News:

Thank you for your patience during the Forum downtime while we upgraded the software. Welcome back and see this thread for some new features and other changes to the forum.

Main Menu

Regional television markets

Started by Desert Man, November 18, 2017, 10:37:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 08:52:17 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on April 26, 2021, 08:48:19 PM
Quote from: 3467 on April 26, 2021, 08:38:44 PM
Chicago should cede Porter to South Bend

Since I'm familiar with this area, I'll comment about it but there are dozens of counties like it out there. Porter county residents have much more connection to Chicago than South Bend. Even Michigan City, which is in LaPorte County, is more connected to Chicago than SB.

However, Porter County is such a tiny percentage of the Chicago metro area that they are rarely going to have stories on Chicago local news.

Thus the quandary--should you move to a TV market that you have no real connection to because it's smaller and as such you'll get more coverage?

To complicate things more, if Porter County moves to the SB TV market, then there is a risk that the Colts and Bears will be on the same network at the same time and you might get the Colts game. That would get people upset pretty quick.
Does South Bend get Colts or Bears games?

More often than not, since they are in different conferences they're on different networks and get both. If they are both on the same network at the same time, they will generally go with the team that has been better recently, which would be the Colts. The bars in the SB market LOVE when they can only show one as they get huge business from people going out to watch the other.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%


vdeane

Quote from: 3467 on April 26, 2021, 08:29:28 PM
Nexstar does that here in Illinois and Iowa. It has helped expand state government coverage . Gray owns stations in adjacent markets now combat least Quincy up to Wisconsin. Nexstar  Des Moines to.  Champaign.
New York as well, but I don't think they do for Vermont or Massachusetts - or if the do, it's not to a degree that I've noticed.  It's actually kinda surreal when I'm visiting my parents in Rochester and see a story that was clearly (to a regular viewer, at least) produced by WTEN in Albany (one time we got a WROC story here in Albany, which was interesting too).  They even produce a weekly half-hour show covering state politics, but it seems like many of the larger markets (outside the Capital District, where WTEN airs it right after ABC's This Week, and WXXA airs it again after the 10pm news is over) air it really early in the morning for some reason (and in Syracuse it's aired on Saturday for some reason).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: cabiness42 on April 26, 2021, 08:55:06 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 08:52:17 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on April 26, 2021, 08:48:19 PM
Quote from: 3467 on April 26, 2021, 08:38:44 PM
Chicago should cede Porter to South Bend

Since I'm familiar with this area, I'll comment about it but there are dozens of counties like it out there. Porter county residents have much more connection to Chicago than South Bend. Even Michigan City, which is in LaPorte County, is more connected to Chicago than SB.

However, Porter County is such a tiny percentage of the Chicago metro area that they are rarely going to have stories on Chicago local news.

Thus the quandary--should you move to a TV market that you have no real connection to because it's smaller and as such you'll get more coverage?

To complicate things more, if Porter County moves to the SB TV market, then there is a risk that the Colts and Bears will be on the same network at the same time and you might get the Colts game. That would get people upset pretty quick.
Does South Bend get Colts or Bears games?

More often than not, since they are in different conferences they're on different networks and get both. If they are both on the same network at the same time, they will generally go with the team that has been better recently, which would be the Colts. The bars in the SB market LOVE when they can only show one as they get huge business from people going out to watch the other.
Is it mostly Colts or Bears fans in South Bend?
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

golden eagle

I had a relative that used to live in Lake County and before she moved, she used to get two stations out of Sound Bend (WSBT and I don't remember the other one), in addition to all the Chicago stations.

Roadgeekteen

Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

hotdogPi

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?

There might be some areas of Maine with no signal.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 09:36:36 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on April 26, 2021, 08:55:06 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 08:52:17 PM
Quote from: cabiness42 on April 26, 2021, 08:48:19 PM
Quote from: 3467 on April 26, 2021, 08:38:44 PM
Chicago should cede Porter to South Bend

Since I'm familiar with this area, I'll comment about it but there are dozens of counties like it out there. Porter county residents have much more connection to Chicago than South Bend. Even Michigan City, which is in LaPorte County, is more connected to Chicago than SB.

However, Porter County is such a tiny percentage of the Chicago metro area that they are rarely going to have stories on Chicago local news.

Thus the quandary--should you move to a TV market that you have no real connection to because it's smaller and as such you'll get more coverage?

