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CBS O&Os to debut digital multicast stations

B

bostonmediaguy

Today's Broadcasting & Cable (subscription only!) reports that the CBS O&Os will launch digital channels in Q3 2011. Content will emanate from the local television/radio stations in the market, as well as CBS' programming vault and properties, including CNET.

It will be interesting to see how much autonomy the local stations have in programming (and branding) the new venture.
 
It is interesting that all the CBS owned TV stations broadcast only one channel, even in this digital age. Here in NYC, WNBC has a lifestyle channel (NY Non-Stop) and a sports channel (Universal Sports). WABC has a weather channel (Eyewitness News Now--despite the name it only does weather, not news) and a health & fitness channel (Live Well).

It's odd that in Portland ME, both the NBC and ABC affiliates have a news channel on digital, running continuous capsules of their newscasts. Nobody in NYC does that. Maybe that would be something CBS will do.

The original word was CBS engineers thought having secondary channels would diminish the quality of the signal on the main channel. But I think you'd have to be quite an expert to notice any difference between stations that carry a few digital channels and CBS which only airs its main channel.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
bostonmediaguy said:
Today's Broadcasting & Cable (subscription only!) reports that the CBS O&Os will launch digital channels in Q3 2011. Content will emanate from the local television/radio stations in the market, as well as CBS' programming vault and properties, including CNET.

It will be interesting to see how much autonomy the local stations have in programming (and branding) the new venture.
Click to expand...

I think CBS ought to call it "The Boxcar Channel".
 
Gregg said:
The original word was CBS engineers thought having secondary channels would diminish the quality of the signal on the main channel. But I think you'd have to be quite an expert to notice any difference between stations that carry a few digital channels and CBS which only airs its main channel.
Click to expand...

I would say that approximately 95% of people don't care or cannot notice any difference. I've seen people that have had SD stretched on their LCD TVs and they think it is perfect HDTV picture quality. :-\
 
@ Gregg: Doesn't WGME-TV carry The Cool TV on 13-2?

The Cool TV is carried here by WCTX-TV (MY) channel 59 of New Haven on 59-2. It's a SD channel and the picture quailty isn't always the greatest.

Too bad that CBS can't just put their college sports network on their subchannels. :)
 
KML-224 said:
@ Gregg: Doesn't WGME-TV carry The Cool TV on 13-2?
Click to expand...

I'm not Gregg, but it has yet to launch.

- Trip
 
Gregg said:
WABC has a weather channel (Eyewitness News Now--despite the name it only does weather, not news)
Click to expand...

Not anymore as of February 25. It is now LiveWell SD.

It's odd that in Portland ME, both the NBC and ABC affiliates have a news channel on digital, running continuous capsules of their newscasts.
Click to expand...

Huh? To my knowledge, 6-2 is WeatherPlus and 8-2 is Accuweather, the latter being the same service found on WABC 7-3 until February 25.

- Trip
 
As of last fall (it's a summer cottage) 6.2 WCSH and 8.2 WMTW aired repeating news capsules including sports and weather. I believe after either station does a live newscast, the crew records a 10 minute news capsule that will run on their secondary channels until the next newscast. Both channels also feature weather data on screen. As of last fall, the CBS station WGME 13 only had an HD picture on its subsidiary channel but I've read eslewhere they'll soon be starting a music video channel. The other ABC station I get at the cottage is WMUR 9 Manchester NH which has no secondary channels and New Hampshire Public TV WENH 11, which does have an alternate channel, but it's one they do in-house they call Explore. It isn't PBS Create, PBS World or PBS Kids. Also available at the cottage is and Ion station from Concord NH which carries Qubo and a health & lifestyle channel on its two secondary signals, as is the case with all Ion stations.

I'm surprised WABC-TV has discontinued its secondary weather channel. It was virtually free to run. After doing weather on a newscast, WABC simply had the weatherperson do his/her forecast for the secondary channel and that would get repeated until the next newscast. Accuweather also supplied national weather inserts for the channel. WABC already had Live Well on another secondary channel. I was surprised when my cable system a few weeks ago discontinued the WABC Weather Channel and replaced it with Live Well. Now I know why. Time-Warner didn't change the cable listing yet. It still says Eyewitness News Now. Live Well has a few original series on health and fitness. It reruns Mexico One Plate At A Time from PBS. And it runs plenty of infomercials, which the weather channel didn't do.

Gregg
[email protected]
 
Are we talking about something in the Me-TV, Antenna TV area with local news and
infomercials thrown in?
OR
CBS programs re-run at different time periods with some oldies thrown in (that would be
my guess).

