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WBTS - Home of NBC Boston?


The Frog

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Markey is full of bluster and is doing something for the sake of doing something to justify being the lesser of Massachusetts' two senators. If Warren or any of the House members get involved I would start to get concerned.

 

I cut the cord a while back and this would actually benefit me as PSVue already carries WNEU and I would assume carry WBTS while I doubt Ed gets what OTT even is. However, I wonder who will lose less here: Mega corporate arm NBC or elderly billionaire Ed who will probably lose half of WHDH's value in a change of the calendar. I wonder if we will get a December Surprise like what happened when NBC announced their purchase of KNTV or when WISH decided to affiliate with The CW once the LIN/MG merger closed. It just isn't sustainable to run things the way they are going to be run long-term.

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Markey is full of bluster and is doing something for the sake of doing something to justify being the lesser of Massachusetts' two senators. If Warren or any of the House members get involved I would start to get concerned.

 

I cut the cord a while back and this would actually benefit me as PSVue already carries WNEU and I would assume carry WBTS while I doubt Ed gets what OTT even is. However, I wonder who will lose less here: Mega corporate arm NBC or elderly billionaire Ed who will probably lose half of WHDH's value in a change of the calendar. I wonder if we will get a December Surprise like what happened when NBC announced their purchase of KNTV or when WISH decided to affiliate with The CW once the LIN/MG merger closed. It just isn't sustainable to run things the way they are going to be run long-term.

 

Well, as they say in Vegas, the house always wins. Just gotta decide who "the house" in this context. I'm gonna roll with the Peacock.

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Markey is full of bluster and is doing something for the sake of doing something to justify being the lesser of Massachusetts' two senators. If Warren or any of the House members get involved I would start to get concerned.

 

I cut the cord a while back and this would actually benefit me as PSVue already carries WNEU and I would assume carry WBTS while I doubt Ed gets what OTT even is. However, I wonder who will lose less here: Mega corporate arm NBC or elderly billionaire Ed who will probably lose half of WHDH's value in a change of the calendar. I wonder if we will get a December Surprise like what happened when NBC announced their purchase of KNTV or when WISH decided to affiliate with The CW once the LIN/MG merger closed. It just isn't sustainable to run things the way they are going to be run long-term.

I think they hinted at what is going on earlier in the thread. They said the situation will clear up after the apectrum auction. I think that means they trade WNEU signal for a VHF-high signal in the heart of Boston. Remember, the spectrum auction allows station owners to either completely cash out, or to trade their UHF Spectrum for VHF spectrum, while still receiving a cash payment. In one fell swoop, they can become NBC-8, or whatever.

 

Regardless, this setup is similar to the ABC 33-40 set up in Birmingham, with WBTS being the parent station. and WNEU and WJAR flanking WBTS. The only difference here is that they own the cable company, so they won't have any problems getting an LPTV carried on a cable system.

 

I don't know how familiar you guys are with digital LPTVs, but they don't suck anymore like they used to in the analog days. If you look at the FCC engineering data, I would bet that this particular LPTV signal is going to reach 50% to 75% of the population that a full-powered signal would reach, which would still be a lot of people. (If you want a good example of how far an LPTV can get out, look up the coverage area map for WALV.) The only problem with LPTVs is that they can't make the cable company carry them. But again, NBC and Comcast are part of the same company so that is not an issue here.

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Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren adds her voice on the NBC Boston OTA Signal.

http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/sen-elizabeth-warren-adds-voice-to-concerns-over-nbc-boston-ota-signal/182771

I would also have concerns about that if I was to live in Boston. I mean, why rely on cable (which is stupidly expensive now) just to watch a Big 4 affiliate that for whatever reason has a signal that doesn't reach the majority of a DMA?
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I would also have concerns about that if I was to live in Boston. I mean, why rely on cable (which is stupidly expensive now) just to watch a Big 4 affiliate that for whatever reason has a signal that doesn't reach the majority of a DMA?

