WHYY-12 not serving Delaware thread

[ixnay]

Supplementing Mike's suggestion to Mr. Saltullo (sp) re WHYY televising Blue Hen football... don't stop there, show more DSU pigskin too, and maybe even Wesley, which is a D-III powerhouse. How viable may those ideas be?

Happy New Year from ixnay

 

[DX]

To the people hoping for more Delaware college sporting events, one would assume WHYY TV 12 would only consider if the universities or colleges PAID WHYY for the privilege, not the reverse.

To the previous discussion (with imhomerjay) about whether WHYY TV should suffer a loss of public support because of its cutbacks in Delaware, and the exorbitant compensation paid to WHYY CEO Bill Marrazzo, I hope everyone read the article in PHILADELPHIA magazine a year or two ago...

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/dead_air/

Granted the author (Steve Volk) fails to comprehend the idea of serving the city of license, and granted that some of this was based on the rantings of disgruntled staffers, but the author DID spend a couple of days at WHYY observing: He found as I have observed. WHYY is obsessed with all its platforms.

I observed a similar scene some years ago in Dover (before the recession hit), when Bill Marrazzo was attempting to dazzle Delaware legislators with high definition, large screen television. It was my first encounter with the man. I found him just too slick. I remember noting at the time that he talked a good deal about technology (and, at the time, expanding WHYY's presence in Delaware!), but precious little about programming CONTENT.

I also point you to the response from a former WHYY'er to that article in the DELAWARE BUSINESS LEDGER. Julius May gave us a thread to this earlier in this discussion.

To the earlier point: Why should Bill Marrazzo himself become the issue (along with the still-bloated WHYY bureaucracy, and the cutbacks in Delaware)?

Simple: A clique of business people and lawyers on the WHYY board picked a non-broadcaster to be WHYY's CEO. He was picked for his political connections and fundraising abilities, certainly not his insights into programming or journalism. Well, as the Delaware cutbacks underscore, he's having difficulty now in his very area of expertise. Sure, he can blame the recession. But, in the process, he's alienated the place where his TV station is licensed, and lot of the "Chateau Country" folks who were the most ardent supporters of WHYY.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

With the idea of channel 12 carrying more U of D, DSU, and Wesley football, I understand there are rules and limits as to how the underwriting is to be done, but even with those restrictions, If channel 12 "sold" corporations on the value to the state and to their corporations of underwriting the games (they apparently do this to get corporations to underwrite other programs), then that could be a catalyst to add more non-typical PBS viewers who then might also become channel 12 supporters, if for no other reason than to continue to get to see Delaware sports on local TV.

The reason I suggested tying in U of D games when they were playing Philly schools is a larger audience base and more donor possibilities which would possibly give the Philly oriented management of channel 12 the incentive to do it.

I could see similar approaches for doing some specials with the Delaware Symphony in Wilmington, and possibly the professional theater company at the Roselle Center for the Performing Arts at U of D, etc. To my way of thinking, the limitation on doing more of this type of programming from Delaware is more a lack of desire than ability on channel 12's part.

If the FCC said that channel 12 would have to do this in order to keep its license, my guess isthey'd find a way to make it happen. The fact that the FCC doesn't give a rip about the Wilmington TV audience (Wilmington's got almost 60 years of being ignored by the FCC in this matter) means it probably won't happen other than for the rare U of D football game as we had last year, which happened only because they were playing DSU.

We've all read that a Wyoming TV station also wants to come to Wilmington on the VHF band. With the VHF dial now having openings due to the digital systems now in place, maybe Wilmington could end up with a second city of license VHF TV station (before we'd get a 2nd Congressperson in the House of Representatives), this time a commercial one, that could and should be required to have real TV newscasts as other VHF stations are doing. They at least could actually sell spots. They too could also do Delaware sports as they could sell spots. So if Wilmington finally gets a commercial TV station here on the VHF dial with that sort of mandate from the FCC, that would take much heat off of channel 12, but Wilmington would finally, hopefully, have a real TV news service that could make money, and serve the community. Then the bigger discussion of WHYY-TV 12 serving Delaware would become a less important issue. Any thoughts.

 

[DX]

Got to hand it to you, Mike from Delaware, you're searching for all the angles.

But let's not kid ourselves. That Wilmington license is an albatross around the necks of the TV 12 brass. The CEO became CEO because of his Philly political ties, not any Delaware ties.

