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WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
CJ
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WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by CJ » Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:07 pm

I’ve always wondered why WOTV has never gone to virtual channel 4 in the digital tv age? Why stick with 41 when all branding refers to “4” for so many years?



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rugratsonline
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by rugratsonline » Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:29 pm

Mainly because by FCC regulations, they must use either their old analog channel or their actual digital channel for their virtual channel number. A few years ago, WWSB in Sarasota, Florida (part of a market with two ABCs, just like Grand Rapids) wanted to use "7" for their virtual channel, as they already call themselves "ABC 7", after their channel position on local cable systems. The FCC said no, saying that they must use either "40" (reflecting its former analog channel) or "24" (its digital channel).



MasterB
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by MasterB » Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:09 am

I thought GR was the only market that had 2 ABC'S. It would be interesting to see if any other TV market has 2 NBC's, CBS'S, etc.


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ftballfan
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by ftballfan » Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:51 am

MasterB wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:09 am
I thought GR was the only market that had 2 ABC'S. It would be interesting to see if any other TV market has 2 NBC's, CBS'S, etc.
The Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney market has two ABC stations (KLKN in Lincoln and KHGI in Kearney). Until fairly recently, only the CBS affiliate (KOLN/KGIN) covered the entire market. Lincoln used to get NBC and FOX from Omaha until the Central Nebraska-based NBC and FOX affiliates expanded to cover Lincoln a few years ago.



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Calvert DeForest
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by Calvert DeForest » Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:05 am

The channel rebranding stations like WOTV is mainly for the benefit of cable subscribers who make up the bulk of the station's audience. Even with the uptick in cord-cutting and 48% increase in OTA viewership over eight years, it still amounted to only 14% of total viewership as of last year:

https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/niels ... t-8-years/

Channel re-branding is a technique designed to simplify the station's brand and increase retention among viewers ("4" is easier to recall than "41"). They negotiate channel-placement deals with cable providers so placement is the same across the board. By contrast, Dish and DirecTV map locals according to their assigned virtual OTA channel, regardless of station branding.


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tvbobn
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by tvbobn » Wed Apr 29, 2020 5:18 pm

Calvert DeForest wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:05 am
The channel rebranding stations like WOTV is mainly for the benefit of cable subscribers who make up the bulk of the station's audience. Even with the uptick in cord-cutting and 48% increase in OTA viewership over eight years, it still amounted to only 14% of total viewership as of last year:

https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/niels ... t-8-years/

Channel re-branding is a technique designed to simplify the station's brand and increase retention among viewers ("4" is easier to recall than "41"). They negotiate channel-placement deals with cable providers so placement is the same across the board. By contrast, Dish and DirecTV map locals according to their assigned virtual OTA channel, regardless of station branding.
I disagree with Techcrunch and they're thinking. If you have only an antenna you count as an OTA home, but if you subscribe to one streaming service, suddenly you don't watch TV OTA? That's nonsense.

Most homes have more than one TV, so even if some viewing is streamed, another TV in the same home might be used for OTA, but they don't count those viewers or that home as a OTA home. That accounting is flawed big time!


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Bull Shannon
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by Bull Shannon » Mon May 04, 2020 11:39 pm

MasterB wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:09 am
I thought GR was the only market that had 2 ABC'S. It would be interesting to see if any other TV market has 2 NBC's, CBS'S, etc.
Boston has two ABC affiliates, too, I believe.

There are a few other markets that have dual affiliates for one of the networks, multi-city DMAs that are larger, geographically.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by MWmetalhead » Tue May 05, 2020 7:07 pm

Boston is a geographically large DMA. The other ABC affiliate is 55 miles away in Manchester, NH.



ChrisWL1980
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Wed May 06, 2020 3:23 am

rugratsonline wrote:
Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:29 pm
Mainly because by FCC regulations, they must use either their old analog channel or their actual digital channel for their virtual channel number. A few years ago, WWSB in Sarasota, Florida (part of a market with two ABCs, just like Grand Rapids) wanted to use "7" for their virtual channel, as they already call themselves "ABC 7", after their channel position on local cable systems. The FCC said no, saying that they must use either "40" (reflecting its former analog channel) or "24" (its digital channel).
Interesting. It's different north of the border. CKVU (now the City TV affiliate in Vancouver) identified with its cable channel (13) for years (part of that time as "VU13"). It has never broadcast OTA on channel 13 (during the "VU13" era it was on channel 21). It's now RF 33/virtual channel 10. CJOH in Ottawa operated on three (later four) OTA channels serving different parts of Ontario and Quebec, but often just referred to itself as "Cable 7" in idents (although it was carried on different cable channels outside of the Ottawa-Hull area). Other stations referenced both their OTA and cable channels in identification: CFTO in Toronto was "Channel 9, Cable 8."



ftballfan
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by ftballfan » Wed May 06, 2020 9:00 am

