Does station coverage from an adjacent market not count because it's not in that market?

[TheRolyPoly 1847]

I live in San Diego. In my childhood, I got lots of la stations on cable. 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 at various times, IIRC. San Diego is pretty big, but LA is a global city. So it's a lot of fun to watch from that market. However, I don't know much about LA. I have no clue about the 57 or the 405. I know the 52 and the 805 freeways.

 

In short, there is no sub for local news, but adjacent news can be fun if you know your own area but don't necessarily know theirs.

 

Example: When WGN News was on Superstation WGN (yes, I'm using their old name because it was better back then) at 12:00 Noon and 9:00pm. I barely know anything about Chicago but watching WGN was fascinating and amazing and at times, I would watch WGN over WSVN.

[24994J 5280]

Example: When WGN News was on Superstation WGN (yes, I'm using their old name because it was better back then) at 12:00 Noon and 9:00pm. I barely know anything about Chicago but watching WGN was fascinating and amazing and at times, I would watch WGN over WSVN.

WOO-HOO!

 

[TheRolyPoly 1847]

WOO-HOO!

 

 

I loved watching Tom and I still do. :-)

[NEOMatrix 1295]

Heck, when my grandparents first got Dish Network back in 1999, we were able to get the superstition package with out-of- market UPN and WB stations from New York, Boston, Denver, and Los Angeles. It was then that I saw the slow demise of WWOR into irrelevance.

[Payton39 25]

Example: When WGN News was on Superstation WGN (yes, I'm using their old name because it was better back then) at 12:00 Noon and 9:00pm. I barely know anything about Chicago but watching WGN was fascinating and amazing and at times, I would watch WGN over WSVN.

 

Like I said, it has its appeal.

[Payton39 25]

You would get a kick out of watching the El Centro /Yuma stations.

 

I do need to try to find a webcast from out there. I was watching CBS Austin after the balloon crash. Never even been to CTX, though.

[Samantha 2878]

I do need to try to find a webcast from out there. I was watching CBS Austin after the balloon crash. Never even been to CTX, though.

 

The problem is that there's only one English-language operator and two on the US side. The entire cluster has one website. And KYMA blows KSWT and KECY out of the water in the Facebook likes department.

 

The other US operator is Entravision, which does not maintain a heavy local news presence.

[AJClementeFan69 477]

Question: when is the last time Nielsen switched a county (particularly a "sandwich" county that's still decently populated) to another DMA?

 

Seems like all of the maps over the past decade or so have remained constant unless I'm missing something.

[tyrannical bastard 3488]

Question: when is the last time Nielsen switched a county (particularly a "sandwich" county that's still decently populated) to another DMA?

 

Seems like all of the maps over the past decade or so have remained constant unless I'm missing something.

 

Athens County, Ohio has bounced back and forth between Columbus and Charleston/Huntington over the years. FOX has been the comer and go-er with WTTE being piped in when it's part of Columbus and WVAH when it's Charleston-Huntington. The other stations, with the exception of WBNS being relegated to CHANNEL 995 on Time Warner's system there, co-exist on cable on the basic tier. WWHO appeared during their last stint under Columbus rule, but WQCW has endured as the CW station available. WBNS the result of a retransmission spat between Dispatch and Time Warner and since it was under Charleston-Huntington at the time, TWC sent them packing, to the dismay of local viewers who were subjected to WOWK as their default CBS affiliate, residing on WBNS' old slot of 10.

 

Before LIL service on satellite, Athens County was a rural market and qualified for NY/LA feeds as locals. And even though Athens is way closer to the micro-markets of Zanesville and Parkersburg, neither cities' stations have been on cable in Athens for years.

 

I loved watching Tom and I still do.

 

WGN should seriously consider bringing back their newscasts to WGNA. Their morning show is ten times more entertaining than being subjected to hours of crap you can see on your local station anyways. And Tom Freakin' Skilling....need I say more?

[news89 467]

Question: when is the last time Nielsen switched a county (particularly a "sandwich" county that's still decently populated) to another DMA?

 

Seems like all of the maps over the past decade or so have remained constant unless I'm missing something.