When even a U.D. law professor who happens to serve on the WHYY governing board is afraid to grant an interview... you know the fix is in.

With the traditional "V's" going to higher frequencies with the digital conversion, I don't quite understand how you mesh a new VHF station into the mix without it functioning at a disadvantage from the very beginning!

 

[MikefromDelaware]

With most viewers getting their TV from a cable/satellite service and the must show rules requiring local stations to be available, a new Wilmington TV station would be accessible to most of the population. I'm also assuming the new digital antennas the others are using, they too would be able to get a new Wilmington TV station. Maybe they'd get a higher digital number too as the other VHF's have, but would still be considered to be a VHF station on paper. For example, channel 6 is no longer on 6, but someplace else higher so no longer on a VHF spot ( I have cable so it's still located on 6 as far as my TV is concerned and they still say 6ABC), but are still called a VHF station and say channel 6 rather than channel 78 or whatever.

I'd agree with you that the TV 12 brass would love (unofficially of course) to dump the Wilmington license as they truly don't need Delaware at all to keep on the air (financially), other than the channel allocation is a Wilmington license. The FCC isn't going to pull their license and have WHYY-TV go off the air. There's too much money involved as, from what I've read, WHYY is one of the wealthiest PBS affiliates in the nation (probably why they can pay their CEO that large salary that DX mentions often - as I mentioned in an earlier post - wondering how many lobbyists WHYY has in Washington). Has the FCC ever taken a VHF TV license away, for not following the terms and agreements of getting that license, and had that channel go dark? I don't know the answer, but somehow I just don't see the FCC doing that. That is the real problem. A threat that has no teeth. The big mistake was made back in 1963 when the FCC allowed WHYY to move from channel 35 to channel 12. That Wilmington allocation should have remained dark until another Wilmington based group wanted to restart channel 12, be it a PBS or as a commercial station.

DX does bring up something that seems to have changed in the world or "public radio/TV". Back in channel 12's earliest days and it seemed all NET stations they were operating on a shoe string budget. You didn't go into public radio or TV for the money, sort of like having a calling to go into religious ministry of bringing Christ to the public and feeding the poor, etc, as a priest or minister at a local church. Both were more based on doing the work, knowing there wasn't any real money in it for you, but believing in what you were doing where serving the people (listeners/viewers in Public radio/TV's case - congregation and local community in a pastor's case) was what motivated you. Today, the NPR/PBS facilities seem to be quite nice that actually rival their commercial network facilities if in fact they aren't better than some of the commercial studios. Now we find out the CEO's are some of the highest paid TV CEO's in the nation. All coming from the donor's hard earned cash. Today's PBS/NPR definitely isn't your parent's NET station.

I remember when all the Philly TV stations had color programs and color cameras for local shows years before channel 12 did, because back then channel 12 was operating on a shoe string budget. I don't fault WHYY with it's ability today to pull in far greater sums of money than in those early years when Sid Shaw was the one man news team doing Delaware Tonight twice a day (6pm and 11pm both live) in black and white using Polaroid snap shots for the photos, no film or even sound recordings, just Sid reading the news with the Polaroid's. What I fault them with is not using the money they now pull in to better serve the Delaware viewers, but rather cut back and serve us less.

The bottom line, as I see it is with a toothless FCC, channel 12 is going to do what they've been doing and "First" will be the extend of their offerings other than an occasional special program in terms of service to Wilmington. The only other hope is that Wilmington gets that Wyoming TV station.

 

[Silkie]

Oddly enough, while watching C-Span 2 one day, Delaware's Senator Kauffman (sp?) was railing against the FCC for not doing its job when it comes to that very channel, as I recall. It has been a few weeks.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Silkie you recall it correctly.

Julius posted the weblink to view Senator Kauffman's speech to the Senator about channel 12 on the top of page 2. Here it is again for those who missed Senator Kauffman's address to the Senate in regards to channel 12. Senator Kauffman is the new Senator from Delaware who took over Joe Biden's seat. His speech delivery isn't well polished as he's new to doing this, but he makes his points very well.

http://www.ledgerdelaware.com/articles/2009/12/21/news/doc4b2fe8c3ba3fe123458906.txt

 

[Bill_W]

With most viewers getting their TV from a cable/satellite service and the must show rules requiring local stations to be available, a new Wilmington TV station would be accessible to most of the population. I'm also assuming the new digital antennas the others are using, they too would be able to get a new Wilmington TV station. Maybe they'd get a higher digital number too as the other VHF's have, but would still be considered to be a VHF station on paper. For example, channel 6 is no longer on 6, but someplace else higher so no longer on a VHF spot ( I have cable so it's still located on 6 as far as my TV is concerned and they still say 6ABC), but are still called a VHF station and say channel 6 rather than channel 78 or whatever.

