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Boston/Worcester DMA and Windham County, VT

K

KML0224

Guest
I was in Brattleboro, VT earlier today and it got me thinking about something: Has Windham County, Vermont always been a portion of the Boston/Worcester DMA? If not, were they ever a portion of any of the following markets?

Springfield/Chicopee/Holyoke, MA
Albany/Schenectady, NY
Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY

I asked a local store owner about the Super Bowl and ABC for this Sunday. He said that the cable system locally carries WCVB-TV channel 5 of Boston.

Now, regardless of whatever market the county is involved with, is it presently where it is due to viewer habits or the terrain of the Monadnock Region, a.k.a. the Upper Connecticut River Valley? I know for certain that the next county to the north (Windsor?) is in the Burlington/Plattsburgh DMA.<P ID="signature">______________
#13 Dan Marino...2005 Football Hall Of Fame Inductee :)</P>
 
Once you get out of the immediate Conneticut River Valley, isn't most of Windham County, Vermont quite elevated, with many parts of that county able to receive over-the-air TV signals from Boston with an outdoor antenna??
 
> Once you get out of the immediate Connecticut River Valley,
> isn't most of Windham County, Vermont quite elevated, with
> many parts of that county able to receive over-the-air TV
> signals from Boston with an outdoor antenna??
>

I suppose you could, however, it's still quite a distance to Boston from Brattleboro (87 straight line miles, from point "A" to "B").

As for radio, my Sony Walkman received faint daytime signals of WBZ-AM 1030 (Boston), WTIC-AM 1080 (Hartford) and WGY-AM 810 (Schenectady, NY). I didn't get a thing on my Walkman's VHF TV tuner (even channels 9 or 11). The Weather Band got a weak NOAA Weather Radio signal from Ames Hill near Brattleboro. I believe it was WXM-68 162.425 MHz.<P ID="signature">______________
#13 Dan Marino...2005 Football Hall Of Fame Inductee :)</P>
 
> As for radio, my Sony Walkman received faint daytime signals
> of WBZ-AM 1030 (Boston), WTIC-AM 1080 (Hartford) and WGY-AM
> 810 (Schenectady, NY). I didn't get a thing on my Walkman's
> VHF TV tuner (even channels 9 or 11). The Weather Band got a
> weak NOAA Weather Radio signal from Ames Hill near
> Brattleboro. I believe it was WXM-68 162.425 MHz.

But that doesn't mean jack for it. You are comparing very strong AM signals to TV signals. Windham County gets a mix-mosh of various signals, the strongest on record are:
WCDC 19 Mt Greylock, MA ABC
WNNE 31 Hartford, VT NBC
WVTA 41 Windham, VT PBS
WEKW 52 Keene, NH PBS

I've heard several reports of people receiving Albany VHF's the clearest in most of the area (especially WRGB).
 
> But that doesn't mean jack for it. You are comparing very
> strong AM signals to TV signals. Windham County gets a
> mix-mosh of various signals, the strongest on record are:
> WCDC 19 Mt Greylock, MA ABC
> WNNE 31 Hartford, VT NBC
> WVTA 41 Windham, VT PBS
> WEKW 52 Keene, NH PBS
>
> I've heard several reports of people receiving Albany VHF's
> the clearest in most of the area (especially WRGB).
>
When I was living in a higher elevation location than the one I'm in now (in Windham County) I regularly received Providence VHFs, with WLNE being the strongest of the three. Channels 2, 4 and 5 also came in fairly well, as did WFSB from Hartford. On UHF, the strongest signals were WCDC and WEKW, as well as the Springfield channels 22, 40 and 57. Where I live now, not far from downtown, the only OTA reception I have is on UHF, with the strongest (read: only) signals being the first three of the four mentioned in the previous post. Reception of channel 52 can be problematic depending on where you are in relation to Mt. Wantastiquet (the hill that looms over Brattleboro on the east bank of the Connecticut River).

In response to a previous post in this thread, the Brattleboro cable system currently carries two other ABCs in addition to WCVB: WMUR and WCDC.

Peace,
User 11648
 
> In response to a previous post in this thread, the
> Brattleboro cable system currently carries two other ABCs in
> addition to WCVB: WMUR and WCDC.
>
> Peace,
> User 11648
>

OK, since Brattleboro qualifies as the Boston/Worcester DMA, let me ask you this: Does the ABC programming ever get blacked out on WCDC-TV channel 19 from Adams, MA? I'm guessing that ABC network programming goes through on WMUR-TV channel 9 from Manchester, NH, since it's also in the Boston/Worcester DMA.

