How can the other news station beat the more "dominant" one?

[Brain 81]

So i live near the Erie PA market and the local ABC/FOX affiliate dominates the local NBC and CBS stations. For decades, until the 1990s, news was dominated by the WICU. WJET's Action News developed such a huge brand for a tiny market.

 

That got me thinking, is WJET unstoppable? I would think that in a larger market, it might be possible, but in Erie, we are a tiny and backwards market in a lot of aspects. The local news saw better days once though.

[Mrtraveler01 738]

 

So i live near the Erie PA market and the local ABC/FOX affiliate dominates the local NBC and CBS stations. For decades, until the 1990s, news was dominated by the WICU. WJET's Action News developed such a huge brand for a tiny market.

 

That got me thinking, is WJET unstoppable? I would think that in a larger market, it might be possible, but in Erie, we are a tiny and backwards market in a lot of aspects. The local news saw better days once though.

 

Until SJL/Lilly actually invests in WICU/WSEE or (more likely) sells off their Erie duopoly. I don't think they can catch up to the Nexstar duopoly.

[Brain 81]

Maybe SJL/Lilly can't sustain themselves because they are a small family member-owned group?

[jbnews 345]

How far ahead is JET 24 than WICU?

[NigelWick 0]

The number one station has to do something dumb. If you're in a Nexstar market, chances it will happen sooner or later.

[Samantha 2902]

 

The number one station has to do something dumb. If you're in a Nexstar market, chances it will happen sooner or later.

 

The other case that can happen is a network builds primetime momentum and does better than would otherwise be expected.

 

In Phoenix, there is no dominant number one station, but KNXV, known for usually being decent in the ratings once every decade but a stinker the rest of the time, actually was #1 at 10pm in the demo in November because of primetime.