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Watching TV on Cape Cod

S

ssetta

I remember that when I was younger, we would often stay in a rental cottage for a week. We stayed in Wellfleet a lot. And I understand that a good portion of the Outer Cape does not have cable. At least, they didn't at the time. They may have upgraded for all I know. I know that on some parts of Cape Cod, OTA reception is practically nil, and you can hardly get any channels at all. But I remember this one house we stayed in Wellfleet, we could get stations from like 6 different states. I remember sometimes I could get WGBH from Boston, but then one morning, it suddenly faded into the Today show, which must have been from WLBZ from Bangor way up in Maine. I also remember that happened with WHDH and WVII. I remember I could get both WJAR and WPRI from Providence, but I could get PBS stations on those channels as well, both from Maine. I was able to get a LOT of Connecticut stations, and I even received WLIW from Long Island once.

So, has anyone here had experience with OTA reception on Cape Cod?
 
We used to go to Falmouth, bringing our TV - this was between about 1979 and 1986 (the place had cable after that). This was just to the east of Falmouth Harbor.

For the most part, WLNE (6) was king, coming in very clearly. During many summers, TV seemed to be limited to Dan Rather and the Red Sox. WJAR (10) and WPRI (12) came in somewhat snowy but watchable in color.

Boston VHF stations tended to be very weak except where there was tropospheric ducting - when they would come in much better. The Boston UHF channels, on the other hand, never came in at all. The only UHF stations that came in were 36 and 64 from Providence (there was no 28 then). Neither was really watchable - though that could have been an old TV/poor antenna issue.

Boston FM stations always did better than the TV signals and I once recall getting WDRC 102.9 from Hartford out there (over WPXC and during tropo). But, nothing else overly interesting came in on the TV. Even with a (crappy) rooftop antenna.
 
What about the channel that used to be WZBU (58) from Vineyard Haven? And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think WGBH used to have a transmitter station in Hyannis on W08CH (8). I remember they used to announce it constantly in the early 90s.
 
ssetta said:
I remember that when I was younger, we would often stay in a rental cottage for a week. We stayed in Wellfleet a lot. And I understand that a good portion of the Outer Cape does not have cable. At least, they didn't at the time. They may have upgraded for all I know. I know that on some parts of Cape Cod, OTA reception is practically nil, and you can hardly get any channels at all. But I remember this one house we stayed in Wellfleet, we could get stations from like 6 different states. I remember sometimes I could get WGBH from Boston, but then one morning, it suddenly faded into the Today show, which must have been from WLBZ from Bangor way up in Maine. I also remember that happened with WHDH and WVII. I remember I could get both WJAR and WPRI from Providence, but I could get PBS stations on those channels as well, both from Maine. I was able to get a LOT of Connecticut stations, and I even received WLIW from Long Island once.

So, has anyone here had experience with OTA reception on Cape Cod?
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YES!
Late 70s and early 80s (Between 1979 and 1981... maybe even 82..).
My grandparents shared a house with other family members in Dennis. It was nice little neighborhood near a pond, but for some reason, the roads were not paved, and wide enough only for one car at a time in parts. Very wooded area. I remember that only two stations came in clearly, Channel 7 (WNEV at the time) and WLNE. Both were CBS, and IIRC, it was like they had an agreement where they would share much of their syndicated programming, and many of those shows were the same and on at exactly the same time, in addition to their CBS linups. So if you wanted to watch CBS, you were in luck.

As for the Boston stations, forget it, although I think there may have been some repeaters for the Boston stations. Also I think 56 could also come in if you tried hard enough. If you worked hard enough, you could get WJAR and WPRI, but not without snow. My aunt lived out on one of the paninsulas (but couldn't tell you which one). At their house, they seemed to have better luck, but I believe they had a rooftop antenna, or maybe even cable. Again, couldn't tell you where they lived exactly so that would have made a difference.

Wow, Cape Cod... Another TV'less market like Worcester! I always wondered why this was...
 