Actually, channel 6 returned to channel 6 VHF just like channel 12 did. 3 and 10 moved to UHF and are no longer considered VHF. With new digital TV, VHF has a disadvantage over UHF.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Bill W , thanks for the update.

Question, I no longer can get the audio from ch6 on my FM radio. Is that due to the digital signal or has the audio frequency been moved to a different freq ?

So based on what you are saying, there are at least two VHF allocations available for that Wyoming TV station to pick, if the FCC allows them to come to Wilmington? Now as ch 3 and 10 have been previously considered Philly allocations, like ch 12 and 61 are considered Wilmington allocations, if the proposed new Wilmington TV station landed on ch 3 or 10 would they be licensed to Wilmington or Philly?

Here's another possibility. Why doesn't the FCC move WHYY-TV from channel 12 to either channel's 3 or 10 and allow them to be the Philly PBS station they really want to be thus opening up Wilmington's channel 12 for a Wilmington based operation, possibly that station from Wyoming. That would seem like a win/win situation for both WHYY and the Wyoming TV station and hopefully the people of Wilmington. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[w9wi]

Question, I no longer can get the audio from ch6 on my FM radio. Is that due to the digital signal or has the audio frequency been moved to a different freq ?

Probably shouldn't jump in here but I will

Both. In analog, WPVI's audio was transmitted on 87.75MHz as a regular FM signal. (+/-0.01, I forget what offset if any they were on)

In digital, the audio is transmitted as part of the same datastream as the video. That datastream is on 82.31MHz.

The datastream decodes as noise on an analog radio -- you probably won't be able to tell the difference between the datastream and a completely empty channel.

So yes, WPVI's audio is now being transmitted as a digital signal that's not compatible with your FM radio -- and yes, it's being transmitted on a different frequency.

So based on what you are saying, there are at least two VHF allocations available for that Wyoming TV station to pick, if the FCC allows them to come to Wilmington? Now as ch 3 and 10 have been previously considered Philly allocations, like ch 12 and 61 are considered Wilmington allocations, if the proposed new Wilmington TV station landed on ch 3 or 10 would they be licensed to Wilmington or Philly?

The FCC has decided not to allow the Wyoming station to move to Wilmington. (I will not be surprised if the station appeals the ruling) (indeed, I will be surprised if they don't appeal it) The Commission has however proposed to allot a channel (I forget whether 4 or 5) to Seaford.

If the Wyoming station does move, it will have to be licensed to a community in Delaware. (not necessarily Wilmington. IMHO there would be a slight preference in policy for it to be licensed to a community that doesn't already have a station - i.e., not Wilmington or Seaford.) The law that spurred these allocation proposals requires the FCC to allot at least one VHF commerical channel to every state. Right now, Delaware is one of two states that doesn't have any. (the other one is New Jersey) Pennsylvania has a number of VHF commercial channels -- beginning with WPVI but there are others.

Here's another possibility. Why doesn't the FCC move WHYY-TV from channel 12 to either channel's 3 or 10 and allow them to be the Philly PBS station they really want to be thus opening up Wilmington's channel 12 for a Wilmington based operation, possibly that station from Wyoming. That would seem like a win/win situation for both WHYY and the Wyoming TV station and hopefully the people of Wilmington.

I think the use of channel 10 in New Haven, Connecticut and Harrisburg, Penna. would preclude reactivating that channel in Philadelphia.

WHYY is unlikely to accept reassignment to a low-VHF channel, due to the well-publicized coverage issues on these channels. The Wyoming station is interested in channel 2 ONLY because they feel they can get into the Philadelphia market "for free", without having to compete at auction with other applicants. If they could get a VHF-high channel, they'd take it. (none are possible without causing interference) If they could get a UHF channel, even better. (but again, none are available, and in any case the law limits these "special" allotments to VHF)

 

[MikefromDelaware]

w9wi, thanks for the update.

