What was the largest market that waited the longest time...

[ixnay]

... to have
an exclusive ABC affiliate/O&O
an exclusive NBC affiliate/O&O
and
an exclusive CBS affiliate/O&O in the same market?

bpatrick's tale about Raleigh/Durham piqued my interest about this.

ixnay

[bpatrick]

Macon, GA has to be in there somewhere.
WMAZ/13 (CBS) signed on in 1953 and I
remember a few ABC programs on it in the
late '60s/early '70s (Lawrence Welk, The
Brady Bunch, General Hospital come to mind).

WMGT/41 (NBC) has been on since '68; I
remember their carrying ABC's Sunday cartoon
block in the early '70s.

WGXA/24 signed on in 1982 as the fulltime
ABC affiliate; in 1995 WPGA/58 signed on as
a Fox affiliate.  About a year or two later these
two stations switched.

So since Macon didn't have an exclusive affiliate
for each of the Big Three until '82, I'd certainly
think that market is a nominee for one that waited
the longest to get an affiliate for each of the Big
Three.

[Gatorman]

It all depends on whether or not low-power stations count. If they do, Springfield, Mass. (#109) waited the longest. It wasn't until 2003 when WSHM-LP signed on with CBS programming, giving the city, at long last, all Big 3 networks exclusive to the area.

Otherwise, Lansing (#112) didn't sign on their final Big 3 station, WLAJ (ABC), until 1990.

Expect this to be rendered moot, however, if WMBF, an NBC affiliate, signs on in Florence, S.C. (#105).

[ShawnHill1]

If we're talking markets within at least the top 50, to me, Pittsburgh certainly comes to mind, possibly followed by Charlotte.  Pittsburgh was essentially a one-station town with KDKA Channel 2 (originally WDTV Channel 3), although they had a short-lived UHF station in the mid-1950s, plus WQED-TV signing-on in 1954.  Channel 11 (then WIIC) signed-on in 1957 as NBC, and Channel 4 signed-on in 1958 as ABC.

Charlotte, of course, had WBTV since 1949, but like KDKA, with little competition from another short-lived UHF station, it was a one-station town until 1957, when WSOC (as NBC) went on the air.  It would be another seven years until a new network affiliate came to town, in the form of WCCB (originally Channel 36, now at Channel 18).

[Bob1370]

If you want to talk about TV dry spells, Denver qualifies...it had NO television service AT ALL, before the FCC  freeze was lifted in 1952, by far the biggest US city without any TV stations in operation prior to the lifting of the freeze. The freeze there thawed out fairly quickly (they had two stations sign on the air in the late summer and fall of '52, and two more within the next two years afterward) but imagine missing out on the entire first wave of TV programming that cities on the coasts and in the Midwest enjoyed in the late 1940s...that's how it was out in the mountain West.   

[genius]

Yes the Denver story is quite odd and interesting(as I worked at KCNC in the early 90s) all three stations didn't sign on until 1953.  I know Albuquerque had KOB TV up and operating by 1948, and I believe Salt Lake City had a station up and running too, but other than that, the Mountain Time zone as far as I know was went without TV stations until at least 1952/1953...

Boise didn't get a fulltime ABC station until when KIVI signed on in 1974...

[genius]

And parts of Wyoming lack ABC coverage. The former stations, KNFB in Casper and KNFR in Rawlins were weak stations, had no news, and I know Cheyanne relied on KUSA&KMGH for ABC programming until 2004 when KTWO switched from NBC to ABC.

[chuckydoll]

Beckley/Bluefield: Didn't get its own CBS until September 2001.

Eugene: A 2-station market until 1980 or so.

Lansing: 1990, when it got its Fox just before its ABC.

McAllen/Brownsville: A 2-station market until 1981.

Southern Oregon: Didn't get its own ABC until 1984.

Tallahassee: A 1-station market until 1976, then a 2-station market until 1980 or so.

Topeka: A 1-station market until the late 60's, then a 2-station market until 1985 or so.

Tyler/Longview: A 1-station market into the 80's, then a 2-station market into the mid-90's.

[azumanga]

The former stations, KNFB in Casper and KNFR in Rawlins were weak stations

Actually, the calls are KFNB and KFNR, respectively.

[easttxtv]

Tyler/Longview: A 1-station market into the 80's, then a 2-station market into the mid-90's.

It was 1984 before the market finally got CBS' full schedule on a dedicated station, before that it was mostly seen locally for availability of Dallas Cowboys games.  Then 1987 brought NBC's full schedule on a separate station.  Fox would not be seen in the market until 1991, at the expense of losing CBS.  The eye would return in 2004.