PRE-1970 STATIONS (NOT O & O) STILL WITH THEIR DEBUT NETWORK

[oldiesfan6479]

I got to thinking: what markets, since ABC's ascendancy in the '70s, still have the same
ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates as then? New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago don't count)?

I scanned through your extensive list twice and didn't see it, so unless it is there
and I missed it, add: Tucson.

[fortmill]

Which no doubt explains why people in Roanoke would likely avoid
WSET; its coverage is oriented toward Lynchburg and Danville.  I think,
and  somebody correct me on this, if you live along U.S. 29 you're probably
going to watch WSET; if you live along U.S. 220 you're probably going to
watch either WDBJ or WSLS.

That being said, outside of local news programming, how well did ABC's programs do in Roanoke? Or NBC and CBS shows in Lynchburg and Danville?

If you look at the rooftops in the older sections of each city, you may find a partial answer to your question.  In Lynchburg, virtually every rooftop had an antenna oriented toward toward Roanoke.  On the other hand many rooftops in Roanoke had no antenna, indicating they were using rabbit ears to watch 7 and 10.  In Danville, virtually every home had two antennas, one oriented to Roanoke and one toward the Triad (or a rotary antenna).  Danville was actually a 6 channel town, whereas, Lynchburg was a solid three channel town and many in Roanoke only got two channels.  After 13 moved to Thaxton, and the great bulk of homes got cable or sat, that obviously changed, and I bet ABC and 13's syndicated shows are very competitive  in Roanoke/Danville, and even the NRV.

[bpatrick]

I guess when you make a list like this you have to check it twice.
I did leave out Tucson.  Thanks for pointing that out.

[trusty]

But sometimes a network switch is to the good; I keep going back to WTSP St. Petersburg, which is far stronger with CBS than it ever was with ABC, but the Bay Area's demographics tend to favor CBS.

Did any on-air talent move to WTSP from WTVT when they switched to FOX?

I remember in the late 60's when WTVT "owned" Tampa Bay viewers when, as a CBS station, they did a Huntley-Brinkley type newscast (1st in the market to go 1 hour). Instead of New York and Washington, it started with, "This is __________ in Tampa." and "This is __________ in St. Petersburg," which grabbed the viewers from both cities. (Actually, their "studio" in St. Pete was the size of an office with everything but the live shot being done out of Tampa.)

[RyanHoward]

Here in Philadelphia, WPVI/6 is the only Big 3 station still with its debut network(ABC).
However, WPVI is now owned by ABC.

[mleach]

After 13 moved to Thaxton, and the great bulk of homes got cable or sat, that obviously changed, and I bet ABC and 13's syndicated shows are very competitive  in Roanoke/Danville, and even the NRV.

True but I would leave a question mark at least with Blacksburg since afterall its a massive college town, one of the first to be pretty much all wired for the internet, young demographics and so forth and usually all of that means little TV viewing and radio listening. Actually Blacksburg could be used as a "test" to see just how much young people really do watch TV or listen to the radio since its close to being a 100% a, well university city unlike say Charlottesville , Morgantown or even Boulder where there is quite a bit of stuff there unrelated to college.

Of course such a study ( while interesting to read about ) will never happen because so many of us "old people" ( of course not saying any of us are among that crowd ) but they believe that most young people when they get older will give up the internet in favor of watching OTA TV. similar to those on the DCRTV website who really really believe that they best way to get that 22 year old to give up their Ipods, Iphones or whatever and to come back to radio is to bring back WHFS and have some 60 year old man play REM or Warren ZeVon.

Ah yeah...right.

[Charles1]

I think the lines have been blurred considerably in DFW
since I lived there; KTVT (licensed to Ft. Worth) has
replaced KDFW as the CBS station and has become quite
competitive in both cities.  Likewise, in Norfolk WVEC isn't
hurt by the fact that in the 1980s they hired Jim Kincaid
from ABC (he's now retired) and the ratings began to move
up; WVEC's news also follows Oprah.  WTKR, the market
leader when I lived there in the '60s, has been through a
lot of turmoil, especially in ownership changes. 

