NBC Boston rebrands as NBC10 Boston

[Channel 83]

Wait until the Winter Olympics start. NBC 10 Boston's ratings might change.

And how much of that boost in viewership will inadvertently get siphoned off to Sinclair's WJAR-10 due to this ill conceived re-branding?

 

[KeithE4]

And how much of that boost in viewership will inadvertently get siphoned off to Sinclair's WJAR-10 due to this ill conceived re-branding?

How many Boston-area viewers get both stations, and which one do the cable/satellite companies put on Channel 10? Over the air, isn't NBC Boston on either Channel 8.1 or 60.1?

 

[channel99]

How many Boston-area viewers get both stations, and which one do the cable/satellite companies put on Channel 10? Over the air, isn't NBC Boston on either Channel 8.1 or 60.1?

The grade A WJAR signal covers around 75 % of the Boston market viewers. On cable, the significantly viewed exception puts WJAR on most systems south of the city of Boston. However it tends to be assigned a higher number, such as 99, on those systems. WBTS is mostly found on cable 10 (or 810, grouped with the 8xx series of HD channels).

Over the air, WBTS-LD is on 8.1, but as a low power station doesn't cover the whole market, and that problem is solved now by ch 60.5 shared on full power WMFP. WMFP is shutting down within weeks, and soon the function of 60.5 will be replaced by WYCN-CD 15.1, shared on full power WGBX. In the southern New Hampshire part of the market, it is on 60.2, WNEU.

So right now OTA is 8.1, 60.2, and 60.5, and very soon will be 8.1, 15.1 and 60.2.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Deja vu San Francisco all over again? I thought they'd learned their lesson with KNTV, calling it NBC 3 for their cable position instead of NBC 11 when they took it over.

That's one thing I've never understood--why couldn't KNTV been placed on cable 11 in the first place? Especially now, since Comcast owns the cable company AND the station.

 

[KeithE4]

That's one thing I've never understood--why couldn't KNTV been placed on cable 11 in the first place? Especially now, since Comcast owns the cable company AND the station.

Probably because they wanted to be nearer to the other Bay Area stations: Fox on 2, NBC on 3, CBS on 5, and ABC on 7 (they couldn't displace the former NBC station, KRON Channel 4). But now that we no longer use rotary-switch tuners, and haven't for 30+ years, I don't know what the big deal is. It's just as easy to punch up 11 as it is 3.

 

[KTN Corp]

Probably because they wanted to be nearer to the other Bay Area stations: Fox on 2, NBC on 3, CBS on 5, and ABC on 7 (they couldn't displace the former NBC station, KRON Channel 4). But now that we no longer use rotary-switch tuners, and haven't for 30+ years, I don't know what the big deal is. It's just as easy to punch up 11 as it is 3.

Channel + and - still exists.

 

[Fenway1912]

The Globe's lead columnist Kevin Cullen pokes fun at NBC Boston

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...e-thing-off/pBNhL3wUJbaARtSq8XqSSP/story.html

I’ve read various analyses of why the newest TV station in town, NBC Boston, is having trouble with ratings. There’s all this speculation about how it takes time to build an audience from scratch. But it’s pretty obvious to me that the main reason they’re struggling is because by the time they got around to branding their weather team, all the variations of “Storm [fill-in-the-blank]” were taken. So they call it Early Warning Weather.

Early Warning Weather? What good is that? To appropriately cover weather in Boston, you are expected to scare the hell out of people, if only subconsciously. At the very least, you need Storm in your title.

 

[Don CT]

It is safe to say one year in that NBC Boston has been a trainwreck.

They decided that the new channel would take over NECN's slots on Xfinity systems (10, 810) instead of dealing with local access channels in SD and WLVI which is 808.

NBC 8 would have created less confusion south and west of the city with WJAR which is Channel 10 and also happens to be NBC.

They are hampered with a studio carved out at NECN that gives the newscasts a cable access look. That will be resolved when they move to Needham in 2019.

I have heard that NBC/Comcast has talked to Sinclair on a trade with NBC offering Hartford for Providence but Sinclair wants San Diego instead.

I think a year later most are surprised that WHDH-7 has done much better than expected and NBC Boston has gained zero traction in any daypart for local news.

Isn't Sinclair after WTIC Fox61, the Tribune owned Hartford Fox affiliate. They can't own that and WVIT NBC Connecticut.

 

[Fenway1912]

Isn't Sinclair after WTIC Fox61, the Tribune owned Hartford Fox affiliate. They can't own that and WVIT NBC Connecticut.

That is why they want San Diego which would be a good fit for Sinclair.

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

NECN//NBC10 During Prime Time NxCasts?

I donʼt know if they are having issues or what, but right now (5:30pm) NECN is simulcasting NBC10—albeit, with its own bottom crawl and bottom right wx/ID bug, ads and a 9 sec. delay!
I first noticed this the other day during wall‐to‐wall storm coverage, but figured they were just trying to combine/consolidate resources for a single, comprehensive presentation.
Is this their way of trying to prop up/promote NBC10 newscasts, or just save money in the newsroom?

 

[KML0224]

Here in the Hartford/New Haven DMA, the only stations continuously using their heritage channel numbers are WFSB-TV (CBS) channel 3 of Hartford and WTNH-TV (ABC) channel 8 of New Haven. WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61 of Hartford was going by FOX-CT or FOX-CONNECTICUT for a while, then went back to using FOX 61.

