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Backwater of New England?

D

dustintv

After the whole W61CE Rutland fiasco as told in on this board it adds to the fact that Vermont remains the backwater of New England and the Northeast. But what about other markets, like the Bangor and Presque Isle/Caribou markets, or WLNE?
 
I think the Presque Isle, ME market (which is Aroostook County) would be more remote. At least Burlington, VT has over 30,000 people in it.
 
Yes, Presque Isle/Caribou is definitely "BackWater".
Only one local commercial network affiliate WAGM TV Channel 8, and PBS WMEM Channel 10, which is just a satellite of Maine Public Broadcasting Network. However, there is Canadian TV; CBC on Channel 6 from Bon Accord NB, just across the border from Caribou, and on Channel 4 from Mount Champlain, between Saint John and Fredericton. They really put a good signal into eastern Maine, and can easily be received from Machias on east. They are even on Cable in Jonesport.

CTV is on several repeaters in NW New Brunswick, and on Channel 9, also from Mount Champlain with an equally good signal into DownEast Maine. I believe Global also has a couple repeaters in Perth-Andover and Woodstock NB which would reach into parts of Aroostook County, along the ME/NB Border. And don't forget CBC French TV. There are a lot of French-speaking folks in Northern Aroostoook County.
 
How much of a TV influence do you get from western Nova Scotia into Maine, if at all?
 
Not much. No NS or NB channels are carried on TimeWarner Cable here in the Bangor/Ellsworth/Mount Desert Island area.. Instead we receive CBC from CBMT Montreal. And there is no CTV or Global on cable here. However CBC and CTV from Saint John and Fredericton are available on cable in Jonesport, Machias, Whiting, Calais, Lubec and Eastport, as well as off-the-air.

With a REALLY GOOD antenna one could probably get the CBC/CTV repeaters from Yarmouth NS, but that's just over 100 miles across the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy from me here at Southwest Harbor, on southern tip of Mount Desert Island. When the tropo skip kicks in good I can get most NS UHF or VHF stations from Halifax and Yarmouth with just the whip antenna or bow-tie on a 20-year old Black and white 9" set which I use for DX. I don't have an outside antenna.

BTW The High power CKLT/CBAT transmitters from Mount Champlain NB can easily be revceived atop 1500-foot-high Cadillac Mountain, above Bar Harbor if one has a battery TV to bring up in a car or RV.
 
FWIW, I know that the major network stations from Boston are carried on cable in much of NS. Too bad the reverse isn't true.
 
Yes, that is true. Same in New Brunswick. The only Maine channel carried in most of New Brunswick on cable these days is Maine Public Broadcasting's PBS WMED from Calais. I believe they are picked up off-air in St.Stephen, just over the border from Calais, and microwaved thru much of the province to other Cable operators.

WLBZ and WABI Bangor are still carried on a few cable systems (Saint Stephen, Saint Andrews, Campobello Island and Grand Manan Island) that are close enough to pick up the WLBZ and WABI UHF translators near Calais off-air. Up until three or four years ago WLBZ was the only NBC in much of New Brunswick. Now it is WHDH Boston.

Back in 70s and 80s, before satellite delivery, all four Bangor network affiliates (including PBS) were sent to NB and NS cable operators. They have since been replaced by Boston affiliates. In fact, back in 70s before Cable really took off, The Bangor Cable system carried both CBC and CTV from St. John NB and they were listed in the Maine TV Guide.
 
The Bangor Daily News still carries CBC/CTV in their listings today. I think WMEM Presque Isle may be the MPBN signal distributed across NB...the signal is apparently picked up in Edmundston in NW New Brunswick (that's also why CIMT and CFTF from Riviere-du-Loup are the primary TVA and TQS sigs on Rogers) and relayed across the province...down around Charlotte Co, they might pick up WMEM. Last I heard, Rogers in Charlotte County was carrying CBS and NBC from Boston, despite the fact the Bangor stations had tx over the border. The local paper, the St. Croix Courier, runs listings for both Boston and Bangor stations...
 
DustinTV, let's not forget, it's "World Famous W61CE" these days !! ;D
 
I may be in Brattleboro on Wednesday. Are they too far to receive the world-famous station? ;)
 
Kevin Lagasse said:
I may be in Brattleboro on Wednesday. Are they too far to receive the world-famous station? ;)
Click to expand...

'Fraid so. You'll be about 75 miles away. Only the station's fame reaches worldwide. :)
 
OK, I was indeed in Brattleboro, VT...on Tuesday the 13th. I think the Monadnock Hills of the Connecticut River Valley kills most of your reception in that area. My AM/FM/TV/Weather band CD Sony Walkman didn't even get a trace of WMUR-TV (ABC) channel 9 from Manchester, NH (the only VHF channel I think I'd have a chance with there).
 
No surprise. Brattleboro is on the very fringe of WMUR's grade B signal. The only NH station you should have been able to receive would have been WEKH channel 52 in nearby Keene, which is a full-service station broadcasting at low power (95 kW vs. 150 kW max for LPTV). WVTA 41 Windsor VT should also be viewable in the area. Like WMUR, WGGB 40 Springfield was probably out of range too. Brattleboro is on the fringe of their grade B coverage, but I don't think a Walkman would be too good for picking up anything weaker than a local signal.
 
You may (stress "may") have picked up WFSB channel 3, Hartford with your Walkman IF you went up on a hill like the one where the School for International Training is located on as it looks right down the Conn. River valley.

Channel 3 was on the Brattleboro cable way back when, and lots of folks down Vernon/Guilford way should still be able to pick it up with their OTA antenna.
 
It sure as hell ain't Vermont

dustintv said:
After the whole W61CE Rutland fiasco as told in on this board it adds to the fact that Vermont remains the backwater of New England and the Northeast.
Click to expand...

That little-bitty channel was run 24/7 from out of state.

Why is WCAX-3 so widely regarded? Locally owned from Day 1, strong on news, strong with CBS, strong in the community.

Why is VPT well respected? Four big signals to blanket the state. First in Vermont with HD.

WCAX-3 and VPT are on cable all over Vermont. They worked with DirecTV to be included with locals in Windham County (Brattleboro) and Bennington County. You don't see anything like that in a backwater.
 
Dumb question, but was Windham County, VT (including Brattleboro) ever a portion of the Burlington/Plattsburgh DMA?
 
dhett said:
No surprise. Brattleboro is on the very fringe of WMUR's grade B signal. The only NH station you should have been able to receive would have been WEKH channel 52 in nearby Keene, which is a full-service station broadcasting at low power (95 kW vs. 150 kW max for LPTV). WVTA 41 Windsor VT should also be viewable in the area. Like WMUR, WGGB 40 Springfield was probably out of range too. Brattleboro is on the fringe of their grade B coverage, but I don't think a Walkman would be too good for picking up anything weaker than a local signal.
Click to expand...

One you did forget to mention was WCDC-TV from Mt Greylock in MA. The height of the tower above just about everything (and it's relatively southern more location) in Southern VT helps to creep in there.
 
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