Anyways, consider yourself lucky that you get duplicates of network affiliates on your lineup. Comcast of New Britain, CT (where I live) only carries WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 of Springfield, MA for an out-of-market station. The rest are all from within Hartford/New Haven.
<P ID="signature">______________
#13 Dan Marino...2005 Football Hall Of Fame Inductee :)</P>
 
> OK, since Brattleboro qualifies as the Boston/Worcester DMA,
> let me ask you this: Does the ABC programming ever get
> blacked out on WCDC-TV channel 19 from Adams, MA? I'm
> guessing that ABC network programming goes through on
> WMUR-TV channel 9 from Manchester, NH, since it's also in
> the Boston/Worcester DMA.

I've never noticed ABC programming blacked out on WCDC. I do recall, however, a time when WCVB ran a Patriots game which was broadcast nationally on ESPN, and ESPN was blacked out.

> Anyways, consider yourself lucky that you get duplicates of
> network affiliates on your lineup. Comcast of New Britain,
> CT (where I live) only carries WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 of
> Springfield, MA for an out-of-market station. The rest are
> all from within Hartford/New Haven.

That's one of the "advantages" of living in an area with no "local" stations.

Other network affils in Brattleboro:
CBS: Boston/Burlington
NBC: Boston/Burlington (well, okay, Hartford, VT)
PBS: Keene/Springfield/Windsor, VT
Fox: Boston
UPN: Boston
Other broadcast stations offered include WZMY in Derry, the Daystar affiliate in Worcester County and WVBK-CA Manchester, VT. No WB here.

Peace,
User 11648
 
> Other broadcast stations offered include WZMY in Derry, the
> Daystar affiliate in Worcester County

WYDN 48
 
> I've never noticed ABC programming blacked out on WCDC. I
> do recall, however, a time when WCVB ran a Patriots game
> which was broadcast nationally on ESPN, and ESPN was blacked
> out.
>

That's due to NFL league rules. When the Sunday Night game (Monday Night game from 2006 on) involves the Patriots, the game must be shown locally on a commercial TV station in the two markets involved. In the case of the Patriots, it ends up on WCVB-TV (ABC) channel 5 of Boston and WMUR-TV (ABC) channel 9 of Manchester, NH (WMUR is likely since Manchester is also part of the Boston/Worcester DMA). I figured as much that ESPN would get blacked out since the local rights go to WCVB/WMUR in terms of advertising revenue. WCDC-TV (ABC) channel 19 of Adams, MA would still show their regularly scheduled ABC programming since they're in the Albany/Schenectady DMA, and not a NFL home market.

Changing the subject, what type of station is WVBK-CA? I know it's low-power and all. Is it considered a commercial station of some sort?
<P ID="signature">______________
#13 Dan Marino...2005 Football Hall Of Fame Inductee :)</P>
 
It's quite interesting that you received chs. 6, 10, and 12 from Windham County. I know that those stations do have a powerful signal in Eastern New England, and the fact that you received WLNE ch. 6 that far from its Analog transmitter in Tiverton, RI is amazing, because WRGB ch. 6 in Schnectady is not too far away.

> > But that doesn't mean jack for it. You are comparing very
> > strong AM signals to TV signals. Windham County gets a
> > mix-mosh of various signals, the strongest on record are:
> > WCDC 19 Mt Greylock, MA ABC
> > WNNE 31 Hartford, VT NBC
> > WVTA 41 Windham, VT PBS
> > WEKW 52 Keene, NH PBS
> >
> > I've heard several reports of people receiving Albany
> VHF's
> > the clearest in most of the area (especially WRGB).
> >
> When I was living in a higher elevation location than the
> one I'm in now (in Windham County) I regularly received
> Providence VHFs, with WLNE being the strongest of the three.
> Channels 2, 4 and 5 also came in fairly well, as did WFSB
> from Hartford. On UHF, the strongest signals were WCDC and
> WEKW, as well as the Springfield channels 22, 40 and 57.
> Where I live now, not far from downtown, the only OTA
> reception I have is on UHF, with the strongest (read: only)
> signals being the first three of the four mentioned in the
> previous post. Reception of channel 52 can be problematic
> depending on where you are in relation to Mt. Wantastiquet
> (the hill that looms over Brattleboro on the east bank of
> the Connecticut River).
>
> In response to a previous post in this thread, the
> Brattleboro cable system currently carries two other ABCs in
> addition to WCVB: WMUR and WCDC.
>
> Peace,
> User 11648


