As a result, with the exception of the largest markets, ABC was relegated to secondary status on one or both of the existing stations, usually via off-hours clearances (a notable exception during this time was WKST-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, now WYTV, despite the small size of the surrounding market and its close proximity to Cleveland and Pittsburgh even decades before the city's economic collapse). According to Goldenson, this meant that an hour of ABC programming reported five times lower viewership than its competitors. However, the network's intake of money at the time would allow it to accelerate its content production. Still, ABC's limited reach would continue to hobble it for the next two decades; several smaller markets would not grow large enough to support a full-time ABC affiliate until the 1960s, with some very small markets having to wait as late as the 1980s or even the advent of digital television in the 2000s, which allowed stations like WTRF-TV in Wheeling, West Virginia to begin airing ABC programming on a digital subchannel after airing the network's programs outside of recommended timeslots decades before.
Very small markets had to wait until what decade to support an ABC affiliate?
1980s 1980s or even the advent of digital television in the 2000s 1980s or even the advent of digital television in the 2000s