Former Superstations

[bk77]

On another site I was reading about Bob McAllister's Wonderama and the long defunct Metromedia stations.
Had me thinking about what it seemed to be back then, quite a few so-called superstations.

WGN, WTBS and WSBK everyone knows about. But many others, not all that remembered.

WTTG & WDCA ( Washington DC ) seen on cable systems well into the Carolinas
WBFF ( seen on cable in West Virginia )
WTTV ( Indianpolis ) all over Indiana, into Ohio and I heard even Illinois
KWGN & KDVR ( Denver ) as far away as Idaho, Utah, Montana and even into parts of Canada
WTCN & KMSP ( Twin Cities ) the Dakotas, Missouri, and I believe Wisconsin
WYAH ( Hampton Roads ) South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and into Kentucky
WUAB ( Cleveland ) I have heard they were seen on cable well into New York state and Pennsylvania
KTLA, KHJ, and KTTV ( LA ) all over the south west.
KTVU ( San Francisco ) all over the north west.
KPHO ( Phoenix ) I have heard that during their Wallace & Ladmo days, they had viewers in Texas
KTVT ( Dallas ) I heard as far north as Iowa and Kansas
WXIX ( Cincinatti ) Tennessee?

of course all of the big NYC indies WNEW, WPIK and of course WOR/WWOR were seen all over the place back then.
I also seem to recall hearing that Las Vegas, Honolulu, Seattle, and St. Louis had a few "super stations" of their own.

And what about Superstations that were affilated with NBC, CBS and ABC?  A friend of mine swears she remembers watching Columbus, Ohio's WBNS on a cable system in southwestern Virginia. And Buffalo's WKBW I am pretty sure was on at least one system in southern Pennsylvania. I think it was Breezewood, near the Maryland border.

I am sure I left some station out here. Any others?

[fortmill]

sorry

[fortmill]

WYAH was never seen on cable in SC, WV, or KY.  At one time, the plan was for it's programs to be featured on CBN (now ABC Family), and many of them were, but the plan as a whole fell through.  WYAH was seen on cable in a few places adjacent to the Hampton Roads DMA---in the richmond area and in eastern NC.  WRET/36 (now WCNC) in Charlotte was certainly a superstation back in it's independent days---it was carried throughout North and South Carolina, eastern TN and southwest VA.  Regarding network stations which were/are carried well out of their markets---WSB, WAGA, WXIA, and WGCL are still widely carried thoughout south GA, way out of their normal coverage area--obviously they are microwaved in.  I'm not sure how this is done legal-wise in this day and time.  WKRN/2/ABC Nashville, is available around the country on small cable systems that can't get an ABC station OTA---The same for stations in Toledo, Detroit, and I think Erie PA and WNBC-TV NYC.  I think WTAT/24 in Charleston SC is available on  some cable systems around the country that can't pick up a Fox station OTA.

[Ultimajock]

...in the '70s, WVTV/18 Milwaukee was microwaved throughout the Upper Midwest as far west as a few North Dakota cable systems. And WKBD/50 Detroit was microwaved into Northern Michigan and Wisconsin at the same time...

[gr8oldies]

I Second that Emotion on WTTV. That and WXIX "Metromedia 19" from Cincinnati were seemingly microwaved to every cable system in the midwest in the days before satellite delivery.  WXIX is the current Cincinnati Fox affiliate.

[mleach]

The old Washington Star newspaper carried listings for WYAH just before that paper folded in 1981. WYAH was the only Virginia commerical station the Star carried listings for. Considering the fact that the Star was nowhere near as regional as the Washington Post was and still is That leads me to believe that the Hampton Roads channel may have been carried at the time at least on a few select cable outlets in Northern Virginia and Maryland.  So with that reguards WYAH could be considered a "superstation" though perhaps in a small sense.

Meanwhile Baltimore's WBFF never was a "superstation". Yes, WBFF was carried on a few WV systems but then again so was Baltimore's WMAR and WJZ as well.  In the small town of Romney, WV back in the mid 80s
( Washington DMA ), their cable system carried not only WBFF but also WMAR and WJZ too and on top of that Pittsbugh's KDKA and WPXI. Considering that both WMAR and KDKA are both on channel 2, I still wonder how they managed to carry both stations on their system?

Pittsbugh's WTAE could very qualify as a "Superstation", even today since a good chunk of West Virginia ( the middle and top half of that state), the only ABC available is WTAE.

Back in 1982 my family stayed at a hotel near Kings Dominion amusement park ( just south of Fredericksburg ). They offered not only WRC and WWBT for NBC, but also WAVY ( Hampton Roads again ) too.

[tothedj]

I often wondered how stations like the former WRET in Charlotte and WTTG in
Washington D.C. were seen, when i first got cable 30 years ago, the system in
my hometown in Northeastern North Carolina had these stations in their "10
Channel" cable lineup, WRET was on Channel 3 until October 31st, 1977 when
Turner's sister station in Atlanta, WTCG Channel 17, replaced it, and WTTG was
on Channel 10 until the early 1980's, Later on WOR(Now WWOR)Channel 9 in
New York was added around 1980, but was not on very long due to changes in
cable rules, and eventually WGN was put in many years later.

[classictvfan]

Originally posted by fortmill:
sorry


You don't have to apologize

[ceejay]

I grew up with KTLA/Los Angeles. To me it is and always will be a super station! I start every day with the KTLA Morning News. They are head and shoulders above the rest!

[Tim L]

Pittsbugh's WTAE could very qualify as a "Superstation", even today since a good chunk of West Virginia ( the middle and top half of that state), the only ABC available is WTAE.

In October 1957, WKST-TV 45, (Now WYTV-33) Located in New Castle, Pa.  (Youngstown Market) signed-on..It was actually the first full-time ABC affiliate In Western Pennsylvania..The Pittsburgh TV Guide in 1958 carried 12 stations, 8 of which were partial ABC affiliates alomg with Channel 45, making a total of 9 ABC stations in the area..WTAE-TV 4 in Pittsburgh finally signed on September 14, 1958..