WZMY Lays Off Al Kaprielian

[bg02445]

His last day at MyTV channel 50 will be December 31.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCaveVsJfVs

Al is well recognized for his 25 years at the station, the last few as the only on-air personality remaining.

 

[Schuyler]

Say it ain't so! What else have they GOT? ???

 

[FRM-Yankey]

Ouch, too bad sounds like zmy has problems, next will be an ION type station with informercials?

 

[BRNout]

He was the face of TV 50 for so many years! What a shame. Basically, they're to the point where nothing and no one at TV 50 is safe. I wish Al the very best of luck! It's tough out there, but I have faith that he'll land on his feet somewhere.

 

[kms575]

He was the face of TV 50 for so many years! What a shame. Basically, they're to the point where nothing and no one at TV 50 is safe. I wish Al the very best of luck! It's tough out there, but I have faith that he'll land on his feet somewhere.

It won't be the same when "high pressha" builds into the region.

 

[jlehmann]

He was the face of TV 50 for so many years! What a shame. Basically, they're to the point where nothing and no one at TV 50 is safe. I wish Al the very best of luck! It's tough out there, but I have faith that he'll land on his feet somewhere.

Unfortunately I can't see him landing anywhere else. Other TV stations with newscasts/weather as all much to serious to accept his unique personality. WNDS was the perfect place for him, and with how far they've fallen since becoming WZMY, this is just the nail in the coffin.

 

[newsbot]

And so the debacle is complete. ShootingStar vastly overpaid for the station and can't bail fast enough. Last one out, turn off the lights...

 

[raccoonradio]

Herald says he'll still be on WCAP


http://www.bostonherald.com/news/re...thermans_tv_reign_to_end/srvc=home&position=5

 

[Oldbones]

I never got his alleged appeal. To me he was the epitome of bush league...much like pre-Hearst WMUR.

Tough to make a go of it without a real network affiliation.
Any guesses on when they go dark, or foreign-language like Ch. 60?

 

[mescutia]

I never got his alleged appeal. To me he was the epitome of bush league...much like pre-Hearst WMUR.

I don't remember pre-Hearst WMUR, which is rather embarrassing considering that I'm in the Manchester sub-market.

Tough to make a go of it without a real network affiliation.
Any guesses on when they go dark, or foreign-language like Ch. 60?

WZMY is currently a MNTV affiliate. Not that that's saying much.

Still, the station was around for 23 years before becoming a MNTV affiliate, so anything's possible. Unfortunately, it's always had the feel of a small-market station, and I haven't seen any indication that it's stepped up its game now that it's the de facto MNTV affiliate for Boston. But, then, I haven't watched the station in years.

Maybe News Corp will buy it and turn it into a repeater for WFXT in the same way WPXG is a repeater for WBPX.

 

[MCarney]

Maybe News Corp will buy it and turn it into a repeater for WFXT in the same way WPXG is a repeater for WBPX.

More likely News Corp would pull the MyTV affiliation and stick it on a subchannel of WFXT. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a station and making room for it under current FCC regulations. That doesn't help WZMY, but Fox feels they get enough NH viewers via cable. A possibility for WZMY is to take the Azteca America affiliation, which is now on an analog low-power station in the Boston area and isn't on cable.

As for WMUR in the pre-Hearst days they did not go full color until 1972. And they cleared most of the ABC lineup at a time when WCVB wouldn't. I remember fiddling with the rabbit ears to get WMUR in on Saturdays to watch American Bandstand in the late 70s. They also carried roller derby and Hee Haw on Saturday in the 5-8p timeslots.

 

[DToTheJ]

More likely News Corp would pull the MyTV affiliation and stick it on a subchannel of WFXT. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a station and making room for it under current FCC regulations... A possibility for WZMY is to take the Azteca America affiliation, which is now on an analog low-power station in the Boston area and isn't on cable.

1. Is the Spanish-speaking population big enough in New Hampshire to warrant such a move; and

2. Could Azteca make more money long-term for 50 as opposed to remaining a MyTV affiliate? I am not familiar with Azteca's advertising clock (do they even have one?) but I understand many of their stations are of the low-power variety.

Plus, Fox could stand to make more money with My on a broadcast stick, as opposed to an HD subchannel.

