Looking at an early list of TV allotments, you can see that regulators may have thought the broadcast TV industry was going to be a lot bigger than it became.
The 1954-1955 Telecasting Yearbook, posted on the World Radio History website, shows there are dozens of communities with TV allotments that were never built. Most of the communities have radio stations but never got their own TV voice.
Not coincidentally, all of the Upper Midwest communities that never got full-power TV stations had been given UHF allotments. The UHF band struggled for the entire analog era, especially in the early years when most TV’s didn’t even have a UHF tuner.
Besides that, the costs of running a TV station were (and are) much higher than a radio station, and major networks were already affiliated with bigger VHF stations. Broadcasters undoubtedly concluded that attempting to build an independent UHF station in a smaller community would be a money-losing proposition.
Here’s a map of Upper Midwest communities that had TV allotments as of 1954 that never actually got their own TV licenses:
This list is the way things were in 1954. A few more allotments were later added and never built. This list also doesn’t include a few other unbuilt UHF TV allotments in cities that did get TV stations on other channels.
Here’s the full list of unbuilt allotments in Upper Midwest communities that never got a full-power TV license:
Algona, IA: 37
Atlantic, IA: 45
Boone, IA: 19
Carroll, IA: 39
Centerville, IA: 31
Charles City, IA: 18
Cherokee, IA: 14 (channel later built at Sioux City)
Clinton, IA: 64
Creston, IA: 43
Decorah, IA: 44
Estherville, IA: 24
Fairfield, IA: 54
Fort Madison, IA: 50
Grinnell, IA: 71
Keokuk, IA: 44
Knoxville, IA: 33
Marshalltown, IA: 49
Muscatine, IA: 58
Oelwein, IA: 28
Oskaloosa, IA: 52
Shenandoah, IA: 20
Spencer, IA: 42
Storm Lake, IA: 34
Webster City, IA: 27
Gladstone, MI: 40
Iron River MI: 33
Ironwood, MI: 31
Manistique, MI: 14
Albert Lea, MN: 57
Cloquet, MN: 44
Ely, MN: 16
Fairmont, MN: 40
Faribault, MN: 20
Fergus Falls, MN: 16
Grand Rapids, MN: 20
Hastings, MN: 29 (channel later built at Minneapolis)
Little Falls, MN: 14
Marshall, MN: 22
Montevideo, MN: 19
New Ulm, MN: 43
Northfield, MN: 26
Owatonna, MN: 45
Red Wing, MN: 63
Stillwater, MN: 39
Virginia, MN: 26
Wadena, MN: 27
Willmar, MN: 31
Winona, MN: 61
Beatrice, MN: 40
Broken Bow, NE: 14
Columbus, NE: 49
Fairbury, NE: 35
Falls City, MN: 38
Fremont, MN: 52
Nebraska City, NE: 50
Bottineau, ND: 16
Carrington, ND: 26
Grafton, ND: 17
Harvey, ND: 22
Lisbon, ND: 23
New Rockford, ND: 20
Rugby, ND: 38
Wahpeton, ND: 45
Belle Fourche, SD: 23
Hot Springs, SD: 17
Madison, SD: 46
Sturgis, SD: 20
Winner, SD: 18
Yankton, SD: 17
Adams, WI: 58
Ashland, WI: 15
Beaver Dam, WI: 37
Beloit, WI: 57
Chilton, WI: 24
Manitowoc, WI: 65
Portage, WI: 17
Prairie du Chien, WI: 34
Rice Lake, WI: 21
Richland Center, WI: 15, 66
Sheboygan, WI: 59
Shell Lake, WI: 30
Sparta, WI: 50
Stevens Point, WI: 20, 26 (20 was later built at Wausau)
Wisconsin Rapids, WI: 14