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WBTS - Home of NBC Boston?


The Frog

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The real question is, with the auction and process over, will NBCU make any moves to purchase a full power station with full market coverage. I would assume they have put feelers out, unless they want to wait it out for Ansin to give up or die, whichever comes first.

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I would assume they have put feelers out, unless they want to wait it out for Ansin to give up or die, whichever comes first.

 

In the Legal sense it's always easier to deal with living people during the negotiation process.

 

Dead people tend to delay things.

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The real question is, with the auction and process over, will NBCU make any moves to purchase a full power station with full market coverage. I would assume they have put feelers out, unless they want to wait it out for Ansin to give up or die, whichever comes first.

As soon as Comcast gets the all clear, they will pony up the money for WMFP (assuming it wasn't sold off for spectrum).

 

NBC is done with WHDH like they were done with KRON 15 years ago.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unfortunately, with NBCUniversal selling stations in the NYC, Philadelphia, and Chicago markets, I doubt NBC Boston will ever have its own "full-power" signal. Okay, technically it does have a full-power signal, which it shares with WNEU, but the transmitter is in New Hampshire, and doesn't reach areas south of Boston. And with WMFP going off the air, NBC will be hard-pressed to provide a reliable OTA signal that will cover Southeastern Massachusetts, even though those areas should be able to receive WJAR over the air without a problem.

 

I wonder if NBC Boston will look to buy/lease a channel from WWDP? It would also provide a reliable signal to Bristol County residents, who still can't get NBC Boston on cable.

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Unfortunately, with NBCUniversal selling stations in the NYC, Philadelphia, and Chicago markets, I doubt NBC Boston will ever have its own "full-power" signal. Okay, technically it does have a full-power signal, which it shares with WNEU, but the transmitter is in New Hampshire, and doesn't reach areas south of Boston. And with WMFP going off the air, NBC will be hard-pressed to provide a reliable OTA signal that will cover Southeastern Massachusetts, even though those areas should be able to receive WJAR over the air without a problem.

 

I wonder if NBC Boston will look to buy/lease a channel from WWDP? It would also provide a reliable signal to Bristol County residents, who still can't get NBC Boston on cable.

 

I would not read more into NBC selling spectrum in NY, Phily and Chicago other than being opportunistic. Those stations will still survive as full power signals using duopoly stations (the surprise was NBC switching to the Telemundo 47 signal in NY due to it being technologically better supposedly than retaining WNBC's). I think you just need time to for this to play out on what NBC does in Boston. Bristol County is not part of the Boston DMA, so there is no requirement for Boston stations to be carried on cable. It is part of the Providence/New Bedford DMA, not withstanding the impact Sinclair is having on WJAR's news product.

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Unfortunately, with NBCUniversal selling stations in the NYC, Philadelphia, and Chicago markets, I doubt NBC Boston will ever have its own "full-power" signal. Okay, technically it does have a full-power signal, which it shares with WNEU, but the transmitter is in New Hampshire, and doesn't reach areas south of Boston. And with WMFP going off the air, NBC will be hard-pressed to provide a reliable OTA signal that will cover Southeastern Massachusetts, even though those areas should be able to receive WJAR over the air without a problem.

 

I wonder if NBC Boston will look to buy/lease a channel from WWDP? It would also provide a reliable signal to Bristol County residents, who still can't get NBC Boston on cable.

Wasn't WWDP also rumored to be wanting to cash in on their spectrum, but didn't?

 

Honestly, the cleanest - and safest - move is for NBC to acquire WWDP, and have it mapped out as the primary home for NBC Boston and Telemundo Boston, with WNEU mapped out to be the outer-reaches relay.

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I think NBC would be better off buying WBPX than WWDP, because WWDP has probably the worst signal of any full power station in Boston, with only 5kw on VHF 10, and it has a transmitter is located farther south than the other Boston stations. WBPX, on the other hand, has strong UHF signal that is co-located with the other Boston stations.

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I think NBC would be better off buying WBPX than WWDP, because WWDP has probably the worst signal of any full power station in Boston, with only 5kw on VHF 10, and it has a transmitter is located farther south than the other Boston stations. WBPX, on the other hand, has strong UHF signal that is co-located with the other Boston stations.

 

That would be true, in northern Essex county, I can't even get WNEU over the air when WMFP goes off the air I will have no NBC affiliate over the air. I think it would also be a good idea for NBC Boston to buy WBPX. However, could NBC Boston buy the WWDP signal then move it to the FM-128 tower?

