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Rest in peace WCIV, WCFT & WJSU


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The stations themselves are not going away. Only the licenses are being handed in to the FCC. The intellectual programming - the airstaff, the ABC affiliation and all syndicated programming - will be moved onto subchannels and continuing from there. Cable coverage is staying the same. Yes, Anniston is getting the shaft, but the stations aren't dead in a literal sense.

 

I can't even compare this to the atrocious deaths of CKX-TV Brandon and CHCA Red Deer and keep a straight face. THOSE were travesties made by BellMedia and CanWest Global to save a cheap buck. CanWest almost did the same thing to CHCH Hamilton and CHEK-TV Victoria; thankfully, those stations had white knights riding in to save the day (CHEK was actually saved by the employees buying the station).

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The stations themselves are not going away. Only the intellectual programming - the airstaff, the ABC affiliation and all syndicated programming - will be moved onto subchannels and continuing from there. Cable coverage is staying the same. Yes, Anniston is getting the shaft, but the stations aren't dead in a literal sense.

 

I can't even compare this to the atrocious deaths of CKX-TV Brandon and CHCA Red Deer and keep a straight face. THOSE were travesties made by BellMedia and CanWest Global to save a cheap buck.

 

Thanks for posting this. Well said. No matter how many times you drill it in that the stations aren't going away per se, haters gonna hate......
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The ABC affiliations are actually going to be the main programming for WMMP and WABM. MyNet will go on .2 on each of those stations. So essentially, James Spann, Benda Ladun, Dave Baird from WBMA are moving to WABM and Dean Stephens, Victoria Hansen, and Tom Crawford are moving to WMMP. Seamless transition. The only ones that are making a huge deal of this is us.

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The ABC affiliations are actually going to be the main programming for WMMP and WABM. MyNet will go on .2 on each of those stations. So essentially, James Spann, Benda Ladun, Dave Baird from WBMA are moving to WABM and Dean Stephens, Victoria Hansen, and Tom Crawford are moving to WMMP. Seamless transition. The only ones that are making a huge deal of this is us.

 

Which is why I'm at peace with this now, and let's face it, MNTV is an afterthought in some markets. Sinclair probably understood that in their decision to downgrade the main feeds of WABM and WMMP to subchannel status in favor of a better signal for their newly-acquired ABC stations. It's a fair trade-off, although they could always add a low-power translator later if needed in the case of the Anniston area.

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Yep; Anniston hasn't been its own market since 1997, along with Tuscaloosa. Ironically, the markets were only fused with Birmingham because of ABC 33/40 and its transmitting arrangement.

 

And no, ABC 33/40 isn't going away. I admit that this was a major concern of mine as recently as a couple of days ago. Now that more information has been released, it seems that ABC 33/40 will exist in its current form, just on WABM (meh), with most or all of the current staff (good!), hopefully better presentation, and minus two transmitters in Tuscaloosa (WDBB is more than adequate,) and Anniston (my only major problem with this deal). Of course, I really don't get the rationale behind keeping "ABC 33/40" as a brand if channels 33 and 40 will no longer exist, either physically or virtually, unless cable providers magically agree to shift WABM to channel 33 (west of I-65) and channel 40 (east of I-65).

 

Of course, I'll be watching ABC "33/40" very carefully these next few months to make note of any changes.

 

 

Which is why I'm at peace with this now, and let's face it, MNTV is an afterthought in some markets. Sinclair probably understood that in their decision to downgrade the main feeds of WABM and WMMP to subchannel status in favor of a better signal for their newly-acquired ABC stations. It's a fair trade-off, although they could always add a low-power translator later if needed in the case of the Anniston area.

 

I thought the FCC had a freeze on new transmitter and translator applications.

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In the case of WCIV, will they still identify as ABC4?

 

Even on their new physical frequency, couldn't they simply file to move the call letters there and direct the PSIP signal to show up as "4" on OTA digital receivers?

 

Essentially, the station is moving from DTV34 to DTV36. Hardly much difference, IMO.

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The stations themselves are not going away. Only the licenses are being handed in to the FCC. The intellectual programming - the airstaff, the ABC affiliation and all syndicated programming - will be moved onto subchannels and continuing from there. Cable coverage is staying the same. Yes, Anniston is getting the shaft, but the stations aren't dead in a literal sense.