If I'm reading what you said correctly, Wilmington once again gets the shaft by the FCC. Well, at least they're consistent (read the earlier posts about WDEL-TV, etc from the early 1950's to get the flavor of what I'm saying). So Wilmington is stuck with WHYY-TV 12 and their lack of wanting to serve our market.

Moving the Wyoming station to Seaford doesn't really help Lower Delaware as they've got great coverage from Salisbury's two commercial stations while Wilmington essentially gets ignored by Philly's stations and even its own city of license station(WHYY -12 and WPPX-61). I think it's time for the city of Wilmington to change the signs at the entrances to the city. They should be changed to read: Wilmington - The Place Where You Can Be The Red Haired Step Child in the World of TV - totally ignored.

 

[w9wi]

If I'm reading what you said correctly, Wilmington once again gets the shaft by the FCC. Well, at least they're consistent (read the earlier posts about WDEL-TV, etc from the early 1950's to get the flavor of what I'm saying). So Wilmington is stuck with WHYY-TV 12 and their lack of wanting to serve our market.

Moving the Wyoming station to Seaford doesn't really help Lower Delaware as they've got great coverage from Salisbury's two commercial stations while Wilmington essentially gets ignored by Philly's stations and even its own city of license station(WHYY -12 and WPPX-61). I think it's time for the city of Wilmington to change the signs at the entrances to the city. They should be changed to read: Wilmington - The Place Where You Can Be The Red Haired Step Child in the World of TV - totally ignored.

What I suspect will happen, is that sometime this year a new channel will be allotted to a community somewhere in Delaware. Sometime in the next 2-5 years, an auction will be held to determine which of a number of applicants will receive a permit to use this channel. 1-3 years after that, the station will go on the air.

- Assuming the channel is allotted in New Castle County...

The station will have must-carry eligibility in Philadelphia. At least one of the bidders on the permit will bid on the assumption they will cover Philadelphia and be able to sell accordingly. At that point, the other bidders must do the same or stand no chance of succeeding in the auction. It will be licensed to New Castle Co. but will be for all intents and purposes a Philadelphia station, just as WHYY is now.

- Assuming the channel is allotted in Southern Delaware...

The station will NOT have must-carry eligibility in the Philadelphia market -- including Wilmington. The vast majority of the audience in Wilmington will be unable to see the station -- and it will make no sense to attempt to serve the city. It will be licensed to a Southern Delaware community and will serve that area and the Salisbury, Maryland area.

Wilmington is hardly alone in this. Most outlying cities surrounding a large city find themselves in similar situations. WBME-49 & WPXE-55 in the Milwaukee area; WPWR-50 Gary, Indiana; Newark, New Jersey at about 4x the size of Wilmington is city-of-license to two stations that are for all intents and purposes NYC stations.

I won't take a position as to whether this is or is not a proper state of affairs, but it is the state of affairs that exists.

_________________________________________________

Oh, with regard to "IMHO there would be a slight preference in policy for it to be licensed to a community that doesn't already have a station - i.e., not Wilmington or Seaford." ...

Again, the FCC has proposed to allot a channel to Seaford. I believe counterproposals will be filed to allot channels to communities in New Castle County. When allotting new channels, the FCC prefers proposals that will provide the first station to a community. If there are three proposals on file to allot channels in Delaware -- one to allot channel 5 to Seaford, one to allot channel 2 to Wilmington, and one to allot channel 4 to Newark, the latter proposal will succeed. (because Newark is the only city of the three that doesn't already have at least one channel)

So in the presence of counterproposals, one specifying a community other than Wilmington or Seaford is more likely to succeed. The successful community could well border on Wilmington, as long as it isn't Wilmington...

 

[MikefromDelaware]

w9wi, thank you for the detailed analysis of how the allocation could work.

It would seem that, based on your analysis, this is a losing battle for Wilmington and New Castle County. For as long as any new station allocated to New Castle County is allowed to target Philly and sell to Philly, it will over targeting and selling the Wilmington area. So bottom line is, whatever station would put in place in New Castle County or Wilmington will simply be another WHYY, just with commercials. Our tax dollars at work via the FCC.

Wilmington is hardly alone in this. Most outlying cities surrounding a large city find themselves in similar situations. WBME-49 & WPXE-55 in the Milwaukee area; WPWR-50 Gary, Indiana; Newark, New Jersey at about 4x the size of Wilmington is city-of-license to two stations that are for all intents and purposes NYC stations./color]

Isn't a Utah station, possibly the same owners as the Wyoming TV station that was trying to come to Wilmington, trying to put a station in NJ , possibly Newark, or was that also refused by the FCC as the Wilmington request.

