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Latest Dispute: WGGB vs Charter

This is very common, and almost every TV station will be involved in a similar dispute every time a "retransmission consent" or "must carry" agreement between such station and a cable operator expires.

It's going to be a more frequent fact of TV viewing life.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if WGGB was dropped in Worcester county altogether. I'm sure if this dispute is not worked out, Worcester county will lose WGGB. It has been part of the cable system since the 80s and is not necessary since its part of the Boston DMA and not Springfield. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually dropped WJAR as well.
 
WGGB is only on Charter in the western portion of Worcester County, basically in all towns it serves west of the city. Most people who have lived in these towns for years used to get WGGB via off the air before cable was available, and I'll bet that at least some still watch it for news since its news does cover nearby towns that WCVB in Boston simply does not. WGGB's digital signal is strong in most of these areas so even if it is removed, most people could still pick up the signal via antenna. Worcester itself had WGGB on cable for many years before it was removed from channel 15 which I think is still blank to this day. WGGB's coverage is weak at best in Worcester, generally only receivable on the taller hills facing towards the west.
 
It's amazing that Worcester is as close to Springfield as to Boston but Springfield stations are not carried on cable. It's an example of how county boundaries don't work well to define TV markets.

When I lived in Barre, neither Boston nor Springfield stations paid much attention to that area, but at least the Springfield stations mentioned some towns close by once in a while!

Now I have Charter and live near Worcester. The only out-of-market station we get is WJAR channel 10 from Providence. No need to watch it, no news from Worcester county. It would be nice to get 22 or 40. Always liked having my pick of multiple network affiliates.
 
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