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That would be true, in northern Essex county, I can't even get WNEU over the air when WMFP goes off the air I will have no NBC affiliate over the air. I think it would also be a good idea for NBC Boston to buy WBPX. However, could NBC Boston buy the WWDP signal then move it to the FM-128 tower?

 

They could, but it might require changing the RF channel because WWDP is sandwiched in-between many co-channel and adjacent channel stations, most notably WTNH (RF 10).

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NBC turned in the spectrum for WNBC but the station is not going away. It will utilize co-owned WNJU Telemundo 47's spectrum which NBC states is technologically superior. The station is not going away. Those that get their stations OTA (which is a small percentage in this market) will just need to rescan. It will still be 4.1 for WNBC and 4.2 for COZI. It is channel sharing with another NBCU station in the market will not impact market coverage in the tri state region. In Philly, the reverse is true. The co-owned Telemundo station will channel share WCAU's spectrum. This is not the same situation in Boston where they will need to find a station to share the NBC Boston signal in order to get mandated market coverage or buy an exisiting station (which with the money for WNBCs spectrum may not be an issue). The channel sharing with co-owned WNEU does not cover the entire DMA, therefore the need for another signal that covers the rest of the Boston area.

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Can NBC Boston run out the clock on WBTS, and not establish another station, akin to their plan in NYC and Philly?

NBC's plan in NYC and Philly is simply combining two separate licenses on the same spectrum.

 

Again, they have no choice but to either lease a subchannel off of WWDP or WBPX or buy either station outright to make up for the pending loss of WMFP. (That being said, I have doubts that Ion will accept any offer for one of their O&Os... WWDP is the most likely candidate.)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Today rabbit ears dot info listed that WUTF will channel share with WBIN.

 

Umm....That's rather impossible. WBIN is completely shutting down soon. Also, the two stations' transmitters are nowhere near each other, to say nothing of their cities of license.

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Umm....That's rather impossible. WBIN is completely shutting down soon. Also, the two stations' transmitters are nowhere near each other, to say nothing of their cities of license.

 

WBIN isn't completely shutting down. The reverse auction winning bids list says that WBIN indicated an intent to channel-share, apparently with WUTF.

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Today rabbit ears dot info listed that WUTF will channel share with WBIN. Supposedly stations that sold their spectrum (WMFP) to the FCC, have 90 days until they go dark. How much longer does WBTS have on their current channel?

The Boston DMA stations are phases 4 & 8. So, WBTS-LD should be able to stay on RF 46 until March 13, 2020 (the end of phase 8) at the latest. Their RF channel won't be needed for another full power licensee to move to and the wireless companies can't do much until the reclaimed bandwidth has been fully cleared in that area. So, it's status quo for the time being. I wouldn't worry about them. They'll be fine.

 

It's 90 days from the receipt of auction proceeds for stations NOT entering into a channel sharing agreement. And, 180 days from the receipt of auction proceeds for stations entering into a channel sharing agreement. That is the absolute latest (barring a waiver, for which the FCC I set a pretty high threshold) they can remain on their pre-auction channel. But, I believe the commission is allowing stations to cease operations (or, really go silent until the license is officially surrendered) early provided all the viewer notification requirements are completed. I don't believe any stations have been paid yet so, the clock hasn't really started yet.

 

Yep, WBIN will be sharing with WUTF (using WUTF's facilities.) Barring something totally unforseen Univision will likely be the owner of the WBIN license. There are put/call options in their agreement. I think it is safe to assume this is the "major television group" referenced in those press releases/articles back in February. So, barring Binnie finding another third party to by the license he'll likely follow through on the put option and force Univision to acquire WBIN for the agreed upon price.

 

I don't know why Binnie would even attempt to find another suitor at this point. Plus, as it stands WBIN will only get 1.7 Mbps of bandwidth as defined in their capacity allocation portion of the agreement. So, I'm thinking it's a fait accompli Univision will end up with the license at this point. And, I'm guessing at least in the short term they will just park Grit on the WBIN license for the time being.

 

Also, if anyone wants to read the WBIN/WUTF channel sharing agreement, here is a link to the PDF. It's also unredacted for those that care.

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If there a search where you found that document? I'm looking at the station profile website and don't see that file listed.

Use the FCC's Licensing and Management System (LMS). Usually, most of that will eventually trickle over to the public file/station profile.

 

FYI - There's only one other CSA that has been officially filed with the FCC, that being KTNC. But, I expect them to slowly start trickling in now.

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