To complicate things more, if Porter County moves to the SB TV market, then there is a risk that the Colts and Bears will be on the same network at the same time and you might get the Colts game. That would get people upset pretty quick.
Does South Bend get Colts or Bears games?

More often than not, since they are in different conferences they're on different networks and get both. If they are both on the same network at the same time, they will generally go with the team that has been better recently, which would be the Colts. The bars in the SB market LOVE when they can only show one as they get huge business from people going out to watch the other.
Is it mostly Colts or Bears fans in South Bend?

Obviously before the Colts moved to Indy in 1984 it was all Bears. Is was still overwhelmingly Bears through the 1990s, but Peyton Manning's run coincided with some very rough years for the Bears, and the Colts pulled even. Since Peyton retired, it might have gone back to a slight Bears edge, but if so, it's not by much.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: golden eagle on April 26, 2021, 10:04:16 PM
I had a relative that used to live in Lake County and before she moved, she used to get two stations out of Sound Bend (WSBT and I don't remember the other one), in addition to all the Chicago stations.

I'm wondering when this was and was it perhaps via antenna? Nobody here gets SB stations now. Barely any parts of Porter County get them.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

SectorZ

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?

Southwest of Hartford you start bleeding into NYC sports territory. NESN is available in every New England county but Fairfield Cty CT. Unsure about NBC Sports Boston, only that it's everywhere not Connecticut, along with "eastern and central Connecticut".

For NFL games you get screwed in Berkshire Cty MA if the Jets are on CBS at the same time as the Pats, along with a chunk of Connecticut and some of Vermont.

3467

Sorry I meant Laporte. Considering I lived in South Bend area once I shouldn't confused them. There are a lot of people watching in these border counties .
I base it on FCCs significantly viewed station

I just noticed the FCC has comments last year to update the significantly viewed list.

jp the roadgeek

#435
Quote from: SectorZ on April 27, 2021, 08:41:41 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?

Southwest of Hartford you start bleeding into NYC sports territory. NESN is available in every New England county but Fairfield Cty CT. Unsure about NBC Sports Boston, only that it's everywhere not Connecticut, along with "eastern and central Connecticut".

For NFL games you get screwed in Berkshire Cty MA if the Jets are on CBS at the same time as the Pats, along with a chunk of Connecticut and some of Vermont.

NBC Sports Boston is weird because the NBA goes by ZIP codes with its blackout territories.  It doesn't affect cable providers, as franchises in every county except Fairfield carry it and are able to clear Celtics games.  However, satellite and streaming services follow the NBA territories; those with 060-062 ZIPs can get it, but those with 063-069 ZIPs cannot.  It creates some dumb borders.  Southington, the only town in Hartford County with an 064 ZIP, is considered out of market, while the rest of the county is in market.  New London County, which is even closer to Boston, is also out of market.  Meanwhile, in Litchfield County, Sharon (06039), which is 2 miles from the NY border and 8 miles from the northern terminus of the Metro North Harlem Line in Wassaic, is considered in market for the Celtics (and NOT for the Knicks).  But Terryville (06786), which is 25 minutes from Hartford, is out of market for the Celtics and in market for the Knicks and Nets.  As for hockey, the Bruins territory is exactly that of the Red Sox (all of New England except Fairfield County), but the NY hockey teams are strange.  The Islanders and Devils are only available in Fairfield County, but the Rangers are available everywhere except Windham County.  However, no cable system north and east of New Haven/Waterbury has carried MSG Network since the Yankees moved to YES.

As for Berkshire County and the Pats: most cable systems carry either WSHM out of Springfield or WBZ from Boston, so Pats fans get their game.  But since Berkshire County and Bennington County, VT are part of the Albany DMA, satellite subscribers need an antenna to get either WCAX in Burlington, WSHM, or even WFSB out of Hartford. Otherwise, they're screwed in conflicts with the Jets or the Bills.
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: SectorZ on April 27, 2021, 08:41:41 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?

Southwest of Hartford you start bleeding into NYC sports territory. NESN is available in every New England county but Fairfield Cty CT. Unsure about NBC Sports Boston, only that it's everywhere not Connecticut, along with "eastern and central Connecticut".

