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WBTS - Home of NBC Boston?


The Frog

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This isn't Nick and Melody's first rodeo together. They were morning anchors together in Denver. They aren't the nicest people either.

 

Never knew that, though I suppose it's not a surprise. Did she get speech therapy or something? I remember her voice being much raspier on KDVR.

 

Also mildly interesting that Raoul Martinez is there too.

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Never knew that, though I suppose it's not a surprise. Did she get speech therapy or something? I remember her voice being much raspier on KDVR.

 

Also mildly interesting that Raoul Martinez is there too.

 

Yeah, he auditioned for NBC Boston, leaving KWGN in October, iirc.

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"We're NBC on channel 10, just not THAT 'NBC10!'"
Still all the promotion may be good for them. There might be over the air viewers that watched WHDH and switch over to channel 10 even though the ads mention cable. WJAR even has a FAQ on their website

 

Edit: I just looked on the Cox website and it looks like WJAR is on Channel 10. Also I didn't know that Comcast licensed their X1 software to Cox which brands it as Contour.

 

NRJ's eventual sale of WMFP to Comcast-NBC to become the "new" WNEU 60 will be the worst kept secret ever.

 

If I were NBC I would ditch WBTS and keep WMFP and use WNEU as a satellite station (or like WCAU/WWSI and KNTV/KSTS do) to fully cover the market. Look at how well both stations cover Boston and New Hamshire. If they're managing to fit two 1080i channels and two SD channels with out any problems they could continue to make it work.

 

Is WBTS-LD considered a low power station in its own right or a translator of WNEU?

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Huh. I figured Pete Bouchard would be chief meteorologist, since that's what he was at WHDH.

Matt Noyes is their chief meteorologist. But Matt works weekday mornings, and Pete will work weekday evenings. With yesterday being the first day of the new station, the weekday crew was working the Sunday shifts.

 

Also of note, it was announced overnight that the Patriots' divisional playoff game will air Sat. 1/14, but on CBS, which means WBTS will have to wait until at least September to broadcast a Patriots game. (Their first broadcast of a local Boston sports team will be the Bruins in late February.) I had a gut feeling that the Patriots game would air on NBC, but instead they'll air the Kansas City Chiefs game on 1/15 (along with Lions-Seahawks next Sat. night). I don't know if the affiliation switch had anything to do with this.

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This isn't Nick and Melody's first rodeo together. They were morning anchors together in Denver. They aren't the nicest people either.

I knew they were anchors in Denver. I think it is kind of cool they are back together. How do you know they aren't nice? Did you meet them?

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Is WBTS-LD considered a low power station in its own right or a translator of WNEU?

 

I believe it's the other way around; WBTS is considered the affiliate and WNEU (at least at 60.2) is considered its translator.

 

Can a station transfer it's call letters and virtual number if they purchase a stronger frequency? Could Comcast/NBC purchase WMFP 62 and rebrand it WBTS 8 ?

 

This is my question too. I don't think NBC wants to go through another rebrand and another campaign to show people where the channel the chimes are on.

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Matt Noyes is their chief meteorologist. But Matt works weekday mornings, and Pete will work weekday evenings. With yesterday being the first day of the new station, the weekday crew was working the Sunday shifts.

 

Also of note, it was announced overnight that the Patriots' divisional playoff game will air Sat. 1/14, but on CBS, which means WBTS will have to wait until at least September to broadcast a Patriots game. (Their first broadcast of a local Boston sports team will be the Bruins in late February.) I had a gut feeling that the Patriots game would air on NBC, but instead they'll air the Kansas City Chiefs game on 1/15 (along with Lions-Seahawks next Sat. night). I don't know if the affiliation switch had anything to do with this.

 

CBS and FOX have first choice in picking games in their respective conferences for the first two rounds of the playoffs. For the divisional round, CBS went with the obvious choice, the Patriots (top 10 market) over the Chiefs (top 35 market).

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I believe it's the other way around; WBTS is considered the affiliate and WNEU (at least at 60.2) is considered its translator.

 

 

 

This is my question too. I don't think NBC wants to go through another rebrand and another campaign to show people where the channel the chimes are on.

 

I think they can play around the VC #s as they are commonly owned. Assuming they plan on buying WMFP they could keep rebrand it to WBTS-TV while WBTS-LD still exists.

 

NBC Channel Mapping Could Go Like:

 

WMFP's physical channel at 18.5 would map to 8.1

WNEU's physical channel at 34.4 would map to 8.2

 

(Side note: While looking at the physical / virtual channel mappings some stations physical channels aren't sequential. Instead of starting with x.1 you could get an x.6. What's stopping a station from reusing the prior physical channel?)

