WBTS - Home of NBC Boston?

[rkolsen 1675]

2 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

Has WBTS 15.1 actually replaced WYCN 8.1 as the primary NBC affiliate? For all intents and purposes, it has.

If you're going by which one has a full power signal, then yes. 

[east-tx-tv 105]

On 9/26/2019 at 4:32 AM, CircleSeven said:

 

I also want to show y'all this.

  

 

That blue feather needs some fine-tuning, or horizontal hold, or something.  For that to be a new sign, it would seem the colors would be much truer.  Well, good luck to WBTS/etc on the rest, anyway.

[channel99 45]

On 9/28/2019 at 12:46 AM, CircleSeven said:

Nope. WBTS-CD will continue to channel share with WGBX on RF 32 (not 29, don't know where you got 29 from?). And WNEU is at reduced power because of tower work. WNEU also added 15.3/4 because of signal issues with WBTS (probably related to the tower work).

 

Some stations that repack to their new RF channels are operating on their temporary facilities, while the crews installi new maximized facilities. Once the tower/repack work is completed, both WNEU & WBTS will be at full power. 

 

And WRIW will continue to channel share with WPXQ, even after WYCN completes its move to Providence (whenever that happens).

Almost nothing is working as planned in Boston.  The new master antenna installed on the Cabot St tower for WBZ, WCVB, and WGBX to use temporarily during the repack, and WFXT to use permanently, suffers from a failed transmission line that cannot be fully fixed.  WCVB therefore moved to a backup antenna on the CBS tower and is running only 1/3 of it's 900 KW licensed power.  WGBX with its 7 subchannels (the primary is WBTS 15.1)  has a badly limited signal, which resulted in NBC Boston duplicating 15.1 (WBTS) as 15.3, plus 15.2 (Cozi) as 15.4 on WNEU.  WNEU is running under an STA on a side mount antenna 200 feet below the top of the CBS tower, but currently still has a better signal than WGBX .

 

WUTF which moved to the CBS tower where they are licensed to use 970 KW, is actually running only 50 KW on another STA 200 feet from the top of the CBS tower.  WCVB, WNEU, and WUTF are running at 200 feet below the top, because crews are still working on the new master on the top of the tower and can't be near the RF.

 

Then there is WGBH, that took the cash, and moved from UHF to low VHF and put both the primary WGBH and WGBX HD signals on it - while putting most of their subchannels, like Create, on the UHF WGBX signal and throwing in SD duplicate versions of the WGBH and WGBX HD channels there also - for those that cannot receive the low VHF WGBH signal.  WGBH has requested a power increase for that VHF signal, implying to the public that they are a victim of FCC rules.  Half of the bandwidth of WGBX is leased to NBC Boston for WBTS and Cozi, so the other 5 subchannels are squeezed into only half the bandwidth.  WGBX's eventual projected fringe coverage is slightly greater than that for WNEU, so NBC Boston considers that worth paying for. 

 

Typical of their track record -  NBC 10 Boston is unaware of the virtual channels they actually use.  On their main web site they have a link  "Find NBC Boston" and on that page they list 8.1, 15.1, and 60.2.  Since the repack, 8.1 is gone (to return in Providence as WYCN, and 60.2 is now TeleXitos on WNEU.  Only 15.1 is correct and is the only number they will use eventually, though 15.3 is in use temporarily on WNEU.  .

 

 

[kdex86 48]

I've noticed that whenever NBC 10 Boston shows a station ID at the bottom-left of the screen, it reads "WBTS-CD Nashua".

 

1.  What does the "CD" mean?

2.  If the station has "Boston" in its branding, why does a city from a different state appear in the ID?  During newscasts, I've seen "WBTS-TV Boston" appear on screen - this, I believe, is the correct legal ID.

[mrschimpf 2050]

1 hour ago, kdex86 said:

I've noticed that whenever NBC 10 Boston shows a station ID at the bottom-left of the screen, it reads "WBTS-CD Nashua".

 

1.  What does the "CD" mean?

2.  If the station has "Boston" in its branding, why does a city from a different state appear in the ID?  During newscasts, I've seen "WBTS-TV Boston" appear on screen - this, I believe, is the correct legal ID.

WBTS is a class A low-power digital television station (which means it can't be bumped off the air if another full-power station claims its current frequency), and identifies with the calls "WBTS-CD" to identify as such. Nashua is the city of license for the station as before the transmitter was moved to Boston, it was a small-scale local community station serving Nashua proper; their former owner cashed out during the spectrum auction to turn in their former channel space and with NBC's help, made a channel share agreement with WGBH to share WGBX, pocketed the profits, and NBC now owns the station.

 

Under the FCC's current rules, it really doesn't have to do much to 'serve' Nashua outside the FCC's staining legal fictions of having their job openings in the newspaper occasionally to claim 'community service/EEO matters' to the city of license (even though 99% of the time it's all 'who you know/industry ads' that gets you a TV industry job rather than a random schmoe off the street). As long as the signal reaches a city of license, that's what covers 'service' to the FCC in 2020.

[mre29 1338]

On 2/13/2020 at 4:58 PM, mrschimpf said:

WBTS is a class A low-power digital television station (which means it can't be bumped off the air if another full-power station claims its current frequency), and identifies with the calls "WBTS-CD" to identify as such. Nashua is the city of license for the station as before the transmitter was moved to Boston, it was a small-scale local community station serving Nashua proper; their former owner cashed out during the spectrum auction to turn in their former channel space and with NBC's help, made a channel share agreement with WGBH to share WGBX, pocketed the profits, and NBC now owns the station.

 

Under the FCC's current rules, it really doesn't have to do much to 'serve' Nashua outside the FCC's staining legal fictions of having their job openings in the newspaper occasionally to claim 'community service/EEO matters' to the city of license (even though 99% of the time it's all 'who you know/industry ads' that gets you a TV industry job rather than a random schmoe off the street). As long as the signal reaches a city of license, that's what covers 'service' to the FCC in 2020.

I'm surprised Nashua is still the CoL, to be honest.