Boston channels on cable in Maine?

[wpxt]

I was wondering if anyone on here knew why cable companies in York County Maine carry local channels from Boston? Time Warner Cable York County carries WCVB on Ch. 5 and WHDH on Ch. 20, Time Warner Cable Arundel carries WHDH on Ch. 7 and Metrocast Cablevision carries WGBH on Ch. 2, WBZ on Ch. 4, WCVB on Ch. 5, WHDH on Ch. 7.

My other question is how do cable companies get a signal of these stations if they are so far away?

 

[KML0224]

I know there was a time in September of 1989 when then-Continental Cablevision of Old Orchard Beach and Saco carried WBZ (4), WCVB (5), then-WNEV (7), WSBK (38) and WLVI (56). Here in New Britain, CT, the only Boston/Cambridge station we ever had was WSBK. Presently, the only out-of-market station we get is WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 of Springfield, MA.

 

[Gregg]

I think most cable companies try to give customers the channels they can get over the air, even if they're from a different state and duplicate the local channels. Sometimes it's required due to must-carry rules. Sometimes it's just grandfathered. When cable systems take away over-the-air channels, even if they say they're doing it to free up space for cable networks, they likely get complaints.

I'm sure folks in York County are used to seeing some Boston channels. Even if you likely get Maine Public TV and New Hampshire Public TV, I think everyone within 100 miles of Boston should also get WGBH-TV, since often PBS stations run different programs. The old New Hampshire edition of TV Guide carried listings for 2, 4, 5, 7, 25, 38 and 56 from Boston. The Maine edition did not carry Boston stations but that was only distributed from Portland to the north. Southern Maine stores stocked the New Hampshire TV Guide, which included Portland-area channels.

My family has a lakeside cottage on the Maine-New Hampshire border, quite a bit farther from Boston than York County, and at night we often get Boston TV stations. It was true in the analog days and it's true now with digital TV. The cottage is just above the lake level surrounded by hills. I'd guess if we were higher up, we might get Boston stations around the clock. (Best signals are from WHDH and WBZ, then comes WFXT and WGBH, then WCVB. The others only come in spotty.)


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[fybush]

York County has a lot of economic ties with the nearby NH seacoast, which is in the Boston market, and a fair number of people commuting into Massachusetts to work or shop. The Boston stations have been on cable there pretty much forever, and remain "significantly viewed," allowing them to continue to be carried. I doubt they're still being received over-the-air, though it wouldn't have been that hard a feat with a good headend site back in the analog days - it's probably a fiber feed from a headend closer to Boston these days.

 

[wpxt]

Can someone explain to me how cable companies get channels to viewers anyways?

 

[fybush]

Sure: every cable company has a "headend," which is essentially a master-control facility where incoming signals are received, processed and distributed to customers.

The national and regional networks generally arrive by satellite, while local channels can arrive in a number of ways. In the past, they were picked up directly over the air or brought in by private microwave networks; today, there are often fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems.

Cable companies insert local advertising at the headend, usually played off digital video servers. The headend is also where the local content is inserted for services like TV Guide Channel and The Weather Channel. It's also where local cable channels are inserted, if there are local channels on the system. And it's where the servers live for on-demand channels and other interactive services ("Start Over," for instance.)

Back in the day, there used to be lots of individual local headends, but with the availability of cheap fiber those headends have largely been consolidated into larger regional headends. (If I still lived in Waltham, for instance, I think my Comcast headend would be way out in Stow, rather than the local TCI headend that was the bane of my existence in the 90s.)

 

[wpxt]

The national and regional networks generally arrive by satellite, while local channels can arrive in a number of ways. In the past, they were picked up directly over the air or brought in by private microwave networks; today, there are often fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems.

What does fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems mean in non science terms?

 

[Skynet74]

What does fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems mean in non science terms?

Wires ;D

 

[necrat123]

The national and regional networks generally arrive by satellite, while local channels can arrive in a number of ways. In the past, they were picked up directly over the air or brought in by private microwave networks; today, there are often fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems.

