Weirdest beliefs about TV among the (non-geek) "laity?"

[mleach]

These guys at KONN apparently didn't know radio waves can go further and they probably really thought somebody was trying to prank them.

You may very well be right about that. Quite often I do business in Denver and I have checked out KONN a number of times ( both when it was "ONE FM" and "Hot 107.1 )..to me..their airstaff ( if its live & local ) they do sound very young..which does makes sense since this is afterall a CHR station. Also I have been told that their GM is only in his early 30's..quite young to be in such a position in a market the size of Denver so chances are ( and this I wouldn't be surprised ) that none of those folks know what DX'ing/E-Skip really is.

 

[azumanga]

These guys at KONN apparently didn't know radio waves can go further and they probably really thought somebody was trying to prank them.

...I have been told that their GM is only in his early 30's..quite young to be in such a position in a market the size of Denver so chances are ( and this I wouldn't be surprised ) that none of those folks know what DX'ing/E-Skip really is.

But nevertheless, it doesn't mean that they could insult listeners who tune into the station from a faraway place. If they suspected a prank, they should've used decorum and written a nice letter back, saying that it was not possible, or at least asking for more information -- chastising them could've been bad for the station in the long run, as the Missouri listener may have avoided the station like the plague if he visited Denver (and encouraged others to do the same).

 

[bpatrick]

In 1972 TV Guide ran a story about the peculiarities of programming in the Mountain time zone.

Was that the article with an illustration of Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner
with a sunrise behind them? This to infer the early broadcast time for the
show in the Mountain zone (8 AM ET/6 AM MT), or perhaps even more so
about AZ during DST where the show came down at 5 AM but was delayed
until 11 AM (after the rest of CBS Saturday kidvid) rather than run "live."

That's the one, and it included a quote from a woman complaining about
her kids getting up at 6 AM to watch Bugs. (Actually, I can think of a
similar instance in the Eastern time zone, although it was on one station:
for years, WSB carried "The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show" at 6 AM, even
though it was on ABC at 11 AM; Channel 2 liked to do its own thing before
its noon news--yes, on Saturdays.)

 

[Stanislav]

But nevertheless, it doesn't mean that they could insult listeners who tune into the station from a faraway place. If they suspected a prank, they should've used decorum and written a nice letter back, saying that it was not possible, or at least asking for more information -- chastising them could've been bad for the station in the long run, as the Missouri listener may have avoided the station like the plague if he visited Denver (and encouraged others to do the same).

As I said, sometimes it depends on just who at the station reads the letter. And even if they are somewhat savvy about DXers, the more extraordinary the logging, the more proof one needs.

This story was told to me by an old DXer. Over the years, I never heard of any active TV and FM DXers on Bermuda, though it would seem to be a dream location: no lo-band locals, no stations at all (save for the few locals) within 700-800 miles, clear water path to the East Coast, those big stagnant "Bermuda highs" that produce tropo up and down the Atlantic seaboard, single-hop skip range to pretty much everything east of the Mississippi, etc.

Anyway, the story goes that back in the 1960's, a non-DXing fellow on Bermuda happened to notice some signals coming in on the normally "blank" channels on his TV. One of them turned out to be WPIX-11 in New York -- about an 800-mile over-water tropo catch. He decided on a whim to call the station long-distance to tell them. (And this is back when international long-distance was expensive!) Well, even though they had received domestic DX reports and were aware that sometimes their signal could be seen quite far away, this was just a bit much to swallow.

So, the chap in Bermuda, anxious to avoid being branded as a hoaxer, gave WPIX his phone number, and invited them to call him back. Maybe as more of a lark than anything else, they did phone him back, going through the International Operator (no direct-dial overseas in those days). He then held his phone up to the TV, and to their amazement, the Doubting Thomases at WPIX heard their own live audio being echoed back at them on the line! Apologies ensued. <g>

 

[mjlarochelle]

The FCC doesn't enforce letters sent back to listeners.

Didn't think they did.

If I'm ever doing business in the United States I'll make sure to steer clear of any station owned by Max Media. Especially KONN in Denver. I'd like to know who their advertisers are too, I'll avoid them.

 

[mleach]

If I'm ever doing business in the United States I'll make sure to steer clear of any station owned by Max Media. Especially KONN in Denver. I'd like to know who their advertisers are too, I'll avoid them.

