station's main offices and studio are in south Phoenix, about 150 miles away by highway, shared with Phoenix' Univision affiliate. However, it does have an office in a strip mall in Flagstaff, shared with the Univision translator there. The station has no coverage of Flagstaff that I know of, and even brands itself as Telefutura 35, after its OTA Class A LPTV translator in Phoenix.

KMOH 6 Kingman (Spanish independent): The station does have an office and possibly a studio in Kingman, dating back to its days as an English-language independent, but now, most of its programming comes from KBEH in Oxnard, California. Its one local program, El 6 Para Ti, covers Phoenix issues, nearly 200 miles away. The station IDs by its LPTV translator in Phoenix, KEJR 43.

I find it funny that someone would mention WVIT New Britain or WUAB Lorain, since those are just essentially suburbs of the main cities, Hartford and Cleveland. I suppose then I could also cite KUVE 46 Green Valley (25 mi S of downtown Tucson), KPNX 12 Mesa (although it doesn't completely ignore its COL), and KPPX 51 Tolleson (10 mi W of downtown Phoenix - i affiliates ignore all COLs, don't they?). KUVE is the Univision station that shares facilities with KFTU; KPNX and KPPX both have their offices and studios in Phoenix.

Someone mentioned WGSR - that's LPTV, and I'm sure there are many, many LPTV stations that don't serve their city of license at all, even if WGSR does.

 

[ohstuskaterpunk]

in the columbus, ohio tv market, wsfj ch. 51, which has branded itself as gtn 51 (airing some i network programs), is licensed out of newark, ohio (to the east of columbus in licking county). wwho ch. 53, a cw affilate, is licensed out of chillicothe (to the south in ross county). both of these stations mainly air commercials featuring businesses in franklin county, although 51 show a few from neighboring licking county.

 

[Apollo7979]

WTTV was definitely more interesting when they produced even a few hours of local programming, such as "At the Zoo"

I thought WRTV produced "At the Zoo," but I understand what you're saying. They had quite a few locally produced children's programs...even as late as the late '80s.

 

[desertv]

Tucson's FOX station KMSB is licensed to Nogales (AZ)

 

[zumahans]

Dhett:

Most of the, ahem, misguided people posting here do not understand the difference between a rimshot or suburban station that both covers its COL and the big city with a signal, and the stations you and I mention that place zero signal into their COL.

That said, KPNX 12 is licensed to Phoenix-Mesa, and this has been officially a Phoenix station since it signed on as KTAR-TV in the 50s.

Are you sure KWBA 58 doesn't put a signal into Sierra Vista?

 

[dhett]

This thread isn't about stations that don't put a signal into their COL - if I'm not mistaken, all full-service stations are required to put a city-grade signal into their COL - but rather stations that ignore their COL and focus instead on a larger nearby city. Nertz! gave the example of WHYY 12 Wilmington DE, which basically ignores Wilmington and focuses on Philadelphia. The same is true for WPPX 61 Wilmington, although as an i network station, there doesn't seem to be much of any local focus.

No, KWBA puts a city-grade signal into Sierra Vista, but its offices and studios are located in, and its programming coverage (not signal coverage) is entirely focused upon, Tucson. Contrast that with KAZT, which retains its Prescott office and studios, airs a Prescott-based program (Tanya Mock) and airs commercials for Prescott businesses, even though its main offices and main focus are in Phoenix.

All of the stations I mentioned put a city-grade signal into their COL, as is required, but the focus of each station's programming is either Phoenix or Tucson, which are anywhere from 75 to 200 miles from the COL.

Also, to desertv: KMSB used to be licensed to Nogales, but has been licensed to Tucson since July 1990 (see FCC file # BMLCT-19900423KG). However, their signal still reaches Nogales clearly. They're the only Tucson station whose signal does, as they broadcast from the Santa Rita Mountains not far from KWBA's transmitter, while the other Tucson stations are either on Tower Mountain (KOLD, KTTU, KHRR), Tumamoc Hill (KUAS), or on Mount Bigelow in the Catalina Mountains (KVOA, KUAT, KGUN, KUVE). KMSB's directional signal pattern runs N/S, so it covers Tucson and Nogales, while KWBA's directional signal pattern reaches to the NW and to the E, reaching Tucson and Sierra Vista with a clear signal, but leaving out Nogales.

 

[KeithE4]

Channel 12 Phoenix-Mesa AZ

That said, KPNX 12 is licensed to Phoenix-Mesa, and this has been officially a Phoenix station since it signed on as KTAR-TV in the 50s.

Nope. The FCC allocated Channel 12 to Mesa, not Phoenix, in 1952. 12 signed on in 1953 as KTYL-TV. Its studios and offices were located in Mesa, co-located with sister-stations KTYL & KTYL-FM).

When KTYL sold Channel 12 to KTAR in 1955, KTAR built studios and offices in downtown Phoenix to house both stations, but under FCC rules in effect at the time, they couldn't move the TV station out of Mesa (which makes me wonder if WTTV got an exception so they could move their main studio from Bloomington to Indy), so they changed the call letters to KVAR, still operating from the KTYL facilities, IIRC. The FCC changed the rules sometime around 1959 or '60 and it was then that Channel 12 moved to Phoenix and became KTAR-TV.

They've ID'ed as Phoenix-Mesa since the studios moved to Phoenix, but the channel is still allocated to Mesa and Mesa is its official COL.