Again, thanks for your insight and knowledge of how the "system" works. I may not like it, but I don't think any of us in Delaware can really do anything about it. It would seem that the FCC isn't focused on serving the local communities, but more on allowing radio and TV stations to make as much money as possible by allowing them to target a larger nearby city rather than their city of license. This of course is done all the time in radio too.

 

[w9wi]

Isn't a Utah station, possibly the same owners as the Wyoming TV station that was trying to come to Wilmington, trying to put a station in NJ , possibly Newark, or was that also refused by the FCC as the Wilmington request.

The same firm that owns the Wyoming station proposed to move a station from Ely, Nevada to Middletown Township, New Jersey. The transmitter would be in Manhattan. That proposal was also denied. (in the same document that denied the Wilmington request) And the FCC has proposed a different channel be allotted to Atlantic City. The same Act of Congress that requires them to allot a VHF channel to Delaware also requires that one be allotted to New Jersey.

(the law, enacted in the early 1980s, specifies that "if technically feasible", at least one VHF commercial channel be allotted in each state. In the analog days, it was not technically feasible to do so. With so many stations abandoning low-band VHF for digital, today it *is* feasible. At the time the law was enacted, every state except Delaware and New Jersey had at least one VHF commercial channel. That is again the case today.)

Again, thanks for your insight and knowledge of how the "system" works. I may not like it, but I don't think any of us in Delaware can really do anything about it. It would seem that the FCC isn't focused on serving the local communities, but more on allowing radio and TV stations to make as much money as possible by allowing them to target a larger nearby city rather than their city of license. This of course is done all the time in radio too. [/color]

It happens a lot more often in radio than it does in TV. There are nineteen commercial FM stations covering Nashville. Only five are actually licensed to Nashville.

 

[DX]

Interesting points from everyone.

Before we all go gaga over the possibility of northern Delaware gettings its own commercial TV station (which I don't think would necessarily be a panacea for local TV news coverage for the reasons already given) - consider this AP story today suggesting the coming demise of "free" over-the-air television...


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/010210dnbusfreebroadcasters.3bebd98.html

 

[Bill_W]

Isn't a Utah station, possibly the same owners as the Wyoming TV station that was trying to come to Wilmington, trying to put a station in NJ , possibly Newark, or was that also refused by the FCC as the Wilmington request.

The same firm that owns the Wyoming station proposed to move a station from Ely, Nevada to Middletown Township, New Jersey. The transmitter would be in Manhattan. That proposal was also denied. (in the same document that denied the Wilmington request) And the FCC has proposed a different channel be allotted to Atlantic City. The same Act of Congress that requires them to allot a VHF channel to Delaware also requires that one be allotted to New Jersey.

(the law, enacted in the early 1980s, specifies that "if technically feasible", at least one VHF commercial channel be allotted in each state. In the analog days, it was not technically feasible to do so. With so many stations abandoning low-band VHF for digital, today it *is* feasible. At the time the law was enacted, every state except Delaware and New Jersey had at least one VHF commercial channel. That is again the case today.)

Again, thanks for your insight and knowledge of how the "system" works. I may not like it, but I don't think any of us in Delaware can really do anything about it. It would seem that the FCC isn't focused on serving the local communities, but more on allowing radio and TV stations to make as much money as possible by allowing them to target a larger nearby city rather than their city of license. This of course is done all the time in radio too. [/color]

It happens a lot more often in radio than it does in TV. There are nineteen commercial FM stations covering Nashville. Only five are actually licensed to Nashville.

There are some quite "good" Atlantic City stations. WMCN 44 is one that comes to mind. What a waste of a station. If a new VHF station comes to DE, what is to keep the owner from having a station like WMCN on the air or a Univision station like channel 65 that really doesn't serve an entire community. In the case of a Spanish speaking station, they are not really serving the entire community when most of us speak English. With that being said, I don't deny that there is a large Spanish speaking population and they have the right to television. I mind that TV less than I mind a station like WMCN which is a waste. I'd almost like Disney to buy it to give us a 2nd channel 6 the way channel 57 is kind of a 2nd channel 3. I wish Disney bought channel 48 and not have it a waste the way it is. That religious programming is on satellite tv for anyone who wants it, the way EWTN is.