I sometimes wondered why Cape Cod didn't have their own TV stations. And I know that a lot of people choose not to have cable at their summer houses. Some people don't have any TV at all at their vacation home. I think it's because Cape Cod is mostly a summer place. There are certain parts of the cape where during the Winter, and other times of the year, it's basically like a ghost town. A lot of stores and restaurants close for the winter. And I think this is because people don't usually go to the Cape to watch TV. They go to the Cape to go to the beach.

I know this feeling because in 1998, we stayed in this beach house in Eastham, right on Cape Cod bay. It had a very old TV with the 12 preset stations. It was white, and probably about 9". And I remember it had a very awkward looking remote. It was shaped like a cube. But I had never had experience with one of those TVs before. And I was upset that my station wouldn't come in (PBS). See, I used to be ADDICTED to Sesame Street when I was little. And I was basically losing it. And I began calling it "Crap Cod." And then my mother got very angry, and she almost just assumed that we just pack up and go home. But then I fiddled with it some, and I was able to get it. But I've noticed that I think the part of the Cape that really struggles with OTA reception is actually the Mid-cape. I've noticed this with TV, and also with radio.
 
ssetta said:
I sometimes wondered why Cape Cod didn't have their own TV stations. And I know that a lot of people choose not to have cable at their summer houses. Some people don't have any TV at all at their vacation home. I think it's because Cape Cod is mostly a summer place. There are certain parts of the cape where during the Winter, and other times of the year, it's basically like a ghost town. A lot of stores and restaurants close for the winter. And I think this is because people don't usually go to the Cape to watch TV. They go to the Cape to go to the beach.

I know this feeling because in 1998, we stayed in this beach house in Eastham, right on Cape Cod bay. It had a very old TV with the 12 preset stations. It was white, and probably about 9". And I remember it had a very awkward looking remote. It was shaped like a cube. But I had never had experience with one of those TVs before. And I was upset that my station wouldn't come in (PBS). See, I used to be ADDICTED to Sesame Street when I was little. And I was basically losing it. And I began calling it "Crap Cod." And then my mother got very angry, and she almost just assumed that we just pack up and go home. But then I fiddled with it some, and I was able to get it. But I've noticed that I think the part of the Cape that really struggles with OTA reception is actually the Mid-cape. I've noticed this with TV, and also with radio.
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I think that may have been true Pre-1985. But my understanding is that the Cape has boomed since then. Many people live there all year round. There are elementary schools in Cape Cod, people do live there in the winter. Meanwhile, the vast majority of American home have TVs now. So I can't accept the argument that people who live there don't watch TV. In some cases now, YOU NEED TV to stay informed.

I suspect that the Cape is just neglected by the adjacent markets, and nobody is sure how to make money there, since, as you say, some businesses do close during the winter.

Think of this, how is it that Worcester and Cape Cod have radio markets, but no TV markets?
 
New Haven isn't its own TV market either. It gets lumped in with Hartford and New Britain. As for no licensed TV stations on the Cape, it's simply due to the proximity to Boston and Providence/New Bedford.
 
My in laws (ex) had a home in Harwich in the early 1970's. They erected a decent sized VHF(and seperate 4 bay Bow UHF) antenna about 10-20' above the roof . I can't remember EVERY station but virtually all the Boston-Providence stations came in clearly on VHF. I can't remember what the UHF reception was..
I went camping several years ago in Sandwich and reception with a handheld was good-VG on both VHF (6 and beyond) and on UHF. 2,4,5 didn't come in well but that's a function of the TV which gets the higher VHF stations much better than the lower ones.
 
ssetta said:
I sometimes wondered why Cape Cod didn't have their own TV stations.
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The Cape & Islands don't have the year-round population large enough to sustain an OTA station. That's why they're part of the Boston DMA.

WTEV-6 from New Bedford was conceived as a local station for the Cape & Islands. That premise evaporated when the station became WLNE and moved to Providence.
 
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