What does fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems mean in non science terms?

It means the cable system doesn't pick up the station over the air, it receives it directly via a closed circuit feed (A direct feed).

 

[fybush]

The national and regional networks generally arrive by satellite, while local channels can arrive in a number of ways. In the past, they were picked up directly over the air or brought in by private microwave networks; today, there are often fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems.

What does fiber connections directly from the station to major cable systems mean in non science terms?

It means the cable system doesn't pick up the station over the air, it receives it directly via a closed circuit feed (A direct feed).

And specifically, in this case, it means the signal is digitized at the station's end, then converted into pulses of light that are sent over a fiber-optic cable directly to the cable company, where they're converted back into video that can be sent down the cable to your home.

In some cases, this allows a station to "be on the air" even when its transmitter isn't operating. WSBE in Providence, for instance, has for many years turned off its transmitter at 11:30 nightly, but it continues to send the PBS national overnight feed down the fiber to cable companies in the region.

And after 9/11, those fiber connections allowed New York's TV stations to remain available on cable even after their transmitters atop the World Trade Center were destroyed.

 

[AtkinsonWeather]

Time Warner carried WBZ on Channel 4 in York county up until last summer. They now have NECN on Channel 4 (they were formerly on Channel 42).

 

[chitchatjf]

In the late 70s and early 80s three stations well liked in the Lawrence MA area were Channels 10 and 12 from Providence and WCSH Ch 6 from Portland ME (for a good few years they had home Patriots games that WBZ and WJAR had to black out)

WPRI eventually got replaced by USA Network. WJAR got replaced by WNDS and WCSH ended up being replaced by WQTV right after Star TV went under.

 

[Skynet74]

Time Warner carried WBZ on Channel 4 in York county up until last summer. They now have NECN on Channel 4 (they were formerly on Channel 42).

I used to camp in York Beach ever summer. Always brought a black and white set with me too. I was a kid. God forbid I go without a TV.. LOL. Loved watching Channel 13 up there. They had all the cool game shows that I loved. Mostly Crosswits and The Price Is Right. I don't think we got any Boston stations though. A little to far away without a good antenna. But I can understand how residents would want to keep Boston channels. Here in Rhode Island the cable company got rid of most of the Boston Channels except for the PBS stations. For some reason they won't get rid of WGBH or WGBX even though Rhode Island has it's own PBS station. Seems like PBS overkill to me. But I guess they have their reasons.

 

[bg02445]

Well different PBS stations carry different programming, unlike other network affiliates. And WGBH is PBS's flagship, so it's worth carrying. I don't really think it's overkill.
One thing I wish we would get is WSBK though. I like their programming, but I guess I can get it with my antenna.

 

[wpxt]

I remember before Portland got a UPN affiliate WPME, Metrocast (or then New England Cablevision) used to carry WSBK for a UPN affiliate. When WPME launched WSBK was dropped. I also remember looking at late 80s TV Guides and seeing that cable companies in Southern Maine carried WSBK and WLVI.

 

[DToTheJ]

For some reason they won't get rid of WGBH or WGBX even though Rhode Island has it's own PBS station. Seems like PBS overkill to me...

Could the fact that WSBE still signs off at 11:30 PM have something to do with that?

 

[Skynet74]

For some reason they won't get rid of WGBH or WGBX even though Rhode Island has it's own PBS station. Seems like PBS overkill to me...

Could the fact that WSBE still signs off at 11:30 PM have something to do with that?

No idea. That would be a question for Cox Cable.

 

[jlehmann]

Could the fact that WSBE still signs off at 11:30 PM have something to do with that?

No idea. That would be a question for Cox Cable.

I believe Cox gets a direct feed of WSBE, so it doesn't sign off at 11:30. Here in Plymouth county, Comcast gets a direct feed for the SD version, which stays on all night long, but the HD comes over the air, so that goes off at 11:30.