But sometimes a network switch is to the good; I keep going
back to WTSP St. Petersburg, which is far stronger with CBS
than it ever was with ABC, but the Bay Area's demographics
tend to favor CBS.

I got to thinking: what markets, since ABC's ascendancy in
the '70s, still have the same ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates
as then? New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago don't count)?  Some I know of:

Little Rock
Colorado Springs
Hartford/New Haven
Washington, DC
Orlando
Ft. Myers/Naples
Tallahassee
Columbus, GA
Augusta, GA (technicality: WJBF acquired exclusive ABC
   affiliation around 1977)
Boise
Ft. Wayne
Peoria
Topeka
Wichita
Lexington
Paducah/Cape Girardeau/Harrisburg
Des Moines
Cedar Rapids
Sioux City
Mason City/Rochester/Austin
Shreveport/Texarkana
Bangor
Portland, ME
Grand Rapids (somebody correct me on this)
Traverse City/Cadillac
Duluth
Jackson
Lincoln (I think)
Las Vegas
Reno
Albuquerque
Buffalo
Syracuse
Greenville/New Bern/Washington
Columbus
Youngstown
Oklahoma City
Tulsa
Portland
Eugene (I think)
Pittsburgh
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Erie
Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville
Columbia, SC
Nashville (channel swap: ABC and PBS, Chs. 2 and
Chattanooga
Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson City
Houston
San Antonio
Amarillo
Corpus Christi
Lubbock
Abilene/Sweetwater
Wichita Falls/Lawton
El Paso (there was an ABC/PBS channel swap
    between 7 and 13)
Burlington/Plattsburgh
Norfolk
Richmond
Roanoke/Lynchburg
Yakima
Madison
LaCrosse/Eau Claire
Wausau/Rhinelander

Anchorage may also be one; Honolulu is not, since NBC
moved from KHON/2 to KHNL/13.  I have also excluded
markets, such as Savannah and Jacksonville, where a
station switched, then went back to its original affiliation
(WSAV and WTLV, respectively, went from NBC to ABC
and back to NBC--Columbus, MS and Columbia, MO are two
more--Columbus from CBS to ABC and back; Columbia from
NBC to ABC and back, and KIRO Seattle went from CBS to
UPN and back).

Harrisburg, PA is also not in this list: Chs. 15 and 43 both
dropped CBS.

Also, Huntsville

[fortmill]

After 13 moved to Thaxton, and the great bulk of homes got cable or sat, that obviously changed, and I bet ABC and 13's syndicated shows are very competitive  in Roanoke/Danville, and even the NRV.

True but I would leave a question mark at least with Blacksburg since afterall its a massive college town, one of the first to be pretty much all wired for the internet, young demographics and so forth and usually all of that means little TV viewing and radio listening. Actually Blacksburg could be used as a "test" to see just how much young people really do watch TV or listen to the radio since its close to being a 100% a, well university city unlike say Charlottesville , Morgantown or even Boulder where there is quite a bit of stuff there unrelated to college.

Of course such a study ( while interesting to read about ) will never happen because so many of us "old people" ( of course not saying any of us are among that crowd ) but they believe that most young people when they get older will give up the internet in favor of watching OTA TV. similar to those on the DCRTV website who really really believe that they best way to get that 22 year old to give up their Ipods, Iphones or whatever and to come back to radio is to bring back WHFS and have some 60 year old man play REM or Warren ZeVon.

Ah yeah...right.

I'm not too sure about that.  Have you been in a college dorm lately?  I've been in quite a few in the last couple years, and every room has a tv, often 2 and there're always on!   Of course VA Tech has their own cable system which provides a full compliment of channels, including WSET.  Off campus, you'll find every student apartment has digital cable, and the set is always on.   

[mleach]

After 13 moved to Thaxton, and the great bulk of homes got cable or sat, that obviously changed, and I bet ABC and 13's syndicated shows are very competitive  in Roanoke/Danville, and even the NRV.

True but I would leave a question mark at least with Blacksburg since afterall its a massive college town, one of the first to be pretty much all wired for the internet, young demographics and so forth and usually all of that means little TV viewing and radio listening. Actually Blacksburg could be used as a "test" to see just how much young people really do watch TV or listen to the radio since its close to being a 100% a, well university city unlike say Charlottesville , Morgantown or even Boulder where there is quite a bit of stuff there unrelated to college.

