WMGM is losing its NBC affiliation.

[rkolsen 1684]

Right, which was my point. Rehobeth is served by the Salisbury market (primarily), and by Philly/Baltimore (secondary). By picking up the NBC affiliation, it is filling the void of a primary NBC affiliate for the Delmarva area. I was making the point that that has nothing to do with AC.

Looking at the service contour I honestly now think this is going to be a joke affiliation. The signal barely extends out of Sussex a County and at its minimum reaches Wildwood NJ(which is 45 miles from AC), Ocean City MD and May not reach Salisbury. Also given the fact that LPs are not covered by must carry requirements. http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1274836

[compubit 673]

Looking at the service contour I honestly now think this is going to be a joke affiliation. The signal barely extends out of Sussex a County and at its minimum reaches Wildwood NJ(which is 45 miles from AC)' date=' Ocean City MD and May not reach Salisbury. Also given the fact that LPs are not covered by must carry requirements. http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1274836

True that it isn't covered by must carry, but the station is already on cable, even down to the MD/VA line (it's on in Comcast Pocomoke City as of two weeks ago). Dish has said they'll carry it. All that's left in the market is DirecTV - betcha they carry it too...

 

J

[ding12 0]

 

Looking at the service contour I honestly now think this is going to be a joke affiliation. The signal barely extends out of Sussex a County and at its minimum reaches Wildwood NJ(which is 45 miles from AC), Ocean City MD and May not reach Salisbury. Also given the fact that LPs are not covered by must carry requirements. http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1274836

 

Yes, but cable systems and satellite systems have to carry the closest network affiliate of a network, if they want to carry the network essentially, and it doesn't matter if the station is Low powered. It's as long as the station can provide a quality signal, and the station would likely fiber the signal in. Dish and DirecTV customers back in the day were only eligible for distant network affiliates if they were not in a Grade B signal coverage of the network (and it didn't matter if it was from a LP station). The peculiar laws carriage of around network affiliates don't distinguish between low powered or full powered station, like the must-carry laws do.

 

DirecTV is carrying WBAL in Salisbury and Dish is carrying WHAG. DirecTV will be forced to cease to offer WBAL, and Dish will be forced to cease to offer WHAG in this DMA.

 

Comcast and Fios provide WBAL and in HD. This will likely end, but the standard definition signal of WBAL might continue on the lineup, but the new station, dependent if it has an exclusive arrangement, might request blackouts of network programming on WBAL. It might just be that much of a hassle that Fios and Comcast drop WBAL altogether, especially in areas past WBAL's significantly viewed point

 

Low powered ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates generally haven't had problems getting on cable.

[ding12 0]

 

Sorry for the delayed response to these posts. I had to take a short hiatus as I wanted to repeatedly impact my head with a wall after reading some of the threads/posts on the TVNT board lately.

 

Not sure if "you" refers to Access.1 or myself. If you are referring to me then you are misunderstanding me.

 

I know they (WCAU/WNBC) cover New Jersey. What I was getting at was create they need to create a real physical presence in the state. Actually due more than then just requisite minimum of NJ news due to the state being in your coverage area(s). Basically, plant a big ass flag in NJ and set out to own the market and crush your competitors (ABC/CBS/FOX O&O's) that choose to ignore it.

 

 

I'm going to assume some of this is directed at me. By no means am I suggesting WMGM partner up or leave the air so a Philly station can come in and cover the area. I want to see WMGM as a going concern although that seems like a bit of an uphill battle at this point. The LP was exempted from the sale. So, I'm hopeful that some form of WMGM will remain post auction.

 

I agree wholeheartedly that NJ is vastly neglected. If that state was just about anywhere else in the country it would have it's own tv market(s) instead of simply being apart of a larger neighboring one(s) by virtue of geography. It's a relatively unique situation with NJ and the current solution the big NYC/PHL stations seem to employ is to mostly ignore it. Why they just forego a massive chunk of viewers boggles my mind. If any of them stepped up to the plate and actually cover NJ they could add viewers that have for years been neglected. And, by no means do I want to see any such effort simply replace current NJ-centric efforts like WMGM. They can more than co-exist within the NJ marketplace as you & I both agree that area is vastly underserved.

