Merced, CA (August 5, 2000)

[JDW95]

Source: Merced Sun-Star

1 – Encore
2 – KTVU (FOX 2 Oakland)
3 – KFSN (ABC 30 Fresno)
4 – KSEE (NBC 24 Fresno)
5 – KNSO (WB 51 Merced)
6 – KMPH (FOX 26 Visalia)
7 – KJEO (CBS 47 Fresno)
8 – CSPAN
9 – KQED (PBS 9 San Francisco)
10 – Discovery Channel
11 – Local Cable Marketplace
12 – KFTV (Univision 21 Hanford)
13 – KMAX (UPN 31 Sacramento)
14 – KMSG (Telemundo 59 Sanger)
15 – Cinemax
16 – Showtime
17 – HBO
18 – KAIL (UPN 53 Fresno)
19 – QVC
20 – Prevue Channel
21 – TBS SuperStation
22 – Family Channel
23 – Starz!
24 – FX
25 – American Movie Classics
26 – Disney Channel
27 – USA Network
28 – Fox Sports Bay Area
29 – ESPN
30 – The Nashville Network
31 – Fox News Channel
32 – Black Entertainment Television/International Channel
33 – CNN
34 – Cartoon Network
35 – TNT
36 – A&E Network
40 – The Learning Channel
41 – Nickelodeon
42 – MTV
43 – Animal Planet
44 – Headline News
45 – Lifetime
46 – CNBC
47 – Galavision
95 – In Demand Pay Per View

 

[cbsfan95]

can someone do a schedule for Merced, CA from August 8, 2000?

 

[IM42A]

When my aunt lived in Merced in the mid-1980s, IIRC they got some stations on cable from Sacramento/Stockton (I know they got the Spanish station on channel 19 from Modesto), as well as KRON and KPIX from San Francisco, and I want to say KSBW from Salinas but I couldn't swear to that. Earlier on, in the mid-1970s, the Merced Sun-Star carried listings for all Fresno stations as well as either KERO-23 or KBAK-29 Bakersfield (and I want to say it was KBAK but that's been 50 years ago!). The Central Valley is as flat as a tabletop, and heat maps of various stations will often indicate outrageous coverage areas all over that flat plain, like holding a garden hose sprayer at the edge of a big dish and splattering it down into the dish.

 

[mofocat]

Back in the analog/antenna days I remember practically every house in Merced County having really tall antenna masts with high gain antennas atop. 30ft at least- up to towers of ~80ft. I didn't ever guess that Bakersfield TV made it up that far.
DXing TV in the SJValley back in 60s and 70s was fun. There was ONE DAY of SPECTACULAR UHF skip (sporadic E?) when EVERY UHF channel had DX signals from the mid-west. The received station on any and all channels changed rapidly- it seems like they changed every minute.

 

[IM42A]

I don't remember seeing towers on houses in 1985 when I was there. I do know that the SJV was a UHF island, though there was spillover from Sacramento/Stockton and Salinas/San Jose (SF would have been just a little too far away, or maybe not). The widespread use of towers sounds like Lexington KY before cable came to town (got there late, being Kentucky, probably politics involved), people had towers to get Cincinnati 5/9/12 and Louisville 3/11. Lexington didn't have a third network affiliate (WBLG-62 ABC, now WTVQ-36, changed call letters and channel allocations, forklifted the channel 36 allocation from Portsmouth OH, 90 miles to the ENE) until 1968.