Nexstar-Tegna merger and WNY

NBC 2 WGRZ On Your Side studios in Buffalo; 16 August 2021.

Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 TV station conglomerates Nexstar and Tegna have announced their merger. Of course, this needs approval from the FCC and FTC, and some stations will have to be sold off, particularly where they overlap. One area I know is Buffalo. Tegna, which spun off of USA Today owner Gannett, own NBC 2 WGRZ, their only station in New York State. Nexstar are far bigger, owning NBC 2's competitor CBS 4 WIVB, as well as CNY's ABC affiliates NewsChannel 9 WSYR in Syracuse and ABC 20 WUTR in Utica to name a few. Since Buffalo is a larger market than Syracuse, having the boys' turf nearby for added ratings to boot, having it like CNYcentral back in my area may not work, which has CW 6, while CBS 4 is sister to O&O CW 23 WNLO. So much for WNYcentral, if you like. NBC 4 could be sold to Hearst, Hubbard, Weigel, Mission, Cox, Gray, or Deltavision. Scripps already have yet another WNY station, ABC 7 WKBW, while Sinclair have Fox 29 WUTV and my 49 WNYO. Even in the age of streaming, these deals are still lucrative. Tegna also own ABC 16 WNEP in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area, the other NBC 3 WKYC in Cleveland, and flagship CBS 9 WUSA in Washington, DC.

Fox and WOLF

Gnax the Fox furry and Wolfhard the red WOLF furry

 It turns out there are two stations called WOLF affiliated with Fox; one being Fox Sports Radio right here in Syracuse where I am, and the other being a TV station in Northeast Pennsylvania, which is why the post is based there. With Fox Sports Syracuse 92.5 FM and AM 1490, the latter original station used to be Top 40, hip hop/R&B/urban contemporary, and Radio Disney. Fox 56 is in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. The two are unrelated, and the FCC can allow a radio station in one market and a TV station in another to have the same callsign. While I've known about both for a long time (the local one longer, of course), I only recently learned that the one in my hometown are now part of Fox Sports. Terrestrial network radio hasn't been as much of a thing in the US since TV became more dominant in the '50s. Stiff competition from Spotify, Sirius XM and podcasts make it obsolete. Network TV also has less relevance today because of streaming, and Lackawanna and Wyoming Valleys are a "UHF island" because of VHF cross-signal interference with the tri-state, Philadelphia quad-state, and NYs Southern Tier (mainly just CBS 12 WBNG in Binghamton now, while analogue channels 6, 8, and 10 were retired, even after 2009s DTV mandate and LP/CD [not that kind] exemption). To boot, Craig Fox owns the WOLF in CNY (he is likely not related to the late William Fox, founder of the original Fox studio). He is a presenter who owns several radio stations in the region. Now that's irony. It takes a Fox to know Fox, or one Canidae to another.

Merit Street TV from Dr Phil

Dr Phil McGraw in Jackson County on 9 October 2008. Courtesy Craig O'Neal. CC-by-NC-ND-2.0

 Dr Phil McGraw is Americas therapist. Since Oprah Winfreys beef with beef in 1998 in Amarillo, TX, his tough love tactics have made him a household name. Dr Phil aired in first-run syndication from 2002-23 for twenty-one series (on NBC 3 and CW 6 in CNY). Now he and his wife Robyn have returned to their North Texas/South Oklahoma roots and moved back to the DFW area and started Merit Street Media. While there have been bumps along the road, Merit Street has taken the brand to a new place. However, less than half the country can get it on terrestrial or even cable if they don't want to get the app or their streaming service doesn't provide it yet either. Dish and DirecTV have it coast to coast, as do some streamers. RabbitEars have an affiliate list with some major markets and smaller cities. On Merit Streets own site, you just put in your zip code as would with the old guard to see how to watch in your area (this is how you "Check your local listings" in todays world). In mine, all three major station groups have room on their tiers, while the flagship in the tri-state carry Merit Street on two smaller stations, one being frontline and the other with two more upstart networks that need their own articles, which will have to wait for another day, since I've focused more on the sister blog lately and other other one on occasion. It'd take forever to canvas roughly 200 markets to see who has room, but even the lowest rated ones (population-wise by the Nielsens standards) could somehow squeeze it in somewhere.
    Dr Phil is as much a quotefest as Yogi Berra or any classic film, and his southern wisdom guides me to this day, and I could use him with my own personal issues, even though his Primetime show is not quite the same as its predecessor. He is now independent from CBS/Paramount, which is about to change hands again, which may have been a factor in breaking out of LA and the post-postwar studio system (the infancy of television was a catalyst for the studios' spinoff of cinemas, but not right now).