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NBC Channel Mapping Could Go Like:

 

WMFP's physical channel at 18.5 would map to 8.1

WNEU's physical channel at 34.4 would map to 8.2

 

While I do believe that NBC will eventually buy WMFP, it's virtual channel cannot be 8.1 because of overlap with WMTW in Portland, ME and WTNH in New Haven, CT. In fact, it won't be able to have a virtual channel number from the analog VHF range (2-13), due to other nearby stations in adjacent New England markets using those numbers already. Perhaps it's physical channel will still be 18, but that virtual channel number won't be available either (WUVN in Hartford has that channel number already).

 

Perhaps they'll use 14, 15, 16, or 17? I'm also guessing that DirecTV and Dish will also reassign WBTS whatever their full power OTA channel # will be, when that day comes, to be consistent across the entire market - for example they carry WFXT on Ch. 25.

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I think they can play around the VC #s as they are commonly owned. Assuming they plan on buying WMFP they could keep rebrand it to WBTS-TV while WBTS-LD still exists.

 

NBC Channel Mapping Could Go Like:

 

WMFP's physical channel at 18.5 would map to 8.1

WNEU's physical channel at 34.4 would map to 8.2

 

(Side note: While looking at the physical / virtual channel mappings some stations physical channels aren't sequential. Instead of starting with x.1 you could get an x.6. What's stopping a station from reusing the prior physical channel?)

The open has WBTS-TV in it.

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WBTS almost looks more and more like a fall-back had the WMFP lease agreement not materialized. The VC placement on 8.1 was a marriage of convenience; close enough to 10 and 7 while small enough and away enough from WMTW to be available.

 

Perhaps they'll use 14, 15, 16, or 17? I'm also guessing that DirecTV and Dish will also reassign WBTS whatever their full power OTA channel # will be, when that day comes, to be consistent across the entire market - for example they carry WFXT on Ch. 25.

If Comcast-NBC was able to secure 8 for WBTS (given the low-power signal and sufficient distance from WMTW), I'd be surprised if they didn't try to secure the next available number for a full-power WBTS (on WMFP) it being 14, 15, 16 or 17 -- if either of those numbers are available, obviously. But use that number, as well as WNEU's 60, to map BOTH NBC and Telemundo as primary subchannels on the same frequency.

 

Right now, WBTS is mapped thustly:

WBTS-LP 8.1 NBC

WBTS-LP 8.2 Telemundo

WBTS-LP 8.3 TeleXitos

WBTS-LP 8.4 Cozi

 

...so, on the current WMFP 62 (assuming that the WBTS calls can be implemented on here as well) you'd have:

WBTS 14(or 15, or 16, or 17).1 NBC

WBTS 14(or 15, or 16, or 17).2 Cozi

WBTS 60.1 Telemundo

WBTS 60.2 TeleXitos

 

...and the current WNEU 60 is remapped as such:

WNEU 14(or 15, or 16, or 17).3 NBC

WNEU 14(or 15, or 16, or 17).4 Cozi

WNEU 60.3 Telemundo

WNEU 60.4 TeleXitos

 

Boom. WBTS 14(or 15, or 16, or 17) is NBC Boston, and WNEU 60 is Telemundo Boston. Same stick, same license.

 

How far out of the realm of possibility is this? Because I'm feeling that I've finally lost it haha.

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I believe it's the other way around; WBTS is considered the affiliate and WNEU (at least at 60.2) is considered its translator.

 

 

 

This is my question too. I don't think NBC wants to go through another rebrand and another campaign to show people where the channel the chimes are on.

From how the rollout has gone, NBC Boston will probably stay on 10 throughout the respective cable providers regardless of what happens. But a simple rescan campaign shouldn't be that hard.

 

Moreover, it wouldn't be for a while, as a purchase of WMFP is still far off into the future.

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If I were NBC I would ditch WBTS and keep WMFP and use WNEU as a satellite station (or like WCAU/WWSI and KNTV/KSTS do) to fully cover the market. Look at how well both stations cover Boston and New Hamshire. If they're managing to fit two 1080i channels and two SD channels with out any problems they could continue to make it work.

 

Is WBTS-LD considered a low power station in its own right or a translator of WNEU?

WBTS-LD is licensed as a low power digital station.

 

WRT the bolded, that was the original plan. They intended to have NBC & Cozi on 8.x and Telemundo & Telexitos on 60.x with the subchannels differing depending on if the signal is coming from the WNEU or WBTS-LD transmitter, like WCAU/WWSI or KNTV/KSTS. Only issue is they kind of f'd up selecting 8 as the virtual channel number for WBTS-LD (and, refusing to select a different virtual channel number prior to launch) as WMTW overlaps WNEU. So, their plan was quickly shut down by the FCC

 

Can a station transfer it's call letters and virtual number if they purchase a stronger frequency? Could Comcast/NBC purchase WMFP 62 and rebrand it WBTS 8 ?

In theory, yes. A licensee could change/move a call sign to match the previous station. And, they could ask for a virtual channel waiver to maintain continuity and avoid viewer confusion. A couple good examples would be WBTS-LP & WBND-LD or KJCT.