 

The reason I suggested WCAU (&WNBC) doing that was for a couple reasons. First, NBCU has made a signifigant commitment to the O&O's under Comcast ownership. And, NBCU/Comcast are likely to incur some negative PR as a result of WMGM losing it's affiliation. That becomes even more so if WMGM can't make a go of it after the auction as an LP. How many people in the general population realize that the incentive auction is mostly to blame? They are more likely to point the finger at Comcast. Some of the Facebook comments you linked to illustrate some people already feel this way. And, just look at that B&C article it reads almost like a hit piece. I get the impression the former GM e-mailed/wrote Tom Wheeler and cc'd some in the media hoping they'd bite. B&C did and the article coupled with his quotes imply that WMGM will likely meet it's demise because Comcast pulled the plug on the affiliation. The Press of Atlantic City article that was the basis for the Facebook comments was a little better but, still made the same implications. At best (or, worst) it was a mutual decision between WMGM & NBC not to renew. So, NBCU/Comcast could negate some of that bad press (or, gain some good press) by increasing their presence in NJ.

 

 

I left out the "how" from my theory. At bare minimum I'd expect a stepped up digital presence with more reports/video from NJ along with more of those making the air. However, to really make such an effort work they would really need a separate NJ newscast. I was thinking along the same lines as both of you. The quickest way and what was imagining was second parallel newscast airing on the Cozi TV subchannel(s) at the same time the main WCAU (&WNBC) newscasts. Basically, either the A or B blocks would unique to each each regions newscast along with the weather. But, There are several ways to accomplish such an effort as the above posts outline.

 

 

I think the only viable option for local news in So. NJ (aside from the segments/coverage on 3, 6, 10 and 29) is if WMCN added newscasts, perhaps even hiring the NBC 40 news team. WMGM will be off the air in 2015. WMCN is owned by Lenfest Broadcasting, that used to own Suburban Cable and Tri State Media News.

 

The other option is WACP but that ownership of the channel is unknown to me, and right now all it has it's infomercials which it might be content with. It will get Channel 4 on the cable lineup likely after WMGM is gone.

 

WMCN is on Ch.19 or 21, but I think if people really care for their news, they'll find out the channel number, and won't need Judge Judy, Entertainment Tonight and NBC programming around it to find out. It has worked for WFMZ but I don't know if it can be replicated elsewhere and if WMCN would go through the effort, especially as WMCN is targeted as generally Philly, rather than NJ.

 

I don't see Comcast/NBC making any concerted effort. Comcast ended regional news when it killed CN8's news, and NBC itself has generally taken the view that the O&Os can cover news/weather from the city of license, but without needing to narrowcast.

[ns8401 941]

I think the only viable option for local news in So. NJ (aside from the segments/coverage on 3, 6, 10 and 29) is if WMCN added newscasts, perhaps even hiring the NBC 40 news team. WMGM will be off the air in 2015. WMCN is owned by Lenfest Broadcasting, that used to own Suburban Cable and Tri State Media News.

 

The other option is WACP but that ownership of the channel is unknown to me, and right now all it has it's infomercials which it might be content with. It will get Channel 4 on the cable lineup likely after WMGM is gone.

 

WMCN is on Ch.19 or 21, but I think if people really care for their news, they'll find out the channel number, and won't need Judge Judy, Entertainment Tonight and NBC programming around it to find out. It has worked for WFMZ but I don't know if it can be replicated elsewhere and if WMCN would go through the effort, especially as WMCN is targeted as generally Philly, rather than NJ.

 

I don't see Comcast/NBC making any concerted effort. Comcast ended regional news when it killed CN8's news, and NBC itself has generally taken the view that the O&Os can cover news/weather from the city of license, but without needing to narrowcast.

WACP is Western Pacific Broadcast LLC.

[Mrknowitall526 115]

 

 

WMCN is on Ch.19 or 21, but I think if people really care for their news, they'll find out the channel number, and won't need Judge Judy, Entertainment Tonight and NBC programming around it to find out. It has worked for WFMZ but I don't know if it can be replicated elsewhere and if WMCN would go through the effort, especially as WMCN is targeted as generally Philly, rather than NJ.