 

Athens County OH will sometimes go back and forth between Charleston-Huntington WV and Columbus market. I know chs-Hnt stations are still on cable in Athens. I lived in the Chs-Hnt market for 2 years I didn't mind the news coverage minus Sinclair8&11. I almost moved to Columbus market which I'm glad I didnt.

[Thundershock MN 169]

Satellite has really established the "boundaries" of local markets by tying markets to zip codes, with little hope of offering "significantly viewed" stations to viewers. (I know that has changed, but I sure haven't seen it....if ANYONE has any evidence of this happening, I would like to know...)

Ask and you shall receive...

 

I mentioned this back in post a year ago. But, the STELAR legislation passed in December of 2014 directed the FCC to create a "market modification" process (similar to the one that has been used with regards to cable operators for many years) for DBS. On February 26, 2016 the new market modification rules for satellite went into effect. Here is a link to a PDF going over FAQs related to the new satellite market modification process.

 

Now as I mentioned in that post a year ago there will still always be some differences in the Cable & DBS laws no matter how hard they try to make them similar. STELAR did a good job bringing them closer together however, I don't see them getting much closer than they are now. The fact remains that although cable and satellite are viewed as the "same thing" to the end user there are some vast differences in how they operate. For example Cable systems operate on a local level whereas satellite operates on a national level. As such some of the rules governing cable operators and satellite operators are different....they have to be. And, it's a two way street there are a few stations (KAWB and KWCM) I currently have on DIRECTV as a result of current rules that would never be carried on the local Comcast system.

 

It's also worth noting that the DBS Market Modification process could result in a modifications for DIRECTV but not Dish. Again, recognizing that the satellite providers operate on a national level a petition could be denied if it is not technically and economically feasible for the satellite operator. For Example, I'll just pick Waupaca county in Wisconsin, located in the Green Bay DMA. Let's say a station in the Wausau DMA submits a market modification request. Without looking at spotbeam maps, etc, DIRECTV should be able to accommodate such a request. However, Dish on the other hand would need likely need to install a second dish on those subscribers homes and, that's not "technically or economically feasible". So, you could end up with a situation where a station must be carried on DIRECTV but not on Dish. In other words it's never going to be perfect or the same everywhere...it is what it is.

 

As a sidebar if I were a Satellite subscriber in a market like this and could obtain a reasonable OTA signal I'd invest in an OTA adapter. DIRECTV has the AM-21 and Dish has a OTA module as well. They integrate the OTA channels into the guide, etc. Plus, I think they are pretty nice to have in general regardless of what DMA you are in.

 

I know that LocalTV/Tribune own WJW. They also own WITI but Fox still forced cable providers in Sheboygan to stop Sinclair's WLUK to protect WITI's ratings. I'm just wondering why Fox hasn't told WJW to go bye-bye off TWC Trumbull County on Media General's behalf.

First, they're could be a host of reasons WJW is still carried. And, Fox isn't the one forcing cable operators to drop neighboring affiliates. The affiliates themselves are doing this although Fox has used contractual language in affiliation agreements to "force" affiliates into it. So, I guess you could say Fox "indirectly" caused it.

 

With that said the STELAR legislation noted above also required the FCC to implement protections for significantly viewed stations or those subject to an approved market modification request. As a result such contractual obligations have now been superseded by federal law in some instances.

[mrschimpf 2065]

S!nclair has also been very protective about adjacent market cable coverage throughout the country. That situation with WLUK and WITI may have been the result of a mutual agreement between Tribune and S!nclair.

 

It actually dated back before those two took over WITI (then under Local TV ownership) and WLUK (LIN before they spun it off before the Media General deal), and WLUK itself was in a tug-of-war with WLUC-DT2 in the Upper Peninsula over coverage before Sinclair was able to settle a few things while they were under common ownership for a year until WLUC was spun off to Gray.

[PelicanGuy 117]

Growing up in the 90s, my parish (Washington) had the fortunate opportunity to receive channels from four markets over the air (WAFB-WBRZ (Baton Rouge), WLOX (Gulfport), WDAM (Hattiesburg) and the New Orleans market) and cable subscribers received channels from Baton Rouge, Gulfport and New Orleans.

 

Today, Media3 customers receive channels from Baton Rouge and New Orleans.