 

[MCarney]

The difference now is the economy. When MyTV started Fox paid many of the affiliates to carry, but that doesn't make economic sense now. If they want to get out of paying and run it cheaper (especially since it's no longer considered a network but a programming service) slapping it on WFXT either out of rotation or a digital subchannel makes sense. The down side is 1) getting the subchannel on local cable systems and 2) getting viewers to understand the change. On Comcast subchannels are placed in the high 200s where the OTA main channels are between 2-21. So if MyTV moved to 25.2 there is a percentage of the cable popluation who won't get it because they only have local basic (where WZMY is) or aren't aware of the new channel listing.

As for Azteca this would be a win since WZMY already is carried throughout most of the Boston area. Much like Telemundo 60 they would set themselves up as a Boston-area station. Is there a call for a 4th full power Spanish station in the market? I'm not sure but that won't stop someone from checking it out. From my understanding Azteca gears more towards Mexican tastes than either Univision or Telemundo.

 

[BRNout]

As for Azteca this would be a win since WZMY already is carried throughout most of the Boston area. Much like Telemundo 60 they would set themselves up as a Boston-area station. Is there a call for a 4th full power Spanish station in the market? I'm not sure but that won't stop someone from checking it out. From my understanding Azteca gears more towards Mexican tastes than either Univision or Telemundo.

Very few markets can support a full-powered Azteca affiliate and I tend to doubt that Boston is one of them. For one thing, the vast majority of Latinos in the market are of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage. There are also quite a few Brazilians who likely also watch the likes of Univision and Telemundo. Yes, I know they speak Portuguese; but many understand Spanish pretty well too and enjoy the shows (the formats of which are more similar to Brazilian TV than English speaking fare is). None of these groups are interested in what Azteca is offering.

Furthermore, I can't think of a single major market where Azteca is mounting a serious challenge to UNI or TEL. It is (of course) strongest in places like LA, Fresno, San Antonio, etc., but still doesn't even offer the best Mexican-based programming which is usually on Univision.

From reading these posts, I get an impression (perhaps mistaken) that you guys share the feeling of "slap something in Spanish on there and it'll work." That's not necessarily so - not by any means. It's certainly not the case with what should happen with WZMY. Yeah, with their ownership, anything can happen. But it doesn't mean that 'anything' will work. They're more likely to make money from running shopping fare or those damn infomercials all day than fooling around with Azteca America. The economics of that network in an area like Boston are really only met when you run that programming on a digital subchannel or a low powered channel. Even in Chicago, AA can't do any better than an LP station and that's a market with a Mexican population that's probably 100 times larger than Boston.

One last note: forget any focus on 'New Hampshire' when it comes to Spanish language TV. The Latino population there is far too small to support much of anything. Yeah, it's bigger than it used to be and it's growing. But it still amounts to only about 60 or 70,000 people statewide (roughly 6%). That's insignificant. No, anything in Spanish has to target the entire Boston DMA as most Latinos in the market live in places like Lawrence, Lowell, Everett, Worcester and even Boston proper.

 

[MCarney]

I didn't say it would work. I just said that the probability of failure would not stop someone from trying. AM radio is a great example of that right now. If Shooting Star Broadcasting had an offer from someone wanting to rent the station or buy time and the check cleared they would consider it no matter what the format was (shopping, infomercials, political, religious, ethnic). It's a business and they would like to make a profit. I've worked long enough in this industry to know that station owners change their mind on what's great radio or TV once an income stream is at hand. And if they can't make enough money selling time in current programming they always have the option of shutting down the station and returning the license.

 

[Wbzfm2010]

heres a thought why wouldn't they take the rtv affiliate and put it on wzmy and put mytv on wmfp that would take it out of NH and into the Boston area where it belongs and put Rtv on a channel maybe they could expand the hours again instead of 12-12midnight

 

[BRNout]

I didn't say it would work. I just said that the probability of failure would not stop someone from trying. AM radio is a great example of that right now. If Shooting Star Broadcasting had an offer from someone wanting to rent the station or buy time and the check cleared they would consider it no matter what the format was (shopping, infomercials, political, religious, ethnic). It's a business and they would like to make a profit. I've worked long enough in this industry to know that station owners change their mind on what's great radio or TV once an income stream is at hand. And if they can't make enough money selling time in current programming they always have the option of shutting down the station and returning the license.

Not disagreeing with much of what you've said; however, if they followed your advice we would more likely see a home shopping or all infomercial channel. Not Azteca America nor RTV.

heres a thought why wouldn't they take the rtv affiliate and put it on wzmy and put mytv on wmfp that would take it out of NH and into the Boston area where it belongs and put Rtv on a channel maybe they could expand the hours again instead of 12-12midnight

The difference between having it on WMFP and WZMY is nil as far as viewers would be concerned. Both are primarily viewed on cable and WZMY is on cable in all but the southernmost edge of the market. Makes little difference financially.