 

I can't remember if similar happened in San Francisco when the move from KRON to KNTV happened. I don't think Feinstein and Pelosi (or Boxer for that matter) did what Markey and Warren are doing.

 

Let's wait to see what Joe Kennedy III and Katherine Clark have to say from the House. I think a December surprise of some sort is around the corner since both sides have too much to lose.

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Let's wait to see what Joe Kennedy III and Katherine Clark have to say from the House. I think a December surprise of some sort is around the corner since both sides have too much to lose.

 

These Bozo's are going on Christmas break, so doubtful on any December surprises.

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“I am concerned that when NBC launches its network-owned station in January, some communities in Massachusetts and throughout New England may lose reliable access to free, over-the-air NBC content,” said Markey in his letter. “Seniors, low-income residents, and anyone who has recently ended their pay-TV subscription may be particularly impacted if there is a reduction in coverage.”

 

It amuses me that Warren, Markey, et al all act as if over-the-air NBC is one of only a few options for people who have ditched cable TV.

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It amuses me that Warren, Markey, et al all act as if over-the-air NBC is one of only a few options for people who have ditched cable TV.

 

I think it's the principal that NBC is a major broadcast network that millions of people watch and are supposed to be able to watch for free. It's not as simple as "there's other stuff to watch" when many people would like to watch that network.

 

Mark my words: when it starts to affect people's ability to watch the Patriots, that's when things will get serious.

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Mark my words: when it starts to affect people's ability to watch the Patriots, that's when things will get serious.

 

It didn't happen in Miami, it didn't happen in San Francisco and it's not going to happen here. The Miami situation is similar because they put up LPTV signals in North Miami and Broward. I would bet the average person picked up WPTV and skipped WTVJ. The option here will be WJAR, which has a great signal.

 

Besides, CBS has all the AFC games, not NBC. Maybe if CBS was going dark it would be another story.

 

Pull out your bow tie antenna. You will be very impressed with how good the LPTV signal is. That's why most people won't care. Only Asnin cares because he lost bunch of money.

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Besides, CBS has all the AFC games, not NBC. Maybe if CBS was going dark it would be another story.

 

The Patriots typically average two to three Sunday Night games during a season. Add an NBC Thursday night game into the mix and the Pats aren't available OTA in portions of the market. I'd imagine that wouldn't make the NFL too happy, given their already-falling ratings.

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Pull out your bow tie antenna. You will be very impressed with how good the LPTV signal is. That's why most people won't care. Only Asnin cares because he lost bunch of money.

 

Is there something in the FCC regs that say NBC cannot be on an LP or fringe transmitter?

There is no "right" to free NBC in every corner of the USA. It's NBC's loss...not some poor old lady or crackhead missing reruns of Law and Order and La Voz.

 

Can't these people buy an antenna? Or can't one of these poor impoverished souls start an antenna installation business?

 

Seriously.

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Is there something in the FCC regs that say NBC cannot be on an LP or fringe transmitter?

There is no "right" to free NBC in every corner of the USA. It's NBC's loss...not some poor old lady or crackhead missing reruns of Law and Order and La Voz.

 

Can't these people buy an antenna? Or can't one of these poor impoverished souls start an antenna installation business?

 

Seriously.

If there WAS a regulation, then WBMA would never have existed.

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This may be old news to some of you (I just noticed it yesterday), but it looks like WBTS has snagged the First Night Boston media partnership away from WBZ. That's too bad, because I've always appreciated how 'BZ's coverage wasn't obnoxious, super-slick, and over-stylized like what I've seen on the non-CBS networks.

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This may be old news to some of you (I just noticed it yesterday), but it looks like WBTS has snagged the First Night Boston media partnership away from WBZ. That's too bad, because I've always appreciated how 'BZ's coverage wasn't obnoxious, super-slick, and over-stylized like what I've seen on the non-CBS networks.

 

Not really. When the City sold the rights to an outside agency (Conventures), the broadcast rights disappeared, too. No station (including WBZ) covered Conventures' First Night last year.

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