VintageMac
Banned
What kind of antenna are you using? WCDN being on RF7 needs VHF capability even though you're close to the towers by being in Parma.
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Channel 20 WQDI-LD TV
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VintageMac
Banned
This issue has been going on for some time. The signal is usable but the pictures look like a broken satellite feed but it's happened before on those HC2 stations.
It’s funny because I was talking with @Sammi Brie elsewhere yesterday about HC2’s station group and if their stations deserve their own Wikipedia articles (instead of being listed on HC2’s page). As she put it to me, stations like WQDI/KONV “…have all the notability of the coat rack at your local barber shop.” And she’s right.
As for the prospect of substantial local programming on WOCV’s main channel, I highly doubt that will ever happen. Weigel bought it to relay their diginets on a full-time basis and that’s the case throughout their entire chain (yes, their flagship is Chicago’s CW affiliate and they own Milwaukee’s CBS affiliate and South Bend’s ABC affiliate, but that’s it). I doubt WOCV even has a main studio, the FCC requirement for it no longer exists.
As for the prospect of substantial local programming on WOCV’s main channel, I highly doubt that will ever happen. Weigel bought it to relay their diginets on a full-time basis and that’s the case throughout their entire chain (yes, their flagship is Chicago’s CW affiliate and they own Milwaukee’s CBS affiliate and South Bend’s ABC affiliate, but that’s it). I doubt WOCV even has a main studio, the FCC requirement for it no longer exists.
At least Channel 35 (WOCV) is broadcasting something besides shoppers networks for carriage fees. Decades (on 35.1) is a very enjoyable network and 35.2 Story Channel has some nice programming.
I contacted Retro a few months ago and asked them if they would be returning to Cleveland. I never received a reply.
WQDI-LD still on the air but with severe satellite breakup on all of their channels. Going on for at least two weeks. Hello? Anybody home?
Its likely that there’s no one. A station like WQDI needs no local staff outside of a contract engineer, even if they bother to go that far.
This is the same company that has a templated legal ID slide made in PowerPoint for all their stations inserted crudely and without care, like they’re literally programmed via a lamptimer:
Oh Oh. You're getting close by actually hanging around long enough to see exactly what they were selling, plus the indication that you watch more than one of these networks.
WQDI could air a photo of Will Smith during his Fresh Prince years as part of an ID slide, and some would not blink an eye.
Apparently it's too hard for them to put some sort of overlay on the screen without interrupting programming, and on some of their stations here in Cleveland, it's not even timed correctly to appear at the top of the hour. WUEK-LD goes off at 53 minutes past the hour, and KONV-LD at 11 or so minutes. When one or more of their stations are down, they go into maintenance mode (as I call it) and constantly display the ID card.
You're examples are from before DTV America merged with HC2 Broadcasting. I see the "globe" ID on all their stations now, and even though it's a static image, the video compression still has problems trying to maintain itself. Back in 2017, WEKA-LD was very problematic reception wise, even at their licensed 5 kW of power. A joke came about that their call letters should be rearranged to WEAK-LD. I ended up photo-shopping their ID as a result...
I wonder what would happen if those shoppers' networks which pay the station to carry them demanded a rebate for the last two weeks?
Probably get a visit from a guy with nose bent to one side, broken up knuckles and named "Bugsy" asking "Youse guys sure yous wants a refund? It's gonna cost ya."
To be honest, I doubt anyone at those networks even have any idea that their programming is “airing” on WQDI.
The shoppers networks pay for the airtime, so there must be some kind of record of payment. Possibly it is a lump payment to the license holder for shoppers network carriage on all of their stations everywhere, as several of these low power stations across the country tend to be owned by the same company (or divisions of the same company) as cheap revenue sources without any concern about viewership, technical quality or even if the damn station is off the air for days or even weeks.
I'm pretty sure most LPTV carriage of shopping networks doesn't involve cash changing hands for actual carriage. The networks track purchases by zip codes and specific 800 numbers and pay the LPTV carriers a cut of their sales revenue depending on where they get orders from. It's basically full-time PI advertising.
And so if LPTV owners don't keep their signals operating, there are no orders coming in and thus no revenue from which to take a cut.
And so if LPTV owners don't keep their signals operating, there are no orders coming in and thus no revenue from which to take a cut.
Interesting. I do see some of the same shoppers networks carried at the same time by different LPTVs in the same city, but most likely these are LPTVs which are owned by the same outfit, therefore increasing the chances of getting a cut due to more potential viewers.
What's the cut of 0% of viewers?
Does it matter when direct responses can come from other places around the country and they make money anyway?
Networks like "Magnificent Movies Network" (whose film library is magnificently bad), "Timeless TV" or "Classic Reruns TV" run moldy oldies and public domain titles with zero overhead. Throw in a good helping of infomercials and they have nothing to lose. Shop LC and ShopHQ turn good profits with modest budgets, airing them on a little-watched low-power channel with no history and no visibility is a bonus.
As an aside, the Wikipedia articles of WQDI and WEKA are among a set of 142 that I helped nominate for deletion in favor of redirects to this list of Innovate Corp. stations.
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