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WWE and "Smackdown" off CW schedule

Re: "Smackdown"...on MY??

JayR said:
Interesting you mention that...

In the Fort Myers market, UPN used to be on a low-power station (seen on DBS) and a cable-only channel (yes, two outlets). Since the time when UPN ceased, the low-power station became a repeater for the Univision affiliate. The cable-only channel picked up MY. Outside of cable, the only other way to watch MY is via DISH Network's WWOR "MY 9" (seen on ch. 238).

If you don't have cable or subscribe to DISH Network (and subscribe to WWOR), you're SOL!

It will be interesting should FOX pick it up and air it on MY.
Click to expand...

That'd be a tremendous problem for for me, who lives in the rural in-betweens of the Mobile, AL-Pensacola, FL and Montgomery, AL markets. There's no way I can get MyNetworkTV without moving!

Here's how it is: Living in Monroeville, AL, Mediacom Cable gives us the ABC, NBC, CBS, & FOX affils from both markets--but gives us The CW from cable, not from Mobile's WBPG 55 or Montgomery's WBMM 22. And no WRJM 67, Montgomery's MNTV affiliate, either.

The DBS services (DirecTV & Dish Network) only offer the Mobile-Pensacola stations in my area. But there's no true MyNetworkTV affiliate in the market (WFGX "my 35" is practically a Pensacola only outlet) and isn't carried by either digital satellite company. But if I lived due north, I could probably get WRJM 67, Montgomery's MNTV.
 
I Guess there is a lot of places that won't see Smackdown if they go to MY Network TV.

Maybe if they get the WWE than they can do what FOX did when it got the NFL in 1994

by finding affiliates to switch with if they don't like the CW or Ion, etc.

As for the insumption of Smackdown vs. Raw, I only thought they could change the schedule to make it happen.

I remember the Monday Night Wars between WCW & WWE in the 1990's, and it was fun flipping from USA to TNT to see what would happen next.

As for Impact vs. Smackdown, we know already who will win that war. ;D
 
Re: "Smackdown"...on MY??

Nate Wesley said:
The DBS services (DirecTV & Dish Network) only offer the Mobile-Pensacola stations in my area. But there's no true MyNetworkTV affiliate in the market (WFGX "my 35" is practically a Pensacola only outlet) and isn't carried by either digital satellite company. But if I lived due north, I could probably get WRJM 67, Montgomery's MNTV.
Click to expand...

It's actually much worse than that in Market #61 (Mobile, AL - Pensacola, FL - Fort Walton Beach, FL). WFGX's over the air signal only reaches maybe 20 miles from downtown Fort Walton, essentially making it a Fort Walton/Destin only station. The cable head-ends for Mediacom in Santa Rosa county (Milton/Pace and Gulf Breeze/Navarre) along with Cox in Escambia county (Pensacola) have to pick up the signal off air. As you may know we have regular problems with tropospheric ducting down here on the gulf coast, so even cable coverage isn't reliable. WFGX is unwatchable on cable in Santa Rosa county about 20% of the time and it's much worse in Pensacola/Escambia county. On top of that WFGX is not carried on any cable systems in Mobile, or the Alabama and Mississippi counties in the Mobile DMA, so I would guess that over 75% of households in the Mobile DMA have no access to MyNetworkTV programing!
I haven't checked in a while, but Sinclair had been trying to move the transmitter for WFGX-DT to the Baldwin county antenna farm, with all the other networks, but that was denied by the FCC. They even tried to move to the WPAN-TV/WUWF-FM tower in Navarre, which would give them some coverage to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, but that too fell through. I don't see why Sinclair doesn't just put WFGX on WEAR-DT2 and in turn put WEAR on WFGX-DT2 for Fort Walton/Destin viewers. At least that would give them a way to get the signal to the head-ends of all the local Mobile DMA cable companies.
 
I remember reading something where cable wise Smackdown can only go to 1 of the NBC Universal cable stations (USA, Bravo, Sci Fi, MSNBC, CNBC etc). Iam guessing this would make MYnetworktv and USA the 2 favorites. I also wouldn't be shocked to possibly see ECW get moved to their website (like heat) and smackdown go live from 9-11pm on Scifi on Tuesday.
 
Re: "Smackdown"...on MY??

poledo said:
Nate Wesley said:
The DBS services (DirecTV & Dish Network) only offer the Mobile-Pensacola stations in my area. But there's no true MyNetworkTV affiliate in the market (WFGX "my 35" is practically a Pensacola only outlet) and isn't carried by either digital satellite company. But if I lived due north, I could probably get WRJM 67, Montgomery's MNTV.
Click to expand...