ChrisWL1980 wrote:
Wed May 06, 2020 3:23 am
rugratsonline wrote:
Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:29 pm
Mainly because by FCC regulations, they must use either their old analog channel or their actual digital channel for their virtual channel number. A few years ago, WWSB in Sarasota, Florida (part of a market with two ABCs, just like Grand Rapids) wanted to use "7" for their virtual channel, as they already call themselves "ABC 7", after their channel position on local cable systems. The FCC said no, saying that they must use either "40" (reflecting its former analog channel) or "24" (its digital channel).
Interesting. It's different north of the border. CKVU (now the City TV affiliate in Vancouver) identified with its cable channel (13) for years (part of that time as "VU13"). It has never broadcast OTA on channel 13 (during the "VU13" era it was on channel 21). It's now RF 33/virtual channel 10. CJOH in Ottawa operated on three (later four) OTA channels serving different parts of Ontario and Quebec, but often just referred to itself as "Cable 7" in idents (although it was carried on different cable channels outside of the Ottawa-Hull area). Other stations referenced both their OTA and cable channels in identification: CFTO in Toronto was "Channel 9, Cable 8."
Also north of the border, stations were never carried on cable on their OTA channels.

In Florida, the Fort Myers market stations mostly brand using their cable channels, since cable penetration is one of the highest in the country.



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rugratsonline
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by rugratsonline » Wed May 06, 2020 8:39 pm

ChrisWL1980 wrote:
Wed May 06, 2020 3:23 am
CKVU (now the City TV affiliate in Vancouver) identified with its cable channel (13) for years (part of that time as "VU13"). It has never broadcast OTA on channel 13 (during the "VU13" era it was on channel 21). It's now RF 33/virtual channel 10.
It should be noted that CKVU moved from channel 21 to channel 10 in 1986, to take advantage of a now-vacant channel after the CBC's plans to open a station in Victoria on channel 10 fell through. After a change of ownership in 1988 to Global, it discarded its use of a channel number, becoming "U-TV", then later, "Global". Another ownership change and affiliation shift (this time to Citytv) in 2001 had the station become "CKVU 13" briefly, until becoming Vancouver's "Citytv" the following year.
ftballfan wrote:
Wed May 06, 2020 9:00 am
Also north of the border, stations were never carried on cable on their OTA channels.

In Florida, the Fort Myers market stations mostly brand using their cable channels, since cable penetration is one of the highest in the country.
Back to the context of Canada, Calgary used cable slots lots in the 1980s and 1990s: CFCN channel 4 advertising themselves as "CFCN 4 & 5", with 5 being its cable slot (it would later move to cable 3). CICT channel 2 (and its predecessor calls) was known as "2 & 7", then "Calgary 7" -- 7 being its cable position. The only Calgary station to buck the trend was CBRT channel 9, which never used a cable slot in its name -- always either "CBC Calgary" or "CBC 9", after its aerial channel in Calgary.

Almost all Canadian stations now ID'd using only their network affiliation or general channel name, avoiding the use of channel numbers or callsigns altogether.



innate-in-you
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by innate-in-you » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:30 am

MasterB wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:09 am
I thought GR was the only market that had 2 ABC'S. It would be interesting to see if any other TV market has 2 NBC's, CBS'S, etc.
Anyone else remember when WEWS Cleveland 5 and WAKR Akron 23 were both ABC?



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RingtailedFox
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by RingtailedFox » Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:35 pm

I do... i always found that a bit odd that Akron and Canton never broke off to become their own market, or join the Youngstown/Warren market.... they're pretty sizable communities on their own.

A station *can* apply for permission to use a virtual channel that's NOT their former analog, or current physical digital channel... but unless there's a good reason for it, the FCC tends to deny such applications.

WHNE was allowed to use 14 as a virtual channel because their old analog facility (26) was already in use in Detroit, and their physical channel (20) was also in use.

I also remember when Toronto's CFMT was branded as "Channel 47, Cable 4"...


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rugratsonline
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Re: WOTV - Virtual Channel 4?

Post by rugratsonline » Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:18 pm

RingtailedFox wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:35 pm
I do... i always found that a bit odd that Akron and Canton never broke off to become their own market, or join the Youngstown/Warren market.... they're pretty sizable communities on their own.
I believe a few UHFs in the region had licenses, but never signed on, and as many people watched network shows from neighboring markets, it would have been pointless. The only other station to sign on for the Akron / Canton market was WJAN-TV channel 17, an independent; for many years, it was a TBN Godcaster, until Ion, the owners of WVPX (the former WAKR / WAKC), bought the station as part of the spectrum auction, affiliating it as "Ion Plus" (which is practically more of the same reruns that Ion shows).

Referring back to the Boston market, there was a drive to split the New Hampshire portion into its own market, but it was not successful. In 1988, independent station WNHT ch.21 in Concord flipped to CBS, with a schedule that had a look of a major market affiliate. However, it ended up losing viewers and advertising dollars, as viewers still opted to get CBS from Boston, Portland or Burlington, and as a result, the station went dark on March 31, 1989 at 12 Midnight, in the middle of CBS's "Pat Sajak Show". More here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNHT_(TV)

The only other time New Hampshire had its own network affiliate besides WMUR was in the 1990s, when two of its Low-Powered repeaters were affiliated with Fox as full-time affiliates, with WMUR itself carrying selected Fox programming, including football. This ended in 2001 when Hearst acquired WMUR and flipped the repeaters to full-time ABC affiliates through WMUR -- never mind that Portland's WMTW was still broadcasting from atop Mount Washington until 2007.



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