Does network affiliation still matter? In the past, which network a station was affiliated with - ABC, NBC or CBS - mattered a lot.

There was a time, indeed, when local stations paid networks a fee to carry their network programming, the opposite of today. Being affiliated with the No. 1 network could mean a lot in helping a local station be No. 1 with its local programming. The idea was that people would not change channels when their favorite network program ended and the local news began. In addition, on the next morning, they might well just watch the same channel from the night before.

In the age of remote-control clickers, satellites and 50-channel cable, does this carry-over effect still hold? The answer, it turns out, is yes. But how much network affiliation matters differs depending on the time of day. The fortunes of late newscasts, the shows that come on after prime time programming, are still heavily influenced by the performance of their affiliated networks, the numbers show. In 2003, for instance, NBC was No. 1 in prime time, and its affiliated stations were most likely to be in first place in late news. ABC, meanwhile, was No. 3 in prime time, and so were affiliates in late news. NBC stations averaged a 22 share, with CBS at 19 and ABC at 15.

The effect for early evening news, at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., was less pronounced, but it was still there. NBC stations averaged an 18 share while CBS had 16 and ABC 14. Why the difference in early news? The programming that precedes the early news is usually determined locally. Generally, the competition here focuses on which station secured the most popular syndicated programs, such as "Oprah." While some networks and regional television companies are able to buy package deals for such syndicated programming, the relationships are not as cut and dried as prime-time programming. Indeed, other than the stations that the networks own themselves, the O&O stations, most companies may own affiliates from all the networks.