> > I thought I read somewhere that WFME is only broadcasting
> on
> > their digital channel.
> >
>
>
> One thing to note is that WFME-DT is a noncommercial
> license, and the analog license of 66 is still in their
> possession, which gives them ability to be must-carry on the
> satellite providers. Cable follows different laws, and
> cable systems have to carry digital only full power
> stations, where satellite can exclude the digital only(s).
> (see carriage drop of WMCN-Atlantic City from DirecTV and
> Dish Net.)
>
> Is West Milford able to receive programming on UHF 66? I'm
> sure someone w/ a pocket TV can find out - and I thought a
> station has to be broadcasting and available city grade
> quality to keep the license.
>
> I for sure don't see a need for another noncommercial up
> there. In Northern NJ, there is WNET, WNJN and WNJB,
> already as well as WFME. As far as commercial, there is
> WWOR, WXTV, WNJU, WFUT and WMBC. So roughly 5:4, and four
> out of the five commercial licenses aren't programming much
> in English.
>
> >
> >
> > > > It was just added to DirecTV in the NYC DMA as well.
> > >
> > > Smells like a must-carry situation to me too.
> > >
> > > I used to work for that system several owners ago (back
> > when
> > > it was Sammons) and wondered about that. From where I
> was
> >
> > > in the eastern part of the county, there was never even
> a
> > > hint of a signal on UHF 66 even though theoretically
> there
> >
> > > should have been. I was just about on the border
> between
> > > the grade A & B contours. WFME-FM came in on the
> > > appliances, but that's a lot closer.
> > >
> >
>
There's a history to both WFME-TV and WMBC-TV that, I suppose,
many people don't know. It's been quite a few years ago since
those stations were dropped into northern New Jersey.
Many years ago, in response to continued complaints of inadequate
television broadcast coverage in northern New Jersey, the FCC
dropped two UHF allocations into the state. The pleasure at this
non-typical action by the commission was dispelled when the feds
said that Channel 63, allocated to Newton, could be given ONLY
to a minority person. And even so, that person had to live within
the Grade A coverage of the station. Strange requirement, eh?
The FCC was not about to annoy their friends in the New York
City media by putting a station that would compete against
the near monopoly enjoyed by the NYC broadcasters. It was rumored
at the time that California media interests saw this allocation
as a way to get into the "New York" market. Their intention was
to use the allocation to broadcast to, and compete in, New York
City. Now some of those West Coast interests had a lot of money
and could put up quite a battle, siphoning audience away from the
New Yorkers. The solution, the FCC found, was the mandate that
the licensee would have to be a bona fide minority person.
Along comes a man named Fletcher. A Sussex County resident, Mr.
Fletcher was the husband of the owner of a famous fried-chicken
restaurant on Route 206 in Andover. Mr. Fletcher was both black
AND a resident of the Newton area. Two other men competing for the
license cried foul. Fletcher, they claimed, was a front man for
a large California media empire that really was behind the
application. Those two men were a Korean man and his Baptist
preacher uncle. They got the allocation, promised, in effect,
that they would do little to serve the local community, and
promptly set upon a long campaign to force cable systems into
carrying their mostly Chinese language programming. They did
quite well in that endeavor. Despite an amateurish "local" news program
each day, they have no contact with the majority of people living
in northwestern New Jersey.
Channel 66, the FCC decided, would be an educational allocation.
That'll take care of those California companies. The station is
a loser, as noted elsewhere, and does nothing to compensate for
the almost total lack of local TV coverage in northern New Jersey.
The only TV station broadcasting to a northern New Jersey
audience is the state's public broadcasting operation out
of Trenton. When they signed on in the early 1970s they
promised they would simulcast on the four UHF transmitters
for a short time. Then, the plan was, to have four entirely
separate stations concentrating on the needs of the different
parts of a very diverse state. That never happened. We still
have one state-subsidized TV station serving, for all intents
and purposes, as a place of employment for Kent Manahan. For
those who don't know, she is the news anchor who has been the
ONLY news anchor at the station since 1973. (There was a very
brief time they had some guy from Oklahoma come in. They canned
him after he told a newspaper that he was working for the
state TV operation only because he would be seen in New York
City. Wasn't a very bright bulb, was he?)
So with the exception of the state's TV operation, there are
no local TV stations in northern New Jersey. Sad, but true.
The very problems complained about by the Coalition for Fair
Broadcasting in the 1970s exists today. And the New York City
media interests and the FCC are not inclined to change it.
