Nick Cannon Show

Nick Cannon in Canada, 2010.

 Nick Cannon is the latest celebrity to enter the talk show circuit.  While he's syndicated, Syracuse has yet to pick up the show (this has happened with some other shows in the past that were late to come to the area, even network ones).  There is room on the major network affiliates where informercials and low-rated programmes could be moved to the graveyard shift.  Weekdays at 11 on CW 6 WSTM 3.3 seems to be the only place to go, although an encore showing will also be on Bounce, which is available through NewsChannel 9 WSYR (I've asked them to get the rights for the main channel, the ABC affiliate).  Not everyone can stream the show.  I have reached out to the shows Twitter and Facebook and am waiting to hear back.  Cannon will continue to host The Masked Singer on Fox on the west coast (flagship Fox 5 downstate is his as well on the east coast).  CW 6 said they may not have room right now, but if his friend Wendy Williams can't start the latest series of her own show because of health issues, then Page Six, the gossip column, says he may get her spots and it's up to each affiliate, so hope springs eternal.  Until then, he has a YouTube feed if you can get that, but it's just not enough.

UPDATE: The show has been cancelled due to low ratings.  No wonder CNY Central never bothered.

This TV Syracuse

Here at last!

 Over a decade overdue, This TV finally makes its CNY début on WONO-CD 11.2.  It's another terrestrial-only station that's low-powered, low-budget and low-rated.  The channel was left blank for some time until owner Rennard suddenly and unceremoniously launched the local affiliate.  The network is owned by Byron Allens Allen Media Group, which owns Entertainment Studios, one of the largest independent TV companies in the country, which produces Funny You Should Ask which he's on and created and airs in syndication (on NewsChannel 9 WSYR in Syracuse).  This TV used to have shows, but since Allen took over from Weigel, it's mainly films from MGM/UA with some programs that may appear on other (or sister) networks, as well as infomercials and E/I for the kids and FCC.

ThisTV in New York State is only also in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and downstate/Tri-state.  There could be other affiliates as I had to look up the WNY ones and I couldn't edit the list on Wikipedia properly without getting a Syntax error until I figured it out.  Back near me, we still wait for sister network Light TV, as well as Quest, Twist, Grio, Doctor, Retro, Cheddar, Clic, Azteca and Fave just to name a few.  Even the bigger markets are still trying to catch up, let alone the small ones.  Still wonder if Spectrum and Verizon FiOS would even pick up the whole WONO/WWDC/WHSU/WTVU tier.  Dish doesn't have a national feed like they do with Laff and Get TV.  Doubt DirecTV would bother, even after spinning off AT&T.

With so many of these upstart networks alongside the A-list ones, over-the-air in the US is as close to the UK's Freeview as we would get here.  However, streaming is still what people do most these days.  At least, ThisTV gives us another choice on the airwaves.

Wahlburgers

Donnie Wahlberg (right) at a groundbreaking of a Wahlbergs outside Chicago in 2019.

 Even though this article is from the sister blog and focuses more on the business side of Wahlburgers, I suppose it counts here.  I know Donnie Wahlberg more from Blue Bloods these days, and have known him from New Kids on the Block and Mark Wahlberg since he was Marky Mark for over three decades.  Reruns are now on TrueReal.

For Alma and Nacho.

Decades

Bill Kurtis

 Decades is one of several fledgling digital networks that have schedules that compromise of library material.  One show it has is Through the Decades hosted by CBS News veteran West Coast correspondent Bill Kurtis, alongside Kerry Sayers and Ellee Pai Hong, which chronicles historic events and birthdays that uses footage from Kurtis's former employer and other sources.  It has an episode for each day of the year.  However, if the day falls on a weekend, it will not air.  It's not even online.  On Saturdays, a theme episode is played instead.  Also, what lead off the CBS Evening News on any given year is played if it's anything significant.  I was too young to remember the late great Walter Kronkite as he retired from the newscast when I was small, so I could see some of what he and other anchors did.

Another feature of Decades is the Decades binge on weekends.  One show that should be considered is Here's Lucy with the legendary Lucille Ball (we share a birthday).  It hasn't aired in ages as her other two classics air daily on Decades.  Her Lucie and Desi Jnr are there with her as they address the generation gap that was prevalent in the late sixties to early seventies without the dreadfulness.  The Cattaraugus County natives estate may own the rights to the show, so it would be up to the family if they will sell the rights to the series, which the comedy trailblazer started after selling The Lucy Show, as she didn't want to be on something that was no longer hers.  It gets overlooked next to much of her legacy and was one of the last old guard stars left on TV by its second generation.  Here's Lucy however has aired on Decades' rival Cozi TV in recent years and can be streamed on Hulu and Tubi instead.

Cagney & Lacey with Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly was also recently aired, even though Start TV, a female-led network, usually has it.  Better to have shows not already somewhere else to avoid double-dipping.  Original Walker: Texas Ranger is on Charge! and Get TV, even though the latter is not on local TV in Syracuse right now, just Dish if not DirectTV, FiOS or cable.

The Dick Cavett Show changed networks often, and had almost everyone who was anyone.  An episode he taped in 1981 with ABBA in their native Sweden (so group member Agnetha Fältskog, who has aviophobia, didn't have to travel to the US) I'm not sure if it aired here then as it did in Europe, so it'd be nice if it were seen on Decades along with the 1972 episode with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

In my area, Decades is only available on terrestrial on WTVU 22.5, a low-budget, low-power, low-rated station with translators in Oneida and Utica.

UPDATE: As of March 2023, Decades is now Catchy Comedy.

TBD: To Be Done-Up

Not my Supertramp: Devin Graham (right) of The Extreme World of Devin Super Tramp.

TBD seem to have lost the plot.  The same programmes, viral videos. and documentaries (we all can't be Ken Burns) make rerun-reliant Decades, MeTV and Antenna TV seem fresh by comparison.  Their six hosts have unceremoniously left the network.  This has always been a low-budget, low-rated network to begin with.  I thought it was a sports type channel when I first saw it on the CBS 5 CNY Central tier.  It's one-of-a-kind more for younger people, but it has grown stale, and can't compete with streaming, where more people are going anyway.  The Extreme World of Devin Super Tramp and Parkour Adventures with Jesse la Flair have extreme sports that ESPN may only marginally offer.  The pandemic could also have caused cutbacks.  FailArmy and The Pet Collective have their own channels on FiOS and some cable systems, but it will be the same material (I'll just wait for the cat videos).  If the Nielsens get to non-existent, affiliates may not renew their licence and switch to competitors not yet in their markets (ThisTV, Quest, and Court TV for my area).  TBD could also appear on 33.4 in Utica (Fox 33 WFXV is on 33.1).