WJAC

[fryman]

I note that Cox has put WJAC TV in J-town on the block. Talk about a heritage operation! Remember, back in the day, their hourly ID: "Serving Millions From High Atop The Alleghenies". One of the first commercial TV operations on the air back in 1948.

 

[FreddyE1977]

"Serving Millions From High Atop The Alleghenies"

And about 15,000 who are still hanging in there down along the banks of the Conemaugh.

 

[Boss Radio]

I always depend on Pittsburgh radio info for discussion of Johnstown TV stations.

 

[fryman]

If you click on Johnstown TV stations, you'll find a lot of info on Pittsburgh radio. You just have to learn how to navigate the net.

 

[kenhawk1160]

I have to say I'm a bit surprised...I thought it was good leverage for Cox to own the TV markets surrounding Pittsburgh in addition to WPXI. Out of all the TV stations in the Johnstown market, it seemed that WJAC was the most profitable.

 

[Parttimer]

Out of all the TV stations in the Johnstown market, it seemed that WJAC was the most profitable.

And that's probably true, it's just a strategic shift for Cox to focus on larger markets.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Out of all the TV stations in the Johnstown market, it seemed that WJAC was the most profitable.

And that's probably true, it's just a strategic shift for Cox to focus on larger markets.

I just read the story from the Pittsburgh Business Times. That's pretty much what they're doing. I remember how much character WJAC had for a small-market TV operation. They used to originate a LOT of local programs back in the day, much like KDKA did. JAC pre-empted a lot of network shows for their own talk and discussion shows, quiz shows, and they were also the local TV affiliate for Pirates baseball...by picking up KDKA's off-the-air feed, as I recall.

 

[FreddyE1977]

From talking with people in Johnstown it seem as if sadly the final plunge into ghost town status has begun.

From the time they put 10,000 mill workers on waivers back in the 70's, they depended on John Murtha to
bring an unending stream of defense pork into town. Inexplicably some seemed to think it would never end.
But when you live by the pork, you die by the pork (or at least you do when the powerful chairman of the
committee who controls the purse strings does). It seems as if all of those big defense shops like Concurrent
Technologies are in the process of leaving (no doubt to move to the district of whomever now controls that
money).

The recent redistricting does not help either. If Murtha's replacement eventually manages to rise to a similar
point of power the money will likely be spent in the Pittsburgh suburbs of the newly drawn district.

 

[DXDXDX]

To be absolutely correct, the phrase was: "Serving millions from atop the Alleghenies!" The call sign originally was from the first owner, the Johnstown Automotive Company. At one time there was AM, FM and TV. TV was unionized, radio wasn't. More later.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

Freddy, you summed it up perfectly. Everyone closed their eyes and ears to Murtha's BS for years because he was bringing lots and lots of jobs to the area. Now that he's gone, the pork is too. I've always said that Johnstown had all the issues of a city (you think we've got an old boy network here, it's WAY worse there) with none of the advantages.

 

[KeyTimes950]

A few thoughts, if I may ... about both WJAC and WTOV ...

(1) Given Steubenville's advertising itself as a Pittsburgh suburb, what would stop someone from buying WTOV to run as a possible regional independent that could get back on Pittsburgh cable systems? NBC could run on one HD channel for the cable systems in the Ohio Valley while this new indie could run on another.

(2) Much of the discussion here centers on WJAC's one-time status as Pittsburgh's NBC station (yeah, that long ago, and even after WIIC signed on) and its continued presence (and former strong signal) in much of the Pittsburgh ADI. I could see someone buying WJAC with the same idea in mind as a WTOV indie, offering one HD channel as an independent that easily could get better positioning on cables in such places as Greensburg and even perhaps McKeesport.

(3) Also, while Steubenville is as close to Pittsburgh as, say, Latrobe or Slippery Rock or the Mid-Mon Valley communities, Johnstown TV remains part of a regional market that includes Altoona, State College and, of lesser but still significant regional impact, DuBois, Somerset, Bedford and the crossroads of the Atlantic Seaboard, Breezewood.