 

 

Yes, it certainly has worked for WFMZ. Although I will say, they do air Dr. Phil at 8pm nightly, which I think is a really interesting time to air it, and it's a pretty major program. They also show at least 5 episodes of Judge Judy a day, and Family Feud. But the only thing people really watch WFMZ for is 69 News, and they market the hell out of themselves. There's currently billboards all over the Valley of the weather team with the tag line "We live here, we forecast here," I'm assuming taking direct aim at the Philly stations.

 

WFMZ also has a heavy presence on the radio, providing morning news updates for many stations - some even use a recording from Jaciel Cordoba. They power several traffic reports, also, all over the Valley and Berks County. And when it snows - no one beats the 69 News Stormcenter Update for school/business/church/library closings/delays and municipal snow emergencies.

 

So, it is certainly possible, with a valiant effort to be relevant in the area.

[compubit 673]

W

Comcast and Fios provide WBAL and in HD. This will likely end, but the standard definition signal of WBAL might continue on the lineup, but the new station, dependent if it has an exclusive arrangement, might request blackouts of network programming on WBAL. It might just be that much of a hassle that Fios and Comcast drop WBAL altogether, especially in areas past WBAL's significantly viewed point

 

It could get interesting, as Comcast carries the following stations in the market:

WBOC/CBS (SD & HD)

WBOC/Fox (SD & HD) - interesting, since WBOC/21.2/Fox is SD widescreen over the air

WMDT/ABC (SD & HD)

WMDT/CW (SD & HD)

WBAL/NBC (SD & HD)

WBAL/Me (SD)

WRDE/My-RTV (SD)

WTTG/Fox (SD & HD) - also interesting, since it's channel number is in the mid-900s and the rest are in the low-800s (sort of in hiding - it's SD channel is 98 and the rest are below 20)

WRC/NBC (SD)

WJZ/CBS (SD)

 

Something will get the boot, but not sure which NBC...

 

J

[CircleSeven 1955]

W

It could get interesting, as Comcast carries the following stations in the market:

WBOC/CBS (SD & HD)

WBOC/Fox (SD & HD) - interesting, since WBOC/21.2/Fox is SD widescreen over the air

WMDT/ABC (SD & HD)

WMDT/CW (SD & HD)

WBAL/NBC (SD & HD)

WBAL/Me (SD)

WRDE/My-RTV (SD)

WTTG/Fox (SD & HD) - also interesting, since it's channel number is in the mid-900s and the rest are in the low-800s (sort of in hiding - it's SD channel is 98 and the rest are below 20)

WRC/NBC (SD)

WJZ/CBS (SD)

 

Something will get the boot, but not sure which NBC...

 

J

If its a Comcast system, I would suspect they will show their bias-ness and keep WRC and yank WBAL. Even though the latter is closer to the Delmarva than the other.

[ding12 0]

 

WACP is Western Pacific Broadcast LLC.

 

That I know, but to me it's a faceless organization of which all I know is they are just a company taking a profit airing informercials but with no value back to the community. The same owners did win approval to move WMDE from Seaford to Dover, DE which is within the Philly DMA and eligible for must-carry in Philly DMA. So, it'll start another full powered station and just run infomercials?! I wonder if they will be challenged on must-carry for duplication of just running infomercials although they could run different infomercials. It's somewhat an abuse of the must-carry system.

 

These VHF stations can get low dial cable channel numbering, which can help with marketability and newscasts likelihood, although the chances are slim in this case. It will be annoying going from KYW to WPVI and having to pass 2 infomercial channels.

[adamv2 21]

Update: WMGM is no longer an NBC affiliate as of the 1st of the year. My mother was wondering why Days wasn't recording on the dvr, so I had to go check it out, and sure enough she had it set to record off of MGM instead of nbc10.

[Mrknowitall526 115]

Directv has a message up stating that NBC programming can be found on Channel 10.

 

Is WMGM still doing their news right now?

[tw-804 190]

 

Directv has a message up stating that NBC programming can be found on Channel 10.

 

Is WMGM still doing their news right now?

 

No. December 31st was their last newscast.

[Mrknowitall526 115]

 

No. December 31st was their last newscast.

 

So what fills their timeslots now?

[PhillyWatch 239]

WMGM is currently running Soul of the South on 40.1. Their newscast stream on their site briefly worked the ther night and I was able to see a bit of a Richard Pryor special. Their listings on their site also show SOTS programming, which does include an in-house (SOTS) nightly news production as well as outsourced world news broadcasts from Africa-based ARISE news network.