It's actually much worse than that in Market #61 (Mobile, AL - Pensacola, FL - Fort Walton Beach, FL). WFGX's over the air signal only reaches maybe 20 miles from downtown Fort Walton, essentially making it a Fort Walton/Destin only station. The cable head-ends for Mediacom in Santa Rosa county (Milton/Pace and Gulf Breeze/Navarre) along with Cox in Escambia county (Pensacola) have to pick up the signal off air. As you may know we have regular problems with tropospheric ducting down here on the gulf coast, so even cable coverage isn't reliable. WFGX is unwatchable on cable in Santa Rosa county about 20% of the time and it's much worse in Pensacola/Escambia county. On top of that WFGX is not carried on any cable systems in Mobile, or the Alabama and Mississippi counties in the Mobile DMA, so I would guess that over 75% of households in the Mobile DMA have no access to MyNetworkTV programing!
I haven't checked in a while, but Sinclair had been trying to move the transmitter for WFGX-DT to the Baldwin county antenna farm, with all the other networks, but that was denied by the FCC. They even tried to move to the WPAN-TV/WUWF-FM tower in Navarre, which would give them some coverage to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, but that too fell through. I don't see why Sinclair doesn't just put WFGX on WEAR-DT2 and in turn put WEAR on WFGX-DT2 for Fort Walton/Destin viewers. At least that would give them a way to get the signal to the head-ends of all the local Mobile DMA cable companies.
Click to expand...

That would seem to work better. MNTV should've just signed a DT subchannel deal with WPMI or WEAR--there's no way it should have ever landed on WFGX, who should probably be an Ion or America One affiliate at best.

Huntsville, AL (part of a smaller market than Mobile/Pensacola) had gotten The WB that way for years via WZDX Fox 54, and it's now how they get MNTV.
 
ericNY said:
I remember reading something where cable wise Smackdown can only go to 1 of the NBC Universal cable stations (USA, Bravo, Sci Fi, MSNBC, CNBC etc). Iam guessing this would make MYnetworktv and USA the 2 favorites. I also wouldn't be shocked to possibly see ECW get moved to their website (like heat) and smackdown go live from 9-11pm on Scifi on Tuesday.
Click to expand...

If Scifi gains another wrestling program, it might just be time for them to change their name to reflect a "tougher" identity, e.g. what TNN did after getting WWE rights by changing to Spike TV.
 
Eric Stein said:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003708685

Could MyNetworkTV be interested? It's low-brow entertainment (in my opinion), but if so, this would put them on the map.
Click to expand...

Noting your taste in tv, with such highbrow shows out there as "Lipstick Jungle", "George Lopez", "World's Next Supermodel". "Big Brother" and any of the dozen "Judge Judy" clones, I certainly wouldn't want to see wrestling on television either. It always amazes me how people criticize wrestling while never calling for the cancellation of reality shows (Eaten any yummy bugs lately?), talk shows (yes - I too can't get through the day without a pep talk from Dr. Phil.) , and low-brow comedies (Two and A Half Men is genius; sure beats that dry old Dickens stuff).
 
DToTheJ said:
If Scifi gains another wrestling program, it might just be time for them to change their name to reflect a "tougher" identity, e.g. what TNN did after getting WWE rights by changing to Spike TV.
Click to expand...

They actually stuck with the TNN name ("The New TNN" or "The National Network") for a few years after the WWE debuted there in 2000. The revamp to "Spike TV" didn't occur until 2003.
 
Buddy Hayes said:
A pro wrestling newsletter reports that MNTV and WGN Superstation are the finalists in the Smackdown sweepstakes.
Click to expand...

Superstation WGN?? Source, please.

There are cable systems which, to this date, don't carry Superstation WGN.

This will be interesting, indeed.
 
KML-224 said:
Show me a single cable system in New England which carries WGN. I've never seen one.
Click to expand...

The same was true of TCI (>>AT&T Broadband>>Comcast) of south Florida in the late 90s.

Not sure if Comcast has picked it up since...
 
I thought Tribune didn't have much money. Now they want Smackdown. I know WGN is a national channel but getting into the local for a min. Isn't the reason in Connecticut that WTIC-TV and WTXX didn't get the rights to UCONN Men's basketball and football was because of Tribune?

Anyways back to the topic. It would be nice to get Superstation WGN in Connecticut on Cox Cable. I know in South Carolina on Time Warner cable they get WGN.
 
The TVWeek article mentions Tribune so that means all of their regional superstations would get it (WGN, WPIX, etc.)

I'm personally routing for My Network TV in this one.

The only reason Tribune wants it is so it would air locally on WGN still because the local WGN is a CW affiliate.
 
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