For NFL games you get screwed in Berkshire Cty MA if the Jets are on CBS at the same time as the Pats, along with a chunk of Connecticut and some of Vermont.
Berkshire gets Albany right? Because I think that there are more Pats fans than Jets fans in the Berkshires.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

IM42A

Quote from: brad2971 on April 25, 2021, 12:17:50 PM
Quote from: IM42A on April 25, 2021, 05:58:11 AM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on April 24, 2021, 11:43:24 AM
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/24/local-tv-stations-plot-to-remain-relevant-in-shift-to-streaming.html

Here's a CNBC article on the future of broadcast TV

I am honestly surprised.  I never thought Americans would go back to broadcast TV.  Cable and satellite seemed to have pretty much of a lock on things, such that some people weren't even really aware they could use an antenna to get TV.  The early "free TV" antenna commercials were very insulting to the intelligence --- "by federal law, TV stations have to provide these signals to you for free" (well, duh!) --- but there is a generation that grew up not knowing anything but pay-TV services.

In some major metro/rural TV markets, you don't even need the antenna. There is app called Locast, which was started by a bunch of football fans irate at the networks' NFL blackout rules. It's a free app, though they do ask for donations. Being a nonprofit, Locast thus gets around the Supreme Court's Aereo decision.

Never heard of this until just now.  I have to think it's just a matter of time, until the FCC finds some way to crack down on this.  They'll think of something.

IM42A

Quote from: SP Cook on April 26, 2021, 11:43:06 AM
Quote from: 3467 on April 25, 2021, 10:17:45 PM
But OTA isn't completely dead . Gray just bought Quincy TV Midwest stations for 900 million making the Oakleys the second richest downstaters after the Tracys down US 24.
This relates to roads since it was Tom  Oakley that led the crusade to get the Illinois 110.

We are in the middle of a major consolidation in that industry.  Both parties ignore or change ownership limits and, after the O&O stations in big cities, there are about a dozen companies that own 90% of the stations. 

The average viewer doesn't notice, but I will give you an example of the "synergy" Gray uses around here.  In my market it owns WSAZ.  It also owns WAVE in Louisville, which will produce Kentucky statewide politics WSAZ uses, and WKYT, which will produce UK and Kentucky state high school stories.  In turn WSAZ will produce reports if the governor or somebody like that shows up in eastern Kentucky, or will do the background story for those stations for teams that go to the state tournaments.  It also owns WXIX in Cincinnati, same deal.  Kind of chains along all over the country.

While it doesn't own any station in DC, it has a studio there and will interview the local politicians for whoever requests it.

I have wondered if WSAZ might ever considering simulcasting (or possibly time-shifting) WKYT news on one of its subchannels, such as 3.2 MyNetwork/MeTV, to allow viewers in northeastern Kentucky, who don't get WYMT and are too far out of range from WKYT to get that either, access to in-state news.  I'm thinking of Boyd, Greenup, Carter, Lewis, and possibly parts of Elliott and Lawrence counties.  This wouldn't require a full simulcast of WKYT (which WOWK would obviously scream bloody murder over!), just perhaps the 6 pm and 11 pm WKYT newscasts, and possibly the morning news or even the noon news.  WILM-LD-10 in Wilmington NC has a similar arrangement with WRAL in Raleigh.

froggie

Quote from: vdeane on April 26, 2021, 09:21:24 PM
Quote from: 3467 on April 26, 2021, 08:29:28 PM
Nexstar does that here in Illinois and Iowa. It has helped expand state government coverage . Gray owns stations in adjacent markets now combat least Quincy up to Wisconsin. Nexstar  Des Moines to.  Champaign.
New York as well, but I don't think they do for Vermont or Massachusetts - or if the do, it's not to a degree that I've noticed.

As I understand the earlier conversation, it's not really applicable to Vermont since virtually the entire state falls under a single market with no duplicate TV stations.  Yes, technically Windham and Bennington fall under other markets, but those counties still very much receive the Burlington stations.

On a side note, and since they were mentioned, both Gray and Nexstar own stations in Burlington.


Quote from: SectorZ on April 27, 2021, 08:41:41 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?

Southwest of Hartford you start bleeding into NYC sports territory. NESN is available in every New England county but Fairfield Cty CT. Unsure about NBC Sports Boston, only that it's everywhere not Connecticut, along with "eastern and central Connecticut".