Of course such a study ( while interesting to read about ) will never happen because so many of us "old people" ( of course not saying any of us are among that crowd ) but they believe that most young people when they get older will give up the internet in favor of watching OTA TV. similar to those on the DCRTV website who really really believe that they best way to get that 22 year old to give up their Ipods, Iphones or whatever and to come back to radio is to bring back WHFS and have some 60 year old man play REM or Warren ZeVon.

Ah yeah...right.

I'm not too sure about that.  Have you been in a college dorm lately?  I've been in quite a few in the last couple years, and every room has a tv, often 2 and there're always on!   Of course VA Tech has their own cable system which provides a full compliment of channels, including WSET.  Off campus, you'll find every student apartment has digital cable, and the set is always on.   

Haven't been in a dorm lately myself but it does seem that so many of the "..I don't do TV"  people just like those who say "..I hate radio..it sucks"..most of those who make such claims whether its online or in public I have noticed in recent years are those under 30.

[bpatrick]

I think the lines have been blurred considerably in DFW
since I lived there; KTVT (licensed to Ft. Worth) has
replaced KDFW as the CBS station and has become quite
competitive in both cities.  Likewise, in Norfolk WVEC isn't
hurt by the fact that in the 1980s they hired Jim Kincaid
from ABC (he's now retired) and the ratings began to move
up; WVEC's news also follows Oprah.  WTKR, the market
leader when I lived there in the '60s, has been through a
lot of turmoil, especially in ownership changes. 

But sometimes a network switch is to the good; I keep going
back to WTSP St. Petersburg, which is far stronger with CBS
than it ever was with ABC, but the Bay Area's demographics
tend to favor CBS.

I got to thinking: what markets, since ABC's ascendancy in
the '70s, still have the same ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates
as then? New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago don't count)?  Some I know of:

Little Rock
Colorado Springs
Hartford/New Haven
Washington, DC
Orlando
Ft. Myers/Naples
Tallahassee
Columbus, GA
Augusta, GA (technicality: WJBF acquired exclusive ABC
   affiliation around 1977)
Boise
Ft. Wayne
Peoria
Topeka
Wichita
Lexington
Paducah/Cape Girardeau/Harrisburg
Des Moines
Cedar Rapids
Sioux City
Mason City/Rochester/Austin
Shreveport/Texarkana
Bangor
Portland, ME
Grand Rapids (somebody correct me on this)
Traverse City/Cadillac
Duluth
Jackson
Lincoln (I think)
Las Vegas
Reno
Albuquerque
Buffalo
Syracuse
Greenville/New Bern/Washington
Columbus
Youngstown
Oklahoma City
Tulsa
Portland
Eugene (I think)
Pittsburgh
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Erie
Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville
Columbia, SC
Nashville (channel swap: ABC and PBS, Chs. 2 and
Chattanooga
Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson City
Houston
San Antonio
Amarillo
Corpus Christi
Lubbock
Abilene/Sweetwater
Wichita Falls/Lawton
El Paso (there was an ABC/PBS channel swap
    between 7 and 13)
Burlington/Plattsburgh
Norfolk
Richmond
Roanoke/Lynchburg
Yakima
Madison
LaCrosse/Eau Claire
Wausau/Rhinelander

Anchorage may also be one; Honolulu is not, since NBC
moved from KHON/2 to KHNL/13.  I have also excluded
markets, such as Savannah and Jacksonville, where a
station switched, then went back to its original affiliation
(WSAV and WTLV, respectively, went from NBC to ABC
and back to NBC--Columbus, MS and Columbia, MO are two
more--Columbus from CBS to ABC and back; Columbia from
NBC to ABC and back, and KIRO Seattle went from CBS to
UPN and back).

Harrisburg, PA is also not in this list: Chs. 15 and 43 both
dropped CBS.

Also, Huntsville

No.  WAAY switched from NBC to ABC in 1977 (actually, switched
back, as I recall, since it had been an ABC affiliate until WMSL--
now WAFF--signed on in the late '60s).  Only WHNT was unaffected
by the switch; it was and is the CBS affiliate.