Elko, NV (July 10, 1998)

[Bluenoser]

from Elko Daily Free Press via Newspapers.com

ELKO/SPRING CREEK
2 KSL-NBC Salt Lake City
3 Local Origination
4 KUTV-CBS Salt Lake City
5 KUED-PBS Salt Lake City
6 HBO
7 Foxnet
8 KTVX-ABC Salt Lake City
9 Prevue Guide
10 KENV-NBC Elko
11 KTVN-CBS Reno
12 QVC
13 WTBS
14 Encore
15 Starz!
16 Weather Channel
17 Discovery Channel
18 K15EE-PBS Elko (//KNPB Reno)
19 Odyssey
20 Disney Channel
21 Showtime
22 Cinemax
23 AMC
24 TNN
25 USA Network
26 MTV
27 FX
28 CNN
29 CNN Headline News
30 ESPN
31 Fox Sports West
32 C-SPAN
33 Lifetime
34 Family Channel
35 A&E
36 Univision
37 TNT
38 Nickelodeon
39 Encore Plex
40 HSN
41 TLC
42 Fox News Channel
43 Cartoon Network
44 HGTV
45 Animal Planet
46 Sci-Fi Channel
47 ESPN2
48 CMT
49 C-SPAN2
61 Request TV 1
62 Request TV 2
63 Spice

CARLIN
2 KTVN-CBS Reno
3 K15EE-PBS Elko (//KNPB)
4 KENV-NBC Elko
5 Showtime
6 HBO
7 Foxnet
8 KOLO-ABC Reno
9 HSN
10 Weather Channel
11 Lifetime
12 QVC
13 WTBS
14 Encore
15 Starz!
16 C-SPAN2
17 Discovery Channel
19 Odyssey
21 Cinemax
22 Disney Channel
23 AMC
24 TNN
25 USA Network
26 MTV
27 FX
28 CNN
29 CNN Headline News
30 ESPN
31 Fox Sports West
32 Cartoon Network
33 Cartoon Network
35 TNT
36 Nickelodeon
37 Encore Plex
38 CMT
39 TLC
40 Fox News Channel

LOCAL OTA
10 KENV
15/67 K15EE/KNPB
25 KTVN
50 KSL
52 KOLO

 

[IM42A]

It's a shame about KENV. They really needed that TV station there for local news. The way I heard it, KSL hadn't even been aware there was another NBC affiliate in their market, but once they found out, they pitched a fit and prevailed upon NBC to pull its affiliation. Now they're relaying TBD.

Wonder if KSL ever considered just buying the station, running it as a semi-satellite, and allowing local news and advertising? With the possibility of subchannels in the digital age, perhaps they could have allowed the other major SLC stations to run on those subchannels, thereby providing full-network coverage to northern Nevada and solidifying the SLC market's presence.

 

[Prescott Joe]

I believe it's called "shooting yourself in the foot."

 

[IM42A]

I believe it's called "shooting yourself in the foot."

Who shot themselves, KSL or KENV?

KENV did not voluntarily give up their affiliation, they were forced to. And, correct me if I'm wrong, KSL can force carriage on any cable or dish system in the SLC market (which includes Elko County), assuming they can get a signal to the head-end or to the satellite. I would assume that Elko cable gets the KSL signal (and all other SLC stations) via satellite or microwave, as they are not on that Utah "daisy-chain" network of translators. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that count too.)

But wouldn't microwave be a fairly primitive way, in the year 2022, of feeding the signal compared to satellite? (No disrespect intended to the mammoth work of Kent Parsons, just asking the question.)

 

[newsmark]

I have a tough time believing KSL had no idea there was another NBC affiliate operating within their market.

But I can believe they had a problem with SINCLAIR (owner of competitors KUTV, KJZZ, and KMYU) owning KENV as an NBC affiliate and taking even a small chunk of their revenue in the market.

They probably brought it up to NBC at the first opportunity after Sinclair bought KENV.