UPDATE (3 July 2025): Merit TV have entered administration, so there may not be much expansion at this time, since they're showing reruns for now. The partnership with TBN has also soured, with pending litigation. Dr Phil and Steve Harvey have launched the content-driven app Envoy Media Co.

MyNetworkTV in Miami and Boston

 

Bay State Capital Region fantasy logo

MyNetworkTV was founded in 2006 by Fox after the merger of the WB and UPN formed the CW (now owned by Nexstar) in order to fill the vacuum. Today, it's more of a syndication service much like its sister network in early days. Ironically, two of the largest DMAs on the east coast no longer have a MyNetworkTV affiliate of their own. It could be that it never had high ratings to begin with, exacerbated by the rise in streaming services. Even smaller markets still have it. It depends more on reruns now and stopped having original shows such as English-language telenovelas (Latin American style soaps) and wrestling, which moved to cable.

In Boston, WSBK 38 went back to their indie roots once more (formerly on cable well into UPN days when some other areas had yet to get theirs until SyndEx made 38 useless). Non-network rival WHDH 7 could either have their main channel be the affiliate, or put it on .3.

In Miami and Ft Lauderdale, WBFS 33 could make a late switch. It's one the biggest markets in the South, of course. Then, you wonder if any small towns are missing out.

South Florida affiliate logo. A bit simplistic.

UPDATE (27/3/25): Warren Buffetts ABC/Local 10 WPLG will go indie on 4 August 2025 when ABC moves to 7.2 at Sunbeams (not the bread) Fox 7 WSVN of all places (rare for a Top 10 DMA), moving a local subchannel down. My10 would work too, even though either station could add another subchannel for MyNetworkTV. I only found this out just by going direct to WSVNs site when looking up something more suited to our sister blog (had the wrong area), but anyway. Sometimes, you just know when to strike while the iron is hot. I will update again if I learn anything else on the Gold Coast.

Another lazy composite. I did suggest it to them on X.

Carriage Dispute Healing

Part graffiti, part abstract art, part ransom note!

The TV business, like life, is one big Whack-a-Mole! Until Congress stop messing about (don't get me started), laws not upgraded since the Clinton administration will keep cable and satellite providers and broadcasters and networks, as well as the taxpayers to their own devices. Once again, I had to go beyond earthly means as described in the last post.  This time, the list on the left says Dish, DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity (Comcast as both owner of NBC O&OS like NBC 4 in NYC and LA and with the telecom Xfinity), and on the right, Hearst, Nexstar, Mission, Cox and Comcast again. The peace symbol from the previous entry is in the middle. I had to edit out typos and unrelated names on the desktop, which is why it now looks like a mishmash and so I wouldn't have to upload a hard copy all over again. Of course, this will only happen again, and I just can't keep up. Hearst owned many newspapers in the postwar era (I just know the Albany one), and are now a minority owner of ESPN, which is dominated by Disney, yet only have NBC 5 in Clinton County in my state. I took off Dish a while ago due to downsizing and other personal reasons. I drew one of these for the UAW strike too, but they're having less trouble by comparison, as far getting back to the bargaining table instead of another shade trade.

Back to the Table Talk

What the spirits led me to make.

