Jesse Jackson, Others Challenging WNYW/WWOR Duopoly Renewal

[BiggieFats]

I just wish they'd change that awful looking my9 logo they've been using since 2006.

 

[stationless listener]

Since we're on the subject, if WWOR were to be sold, how much would it be worth? On the one hand, it has been like the redhaired stepchild of local stations. On the other hand, it is still a station well inside the #1 market of the country, notwithstanding the controversy over moving the license to Secaucus. The problem here is that it has not been a good landscape for independent television for some time now. Now if Weigel Broadcasting, which owns stations in Chicago and Milwaukee and also runs the MeTV and MeToo network, could buy the station and put the programming there, then that would be an interesting development. However, there has to be New York-area producers who would jump at the chance at buying it, provided that they don't overpay for what is a hand-me-down situation.

 

[ansky212]

WWOR is on the subchannel of WNYW (and vice versa).

Actually that's not true anymore. Now 5.1 and 5.2 both show WNYW, and 9.1 and 9.2 both show WWOR.
I can't really tell if there is any difference because my digital adapter is connected to a SD tv set. Maybe the .1 is HD and the .2 is SD.

 

[fybush]

WWOR is on the subchannel of WNYW (and vice versa).

Actually that's not true anymore. Now 5.1 and 5.2 both show WNYW, and 9.1 and 9.2 both show WWOR.

Ah, but what your TV/converter box isn't telling you is that 5.1 is coming from WNYW's transmitter on RF 44, while the 5.2 comes from WWOR's transmitter on RF 38, and vice versa - 9.1 is on WWOR's 38 transmitter, while 9.2 is on WNYW's 44.

I can't really tell if there is any difference because my digital adapter is connected to a SD tv set. Maybe the .1 is HD and the .2 is SD.

Correct.

 

[ansky212]

Since we're on the subject, if WWOR were to be sold, how much would it be worth? On the one hand, it has been like the redhaired stepchild of local stations. On the other hand, it is still a station well inside the #1 market of the country, notwithstanding the controversy over moving the license to Secaucus. The problem here is that it has not been a good landscape for independent television for some time now. Now if Weigel Broadcasting, which owns stations in Chicago and Milwaukee and also runs the MeTV and MeToo network, could buy the station and put the programming there, then that would be an interesting development. However, there has to be New York-area producers who would jump at the chance at buying it, provided that they don't overpay for what is a hand-me-down situation.

WWOR should focus exclusively on north Jersey. I have already noticed their nightly newscast has become more NJ focused over the past year. I know a lot of people that watch News 12 on cable because the NYC stations don't cover much news from NJ. I think there's a pretty large untapped audience out there.

 

[ansky212]

Ah, but what your TV/converter box isn't telling you is that 5.1 is coming from WNYW's transmitter on RF 44, while the 5.2 comes from WWOR's transmitter on RF 38, and vice versa - 9.1 is on WWOR's 38 transmitter, while 9.2 is on WNYW's 44.

I can't really tell if there is any difference because my digital adapter is connected to a SD tv set. Maybe the .1 is HD and the .2 is SD.

Correct.

They should really use the .2 subchannels for more worthwhile programming. I don't see the need to broadcast an SD feed OTA. Even if you only have an SD tv set, the HD feed is still viewable just the same as the SD feed.

 

[fybush]

Think of them as backup feeds - if the WNYW transmitter goes down, Fox programming would still be available over the WWOR transmitter via 5.2, and vice versa. Remember that this started after 9/11, when the WWOR-DT transmitter had been destroyed but WNYW-DT, located at Empire, was able to keep broadcasting.

 

[tripinva]

That actually happened a few months ago; WNYW was off the air for a not insignificant amount of time, and people were able to flip to the SD feed on WWOR.

- Trip