I guess Mike really wants a channel like AC / South Jersey's channel 40 for Delaware.

 

[w9wi]

Before we all go gaga over the possibility of northern Delaware gettings its own commercial TV station (which I don't think would necessarily be a panacea for local TV news coverage for the reasons already given) - consider this AP story today suggesting the coming demise of "free" over-the-air television...

I think this story (and I've seen essentially the same one elsewhere) is stretching a bit to draw a conclusion. OTA TV is not likely to go away in the immediate future. (I do suspect the industry will be gone before I'm able to retire from it in 15 years :'( )

I think the most likely scenario.. is that OTA stations be allowed to sell their spectrum to wireless operators, who would in turn be allowed to use it for something other than television. In such a market, we would see the smaller stations - WTVE, WBPH, etc.. - go away first. They'd be willing to sell for less, so they'd be the ones the wireless operators would go to first.

I won't say the wireless operators *won't* be able to buy out a WCAU or KYW, but I think they'll be a lot slower to do it.

 

[w9wi]

There are some quite "good" Atlantic City stations. WMCN 44 is one that comes to mind. What a waste of a station. If a new VHF station comes to DE, what is to keep the owner from having a station like WMCN on the air or a Univision station like channel 65 that really doesn't serve an entire community. In the case of a Spanish speaking station, they are not really serving the entire community when most of us speak English. With that being said, I don't deny that there is a large Spanish speaking population and they have the right to television. I mind that TV less than I mind a station like WMCN which is a waste. I'd almost like Disney to buy it to give us a 2nd channel 6 the way channel 57 is kind of a 2nd channel 3. I wish Disney bought channel 48 and not have it a waste the way it is. That religious programming is on satellite tv for anyone who wants it, the way EWTN is.

The economics just won't allow for a new mainstream station in North Delaware.

The major broadcast networks already cover the Wilmington area from their Philly transmitters. (IIRC all four major-network affiliated stations in Philly are owned by their networks) They're not going to offer affiliations to any new Wilmington-area station. WIthout those affiliations, no Wilmington station is going to be able to pull enough audience -- even in Delaware -- to pay the bills of a mainstream operation. Only by finding a niche, where they can market across the Philadelphia market, will a new Wilmington station stand any chance of succeeding.

I guess Mike really wants a channel like AC / South Jersey's channel 40 for Delaware.

I think there's a BIT of a chance this could happen in South Delaware.

There is no NBC affiliate in the Salisbury market. So one might presume a new station in South Delaware could obtain a NBC affiliation. They would be entitled to must-carry in the market, and would likely be available to viewers throughout the area. You'd have to have some deep pockets & be ready to lose a bunch of money for a few years, hoping that you'd catch on and pull enough market share to eventually make it back. But I don't think it's impossible.

 

[fybush]

There is no NBC affiliate in the Salisbury market. So one might presume a new station in South Delaware could obtain a NBC affiliation. They would be entitled to must-carry in the market, and would likely be available to viewers throughout the area. You'd have to have some deep pockets & be ready to lose a bunch of money for a few years, hoping that you'd catch on and pull enough market share to eventually make it back. But I don't think it's impossible.

Assuming, as seems likely, that the Comcast purchase of NBC goes through, I wouldn't want to be a new terrestrial station seeking an NBC affiliation right now. The days of networks paying compensation to local affiliates are over, and I suspect Comcast (or even the current GE ownership) would want enough $$ in reverse compensation to make running a brand-new NBC affiliate a losing proposition from day 1, especially against a strong local player like WBOC with its dual CBS/Fox affiliations.

Note that we're seeing CBS and ABC signing some deals to get into new small markets via DTV subchannels (Elmira's WENY-36.2 for CBS, for instance, or Macon's WGXA-16.2 for ABC), but NBC doesn't seem to have any interest in playing that game. The only new NBC affiliate I can think of in recent years is WNBW-DT in Gainesville, Florida, and that's a significantly larger and faster-growing market than Salisbury/Dover.

 

[DToTheJ]

... we're seeing CBS and ABC signing some deals to get into new small markets via DTV subchannels (Elmira's WENY-36.2 for CBS, for instance, or Macon's WGXA-16.2 for ABC)...

And Macon is only getting a "new" ABC affiliate on the heels of the owner of WPGA dumping the network over content issues.