 

I can't even compare this to the atrocious deaths of CKX-TV Brandon and CHCA Red Deer and keep a straight face. THOSE were travesties made by BellMedia and CanWest Global to save a cheap buck. CanWest almost did the same thing to CHCH Hamilton and CHEK-TV Victoria; thankfully, those stations had white knights riding in to save the day (CHEK was actually saved by the employees buying the station).

 

Myron, you gotta agree, let alone anyone here, that the story of CHEK is one of the most triumphant stories in the history of North American Broadcasting. The buoyancy of the station, let alone its news, is due to grassroots activism of the community (of which Vancouver Island is a place totally different from the city of Vancouver, of which its stations don't cover adequately cover the island if at all) and the employees to buy the station. However, more satisfying, the ineptitude that is Canwest rotted to eternal broadcasting hell. Great story. Why don't we have something similar going on here in the states when stations are in a dire state of affairs? (if any of you can recall a similar situation that is)

 

Clips from CHEK presumed to shutdown in '09:

(was to be its last day on the air when 'deal' was reported)

 

(now island owned)
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Myron, you gotta agree, let alone anyone here, that the story of CHEK is one of the most triumphant stories in the history of North American Broadcasting. The buoyancy of the station, let alone its news, is due to grassroots activism of the community (of which Vancouver Island is a place totally different from the city of Vancouver, of which its stations don't cover adequately cover the island if at all) and the employees to buy the station. However, more satisfying, the ineptitude that is Canwest rotted to eternal broadcasting hell. Great story. Why don't we have something similar going on here in the states when stations are in a dire state of affairs? (if any of you can recall a similar situation that is)

 

Clips from CHEK presumed to shutdown in '09:

[yt]OSrfoFqkv3Q[/yt]

(was to be its last day on the air when 'deal' was reported)

 

[yt]pG3Igr5KcoI[/yt]

(now island owned)

(I modified your post to display the videos.)

 

I can't even think of a story similar to CHEK. CHCH was bought by a group that specializes in specialty cable channels (of which retrans rights to those channels likely helps CHCH somewhat). That CHEK has thrived is a testament to the employees at the station and the community at large.

 

The only thing that would even come remotely close to CHEK's redemption... was this work of total fiction.

[yt]9ug9WItpr4k[/yt]

All the visual gags aside, the plotline was a community rallying to save a scrappy UHF station that Big Bad Channel 8 wanted to buy and turn into a parking lot. And the community succeeded in the goal.

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In my opinion, the CHEK story is one of the most heartwarming ones in the broadcasting industry. A media company (Canwest) shuts down a low-tier network (E!) and opts to shut down some of their stations (CHCA and CHEK). While it's unfortunate that CHCA met its end, it was touching to see local business owners and station employees team up to buy CHEK and keep it running. In this age of corporate consolidation and standardization, it's always good to see communities take pride in their media outlets, whether radio, television, or newspaper. I hope that CHEK will continue to succeed and that the Vancouver Island community will continue to support the station. :)

 

Oh, and as for CHCH? No station on the continent can begin to match the sheer amount of news output they air: 76.5 hours per week. That's unthinkable, even for stations like KCAL, KRON, and most Fox stations. At that point, you're pretty much a news channel.

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I thought the FCC had a freeze on new transmitter and translator applications.

 

But does that also apply to move-ins? At any rate,TV Fool says that WABM covers Anniston with a decent signal.

 

I am surprised by the lack of LPTV's in their area. I thought Anniston would be a veritable wasteland of Christian channels, home shopping and whatnot.

 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3de1c60e584a196e

 

 

In the case of WCIV, will they still identify as ABC4?

 

Even on their new physical frequency, couldn't they simply file to move the call letters there and direct the PSIP signal to show up as "4" on OTA digital receivers?

 

I think my analysis in the other thread is correct. If there are any commonly owned signals that show the same stream and overlap, they can use the PSIP of either station on all the stations.

 

I think WCIV will have to stay as PSIP 36 unless they can get an overlapping translator with a different channel number.

 

However, 1) this won't matter on cable since the channel stays the same and 2) the PSIP Label can still say ABC 4 or WCIV 4.

 

On the legal ID's, I would do the following:

 

WCIV - ABC 4

Charleston, SC

(OTA CHANNEL 36)

 

 

 

 

Essentially, the station is moving from DTV34 to DTV36. Hardly much difference, IMO.

 

 

Actually, big difference. WMMP's ERP is twice the ERP of WCIV and that should help the signal travel through obstacles and penetrate buildings better. I think WCIV was also directional. Stucco and the mesh inside of it can wreak havoc with an OTA signal - especially on VHF.

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