 

However, in this instance if WBTS-LD were "moved" to a full power station like WMFP they would likely be unable to obtain a waiver to move virtual channel 8. As kdex86 pointed out most (if not all) full power signals in the market overlap either WMTW or WTNH.

 

IMO they should have went with a land mobile RF channel (14-20) or, 37 for their virtual channel number...no chance of conflict. It's almost like nobody thought about it until the last minute and they just picked something (ie: a low number) without putting much thought into it. Heck, they had to get another virtual channel waiver for the simulcast on WMFP. They should be using 8.x, the virtual channel number of the license/station being simulcast (or, WMFP's VC of 62.x). But, they can't due to the overlap with WNTH and WMTW. Details guys...it's all about the details.

 

One other item I'd like to note is that low power stations are not protected from displacement in the incentive auction. So, WBTS-LD as a low power station could end up without an RF channel to operate on post repack. Of course, they could end up getting an RF channel to operate on post repack or "move to full power" by acquiring another full power license in the market. As such, the use of WBTS-LD as it currently stands is clearly a "stopgap" for the time being until things shake out post auction. I guess all I'm saying is things are still a little "fluid" and can't really be considered "permanent" yet.

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Is NECN's music pack by 615?

 

I don't live in Boston, but NMSA claims that NECN currently uses Battery, several production music packs by Video Helper, that old pack WNYW used in 1998, and a theme by Killer Tracks.

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I believe it's the other way around; WBTS is considered the affiliate and WNEU (at least at 60.2) is considered its translator.

 

 

 

This is my question too. I don't think NBC wants to go through another rebrand and another campaign to show people where the channel the chimes are on.

 

You may want to look at the WTVJ history in Miami. NBC purchased WTVJ which was on Channel 4. Because Ansin would not let go of the NBC affiliation immediately, NBC had to operate WTVJ as the CBS affiliate. A few months later NBC programming ended up on WTVJ 4. A few years later, CBS bought WCIX 6. As part of a bigger station swap, NBC and CBS ended up swapping channels. WTVJ (calls) and NBC programming moved to Channel 6. CBS programming moved to Channel 4 with new calls WFOR. So NBC has done something similar (for different reasons) before. Unfortunately the FCC auction has made it a bit more complicated than it needed to be.

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I don't receive NECN or Telemundo Boston where I am. Is NBC Boston's reporting and presentation style similar to its sister stations?

 

Sister channels WNBC, WMAQ, KNBC etc. would be the appropriate comparison.

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My initial thoughts of NBC Boston

I returned home yesterday around 4:30 PM after spending the past week with family for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. I turned on my TV to get a first-hand look at the new NBC Boston station. I watched their 6 PM newscast (the first ever in that timeslot for the station). Their news and weather graphics are impressive (I'm guessing they're the standard NBC O&O graphics, but they are better than what was on NECN). Also, I really liked how the background behind the news anchors featured the Zakim bridge. It felt similar to what had been airing on NECN, but at the same time, "brand new". It's much better than the news WHDH and WFXT, and about equal to WBZ and WCVB as far as overall presentation goes. Shannon Mulaire, Phil Lipof, and Pete Bouchard all have good synergy. They've gained me as a viewer. My only complaint - the 6 PM news started at 5:58 PM, which means that anyone who DVRs the 6 PM news will miss the start of the broadcast. It's not just NBC Boston, but ALL FIVE Boston stations that do this. Anyone know why??????

 

But on a positive note, the NBC Boston 6 PM newscast has only 1 commercial break between the start of the broadcast and the "full" weather segment. WCVB, meanwhile, chooses to have TWO commercial breaks between 6:05 and 6:15 PM, with the station going to the 2nd commercial break in that timespan about 60 seconds after returning from the 1st break. How are they #1 in the ratings despite this?

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But on a positive note, the NBC Boston 6 PM newscast has only 1 commercial break between the start of the broadcast and the "full" weather segment. WCVB, meanwhile, chooses to have TWO commercial breaks between 6:05 and 6:15 PM, with the station going to the 2nd commercial break in that timespan about 60 seconds after returning from the 1st break. How are they #1 in the ratings despite this?

 

Because most viewers either don't notice or don't care. And I wouldn't hold out hope that they're going to keep the commercials light; as more advertisers buy time they'll probably add more commercials. But I totally agree with your assessment. Their newscasts aren't flashy like WHDH and Shannon, Phil and Pete make a great team.

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*Cough*

 

http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/whdh-says-its-not-going-away-quietly-with-ratings-wins/183637

 

Yeah, I know, day one. Etc. Two things stand out:

 

1) The thing a lot of you forgot in all this: HDH is consistently tops or #2 in "the demo" and has been for YEARS. That doesn't just evaporate overnight, and I don't expect it to here. They'll probably be in a comfortable spot for a couple books, at least.

 

2) BTS already won a timeslot at 6pm. And after being 5th at 5PM no less. Definitely wasn't expecting that so soon.

 

Maybe Boston can support five news outlets?

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