Could an Orange County TV market work?

[nbc9houston 21]

With the recent launch of KDOC's Daybreak OC and the present Real Orange on KOCE, I was wondering if ther could be some potential for Orange County to have its own TV market with its own network affliates. I remember reading an article from Freedom Communication's website stating that if Orange County had a TV market of its own, it would be like the size of Nashville or San Diego.

[l14dap 1]

Would there be one "anchor" city for the market or multiple cities?

[caliwxdude 252]

Would there be one "anchor" city for the market or multiple cities?

 

It would probably be Santa Ana, since that's the largest city in Orange County. That's also where the OC Register's headquarters are, and where Daybreak OC originates from. You could probably also make an argument for Anahiem

 

That being said, however, the networks would never allow Orange County to become its own DMA. There are something like 900,000 households in the county alone, and if the Los Angeles market ever lost those there's no way it would still be the #2 DMA.

[Sam Horn 78]

Would there be one "anchor" city for the market or multiple cities?

That being said, however, the networks would never allow Orange County to become its own DMA. There are something like 900,000 households in the county alone, and if the Los Angeles market ever lost those there's no way it would still be the #2 DMA.

 

First to caliwx: The LA DMA has about 5.6 million households. Even rounding your guess up to a full 1 million OC households, if LA lost Orange County it would remain number 2 seeing as Chicago has about 3.5 million households. To this theory that argument's moot.

 

As to the whole topic, geographic proximity makes the whole theory ludicrous. OC has three designated anchor cities -- Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Irvine. All three of those cities are within 40 miles of LA.

 

This would be like proposing San Jose break off the SFO-OAK-SJ DMA.

 

Plus, how many stations are licensed to Orange County? I don't know, and I don't feel like looking it up, but I'm unfamiliar with a market the size of what the OC DMA would be being predominantly cable only, and I doubt it'll be easy to get new licenses if it is the case that Orange County is short.

 

Even still, if there was a station in Anaheim, would any company really serve the much, much smaller OC DMA when DMA #2 is 20 miles away?

 

All that said, I can only think of a couple of situations nationwide where a new DMA would actually be feasible -- on the fringe of an already existing market, enough commercial stations already existing to make network affiliation possible on a reasonable scale, and a population/number of households large enough to expect demand. Off hand, the Lehigh Valley and Reading could easily be broken off from Philly to form a top 100 DMA -- three full power commercial stations, one non-comm, and two CAs. The same goes for southern New Hampshire, and they already have network affiliates there.

 

As for the OC, I don't think so.

[l14dap 1]

 

All that said, I can only think of a couple of situations nationwide where a new DMA would actually be feasible -- on the fringe of an already existing market, enough commercial stations already existing to make network affiliation possible on a reasonable scale, and a population/number of households large enough to expect demand. Off hand, the Lehigh Valley and Reading could easily be broken off from Philly to form a top 100 DMA -- three full power commercial stations, one non-comm, and two CAs. The same goes for southern New Hampshire, and they already have network affiliates there.

 

As for the OC, I don't think so.

 

I agree, I don't think an Orange County market is likely.

 

I can, however, think of some DMAs that should be dissolved or absorbed into other DMAs (like most of the 200+ markets)

[LosAngeles7 0]

Maybe if Orange County was a little further South it would make sense, but it is way too close right now to LA to be truly distinct from it.

[A3N 996]

Maybe if Orange County was a little further South it would make sense, but it is way too close right now to LA to be truly distinct from it.

That would essentially make it San Diego.

 

All that said, I can only think of a couple of situations nationwide where a new DMA would actually be feasible -- on the fringe of an already existing market, enough commercial stations already existing to make network affiliation possible on a reasonable scale, and a population/number of households large enough to expect demand. Off hand, the Lehigh Valley and Reading could easily be broken off from Philly to form a top 100 DMA -- three full power commercial stations, one non-comm, and two CAs. The same goes for southern New Hampshire, and they already have network affiliates there.

 

As for the OC, I don't think so.

 

I agree, I don't think an Orange County market is likely.

 

I can, however, think of some DMAs that should be dissolved or absorbed into other DMAs (like most of the 200+ markets)

But you have to realize that some of these 200+ markets serve the people well. They are more local and the stations are able to cover whatever happens in that area. Some of the bigger DMA's (L.A.) can't really cover the outlying areas too well (Riverside County).

[nbc9houston 21]

Well, I got to concede with you guys. Orange County would be infeasible as it own TV market citing the location, DMA, licensing, networks (with many in LA and one in San Diego, KNSD), households, etc.