I haven't posted in a period, not necessarily in solidarity with the writer and actors, but rather, there hasn't been much to add here that the established media hasn't already covered, and I've focused more on the sister blogs, as well as my own life. However, in a desperate search for answers, I went to the book shop and bought City Magick by Christopher Penczak. In the chapter Language of the Streets, he talks about Graffiti Sigils (not signals per se). One that stuck out was one that stood for making peace, which is what the studios and unions need to do after months of unending anguish. I'm no expert on wicca myself, mind, but I tried drawing the sigil (as opposed to tag or sign) and even wrote the names of the union and organisation initialisms, studios and a couple key names in sloppy, graffiti-esque font, along with other symbols for divine femininity (for Nanny star turned SAG-AFTRA leader Fran Drescher), health and balance, and removing obstacles, trying to conjure healing. The peace sigil even looks like the word strive, which is what the SAG-AFTRA and WGA-E & W members continue to do each day as they fight for everything they're owed.  I even tried pulling out the late Lew Wasserman, who knew Ronald Reagan when the later US President became head of SAG during the 1960 double strike. The 1988 writers strike was the last major Hollywood one in eithers lifetime and the second in mine. They didn't live to see the 2007-08 one, let alone this. They wouldn't be surprised by this one.

The latter and AMPTP return to the table this coming week. They must sort out the mess by this stage, then the others have their turn and we can move forward. A right fortune has been lost on many fronts.

In my drawing, the list on the left has Netflix, Hulu, Comcast, AMPTP, amazon, Sony, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Disney and Paramount. In the centre are the sigils for health and balance, divine  femininity, Fran (Drescher), peace, and higher guidance. On the right are IATSE, WGA-E, WGA-W, SAG-AFTRA, Lew (Wasserman) [typo fixed after upload], Reagan (Nancy might've gotten all this) and my signature. I wouldn't dare buy a tin of spray paint and go Banksy on someones property. MC Hammer said to do it on paper on a show he had in 1991 (that always stuck with me). Some may think shaman is sham and man put together, and I'm not one of those or using any label here, but I do have empath abilities, and it drives what I do. Life is not always like it is on TV, even "reality" TV.

WGA Strike

Tim Robbins at the 2007-08 strike downstate (WGA-E), November 2007 (the ex went to Albany instead this year)

 Here we go again.  The studios and the Writers' Guild of America have failed in negotiations and WGA are once more are on the picket line.  A strike is the last resort for any union.  The last one from November 2007 to February 2008 cost over a billion dollars in lost revenue just before the last recession to boot.  I just hope this one isn't as long.  They don't last forever.  Every union eventually have to return to the bargaining table and sort it out with management.  Streaming and now AI are everywhere, and residuals aren't as guaranteed after fifty years time.  The pandemic has also affected Hollywood and pretty much all of society, and has emboldened workers to fight for more, from a rise to benefits to better treatment.  We all want that, and it's frustrating to see an industry tied up when one side or the other isn't ready to haggle.  For less lucrative labour, when David or Goliath is at the end of his rope at it were, then it's time to settle.  Glad I was too young to notice when this happened in the late '80s.  This isn't the kind of business that can have scabs like a plant because of the money and lawyers involved.  We had less trouble with the railway row just a while ago, even though they didn't get everything they demanded.  I'm no Norma Rae myself, mind, but I was in a union myself once.

Writers, we all love you and appreciate all of your hard work.  Fight the good fight and go back to the table soon so history doesn't repeat itself.  I'm not trying to meddle or cross the picket line, but nobody wants this to drag on into next season.  I'll ask the spirits when we can expect you to reconcile with the studios with the crystal ball, the original AI or AP wire since antiquity, if you like (it says 13 May or 8 June [checked thrice], or even when strike funds run out).  Good luck in the trenches.  Come back soon.

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.

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).

COVID-19

Dr Phil with SUNY Oswego alum Al Roker on the Today show, 2006.