Well considering KONN is now doing "commerical free Mondays" and the other week I heard some chick saying "...and coming soon to Hot 107.1...commercial free Wednesdays and Saturdays too". Ah..my guess is they aren't selling very well even though I believe their ratings have gone up a bit since they went CHR only because Denver didn't have a mainstream CHR anyway but despite that one can still easily find the music KONN plays elsewhere on the Denver radio dial ( just not on one station ) buts thats for a different board

 

[gr8oldies]

Unless you have a Denver Arbitron book you're of no consequence to this station.

 

[mleach]

Unless you have a Denver Arbitron book you're of no consequence to this station.

..and if they even suscribe to Arbitron in the first place. Many radio stations no longer do. But I have seen some messages on other sites and have read in the Denver Post that had mentioned that their ( KONN ) ratings have gone up, of course since most sites have rules against mentioning actual numbers...you are right..one needs the see the book to see exactly how much increase that really is.

 

[mleach]

About ratings such as Arbitron and Neilsen...and back to this topic....over the years I have actually known people who really believed that when one turns on TV ( or radio ) then some signal is sent to the radio/TV station that says to them in codes that you are watching/listening to them. In other words say you are watching "channel 4"..then "channel 4" knows you are watching them. If only doing the ratings were that easy.

 

[gr8oldies]

"I always feel like..somebody's watching me..and I have no privacy". There are people who believe that the people in the TV are watching them. Then, at WLFI in Lafayette, IN there was a guy who came by thinking that Wheel of Fortune originated there and he could come out and be a contestant.

 

[LKellerIII]

"I always feel like..somebody's watching me..and I have no privacy". There are people who believe that the people in the TV are watching them. Then, at WLFI in Lafayette, IN there was a guy who came by thinking that Wheel of Fortune originated there and he could come out and be a contestant.

Well, didn't Miss (fill in name here) on Romper Room look into the camera and speak directly to each of us? I bet it didn't occur to the producers of the show that they'd create a generation of paranoid children.

 

[bk77]

Unless you have a Denver Arbitron book you're of no consequence to this station.

The same goes for folks like "landtuna", "skynet74", "willcali", 1069_KFIR and the others who posted messages about Jay Leno's new show on NBC on the national TV board on Radio-Info. Unless they have access to the latest Neilsen ratings and/or work for NBC then they are no consqeuence to Mr. Jay Leno.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Then, at WLFI in Lafayette, IN there was a guy who came by thinking that Wheel of Fortune originated there and he could come out and be a contestant.

I am still laughing about that incident--but my question is: If that guy thought WOF originated at WLFI, then how would he have explained the presence of the many, many, many "out of market" contestants on the show?

 

[Stanislav]

Then, at WLFI in Lafayette, IN there was a guy who came by thinking that Wheel of Fortune originated there and he could come out and be a contestant.

I am still laughing about that incident--but my question is: If that guy thought WOF originated at WLFI, then how would he have explained the presence of the many, many, many "out of market" contestants on the show?

Or that he never saw scads of game show geeks lined up outside the station hoping to get Pat's or Vanna's autograph?

 

[gr8oldies]

Unfortunately, I think some mental health issues came into play.

 

[firepoint525]

So, the chap in Bermuda, anxious to avoid being branded as a hoaxer, gave WPIX his phone number, and invited them to call him back. Maybe as more of a lark than anything else, they did phone him back, going through the International Operator (no direct-dial overseas in those days). He then held his phone up to the TV, and to their amazement, the Doubting Thomases at WPIX heard their own live audio being echoed back at them on the line! Apologies ensued. <g>

Reminds me of a situation that I had back when I worked in shortwave radio. We had a broadcaster whose programming was (at that time) sent to us via a satellite feed. Whenever they didn't come in, I was to (of course) play a tape of an older broadcast, but I usually continued monitoring the satellite feed in case they came on late. Well, one night, while playing a tape, I noticed that the satellite company was carrying MY feed! I decided to play a few games on them, like stopping the tape! I think I even tried to "bring up" their satellite feed, which would have, of course, meant dead air. Anyway, a couple of minutes after that, someone from the satellite company called the station and told me that they were carrying my feed! As if I didn't already know that! That feed existed for my use. If the broadcaster didn't come on, then that feed was useless, and carrying my station's signal on that feed would have been pointless!

 

[evolve991]

LOL It was Miss Sally and she wasn't looking at ME because I was hiding under the coffee table (and ,yes,probably dreaming) already.