(Likewise, I doubt Sinclair would have sold KENV to KSL.)

 

[IM42A]

I have a tough time believing KSL had no idea there was another NBC affiliate operating within their market.

But I can believe they had a problem with SINCLAIR (owner of competitors KUTV, KJZZ, and KMYU) owning KENV as an NBC affiliate and taking even a small chunk of their revenue in the market.

They probably brought it up to NBC at the first opportunity after Sinclair bought KENV.

(Likewise, I doubt Sinclair would have sold KENV to KSL.)

The Sinclair (or rather, Cunningham) sale was approved in September 2017, and KENV lost NBC in December 2017. You might have something there. So it might be a case of "knew and didn't care" before Sinclair, but "knew and now cared" once Sinclair came on the scene.

Just a side thought, could they have made it a semi-satellite of Sinclair's KUTV and changed the network affiliation to CBS? I don't think Elko County residents would have really cared whether it were NBC or CBS, as long as they could keep a local network affiliate with local news.

I've always been a strong advocate of local TV and local news, and I hate to see it, when a small town loses either one. Elko became just another TV news desert (no pun intended).

 

[ftballfan]

I can easily tell that these were TCI systems (Encore on 14 was a hallmark of 90s TCI systems from what I've noticed).

Also, I'm surprised KENV wasn't made a semi-satellite of KUTV. KUTV also has a satellite in St. George (which would've been its own market if it had its current population levels back in the 50s or 60s). IMHO, there should be enough interest for at least 6pm and 10pm newscasts based in both Elko (which would also serve Ely and use news resources from KRNV for state news) and St. George (which has nearly 100,000 people just within the city limits and over 200,000 if you include Washington County as well as Cedar City; fun fact: St. George and Cedar City each have an NCAA Division I school)

 

[IM42A]

I can easily tell that these were TCI systems (Encore on 14 was a hallmark of 90s TCI systems from what I've noticed).

Also, I'm surprised KENV wasn't made a semi-satellite of KUTV. KUTV also has a satellite in St. George (which would've been its own market if it had its current population levels back in the 50s or 60s). IMHO, there should be enough interest for at least 6pm and 10pm newscasts based in both Elko (which would also serve Ely and use news resources from KRNV for state news) and St. George (which has nearly 100,000 people just within the city limits and over 200,000 if you include Washington County as well as Cedar City; fun fact: St. George and Cedar City each have an NCAA Division I school)

Okay, I didn't think of KMYU in St George. There's no reason they couldn't have the same setup in Elko.

With them all being Sinclair (or Cunningham), I have to wonder if it could still happen yet. I can't think that this hasn't occurred to anyone at KENV or KUTV. Agreed, the St George area is growing rapidly, and under other circumstances between having KMYU in St George and KCSG in Cedar City, you could have an infill market wedged between SLC, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, with full major networks making use of both stations' subchannels. But no market willingly gives up counties, and I have to think there aren't going to be any new TV markets anywhere, unless population trends would change dramatically. A lot of areas that, by all rights, should have their own TV markets, simply don't, due to longstanding viewing habits and inertia. Examples could include Akron-Canton OH (but OTOH really too close to Cleveland and Youngstown, yet proximity to Cincinnati didn't keep Dayton from being its own market), Manchester NH, and San Bernardino-Riverside CA.

Manchester as its own market is no more outlandish than someplace like Alpena MI or St Joseph MO, and I have never understood why Harrisonburg and Charlottesville in VA are two separate markets. (Actually, for a short time, 1980s IIRC, they were a single market, but then they split out again. Go figure.) That is as strange as if Charleston and Huntington WV were distinct markets, which actually would kind of make sense, if you merged Charleston with Beckley and trimmed various affiliations, and if WSAZ and WQCW could comprise the core of a "Huntington-Portsmouth-Ashland" market with a possible semi-satellite of WLEX or WTVQ in Lexington as a de novo station in Ashland.