[BigJohnnyV 1]

I've been thinking about this for a while and came up with a theory. If you'll notice WMGM has not taken down its NBC40.net website nor their Facebook or Twitter accounts

or removed any reference to NBC 40 or the NBC television network, so here's what I'm thinking could possible happen when LocusPoint finally sells WMGM's spectrum

on Channel 36 at the next FCC auction, Access.1 Communications which still owns the low-powered translator on VHF Channel 7 will apply to the FCC for full power status

take over the virtual channel 40, moving the station's transmitter from Atlantic City which is right off of the ACE (Atlantic City Expressway) to the former WMGM's transmitter

on Avalon Blvd in Swainton and and resume life as an NBC affiliate.

 

I'm just making an assumption but I think NBC would be receptive to the having an affiliate back in South Jersey as long as Access.1 which is a full broadcaster agrees

not to sell the station to spectrum speculators like LocusPoint Networks, NJR or OTA Broadcasting and maybe just maybe we'll NBC programming return.

 

I'd like to hear what you guy think about this.

[scranton 23]

 

And their website is finally down.

[JoeShatee5 0]

When WMGM-TV lost it's NBC affiliation, why did the live local news not continue afterwards?

[Weeters 1916]

When WMGM-TV lost it's NBC affiliation, why did the live local news not continue afterwards?

 

Simple answer: $$$

 

Long answer: $$$$$$$$

 

They were kept afloat from ad sales during network programming. No network programming = no high ad rates. Believe it or not, but a single spot on an independent during reruns go for a couple hundred (if even a couple) for 30 seconds and that's in a mid-size market.

[JoeShatee5 0]

It never happened before that a television station cancelled its news when an network affiliation was lost.

[Weeters 1916]

It never happened before that a television station cancelled its news when an network affiliation was lost.

Those stations weren't WMGM.

 

This was a station that edited their farewell packages on tape and switched their final show on the same exact switcher that they were using back in 1990 when they shot the

promos. They did not have a lot of money.

 

Also, read up on WCAN-TV, a CBS affiliate that was in Milwaukee in the early 1950's, which shut down entirely after CBS bought a station outright and took the affiliation away from WCAN.

[mardek1995 200]

Simple answer: $$$

 

Long answer: $$$$$$$$

 

They were kept afloat from ad sales during network programming. No network programming = no high ad rates. Believe it or not, but a single spot on an independent during reruns go for a couple hundred (if even a couple) for 30 seconds and that's in a mid-size market.

That, and NBC had its main channel on WCAU (btw, one of the few times that I refer to an O&O with the network mandate branding by the call letters)

[Mrknowitall526 115]

It looks like news is back in South Jersey on Channel 4 (WACP): https://snjtoday.com/news/

[Eat News 4745]

It looks like news is back in South Jersey on Channel 4 (WACP): https://snjtoday.com/news/

 

That's actually not too bad. The opening is a bit European.

Decent product.

[TSSZNews 1051]

Simple answer: $$$

 

Long answer: $$$$$$$$

 

They were kept afloat from ad sales during network programming. No network programming = no high ad rates. Believe it or not, but a single spot on an independent during reruns go for a couple hundred (if even a couple) for 30 seconds and that's in a mid-size market.

 

WMGM is one of the rare instances, I think, where being acquired by Sinclair or Nexstar would have been beneficial. I look at WHAG--which could have very easily met the same fate WMGM did when their NBC affiliation got pulled earlier this year--but because of Nexstar being such a behemoth, they can as a company afford to invest in more local product.

 

WMGM was locally owned until Howard Green's death--there are some great benefits to that, but also one big disadvantage when the network plays hardball and you lack strength in numbers.

 

FTR, SNJ Today for all intents and purposes *is* what NBC40's news once was--right down to much of the talent working on it, on and off-air.

[rkolsen 1684]

WMGM was locally owned until Howard Green's death--there are some great benefits to that, but also one big disadvantage when the network plays hardball and you lack strength in numbers.

 

Wasn't it true that WMGM's affiliation agreement wasn't so much a contract but a gentlemens agreement? If so I imagine they didn't have the pressures of reverse compensation that the other affiliates had.