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Cable systems that don't carry their own market's PBS station

mvcg66b3r

mvcg66b3r

On another thread, I mentioned that the Charter system in Harvard IL (Chicago DMA) doesn't carry WTTW or WYCC, but instead carries WMVS from Milwaukee. This is because it's run from a headend in Wisconsin.

What are some other examples of this TV oddity?
 
Up until the late 90's Bakersfield CA was the largest DMA that did not have it's own PBS affiliate (it technically still doesn't to this day). Cable served the market PBS via KCET in Los Angeles. KCET also put down a translator on the Valley floor to feed PBS OTA into Bakersfield though it was incredibly underpowered and worthless. It's even more worthless now since KCET dropped PBS and went independent non-com. Fresno's KVPT-18 eventually wised up to the fact they could gain more pledge dollars by putting itself in the Bakersfield DMA (a sizable population) and installed a translator near Bakersfield to feed PBS to the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

KVPT is the only Fresno COL station that is represented on Bakersfield cable. All 4 big nets + CW & MyNet are served via the Bakersfield locals outright or via their subchannels. An outdoor antenna could catch the Fresno stations but it would take a bit of work as Fresno and Bakersfield are 110 miles apart. It's not impossible but it would be very touch and go.

As it stands now, KVPT serves the vast majority of the San Joaquin Valley from Merced to the North and Bakersfield to the South.
 
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Charter in Sault Ste. Marie, MI (Traverse City DMA) has never carried CMU Public Television, instead carrying WNMU from Marquette. Ironically, the main NPR station in that area is owned by (drumroll) Central Michigan University!

Charter in Coldwater, MI and Sturgis, MI (both Grand Rapids DMA) doesn’t carry WGVU. Instead, WKAR East Lansing is seen on both systems, with WNIT South Bend also being seen in Sturgis.

Charter in Ironwood, MI and Hurley, WI (both Duluth-Superior DMA) doesn’t carry WDSE. Instead, the system carries WNMU Marquette and WLEF Park Falls.
 
Alliance Cable in Kentwood LA (New Orleans DMA) doesn't carry WYES or WLAE, but does carry LPB from Baton Rouge (which has no New Orleans outlet).
 
Although it's carrying it's in market PBS out of Baltimore, I find it odd that Comcast in Elkton, MD doesn't carry WHYY 12/Wilmington, DE.

Technically Elkton, MD is in Wilmington, DE metropolitan area (MSA) and not Baltimore's. It's the closest PBS. It carries Maryland Public Television (MPT), and there is the Maryland same state override and Nielsen DMA override there, although MPT broadcasts from much farther. It'd make sense to carry both as many MD cable systems (Montgomery County, etc.) carry MPT and the DC PBS (WETA). The Elkton cable system carries the big 4 from Philly (KYW, WPVI, WCAU, WTXF), but no WHYY.

The sneaky part is Comcast puts MPT on Ch.12 where WHYY should go.

For the longest time, Lehigh Valley cable systems only carried WLVT and put WLVT on Ch.12 also. Only more recently, they started WHYY carriage. And NJN still remains unavailable AFAIK even though the Lehigh Valley touches NJ, yet Lehigh Valley cable systems were carrying NYC stations.

I know it's partly about donations/member pledges, but if that's the case, if WLVT wants Lehigh Valley exclusively, it shouldn't have coverage in the Delaware Valley. And if MPT wants Maryland exclusively, then WETA should be deleted in Maryland. Why should Montgomery County, MD residents get a choice of PBS stations to watch/donate to, but Cecil County (a rather poor one) not and only be given MPT?
 
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I stayed in Elkton last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, just off of MD Route 279 and I-95, a mile from the Delaware border. The Dish Network-fed "cable" only carried the big 4 from Baltimore and (I'm guessing) MPT channel 67 from Baltimore. However, the picture was zoomed in slightly, so I could never see any kind of MPT bug.

Comcast in both New Britain and Hartford, CT carry out-of-market WGBY-TV channel 57 of Springfield, MA.

As for other markets...does the Rockford/Freeport, IL DMA even have its own PBS affiliate? :confused:
 
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KML-224 said:
I stayed in Elkton last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, just off of MD Route 279 and I-95, a mile from the Delaware border. The Dish Network-fed "cable" only carried the big 4 from Baltimore and (I'm guessing) MPT channel 67 from Baltimore. However, the picture was zoomed in slightly, so I could never see any kind of MPT bug.

Comcast in both New Britain and Hartford, CT carry out-of-market WGBY-TV channel 57 of Springfield, MA.

As for other markets...does the Rockford/Freeport, IL DMA even have its own PBS affiliate? :confused:
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Rockford's never had its own PBS affiliate...they get both WHA from Madison (flagship of Wisconsin Public TV) and WTTW Chicago, plus each station's set of subchannels on cable. I can't speak to the present-day, as I haven't lived in Rockford since the late '80s, but WHA (and the rest of the Madison stations, especially CBS affiliate WISC) put a pretty good over-the-air signal over the northern fringes of the Rockford area.

When I lived there, I do somewhat remember that Rockford Public Schools cable access channel did carry some PBS programming, but most of the instructional variety.
 
Roseburg, Oregon is in Eugene DMA, they received Oregon Public Broadcasting off the air via translator. However, if you have charter cable, they received PBS station from Medford (KSYS Southern Oregon Public Television). KSYS is in Meford DMA market not Eugene DMA market.
 
State networks. Alabama Public TV and Mississippi PBS don't have cable carriage outside the state lines even when out of state counties are in the DMA. Georgia Public TV was going for coverage of Jacksonville and Tallahassee before the DTV switchover. I think they dropped that idea.
 
seedless said:
State networks. Alabama Public TV and Mississippi PBS don't have cable carriage outside the state lines even when out of state counties are in the DMA. Georgia Public TV was going for coverage of Jacksonville and Tallahassee before the DTV switchover. I think they dropped that idea.
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Because of this, they lose some sizable cities that are right outside the state borders (Memphis and Mobile for Mississippi, Pensacola and Chattanooga for Alabama)
 
pre-DTV, the campus cable system serving Mizzou in Columbia, MO didn't carry KMOS (from Warrensburg run by UCMO) but instead carried KETC from St. Louis, both were available on the Mediacom system serving Columbia until KETC was dropped around the original analog shutoff date, the analog signal of KMOS couldn't be received in Columbia due to interference from campus station KCOU FM
 
Suddenlink - Shamrock TX (Wheeler County - Amarillo DMA)
Carries OETA from Oklahoma when it should carry KACV. Also has religious station KPTF Farwell (a cursed station, BTW) whose transmitter is 180 miles away in Clovis NM!
 
Comcast Lewistown PA (Harrisburg DMA) carries WPSU State College (Johnstown DMA) instead of WITF. Lewistown's other cable provider, Nittany Media, does carry WITF, along with WPSU and WVIA Scranton in SD and HD.
 
Comcast Fort Recovery OH (Dayton DMA) doesn't carry WPTO, WPTD or any Ohio PBS station, but does have WIPB Muncie IN (Indianapolis DMA).
 
Charter Bridgeport AL (Huntsville DMA) doesn't carry Alabama PBS but does have GPB, WTCI Chattanooga and all of Chattanooga's network affiliates in SD. WAAY is the only Huntsville station carried, and it's SD only. In HD, only Chattanooga's Big 4 and WTCI are carried.
 
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