Believe it or not, parts of Vermont bleed into NYC sports territory as well, specifically when it comes to baseball and hockey.  Regarding hockey, there's actually a 3-way split, as towns near the border tend to gravitate towards the Habs (i.e. Montreal)...

jp the roadgeek

#440
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 27, 2021, 11:08:51 AM
Quote from: SectorZ on April 27, 2021, 08:41:41 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?

Southwest of Hartford you start bleeding into NYC sports territory. NESN is available in every New England county but Fairfield Cty CT. Unsure about NBC Sports Boston, only that it's everywhere not Connecticut, along with "eastern and central Connecticut".

For NFL games you get screwed in Berkshire Cty MA if the Jets are on CBS at the same time as the Pats, along with a chunk of Connecticut and some of Vermont.
Berkshire gets Albany right? Because I think that there are more Pats fans than Jets fans in the Berkshires.

There are no Jets fans in the Berkshires.  I'd say 90% Pats, 5% legacy Giants fans, and 5% other.  Jets fandom starts to die out as you move north beyond Westchester County.  As you get to the Capital District, Bills fans start to blend in, and maybe a smattering of Pats fans (of course, the Giants dominate NY state east of I-81).  But feel bad for us in CT.  Despite there being no Jets fanbase whatsoever north and east of CT 34, our affiliates will often subject us to the Jets when there is no Pats conflict, unless the Jets are so bad even people in New York won't watch them (as they were last year).  As I often say on another site: WFSB has to please the 10 Jets fans in Milford despite the rest of the market who could care less.
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

SP Cook

Quote from: IM42A on April 28, 2021, 12:44:33 AM
I have wondered if WSAZ might ever considering simulcasting (or possibly time-shifting) WKYT news on one of its subchannels, such as 3.2 MyNetwork/MeTV, to allow viewers in northeastern Kentucky, who don't get WYMT and are too far out of range from WKYT to get that either, access to in-state news.  I'm thinking of Boyd, Greenup, Carter, Lewis, and possibly parts of Elliott and Lawrence counties.  This wouldn't require a full simulcast of WKYT (which WOWK would obviously scream bloody murder over!), just perhaps the 6 pm and 11 pm WKYT newscasts, and possibly the morning news or even the noon news.  WILM-LD-10 in Wilmington NC has a similar arrangement with WRAL in Raleigh.

IIRC, back in the day KET would show one of the Louisville stations 11PM news, because so much of Kentucky was served by out-of-state based TV stations. 

Anyway, the VUit app will allow you to watch the most recent local news show on any Gray owned station, nationwide, without geographical restrictions.  Sinclair has a similar app called News ON.  Between the two you can check out 90% of the country.  Great if you are a political junkie, weather geek, so on.

As to WSAZ, it is one of the most dominant local news stations in the country, never getting a rating lower than twice all other local stations combined, since ratings started here in 1968.  This is mostly because they are professional and not agenda driven, and because they own a map and realize they serve Huntington, Ohio and Kentucky, not just Charleston, while the other stations only cover WV politics and who shot who in the Charleston hood.  I doubt they would want to compete with themselves.


Dirt Roads

Quote from: SP Cook on April 28, 2021, 10:28:04 AM
As to WSAZ, it is one of the most dominant local news stations in the country, never getting a rating lower than twice all other local stations combined, since ratings started here in 1968.  This is mostly because they are professional and not agenda driven, and because they own a map and realize they serve Huntington, Ohio and Kentucky, not just Charleston, while the other stations only cover WV politics and who shot who in the Charleston hood.  I doubt they would want to compete with themselves.

In the old days, WSAZ got all of its ratings from its superstar weatherman Jules Huffman (aka Mister Cartoon).

hbelkins

Gray also owns WYMT in Hazard, WBKO in Bowling Green, and a station in Knoxville (WVLT). Knoxville, Lexington and Huntington will pick up some of WYMT's interviews if the subject matter is deemed important enough to merit more than regional eastern Kentucky coverage. WYMT's service area includes a couple of Tennessee counties near Cumberland Gap, the Virginia border counties (Lee, Wise, Dickenson and Buchanan), and Mingo and Wayne (and sometimes Logan) counties in West Virginia.

Several times I've done an interview with WYMT, which I can't get due to having satellite and being too far to pick their OTA signal, only to see my ugly mug on WKYT and the invariable messages from friends who live outside WYMT's coverage area saying they saw me on WKYT.