Moving My "...into the Boston area where it belongs?" Wow, that's a myopic opinion if I've ever read one. What, you live in Somerville and think that Billerica is in the north woods somewhere? Tell all those hundreds of thousands of people that commute to Boston down I-93 from Derry and Londonderry that they're not part of the Boston area and see what they say.

Besides that discussion is moot because Derry is just as much in the market as Newton is.

 

[PaulRAnderson]

Besides that discussion is moot because Derry is just as much in the market as Newton is.

I live in southern New Hampshire. We don't shop in Massachusetts. We read the Telegraph or Union Leader--not the Globe--and even have our own governor and other politicians (!). We are curious about the Boston TV stations we are forced to watch (thank goodness for WMUR) and the goings on in places we don't know about and will never visit. Personally, I don't consider myself near Boston in any way.

Besides, Newton is 8 miles from Boston while Derry is 39 miles. Bit of a difference.

Paul

 

[BRNout]

Besides that discussion is moot because Derry is just as much in the market as Newton is.

I live in southern New Hampshire. We don't shop in Massachusetts. We read the Telegraph or Union Leader--not the Globe--and even have our own governor and other politicians (!). We are curious about the Boston TV stations we are forced to watch (thank goodness for WMUR) and the goings on in places we don't know about and will never visit. Personally, I don't consider myself near Boston in any way.

Besides, Newton is 8 miles from Boston while Derry is 39 miles. Bit of a difference.

Paul

Being originally from southern NH, I know a little about this too. I never shopped in MA either (taxes and surly service being the main factors). And I share your sentiment about avoiding Boston whenever possible. Then again, the behavior patterns in southern NH with regard to Boston are not much different that what I now see from my new home in the suburbs well NW of Chicago with regard to Chicago proper (and we shop locally in Lake county instead of Cook because of high taxes there...not unlike when I lived in NH).

But the main metro area in which Nashua, Derry and Salem sit is still Boston and huge percentages of people in southern NH work south of the border. Tons of "Massh*les" have moved there in search of more affordable housing. The Boston Globe still has substantial subscription sales in southern NH and people from NH go to Boston when they want a night out in the city. With regard to your comment about the Union Leader and Telegraph, that means nothing. People south of Boston get the Enterprise and in Worcester County get the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. They favor those papers over the Globe too - because local news is the main reason for their subscriptions. Those examples are representative of a sub-set of the larger metropolitan area. Yeah, you live in a different state with a different governor, etc. (though sadly less and less different as time goes on). And people from New Jersey and CT have different governors than NY, yet Newark and Stamford are well within the New York Metro area.

When I needed to travel somewhere that Southwest didn't fly, I had to go to Boston Logan. When I did fly Southwest from Manchester (which I preferred), a substantial percentage of my fellow passengers came from Boston and other MA towns north of Boston. Manchester-Boston Regional Airport would be nothing more than a puddle-jump stop if it were not for that proximity as a 'secondary' airport. "Downtown" generally meant Boston. And it was (and is) generally a pain in the butt to get there. But that's no different than it is for someone from Worcester - which is farther from Boston than Derry is.

Most importantly, Hillsborough and Rockingham counties are parts of the Boston designated metropolitan statistical area. When considered in the context of this thread (television), Derry and Newton are basically in the same pot with the exception of WMUR - which is an anomaly.

If Manchester ever got its own TV market, that would all change. But that will probably never happen. Unless it does, WZMY is entitled to market itself as a "Boston" station unless it chooses to super-serve southern New Hampshire. Frankly, it irked me to be stuck with only 2 NFL games on doubleheader Sundays when the Pats were home (yet Providence viewers weren't) - but that's how it is because you live in the Boston DMA if you live in Derry. And I have several friends who live there and they all commute to Boston or its near northern suburbs.

 

[beantownradio25]

This is how things should have gone in 2006:

CW affiliation goes to WSBK

MyNetworkTv affiliation goes to WLVI.

Why did CBS insist on WSBK returning to it's independent status?

I really hope WZMY loses their MyNetworkTv affiliation and the affiliation finds somewhere else here in Boston, not Derry New Hampshire.

Seriously what do they have left now that Al is gone?