 

[boiseengineer]

KBCI & KTVB Boise had translators in Carlin NV into the 90's.

 

[Mr Tony]

Who shot themselves, KSL or KENV?

KENV did not voluntarily give up their affiliation, they were forced to. And, correct me if I'm wrong, KSL can force carriage on any cable or dish system in the SLC market (which includes Elko County), assuming they can get a signal to the head-end or to the satellite. I would assume that Elko cable gets the KSL signal (and all other SLC stations) via satellite or microwave, as they are not on that Utah "daisy-chain" network of translators. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that count too.)

But wouldn't microwave be a fairly primitive way, in the year 2022, of feeding the signal compared to satellite? (No disrespect intended to the mammoth work of Kent Parsons, just asking the question.)

I'm sure they could use fibre if they wanted to. But the Elko translator district mainly uses Reno stations. SLC stations are NBC, CW, ABC and Independent KJZZ
https://elko.tv/channel-list/

 

[IM42A]

I'm sure they could use fibre if they wanted to. But the Elko translator district mainly uses Reno stations. SLC stations are NBC, CW, ABC and Independent KJZZ
https://elko.TV/channel-list/

I didn't think of fiber. I am asleep at the wheel, where more recent technologies are concerned, entirely more than I should be.

https://elko.TV/channel-list/

I checked out the Elko TV District channel lists, and the vibe I'm getting here, is that Elko would be a better fit for the Reno market, than for the SLC market, in fact, with its being in the middle of nowhere, none of the three markets anywhere near Elko (Reno, SLC, and Boise) can really be described as "close". It's roughly 200 miles from both SLC and Boise, and 230 miles from Reno. Elko County has about 48K residents, and for SLC to lose Elko County to Reno, would make a modest dent, but still a dent, in their market size --- they'd fall two places:



The simplest thing would be for KENV to become a semi-satellite of KUTV, with local newscasts inserted where some of KUTVs newscasts would be, possibly using the resources of Sinclair's KRNV in Reno for Nevada in-state news, something that would not really be feasible for a Utah station. The trick then would be to get satellite carriage for KENV in the SLC market, which would not be as difficult, as duplicate CBS affiliates KUTV and KENV would in two different states, as if they were both in the same state (looking at you, WKYT and WYMT in Lexington and Hazard KY respectively). It would be similar to the Boston market where ABC affiliates WCVB and WMUR are both carried on Dish and DirecTV (this per TVTV.com).

 

[KML0224]

Here in New England:

Springfield, MA is closer to Hartford, CT than New Haven, CT is. In fact, Hartford was Springfield's de facto CBS and FOX affiliate for many years. My guess as for their own identity?

1- The state line between Enfield, CT and Longmeadow, MA.
2- Boston being roughly 90 miles east.

 

[crainbebo]

Encore was also carried in Yakima on channel 14, a long-time TCI system (now Spectrum).

 

[IM42A]

Here in New England:

Springfield, MA is closer to Hartford, CT than New Haven, CT is. In fact, Hartford was Springfield's de facto CBS and FOX affiliate for many years. My guess as for their own identity?

1- The state line between Enfield, CT and Longmeadow, MA.
2- Boston being roughly 90 miles east.

Springfield and Hartford are 26 miles apart by road. If it weren't for the existence of New Haven, there would be little if any reason (other than being in different states) for them to be two separate TV markets. If they were one market and included New Haven, it would be a "long" market from north to south, and there could be reception issues toward the far end in either direction, but such markets exist throughout the US --- Myrtle Beach and Florence SC (and they do have reception issues, despite the flat terrain), Beckley and Bluefield WV (that terrain is one big "reception issue" in and of itself!), and on the East Coast, the granddaddy of them all, Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson (which really should be two separate markets, NC and SC, numerous translators are the only way they make that market halfway work). A GSAA-sized market in that area would swallow up more than half of New England, think WMTW's old coverage area when they were on Mount Washington.