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WBTS - Home of NBC Boston?


The Frog

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With WNEU moving from RF 34 to RF 29, as per Rabbitears.info, would it be possible for NBCU to move the transmitter site to Needham when it come time to leave RF 46 and construct RF 29? Just a thought. I know this may also require a change in City of License.

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They probably could move WNEU to Needham, at least technically. Checking the maps for post-repack channels on the rabbitears.info site shows the only ch 29 they would be moving closer to is in Riverhead, L.I. and the spacing would be about 125 miles. Adjacent channels would be in Hartford and New Haven at about 90 miles. At the worst there might have to be a slight notch to the southwest.

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Given the problem multi path was on VHF for WHDH in 2009 immediately after the digital conversion, is WWDP feasible for NBC Boston? A modest power increase would conflict with WTNH. Second guessing the repack, would it have made sense to have WLNE and WJAR go back to VHF, joining WPRI, WNAC and soon WSBE in an all VHF Rehoboth, while freeing up RF 24 and RF 25 ?

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Given the problem multi path was on VHF for WHDH in 2009 immediately after the digital conversion, is WWDP feasible for NBC Boston? A modest power increase would conflict with WTNH. Second guessing the repack, would it have made sense to have WLNE and WJAR go back to VHF, joining WPRI, WNAC and soon WSBE in an all VHF Rehoboth, while freeing up RF 24 and RF 25 ?

As per the FCC, WWDP transmits from Bridgewater on RF 10, and from the looks of it, they're stuck there, cannot move to Needham, as it would cause issues with WTNH & WCBB, who are both already on RF 10, and WMUR on RF 9.

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I don't think WTNH or WCBB would matter, actually it may be a move slightly away from WTNH - but adjacent channel interference to WMUR and WENH on ch 11 is likely a problem. WWDP has a very choppy coverage area now. Their antenna height is less than 500 feet, compared to the 12 -1300 feet of the Needham towers. The low antenna means a lot of terrain blocking. Some of the new channel assignments are undoubtedly based on the repack phases, and there may be some changes available later.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Could NBC Boston be on the move?

 

I've just read this Globe article from March 29th that NBC plans on moving its "regional headquarters" to an office park in Needham. The move would consolidate its NBC/NECN/Telemundo ops with CSNNE (soon-to-be NBCSNE; both are currently housed in Newton & Burlington respectively) into one building.

 

Should the move goes through, it would be completed by early 2019.

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I didn't see the stuff about WBIN possibly being sold to Univision until now, so I'm wondering, would Entravision be open to selling WUNI to NBC?

 

Maybe WUNI would inherit WBIN's syndicated shows and be sold to Hearst or Cox. Honestly, NBC should have made its move long before disaffiliating from WHDH. It could have bought WWDP, WMFP, or WBPX and been in a better position. But it wouldnt surprise me to see a full powered WBTS as the end game.

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The limit for an LP or Class-A LP for a UHF station is 15 kW. WBTS is currently at 11.2 kW. So even if they boost its power to that point, it won't really make much of a difference, in terms of signal strength.

 

Also, I don't see NBC losing VC 8, at least for WBTS-LD. But if you think NBC would move VC 8 to a full-power allotment (should they obtain one), then the FCC wouldn't allow that to happen, because it would interfere with WMTW & WTNH, since they also use VC 8.

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Maybe WUNI would inherit WBIN's syndicated shows and be sold to Hearst or Cox. Honestly, NBC should have made its move long before disaffiliating from WHDH. It could have bought WWDP, WMFP, or WBPX and been in a better position. But it wouldnt surprise me to see a full powered WBTS as the end game.

Is WBIN's program inventory that valuable to justify retaining it? Plus Cox needs to fix what they needlessly broke at WFXT before creating a duopoly.

 

WWDP is still available. And NBC needs a relay for WBTS to cover the market once their WMFP subchannel relay goes bye-bye. Buying WWDP or leasing a subchannel is the only solution available.

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[quote name='CircleSeven']Could NBC Boston be on the move? I've just read this [URL='https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/03/29/nbcuniversal-plans-new-regional-headquarters-needham/oQBIOd8ghWpUxG6X54hNBK/story.html'][I]Globe[/I] article[/URL] from March 29th that NBC plans on moving its "regional headquarters" to an office park in Needham. The move would consolidate its NBC/NECN/Telemundo ops with CSNNE (soon-to-be NBCSNE; both are currently housed in Newton & Burlington respectively) into one building. Should the move goes through, it would be completed by early 2019.[/QUOTE] Good catch @CircleSeven ! Can't believe this flew under our radar. It makes sense and all to have everything under one big spacious roof. Of course some of the commenters are complaint about the tax breaks and how Comcast and NBC loves to take them. Chances are if this were any other company contemplating a move to a knew location, with that many employees and prospects of significant income they'd get tax breaks as well.
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This is probably really out there, but...could Comcast theoretically deal KNTV to Cox for WFXT? It would relieve Cox of their unwanted problem station, and get them back into the Bay Area.

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This is probably really out there, but...could Comcast theoretically deal KNTV to Cox for WFXT? It would relieve Cox of their unwanted problem station, and get them back into the Bay Area.

But would Cox want a signal that barely reaches San Francisco proper?

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Oh wow it still doesn't?

 

Wait it appears KNTV moved or rabbit ears updated their site. I could have sworn both they and KSTS were to the south east.

 

https://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1087047&map=N&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&nrqz=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=592340&cir=&circen=37.685194444444,-122.43458333333

 

Edit: this was the location I always thought their tower was on and was the primary link for ages.

 

https://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=429181&map=N&contour=Y&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&nrqz=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=&cir=&circen=37.111111111111%2C-121.84388888889

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This is probably really out there, but...could Comcast theoretically deal KNTV to Cox for WFXT? It would relieve Cox of their unwanted problem station, and get them back into the Bay Area.

 

And then Fox would end up on WHDH, making it truly Boston's reflection of WSVN. Worst case scenario, NBC has to lease a subchannel from WCVB.

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And then Fox would end up on WHDH, making it truly Boston's reflection of WSVN. Worst case scenario, NBC has to lease a subchannel from WCVB.

 

I'm sure NBC would find that shameful and would do anything in their power to avoid it.

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Worst case scenario, NBC has to lease a subchannel from WCVB.

Through the magic of PSIP, NBC could lease a subchannel from WCVB and still have it mapped out as "60.5", with no mention of WCVB's "5" PSIP channel ID. And besides a microscopic TOH screen crawl, you won't be able to see it's coming from WCVB's spectrum.

 

For a worst case scenario, it's fairly workable and beats the alternative.

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This is probably really out there, but...could Comcast theoretically deal KNTV to Cox for WFXT? It would relieve Cox of their unwanted problem station, and get them back into the Bay Area.

But is it an even trade? Fox had to give up both WFXT and WFXT for KTVU/KICU, along with some monetary considerations.

 

And KNTV is not only in market #4, but has a Telemundo sister station in KSTS, a Comcast RSN (NBC Sports Bay Area) and a CNBC Silicon Valley news bureau. It's a pretty significant asset to Comcast-NBC.

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