I can't see locals doing a 24 hour sub from scratch, too much upstart with little in return.
It would have to be some kind of network thing.

I just hope it's not 6 hours of local news repeats in the morning and 6 more hours at night.
 
gregg75 said:
Are we talking about something in the Me-TV, Antenna TV area with local news and
infomercials thrown in?
OR
CBS programs re-run at different time periods with some oldies thrown in (that would be
my guess).

I can't see locals doing a 24 hour sub from scratch, too much upstart with little in return.
It would have to be some kind of network thing.

I just hope it's not 6 hours of local news repeats in the morning and 6 more hours at night.
Click to expand...

I could see something like that...there's plenty of possibilities. For examples, those markets where they have duopolies, the CBS station could run a hybrid news-talk-sports format, in conjunction with one of their radio sisters. Meanwhile, the co-owned CW station (or indie, in the case of KCAL, WSBK, and KTXA) can run a classics format; CBS has a vast library of shows (their own, plus Paramount/Viacom, Spelling, and Worldvision) that I'm sure they would want keep in-house if given the opportunity. In the case of CBS' non-duopolies (WCBS, WBBM, WUPA, WTOG, WCCO, KSTW, KCNC, and WJZ), they could run news on DT2, and the classics on DT3.
 
Louis_009 said:
What about the smaller markets that run CBS like WCTV-TV (Tallahassee Florida) and WTVY-TV (Dothan Ala)
Click to expand...

Those stations are owned by Gray Television, not CBS, so they don't need CBS's permission to air secondary subchannels. As for the stations that CBS O&Os will get, I'm not sure if CBS will offer them to affiliates. I don't know why they wouldn't.
 
dhett said:
Louis_009 said:
What about the smaller markets that run CBS like WCTV-TV (Tallahassee Florida) and WTVY-TV (Dothan Ala)
Click to expand...

Those stations are owned by Gray Television, not CBS, so they don't need CBS's permission to air secondary subchannels. As for the stations that CBS O&Os will get, I'm not sure if CBS will offer them to affiliates. I don't know why they wouldn't.
Click to expand...

If CBS is really gonna get into the multicasting service, then any subchannels they create should be marketable beyond the CBS O&O. When ABC decided to create the Livewell Network, they decided to have content that isn't exclusive to ABC. So when Belo decided to pickup the Livewell Network on 5 of their affiliates, 3 of their stations aren't even ABC (1 NBC, 2 CBS, & 2 ABC). So whatever CBS decides to do, any subchannel needs to have content that won't make the channel exclusive to CBS O&O station, & only allow CBS affiliates to carry it outside of CBS O&O markets. Many CBS affiliates already have subchannels, & couldn't easily add another subchannel without degrading their picture quality, or be forced to drop a subchannel they have rights to carry.
 
The Merideth Owned CBS affiliate WFSB in Hartford already has 4.

3.1 WFSB Channel 3 CBS
3.2 WSHM-LP Channel 67 "CBS 3" Springfield, MA
3.3 Eyewitness News Now - 24 Hours News & Weather Station. Also used as a CBS overflow station. (Also Carried repeats of Eyewitness News at Noon and Better Connecticut until September 2010).
3.4 WFSB Fairfield County - Same as WFSB except with local Fairfield Country Commercials. Available only on Cablevision.
 
Why do they need another CBS station on 3.2????
So they can cut away from CBS and show "That Girl" when they feel like it???
 
MarcB said:
The Merideth Owned CBS affiliate WFSB in Hartford already has 4.

3.1 WFSB Channel 3 CBS
3.2 WSHM-LP Channel 67 "CBS 3" Springfield, MA
3.3 Eyewitness News Now - 24 Hours News & Weather Station. Also used as a CBS overflow station. (Also Carried repeats of Eyewitness News at Noon and Better Connecticut until September 2010).
3.4 WFSB Fairfield County - Same as WFSB except with local Fairfield Country Commercials. Available only on Cablevision.
Click to expand...

gregg75 said:
Why do they need another CBS station on 3.2????
So they can cut away from CBS and show "That Girl" when they feel like it???
Click to expand...

Apparently WFSB is using the main digital signal to feed WSHM to the transmitter and cable systems in the Springfield market. WSHM's programming, other than CBS shows, are somewhat different than WFSB, including news, which uses its own team of anchors and reporters. Its availability on WFSB is a mere consequence for Hartford-area viewers.
 
We need a list of CBS O'OS because I would like to know if Orlando,any in KS and MO are one of them. Just make them a 24/7 Weather Channel or local News Channel.
 
Don't many CBS stations have subchannels? Here in the Quad Cities, WHBF has RTV4, although maybe they could create a channel 4-3...
 
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