When You're Not Satisfied With Your Local Stations

[radiorob2.0]

The 1975 TV Guide Kentucky Edition reminded me of growing up in Lexington. Prior to cable arriving to town in 1980, many homes and businesses had towers with high gain antennas to receive Louisville and Cincinnati.

So what other cities had residents who did anything they could to receive other markets even though they had all of the networks at the time?

By the way, once cable arrive in Lexington the towers slowly came down.

 

[vibe]

We relied on OTA reception in Rutland, MA before getting cable. We received OTA PBS affiliates in Boston, MA, Springfield, MA, Hartford, CT, Norwich CT (weak) Providence RI, Durham, NH, Windsor, VT and occasionally Biddleford, ME for example. Same thing with the networks. About 30 stations. We regularly received Channel 2 from NYC after local Ch 2 Boston went off the air.
I'm sure our situation was not unique. All we used with a mid range VHF antenna and a 4 Bay Bow UHF with no amp and only about 10' above roof height (we were on a hilltop with high winds).
Pretty emabarassing when you get a hell of a lot more OTA stattions than the cable company.

I

 

[easttxtv]

I broke down and bought my grandma a big Channel Master from Radio Smack in the late 1990s so she wouldn't be stuck with the 2 closest channels in east TX (and nothing else would come in) on that itty bitty thing she used to have. I don't think for the rest of her years she really realized there were other stations in neighboring markets she could watch. The reception was a big hit with visiting friends and family, so they could watch football games and tape movies and specials with only the flick of the rotor knob. Now the area has local channel availability from D & E ...my grandma wouldn't know what hit her if she ever had a dish.

 

[News6397]

In the '70s, many people in South Bend, Ind., had antennas to pick up the Chicago TV stations, about 90 miles away. The cable company carried WGN, WTTW and occasionally other Chicago stations. I remember waiting for the cable company to switch on WMAQ-TV to air Saturday Night Live because WNDU-TV (then owned by Notre Dame) refused to air it.

 

[KML0224]

We relied on OTA reception in Rutland, MA before getting cable. We received OTA PBS affiliates in Boston, MA, Springfield, MA, Hartford, CT, Norwich CT (weak) Providence RI, Durham, NH, Windsor, VT and occasionally Biddleford, ME for example. Same thing with the networks. About 30 stations. We regularly received Channel 2 from NYC after local Ch 2 Boston went off the air.
I'm sure our situation was not unique. All we used with a mid range VHF antenna and a 4 Bay Bow UHF with no amp and only about 10' above roof height (we were on a hilltop with high winds).
Pretty emabarassing when you get a hell of a lot more OTA stattions than the cable company.

I

I've never been in Rutland, MA, but have been through Worcester more times than I could count! Yeah, you sure sound lucky to have picked all that up! I live in New Britain, CT (southwest of Hartford). I'm partially blocked to Avon Mountain and have trouble with WFSB-DT (CBS) channel 33, a local no less. I always had problems with WEDH-TV (PBS) channel 24 of Hartford, with their old analog transmitter located there. I can't get a reliable signal from Springfield, MA either.

 

[David67]

I usually don't watch My local television stations,except for sports. I get My news and weather reports from the internet.

 

[ShawnHill1]

I think I told this story a few times, but where I was born, Rockford, Illinois, we only had four television stations--Channels 13 (WREX; then ABC, now NBC), 17 (WTVO; then NBC, now ABC), 23 (WIFR; CBS), and 39 (WQRF; then an indie, now Fox). I think during this time (early 1980s) they had a low-power station or two, but no local PBS, although the local Educational Access channel carried some PBS shows. My grandmother moved to an apartment buidling around '81 or '82 (she still lives there), and besides the locals, we would get Channel 3 (WISC-CBS) from Madison and Channel 9 (WGN), whose whose signal was barely clear. Couldn't recieve any other channels, visiting one of her friends seven floors up, he not only got the above-mentioned stations, but also Chicago's UHF stations--Channels 32 (WFLD), 50 (WPWR), and 66 (WGBO). I'm short on time here...I would go into more detail later on.

 

[ShawnHill1]

To finish up here...I though it was strange that certain people on certain floors in my grandmother's building could pull in other stations than what we recieved. The building itself had thirteen floors, and the antenna was a pretty large size, and the all the apartments were connected via cable to this one antenna.

It certainly would have been nice for Rockford (which is still a small market) to have at least a local PBS station, and maybe another independent station, so our viewing options wouldn't be limited to just four stations (back then...counting the digital subs and low-powers, Rockford has about ten TV stations). We didn't have cable in her building...in fact, the building manangement turned down an offer from Cablevision (yes, that Cablevision) to provide service. Of course, if you we're lucky enough to have a large antenna, you could pull-in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison easily. It was often nice going to Milwaukee to visit my aunt and uncle, because their TV stations often broadcast shows that the Rockford stations didn't. That's even despite the fact the Milwaukee market was one of those notorious markets where the network stations didn't always clear selected shows (the worst offenders being WTMJ and WITI).

 

[MACK184]

I cannot remember the last time that I actually sat down and "watched" a local TV station. I probably haven't watched network TV {ABC, CBS, NBC} since the late 80's. Virtually everything I watch is off the satellite, and local news & weather I can get from the internet.