Post-script.....KMN-79......

[pqgeorge]

That was the microwave link for WLVI-TV Channel 56. Driving past the former Channel 56 studios this afternoon (on the Expressway), I could not help but notice the STL link (antenna) was absent, except for the helix that fed it. Since December 19th, 2006 (after the first few minutes of the new "newscast"), I have had not watched Channel 56 at all. I have no reason to do so. Call it crazy, call it what you will. Tomorrow will be exactly two months since the last newscast from Morrissey Boulevard. I was watching the little snippets of Channel 56 on YouTube and came to the realization that we truly lost a great UHF station. Unfortunately, that's the nature of the beast. What is happening to Channel 56 and other former indies (WSBK, WPIX, WWOR et.al.) is that they lost their luster. In this world of 500 channel universes, there is no place for the local UHF (or VHF) indies anymore. I find myself watching old VHS and digitized programming from old tapes, many from WSBK and WLVI. Am I glad I took the time to record this programming since 1985. Had I known that the great indies were going away in short amount of time, I would have recorded more. Frankly, I find very little to watch on those 500 channels, today.

 

[mdamico25]

Pete- Well put. Growing up in south-central NJ in the mid-late 1980s, I had the luxury of watching the once-great indys from NY such as WPIX/11, WWOR/9, plus the Philly stations like WTAF/WTXF/29, WPHL/17, WSJT/65, and my favorite one out of the whole bunch, WGBS/57 "Philly 57". That was quite a station back in the day. All of these stations will never be like they were.

Back on topic regarding WLVI, did their city of license change with the sale? They are still ID'ing on screen as "WLVI/56 BOSTON" vs. "WLVI/56 Cambridge." Not that it matters, as long as I've lived here, they have been always a "Boston" station, but technically, unless the COL changed, they are still a "Cambridge" station. Does the FCC even care about this?

By not watching the current "7 News on CW 56", in my opinion, you are not missing much. I watched exactly 2 "newscasts" since WHDH took over and it is pure tabloid junk.

RIP- Channel 56.

-Mike

 

[azumanga]

Back on topic regarding WLVI, did their city of license change with the sale? They are still ID'ing on screen as "WLVI/56 BOSTON" vs. "WLVI/56 Cambridge." Not that it matters, as long as I've lived here, they have been always a "Boston" station, but technically, unless the COL changed, they are still a "Cambridge" station. Does the FCC even care about this?

Don't know, but according to FCC's records ( http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WLVI-TV ), WLVI's COL is still Cambridge.