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Out-of-Market Station Carriage Question

In my home market (Louisville, KY-IN, DMA #48), these carriage rules have resulted in the Louisville Nielsen ADI picking up counties, particularly to the south. We have some excellent news and station operations here, and their superiority over adjacent markets' output is showing. Even with the digital transition, which cut NBC affiliate WAVE(TV)'s huge analog footprint down, Louisville viewership is strong in the 'edge' counties of the DMA...so much so that Nielsen will have to make some important decisons soon regarding some of them. I understand that cable systems in extreme north-central Tennessee even carry WBKI(TV), the Louisville CW affiliate.

Louisville stations appear on cable lineups 100-140 miles away from the city...not unusual for western US markets (e.g. Albuquerque, whose market includes virtually the entire state of New Mexico via Class As, translators and satellite feeds) but is a long throw for eastern markets.
 
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the situation in Southeastern Massachusetts yet. So now, I will.

The only County in Eastern Massachusetts that is served by the Providence/New Bedford DMA is Bristol County, as it borders Rhode Island. If you have DirecTV or DISH and live there, you receive the Providence stations and NOT the Boston stations. A good portion of Plymouth County receives the Providence networks, and I think that all of Bristol (obviously), Plymouth, and all of the Cape and Islands receive WSBE, the Rhode Island PBS channel on Comcast. However, none of those Providence channels are available on satellite in Plymouth County, or the Cape or the islands. And this is where Verizon FiOS comes in. I believe that Bristol county receives both Boston and Providence, but not Plymouth County. I think it would be better if Plymouth county received Providence channels, since it's too far away from NH (where some of the Boston DMA stations are from), and it's closer to Rhode Island. Though Verizon recently added WSBE (SD and HD feed) to ALL of its subscribers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, even those areas up near the NH Border, which really stunned me. I guess they figured they had a significant amount of WSBE viewers in areas not in Bristol County, and subscribers complained. But rather than try to figure out where it should and shouldn't be available, I guess they figured they should just offer it to everyone! Though it would be nice if they did that with the other Providence stations in Plymouth County, and even parts of Norfolk and Worcester counties, which at one time had them significantly viewed.
 
ssetta said:
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the situation in Southeastern Massachusetts yet. So now, I will.

The only County in Eastern Massachusetts that is served by the Providence/New Bedford DMA is Bristol County, as it borders Rhode Island. If you have DirecTV or DISH and live there, you receive the Providence stations and NOT the Boston stations. A good portion of Plymouth County receives the Providence networks, and I think that all of Bristol (obviously), Plymouth, and all of the Cape and Islands receive WSBE, the Rhode Island PBS channel on Comcast. However, none of those Providence channels are available on satellite in Plymouth County, or the Cape or the islands. And this is where Verizon FiOS comes in. I believe that Bristol county receives both Boston and Providence, but not Plymouth County. I think it would be better if Plymouth county received Providence channels, since it's too far away from NH (where some of the Boston DMA stations are from), and it's closer to Rhode Island. Though Verizon recently added WSBE (SD and HD feed) to ALL of its subscribers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, even those areas up near the NH Border, which really stunned me. I guess they figured they had a significant amount of WSBE viewers in areas not in Bristol County, and subscribers complained. But rather than try to figure out where it should and shouldn't be available, I guess they figured they should just offer it to everyone! Though it would be nice if they did that with the other Providence stations in Plymouth County, and even parts of Norfolk and Worcester counties, which at one time had them significantly viewed.
Click to expand...

Comcast offers Boston and some Providence channels to their subs in Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket Counties and much of Plymouth County (ABC, NBC and PBS according to their website). They also offer most Boston channels to Providence market subs in Bristol County. So, the solution to the problem you've outlined is to subscribe to cable in these areas.
 
ssetta said:
Though Verizon recently added WSBE (SD and HD feed) to ALL of its subscribers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, even those areas up near the NH Border, which really stunned me. I guess they figured they had a significant amount of WSBE viewers in areas not in Bristol County, and subscribers complained. But rather than try to figure out where it should and shouldn't be available, I guess they figured they should just offer it to everyone!
Click to expand...

I think it has something to do with the infrastructure. In the Tampa Bay TV market, Sarasota's ABC affiliate, WWSB, is seen marketwide in areas where Verizon Fios is available, even in Polk and Pasco Counties, even though no regular cable system, such as Bright House or Comcast, carries it north of Manatee County. Likewise, Local LPTV stations WXYB (an ethnic station that serves northern Pinellas) and WXAX (an Azteca America affiliate in Tampa) enjoy marketwide coverage on Fios, even though traditional cable coverage is restricted to the areas they serve.
 
ROBGv1 said:
Why are WGBH and WGBX must carries when WSBE-DT, and WSBE-D2 carry the same programming.
Click to expand...

They don't carry exactly the same programming. While it's true that they may carry certain programs at the same times, at other times they have totally different programming. Also, the carriage rules are different for PBS stations. The 'must carry' provision isn't the same as with commercial stations, nor does exclusivity apply; cable systems are encouraged to carry at least 2 PBS stations when feasible - and more are permitted.

On the other hand, they don't have to carry in-market secondary PBS stations if they didn't carry them prior to 1996. I ran into this issue with WGBX in southern NH (Boston DMA) which wasn't carried on Adelphia. My complaints to them were met with the comment that they were not required to carry WGBX; even if they are required to carry religious nutjob and shopping that originate from locations well south of Boston (but in market). When Comcast bought Adelphia, they eventually added WGBX to these systems - but they didn't have to.
 
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