WVIT-TV (NBC) channel 30 of New Britain has been a primary NBC affiliate since it signed on in 1953. They've nearly always been in third place for news in most of the market, even after they boosted their analog signal from Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington in 1978. Their signal issues were to the point that the market needed WATR-TV channel 20 of Waterbury to help with NBC reception in parts of the Naugatuck River Valley and greater New Haven. (That changed in 1982 when channel 20 became independent WTXX-TV.)

Northern parts of Hartford County receive WWLP-TV (NBC) channel 22 from Springfield, MA. Their transmitter in Agawam, MA is only 27 air miles away from the one for channel 30, according to the distance calculator tool from indo(dot)com.

Distance between 41:42:02N 72:49:55W and 42:05:05N 72:42:12W, as the crow flies:
27 miles (44 km) (24 nautical miles)

Initial heading from 41:42:02N 72:49:55W to 42:05:05N 72:42:12W:
north-northeast (14.0 degrees)
Initial heading from 42:05:05N 72:42:12W to 41:42:02N 72:49:55W:
south-southwest (194.1 degrees)

I could never receive a good signal of channel 22 in the analog days from my old place in New Britain (southern Hartford County). I only got a mere blip from WGGB-TV (ABC) channel 40 once in the digital age. Never anything digital from channel 22 or WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 from Springfield either.

 

[KeithE4]

I could never receive a good signal of channel 22 in the analog days from my old place in New Britain (southern Hartford County). I only got a mere blip from WGGB-TV (ABC) channel 40 once in the digital age. Never anything digital from channel 22 or WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 from Springfield either.

Is there some kind of hill between Springfield and Hartford that wreaked havoc on the analog UHF channels (digital, too?). I had family in Belchertown MA for over 30 years. My folks had a big UHF antenna with a preamp and rotator, and the Hartford UHFs (24 & 30 then) were barely viewable, while WCDC 19 on Mt. Graylock and WSMW 27 Worcester were clear, along with 22, 40, and 57 in Springfield, of course. In fact, sometimes the NYC VHF stations came in clearer than the Hartford UHFs or Channel 8 in New Haven.

 

[KML0224]

What messed up my signals was Walnut Hill in New Britain, home to both The Hospital Of Central Connecticut and Walnut Hill Park. My old place was at the bottom of that hill. It must have caused a signal reflection from Avon Mountain. Channel 3 (CBS) and 18 (UNI) still transmit from there. Channel 24 (PBS) used to. The proof of all this? About a year before the digital broadcast deadline of 2009, channel 24 moved to the channel 61 tower on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington. All of a sudden, I had a clear signal of channel 24! No more relying on the snowy color signal from channel 53 of Norwich. To be fair, Rattlesnake Mountain is also the closest major site to my old place, about 4.5 miles to the northwest. As for our VHF stations, I used to get channel 8 of New Haven better than channel 3 on most days.

Mount Greylock is a natural to be a site since it's the highest point in Massachusetts. However, with it being in Berkshire County, it's placed at the edge of the Albany/Schenectady TV market. Besides channel 19 of Adams, MA (satellite station of ABC channel 10 from Albany), it also has channel 51. I think it's a MY affiliate.

I've never been to Belchertown, MA so I can't speak for it.

 

[KeithE4]

I've never been to Belchertown, MA so I can't speak for it.

It's about 25 miles NE of Springfield, and 10 miles east of Amherst. The closest major landmark is Quabbin Reservoir, 5 miles to the east and northeast. I haven't been back there since 1987, so I can't speak as to how DTV reception is.

 

[KML0224]

Me either! I know it's the Springfield/Holyoke TV market to the Vermont border.

Greenfield, MA used to have WRLP-TV channel 32, which would increase the reception of NBC in parts of western Massachusetts, southern Vermont and a bit of southwest New Hampshire. I never received any signal of it here. I wasn't even aware that station existed until a few years ago.

Windham County, VT is the fringe of the Boston/Worcester TV market. Comcast in Brattleboro carries the 4 major stations, along with channel 19 Adams, MA (ABC) and channel 3 Burlington, VT (CBS). I'm not sure about WNNE-TV (NBC) channel 31 of White River Junction, VT. With that said...the "cable" in the hotels I've stayed at in Brattleboro can be tricky. The Super 8 carried only the so-called Big 4. Not sure if they carried channel 38 or not. The Quality Inn further north (near the Dummerston, VT town line, but still Windham County) carried channel 31 from WRJ. I don't know if they carried NBC Boston or not. Super 8 still carried WHDH-TV (IND) channel 7 on their "cable". At least from the last time I stayed there.

 

[tripinva]

18 (UNI) still transmit from there.

Not anymore. It's now sharing on the WUTH-CD signal.

Mount Greylock is a natural to be a site since it's the highest point in Massachusetts. However, with it being in Berkshire County, it's placed at the edge of the Albany/Schenectady TV market. Besides channel 19 of Adams, MA (satellite station of ABC channel 10 from Albany),

Not anymore. It went off the air in November.

it also has channel 51.

This one hasn't been true since 2009.

- Trip

 

[KML0224]

OK. You got me, Trip! As for Connecticut stations, I haven't watched TV over-the-air with an antenna since December 2016.