Data Dump: If Local TV Viewership Determined State Boundaries

We all know the geographic shape of our home state, right?

But what if TV viewing patterns actually determined the shape of your state? That’s what the above map shows, based on the availability of local channel packages offered via satellite in each county. It was created using mapchart.net, and data on satellite TV availability for every community can be found using TVTV.us.

These counties have sometimes been called “orphan counties” in debates over providing better in-state TV service to residents of border areas. I addressed the issue of how TV markets are assigned in a previous post.

Minnesota slumps over into much of Wisconsin, and Minnesota gets crunched on three corners. Part of Iowa spills into Nebraska and vice versa. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula loses two counties but takes one in Wisconsin. Only North Dakota is fully intact, and it also takes bites out of Minnesota and South Dakota.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that TV stations in border areas typically try to serve viewers on both sides of the border. Sioux City stations run Nebraska news and Omaha stations run Iowa news, for example. The main point of controversy seems to be when there’s a conflict between the Vikings and the Packers that keeps the Packers game off broadcast TV in western Wisconsin, which happens a few times each season.

Changes in federal regulations allow stations and local governments to petition for a market modification allowing some in-state channels to be imported into orphan counties. However, the only case of that happening in the Upper Midwest is in Ashland and Iron counties, Wisconsin, where the Wausau CBS and FOX affiliates are available. PBS Wisconsin is also available on satellite in Superior but the extent of the availability has not been publicly announced.

Here’s a summary of how each state is affected:

State	# Orphan counties	# Other states viewed
Iowa	12	3 (IL, NE, SD)
Michigan’s UP	2	2 (MN, WI)
Minnesota	21	3 (ND, SD, WI)
Nebraska	26	5 (CO, IA, KS, SD, WY)
North Dakota	0	0
South Dakota	3	2 (IA, ND)
Wisconsin	14	2 (MI, MN)

The image on this post has been updated to reflect that Morrill County, NE, no longer receives South Dakota TV signals.