Lots of WYMT's talent ends up going to WVLT or WKYT. We just lost a good one to WSAZ.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

IM42A

#444
Quote from: SP Cook on April 28, 2021, 10:28:04 AM
Quote from: IM42A on April 28, 2021, 12:44:33 AM
I have wondered if WSAZ might ever considering simulcasting (or possibly time-shifting) WKYT news on one of its subchannels, such as 3.2 MyNetwork/MeTV, to allow viewers in northeastern Kentucky, who don't get WYMT and are too far out of range from WKYT to get that either, access to in-state news.  I'm thinking of Boyd, Greenup, Carter, Lewis, and possibly parts of Elliott and Lawrence counties.  This wouldn't require a full simulcast of WKYT (which WOWK would obviously scream bloody murder over!), just perhaps the 6 pm and 11 pm WKYT newscasts, and possibly the morning news or even the noon news.  WILM-LD-10 in Wilmington NC has a similar arrangement with WRAL in Raleigh.

IIRC, back in the day KET would show one of the Louisville stations 11PM news, because so much of Kentucky was served by out-of-state based TV stations. 

Anyway, the VUit app will allow you to watch the most recent local news show on any Gray owned station, nationwide, without geographical restrictions.  Sinclair has a similar app called News ON.  Between the two you can check out 90% of the country.  Great if you are a political junkie, weather geek, so on.

As to WSAZ, it is one of the most dominant local news stations in the country, never getting a rating lower than twice all other local stations combined, since ratings started here in 1968.  This is mostly because they are professional and not agenda driven, and because they own a map and realize they serve Huntington, Ohio and Kentucky, not just Charleston, while the other stations only cover WV politics and who shot who in the Charleston hood.  I doubt they would want to compete with themselves.

True enough, but a relative lack of in-state news for northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio viewers has been a bugbear as long as there has been television in that part of the country.  Excellent as WSAZ's news department is, they are still having to cover three statehouses, three groups of state college sports, and so on.  Anybody east of Olive Hill or south of Waverly is just a little too far outside the range of Lexington and Columbus signals respectively, for OTA reception to be feasible.  The Columbus stations have long been available in Portsmouth on cable, in fact, I have heard talk of moving Scioto, Jackson, and Vinton counties to the Columbus DMA.  I haven't been to Portsmouth in almost 30 years, so I don't know which 6 pm and 11 pm newscast people there tend to gravitate towards, WSAZ or one of the Columbus stations.  (WCHS, WVAH, and WOWK are all de facto Charleston stations, which might as well be a foreign country to viewers in Portsmouth, Ironton, and Ashland, and any points north and west.)  Oddly enough, WSAZ's affiliate WQCW-30 is actually licensed to Portsmouth and has a sales office there, though AFAIK, no news bureau.  None of the C-H stations have ever had a bureau in Kentucky.  They still carry WKYT on cable in Ashland, though in Ironton, for some reason, there are no Ohio-based stations, first WBNS was removed from Ironton cable, then WLWT.  I have just wondered, since WSAZ makes the only commitment of note to Ohio and Kentucky of any of the C-H stations, whether they might want to "go the extra mile" and considering airing WKYT news, at least the 6 pm edition, on one of their subchannels, or even on WQCW.  I don't believe there's a Gray station in Columbus, but there is WXIX from Cincinnati (actually, if one wants to be picky, they are licensed to Newport, KY), so maybe they could do likewise with WXIX, maybe airing WKYT's news at 6 pm and WXIX's news at 6:30 pm on WQCW or a WSAZ subchannel.  I'm assuming WXIX provides adequate coverage of Ohio statehouse and OSU news, though possibly not to the extent a Columbus station would, in that Cincinnati stations have to cover at least two states (the Indiana portion of their market is lightly populated), whereas Columbus stations only have out-of-state (and out-of-market) viewership via cable in a few places hard by the border, such as South Shore, Point Pleasant, and Parkersburg, and there is no expectation that they would cover KY or WV news.  Just points to ponder, in that you have two "orphan areas" that can't get in-state news OTA.  And there is no place in Kentucky as militantly Kentuckian as Ashland --- many residents have gone to UK or Morehead.  Many people there prefer WKYT and the Lexington Herald-Leader for news and sports (especially the latter!).

