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Why am I seeing an advertisement for RI health care on ESPN?

K

kramie13

Banned
I live in Norton, MA and currently have Xfinity as my TV provider. This morning, while watching SportsCenter on ESPN, I saw an advertisement for Rhode Island health care:

RI_ESPN.jpg

But I live in Massachusetts. What the hell? Is this ad coming from ESPN or locally inserted by Xfinity? Either way, it's being wasted in this area, because if I didn't have employer-provided health care, I would be signing up for Mass Health.

I should also note this is NOT the first time I've seen an ad targeted towards a Rhode Island resident on ESPN in Massachusetts. In August 2022 I remember seeing an RI political ad on ESPN! What the hell's going on? My taxes go to Massachusetts!
 
The ad would obviously be “locally” inserted by Xfinity.

Xfinity has gone to an aggregated distribution model where content, including local channels, is gathered at centralized national locations, then bundled and redistributed back to local systems. Norton is fairly close to RI so perhaps the ad was bought for a certain geographic area, and distribution for you is a bit of spillage, as it is known in advertising.
 
It’s the same with campaign adds. You might not have the candidate in your district but they are doing wide buys.
 
TheBigA said:
Geographically, you're 10 miles from the RI border. You're physically closer to Providence than Boston.

This probably also affects the advertising you receive on your computer.
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Does Comcast have any franchises in RI. I know they are generally Cox.
 
en.wikipedia.org

Norton, Massachusetts - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Current Census Demographics by DMA | Cubit's Blog

Getting current Census demographics for DMAs is a bit tricky but definitely do-able. Unlike “normal” geographies (counties, zip codes/ZCTAs, etc.), the US Census Bureau doesn’t provide demographic data for DMAs.
blog.cubitplanning.com

Bristol County, MA is part of Providence DMA according to this map by Neilsen. Unless parts of Massachusetts was supposed to have county where its split by two DMA's then this is a case of the provider issuing ads specific to the DMA.



List of DMAs that Split Counties​

Oneida CountyUtica
Syracuse
Lea CountyOdessa-Midland
Albuquerque-Santa Fe
Apache CountyPhoenix
Albuquerque-Santa Fe
Kern CountyBakersfield
Los Angeles
Riverside CountyLos Angeles
Palm Springs
Solano CountySan Francisco- Oakland – San Jose
Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto
El Dorado CountyReno
Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto
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Norton, MA is in Bristol County which is part of the Providence DMA which explains why you are seeing RI commercials during local cut-ins. I live in Easton and have to put up with this also. It is a major problem with Bristol County being part of Providence. With this, we are shut out of NBC10 Boston, because it was not grandfathered in as a significantly viewed station because it started a few years ago. We have watch WJAR NBC10 in Providence. If I want to watch NBC10 Boston, I have to go off cable and use "rabbit ears". We are also blocked from WFXT Boston 25 when Fox programming is on. This was an issue also when the Patriots were involved in an Amazon Thursday Game last season. It was being simulcasted on WFXT Boston 25. But because of this dumb rule, Comcast assumed Fox programming was on and blocked the football game until 10PM when Fox programming concluded. The FCC needs to reassign Bristol County MA back to the Boston DMA. I live in MA and pay taxes here. I don't care about RI news and other programs which we are forced to watch. I think that the 2 MA Senators, Warren and Markey (who is on the Communications Committee) need to get involved with this and petiton the FCC to change this assignment.
 
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kramie13 said:
I should also note this is NOT the first time I've seen an ad targeted towards a Rhode Island resident on ESPN in Massachusetts. In August 2022 I remember seeing an RI political ad on ESPN! What the hell's going on? My taxes go to Massachusetts!
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ESPN is a national network with local/regional spots run by the cable provider in slots designated for that region. It just seems like a strange thing to be upset about.
 
TheBigA said:
That's not done by the FCC. It's done by Nielsen. It's business, not government.
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And both TV and radio markets are defined by which "central city" stations are the most listened to.

Neither radio nor TV markets are limited by state lines nor are they controlled by any government entity. They are purely driven and defined by market forces.
 
Kelly A said:
ESPN is a national network with local/regional spots run by the cable provider in slots designated for that region. It just seems like a strange thing to be upset about.
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Agreed - go volunteer, clean up the side of a highway, read books for a “books for the blind” service or find something else worthwhile to do with your time rather than wasting it complaining online about a commercial for another state’s hospital.
 
Bristol County is in the Providence DMA as the Providence stations have their transmitters in Rehoboth, MA. Therefore much of their coverage is in the Massachusetts side of the market. Also, Boston is one of the largest DMAs at #8, while Providence is medium-sized at #53. Providence needs the added population of Bristol County much more than Boston. If you prefer Boston TV, use an antenna as the Boston stations also cover Bristol well.
 
en.wikipedia.org

WNAC-TV - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

History of UHF Television

uhfhistory.com uhfhistory.com

This only gives a partial explanation on how parts of Massachusetts became part of the Providence TV Market. We have to go back to when WNET was a Providence TV Station.

*Note WNET Providence is currently known as WNAC Providence


WNET was an affiliate of both the ABC and DuMont Television Networks but was "third" in a market of two stations, the other being WJAR-TV/10, owned by the Outlet Company (a local retailer in the area). Crosstown competing retailer Cherry and Webb joined with two other applicants to get the Construction Permit for WPRO-TV/12, in 1953 and for lowly channel 16, that meant the death knell. Even though it filed a formal complaint with the FCC that the grant was improper because the Commission "signed off too quickly on the three-way merger" it had not yet built out its own construction permit, which became a major part of WPRO-TV's counter-argument.

The battle by WNET against WPRO-TV took two sets of oral arguments to resolve, because the first time the Commission voted on the matter, it ended in a tie. WNET tried every argument it could, at one point charging "premature construcion of facilities" because the WPRO-FM building and tower had been designed to later accommodate television equipment. The complaint took until the end of 1954 to resolve and WNET appealed the decision, to no avail; WPRO-TV was granted special temporary authority to begin commercial operations in March of the following year. (WNET, for its part, then involved itself in the discussions on deintermixture, proposing that channel 3 be moved from Hartford CT to nearby Westerly RI. That was denied as well.) A year later, in January 1956 the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the FCC to reopen the hearing because the Commission had ordered the hearing examiner to submit findings of fact only, and not an initial decision. When the FCC subsequently refused that September to terminate WPRO-TV's authority to operate, even though it had reopened the hearing, WNET went back to the Appeals Court charging the Commission with "flouting the law". The appelate court dismissed the appeal in November, saying that WNET had filed its complaint under the wrong section of the Communications Act, and the FCC reaffirmed the WPRO-TV grant almost immediately. (WPRO-TV paid WNET $10,000 to withdraw its complaint in April 1957 to prevent the matter from going any further.)
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