>
 
> > I've never noticed ABC programming blacked out on WCDC. I
>
> > do recall, however, a time when WCVB ran a Patriots game
> > which was broadcast nationally on ESPN, and ESPN was
> blacked
> > out.
> >
>
> That's due to NFL league rules. When the Sunday Night game
> (Monday Night game from 2006 on) involves the Patriots, the
> game must be shown locally on a commercial TV station in the
> two markets involved. In the case of the Patriots, it ends
> up on WCVB-TV (ABC) channel 5 of Boston and WMUR-TV (ABC)
> channel 9 of Manchester, NH (WMUR is likely since Manchester
> is also part of the Boston/Worcester DMA). I figured as much
> that ESPN would get blacked out since the local rights go to
> WCVB/WMUR in terms of advertising revenue. WCDC-TV (ABC)
> channel 19 of Adams, MA would still show their regularly
> scheduled ABC programming since they're in the
> Albany/Schenectady DMA, and not a NFL home market.

THat all sounds great, but having lived in both Comcast and Adelphia service areas in southern NH, I can tell you that I never seen EITHER black out a Pats game on ESPN. When the Pats play on Sunday night, they can be seen around here (on cable) on WCVB, WMUR and ESPN.

Interestingly enough, when Imes owned WMUR, there were no Patriots Sunday night games shown there. But, when H-A bought the station, they used the fact that Manchester is in the Boston DMA and their rights to the games to show them on WMUR-9. And, as a bonus, H-A gets to sell lots of local ad time during the games on WMUR, in addition to WCVB - for little or no additional cost. Pretty smart!

About Brattleboro, I am surprised that there's not more discussion of WMUR and their signal in the area. They do cover news in nearby SW NH and in the Upper Valley areas - and include Brattleboro in their weathercasts. I'd imagine that they have one of the better OTA signals into SE Vermont. Should be better reception than Providence stations?!?
 
> About Brattleboro: I am surprised that there's not more
> discussion of WMUR and their signal in the area. They do
> cover news in nearby Southwestern NH and in the Upper Valley areas -
> and include Brattleboro in their weathercasts. I'd imagine
> that they have one of the better OTA signals into Southeastern
> Vermont. Should be better reception than Providence
> stations?!?
>

Possibly. However, with my Sony Walkman's TV band (VHF channel 2 to 13), regardless of whether I was outside at the Hannaford's shopping plaza on US Route 5 or on the Chesterfield side of the Connecticut River going up the hill on NH Route 9, I've yet to receive a signal on either channel 9 or channel 11 (New Hampshire Public Television in Durham). I know that the Walkman works since I get the audio from Hartford's channel 3 to about Northampton, MA along I-91 heading north. <P ID="signature">______________
#13 Dan Marino...2005 Football Hall Of Fame Inductee :)</P>
 
> It's quite interesting that you received chs. 6, 10, and 12
> from Windham County. I know that those stations do have a
> powerful signal in Eastern New England, and the fact that
> you received WLNE ch. 6 that far from its Analog transmitter
> in Tiverton, RI is amazing, because WRGB ch. 6 in Schnectady
> is not too far away.

Line of sight. Terrain to the north and west blocks signals from those directions, with basically no obstacles to the south and southeast (at my former location in the hills of Dummerston, other results may vary). The really amazing thing to me is I got a better signal from WLNE here in VT than I ever did when I lived in the Brockton area. Go figure!

Peace,
User 11648
 
> Changing the subject, what type of station is WVBK-CA? I
> know it's low-power and all. Is it considered a commercial
> station of some sort?
>
They are a part of RSN, Resort Sports Network.
http://www.rsn.com/aboutrsn/welcome.html
Lots of outdoor sports. This time of year a lot of snow-related outdoor sports. Seems like every time I have flipped past the station in recent weeks I have seen someone careening down a snow covered mountain with wood strapped to their feet. Sounds fun to me, but I'd rather spend my disposable income on the four basic winter necessities: rent, food, heat and bourbon...in no particular order.

Peace,
User 11648
 
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