I hadn't heard of VUit, and plan to add it to my Roku lineup tonight.  I am an incurable news and politics junkie (weather and sports, not so much).

The KET news rebroadcast arrangement was open-captioned for the hearing-impaired, and existed for a time in the 1970s and maybe 1980s.  I know they would air various newscasts from Louisville and Lexington on a rotating basis, maybe Paducah and Bowling Green too.  Closed-captioning has made that obsolete, but it did do a little to fill a gap in Kentucky news coverage especially for orphan counties.  I wonder if they might try resurrecting that arrangement, perhaps rebroadcasting Lexington news for KET's affiliates east of Louisville, and Louisville news for points west, removing commercials (or, rather, covering them with KET promos and PSAs).  Stations agreeing this might be able to take a state corporate tax credit or some such arrangement.

ETA --- I have just added VUit to my Roku, and it is very nice, smoother and less clunky to use, compared to NewsOn.  The only part I don't like, is that unless I just haven't figured out how to do it yet, I can't pull down a nationwide list of stations on the Roku app, as I can with the Windows-friendly page, or with NewsOn for that matter.  I do notice that, in the main, it is comprised of smaller and mid-sized markets, no local news from NYC, Chicago, LA, and so on.  But then again, I am assuming it is solely Gray stations, which tend to be in that kind of market.  Charlotte would be an exception.

IM42A

Quote from: Dirt Roads on April 28, 2021, 05:05:43 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on April 28, 2021, 10:28:04 AM
As to WSAZ, it is one of the most dominant local news stations in the country, never getting a rating lower than twice all other local stations combined, since ratings started here in 1968.  This is mostly because they are professional and not agenda driven, and because they own a map and realize they serve Huntington, Ohio and Kentucky, not just Charleston, while the other stations only cover WV politics and who shot who in the Charleston hood.  I doubt they would want to compete with themselves.

In the old days, WSAZ got all of its ratings from its superstar weatherman Jules Huffman (aka Mister Cartoon).

Not to be pedantic, but it's "Jule" Huffman.  No S.  Nice guy, much beloved throughout the Tri-State.  Hundreds of thousands of kids grew up with Mr Cartoon.

IM42A

Thanks again for suggesting VUit,  I used it to watch the noon news from WBTV, shooting in Watauga County, five dead.  Bad stuff.  I see that VUit also has what looks to be a kind of "infill" show, "Local News Live", with an announcer on a very minimal set (two Dell computers!) hosting and providing commentary on live news clips from throughout the country.  This is a nice touch --- nationwide reporting of news events from local markets, shows there's more to events in the US than just the distilled 22 minutes we get every evening on the Big Three.  Good idea.

IM42A

Quote from: hbelkins on April 28, 2021, 08:10:28 PM
Gray also owns WYMT in Hazard, WBKO in Bowling Green, and a station in Knoxville (WVLT). Knoxville, Lexington and Huntington will pick up some of WYMT's interviews if the subject matter is deemed important enough to merit more than regional eastern Kentucky coverage. WYMT's service area includes a couple of Tennessee counties near Cumberland Gap, the Virginia border counties (Lee, Wise, Dickenson and Buchanan), and Mingo and Wayne (and sometimes Logan) counties in West Virginia.

Several times I've done an interview with WYMT, which I can't get due to having satellite and being too far to pick their OTA signal, only to see my ugly mug on WKYT and the invariable messages from friends who live outside WYMT's coverage area saying they saw me on WKYT.

Lots of WYMT's talent ends up going to WVLT or WKYT. We just lost a good one to WSAZ.

Mingo and Wayne counties are long-shaped counties along the border with Kentucky.  As a matter of fact, Wayne County extends all the way to the Ohio River, and a small part of Huntington is inside Wayne County,and no doubt the southern reaches of Wayne County are indeed deepest Appalachia.  Unless it would be news for the city of Williamson proper (proximity to Pike County), I can't see WYMT being the "go-to" news source for either county, much less so Logan County.

bing101

https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/gray-buying-meredith-local-media-for-2-7-billion/
Gray Television is buying the Meredith Television stations such as KVVU Las Vegas, WGCL Atlanta, WPCH Atlanta.

dvferyance

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 26, 2021, 10:05:10 PM
Question: Is there any part of New England where you can't get Boston sports games on TV?
I would think at least parts of Connecticut you would get the New York teams.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.