Ergo, WJAC still remains a strong choice to continue as an NBC affiliate in Altoona (taking on CBS affiliate WTAJ-10, as well as Johnstown-based Fox outlet WWCP-8 and ABC affiliate WATM-23) and State College (which remains important even with a now-emasculated Penn State football program).

 

[cingram]

Given Steubenville's advertising itself as a Pittsburgh suburb, what would stop someone from buying WTOV to run as a possible regional independent that could get back on Pittsburgh cable systems? NBC could run on one HD channel for the cable systems in the Ohio Valley while this new indie could run on another.

There were several attempts to purchase and move channel 9 into Pittsburgh back in the analog era. CBS was
one of the early suitors.

I always thought 53 should have bought 9, moved it as close as possible to Pittsburgh and become a VHF indie,
eventually relinquishing 53.

In the DTV era, of course, VHF is at a disadvantage.

C.

 

[wrsg915fm]

WTOV is the NBC outlet for our DMA. If the scenario for WTOV to become an independent would become true, would that allow an NBC from another DMA (in our case, WTAP in Parkersburg, WV) to serve us? I doubt that West Virginia Media Holdings would try to get a new NBC outlet, even if it were technically possible.

 

[WCWalker]

Given Steubenville's advertising itself as a Pittsburgh suburb, what would stop someone from buying WTOV to run as a possible regional independent that could get back on Pittsburgh cable systems? NBC could run on one HD channel for the cable systems in the Ohio Valley while this new indie could run on another.

There were several attempts to purchase and move channel 9 into Pittsburgh back in the analog era. CBS was
one of the early suitors.

I always thought 53 should have bought 9, moved it as close as possible to Pittsburgh and become a VHF indie,
eventually relinquishing 53.

In the DTV era, of course, VHF is at a disadvantage.

C.

That current disadvantageous dial position could become an asset in the future. The FCC is again talking about further reducing the size of the TV band and that would apparently lead to less UHF channels. This article spells it out in plain detail what is possibly going to happen.

http://usjvc.com/blog/?p=324

If I owned a TV station that broadcast above channel 30, I'd apply for a license to use a VHF Lo or Hi channel.

 

[Parttimer]

Does it really matter anymore? the vast majority of the viewers access the station via cable or satellite, although I realize antenna viewing is more important to small-market stations.

 

[WCWalker]

Does it really matter anymore? the vast majority of the viewers access the station via cable or satellite, although I realize antenna viewing is more important to small-market stations.

That's changing. I ditched CATV and Satellite years ago and only watch OTA. May try FTA in the future though. Money is tight right now and many people don't have the extra dollars to pay for the lousy customer service they receive from various cable and satellite companies. In fact, that is precisely why I went back to OTA viewing.

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/60230/us-otaonly-tv-viewing-hits-178-of-hhs

 

[secondchoice]

If you have a good internet connection, HULU and Netflix are great. I am in a bundle right now but when it expires OTA, HULU, and Netflix for me.

 

[PT]

If one of the local stations would pry the Penguins and Pirates away from cable/sat-only ROOT sports and put it on their .2 channel, I would ditch Concast in a second. I'm curious as to why we haven't seen this in major markets yet. Perhaps the contracts have yet to expire since the advent of HDTV.

 

[xm41]

If one of the local stations would pry the Penguins and Pirates away from cable/sat-only ROOT sports and put it on their .2 channel, I would ditch Concast in a second. I'm curious as to why we haven't seen this in major markets yet. Perhaps the contracts have yet to expire since the advent of HDTV.

One big reason is that sub channels are not HD. They can be but it's pretty rare.

 

[Silver Meteor]

I can easily afford Cable TV or Satellite if I want to...but enough is enough. I put an antenna in the attic and have OTA only. Don't miss all those extra channels, that were nothing but commercials anyway. I probably will add Netflix this fall.

Cable TV and Satellite are losing lots of subscribers. They are starting to price themselves out of the market. Bottom line, OTA is well on its way back.

Back to topic...I grew up in Pittsburgh. Back in the 50's and 60's, Pirate baseball was carried on Channels 2,6 and 9. Away games only. When they did TV games, they brought in a "third" announcer to work with Bob Prince and Jim Woods, and that was Paul Long from KDKA. He helped out on radio when they had those early TV games. Good times...broadcasting was great back then.