Channel 7 Losing NBC Affiliation in 2017
- Thread starter weeba
- Start date
I also still have to think hard about which is which. It's compounded by the fact NBC lost AFC rights and CBS picked them up shortly thereafter, so the Patriots have been on Channel 4 pretty much throughout.
Sunbeam Television is a horrible outfit based in Miami. Even among the general "if it bleeds it leads" mentality of local news, Sunbeam stood out.
And since it only matters to a few people anymore what "channel" (7 v. 60) they are on, it can only get better.
And since it only matters to a few people anymore what "channel" (7 v. 60) they are on, it can only get better.
People without cable are going to be without NBC, unless they live on the north shore. I've never been able to pull in Telemundo near Boston on my antenna.
This messes me up sometimes too. When did they make that switch? It had to be in the late 80s/early 90s, right?
According to wikipedia, it was 1994. Over 20 years and it still mixes me up. Those formative years are a bitch to overcome.
As a media guy this is pretty fascinating. Shows how valuable owned and operated stations are to networks vs. affiliate stations.
Cable penetration of households in the Boston market is 95% (includes cable, satellite and telco), which is very high compared to other top markets in the U.S. I would expect that NBC will see a ratings decline by moving to a UHF station -- though it'll be interesting to see if they negotiate a better channel position on cable systems for their new station. Still, the economics will be better for them to own, even with somewhat lower ratings, then to affiliate with channel 7.
Cable penetration of households in the Boston market is 95% (includes cable, satellite and telco), which is very high compared to other top markets in the U.S. I would expect that NBC will see a ratings decline by moving to a UHF station -- though it'll be interesting to see if they negotiate a better channel position on cable systems for their new station. Still, the economics will be better for them to own, even with somewhat lower ratings, then to affiliate with channel 7.
The same thing happened in Providence around the same time. Which is also when all the AAA teams started switching affiliations (except for Pawtucket). Must be Clinton's fault.
For sure. Is Comcast the biggest cable provider in the Boston area? My mom lives in Foxboro, where I grew up, and she has Comcast. But wasn't sure if there are other big players in the area.
Same here. The double switch confused the heck out of me. I have to think it through like this: "The Pats should be on NBC, so they are on CBS. CBS should be on channel 7, so CBS is really on 4".
95% of households probably translates to something like 99% of TV viewing hours -- people who don't have cable or satellite generally don't watch much TV.
The question is what happens to NBC's ratings in Boston as cord-cutting spreads (assuming it continues to do so) and that 95% figure drops. I wonder if they anticipate having a live-streaming solution widely available by 2017.
Isn't it more transmitter location and power versus UHF/VHF?
Plenty of stations lived to regret keeping their VHF position after the digital transition, particularly the low-VHF positions. It didn't help that many broadcasters, knowing the vast majority of people weren't receiving their programming OTA, went cheep on their new transmitters. Eventually serving a growing segment of cord-cutters sure wasn't in their calculus. Beyond the upcoming spectrum auction cash-out window, the potential of ATSC 2.0 has to be playing a role in keeping television broadcast spectrum so valued.
As cord-cutting spreads local channels might be screwed, IMHO. People that don't value cable, but who *do* value "TV", largely are viewing SVOD (subscription video on demand) services such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, etc. Those viewers are likely to get their broadcast prime time content from SVOD, not local over-the-air stations. And since local broadcast news skews heavily older demographically, there's little incentive for younger cord cutters to go out of their way to watch OTA stations at all (meaning, via HD antennaes).
I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear someone else go through this weekly struggle. I literally feel a little less alone now than I did yesterday.
I'm sure Comcast inherited the NBC playbook from its San Francisco affiliate switch and will adapt it to fit what is want in Boston.
Agreed. I don't live in Boston anymore but I still have to do some amount of corrective math to re-figure out which station carries which network. Amazing how some habits/mindsets are hard to break.
The Wiki page for WNEU says they have a sister repeater station in Boston that is licensed on channel 46 and they are in the process of building a transmitter.
Thank goodness this support group is forming here for this. I still have a TV Guide view hardwired in my head of primetime schedules:
CBS 3, 6, 7
ABC 5, 9, 12, 40
NBC 4, 10, 22
Most of the stations are already UHF (post-digital transition) they just mirror to their old channel number and your TV displays it as such.
If they put it on 801 or whatever for comcast, I don't care what the channel number really is.
I hated Channel 7 News, so this can only be a good thing. BREAKING NEWZ!!!! CAT FOUND IN TREE! BREAKING NEWS! IT"S GOING TO RAIN. FIRST ON 7! TOMORROW IS SATURDAY!
Because the reign of Ed Ansin, epitomized by Randi Goldklank, leaves no place to go but up.
I will say this. Channel 7 news had the hottest morning anchors and staff. Dylan Dreyer, Anne Allred, Kayna Whitworth and now Jadiann Thompson.
Still am confounded as to the practicality of this.
Just means Pete is taking a 2 year vacation?
Him and Bri are best things WHDH has(d).
Just means Pete is taking a 2 year vacation?
Him and Bri are best things WHDH has(d).
There's even a Wikipedia article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_United_States_broadcast_TV_realignment
The impetus for the changes was the creation of the Fox network that year.
FOX didn't sell WFXT, the station was traded to Cox and FOX picked up two stations in San Francisco instead.
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/77286/fox-and-cox-to-swap-4-stations-in-3-markets
I still turn on Channel 4 for SNL sometimes. Thank goodness I'm recording it on the right channel at the same time.
Isn't former Red Sox pitcher-dater Sarah French back on in the morning?
Sparky, it really sucks when the kids these days use acronyms that aren't on urbandictionary.com.