With coronavirus the elephant in the room, all aspects of life are affected.  Shows with studio audiences like Dr Phil either have to close or tape without one (although reruns of his show are on OWN, other series that don't have to be current such as The Price is Right or soaps could go into their vaults).  Getting guests over would be a bit of a risk too on top of problems they may already have.  Like many people, I'm watching the news helplessly trying to cope with something unheard of before in living memory.  Meanwhile, Dish and Apollo/Cox have declared a truce ending their dispute as maybe other proviers and owners until after Easter as having people even tele-conferencing can be hard right now.  I'm ready to ask a psychic when any break will arrive.
Long-running shows in syndication could air reruns from recent past seasons if they go through this series' and can't make new episodes right now, but freshman shows will have the same episodes to go through sooner than usual.  We all hope all this will ease up someday.

Jerry O'Connell

Jerry O'Connell at this years Comic-Con.

Jerry O'Connell is the latest celeb to launch their own talk show.  His is a spinoff of Wendy Williams, but I can only get listings for major city Fox O&Os/flagships.  He filled in when she was in the clinic, making it a backdoor pilot.  Since CW 6 WSTQ has the parent show in my area, you'd think that they would carry it as well, even in the middle of the night.  CBS owned Pop may have it too.  O'Connell used to fill in on Live.  Other syndicated and network talk shows in the past were late to air in Syracuse if they ever did.  So much for "check your local listings".

July 2021: He will join The Talk instead, replacing Sharon Osbourne.

CW 9 WGN

Possible logo configuration

With Tribunes TV division being sold to Sinclair, perhaps they may look into re-establishing the Chicago conglomerates flagships affiliation with the CW, which went to my50 WPWR in Gary as I posted a while ago.  New owners often means new people and new decisions.  It would be like with my38 in Boston.  However, it would cause a seismic shift in the schedule for both stations.  It could take up to a year for Washington to approve and another for operations to be absorbed fully.  The local news might appeal more to the Collar Counties west of town after the sale is complete with Sinclair having a reputation similar to FNC (myNetworks sister station).  I wanted to start a new post instead of just adding onto the old one.  SBC already have CNYcentral near me which includes CW 6.  WGN meanwhile remains a separate animal from sister station WGN America (now NewsNation) which used to have channel 9 outside the Chicago DMA, just as CWs half-sister TBS now have a different agenda to the original channel 17 in Atlanta which remains indie.  In the meantime, WGN 9 is now sister to Newschannel 9 WSYR ABC in Syracuse and CBS 9 WNCT in Greenville, NC.

UPDATE: Even though WGN and the CW are now sister subsidiaries of Nexstar, Weigel flagship WCIU is the affiliate for the Chicagoland DMA today.

UPDATE 2: WGN will return to the CW on 1 September 2024 along with a reshuffling of Nexstar stations that include KLFY 10.2 laFayette Parish, LA and WVBT 43.2 Norfolk, VA, both which have room on their tiers to move down the smaller networks the CW are replacing. Back in Chicago, WCIU will go back to being the U (indie).

TV stars with CNY ties

Vanessa L. Williams in a red carpet-ready red dress!  The L is for local!

There is a plethora of household names that have past personal ties to Central New York as it's too easy to start in a big area.  Been meaning to do this.  Here is a list of ones I know:

Kevin James (attended SUNY Cortland)
Al Roker (attended SUNY Oswego)
Peter Falk* (also attended Hamilton College)

Richard Gere (lived in North Syracuse; appeared on the BBCs MotherFatherSon)
Mike Tirico*

Kevin Michael Richardson*

Bobcat Goldthwait (grew up in East Syracuse)

Tom Kenny (same)
David Muir* (born in Syracuse; formerly on CBS 5; now on ABC)
Jerry Seinfeld (attended SUNY Oswego)
Andrew Daly (attended Ithaca College)

Anne Burrell (grew up in Cazenovia)

Ina Garten*
Ricki Lake (also went to IC)
Ann Coulter (went to Cornell across town)
Keith Olbermann (went to Cornells east campus)
Megyn Kelly* (lived in Syracuse, but later lived in Albany County)
Tom Everett Scott* (does TV occasionally)

Edie McClurg*
Debra Wilson*
Jeff Glor* (formerly of NBC 3 WSTM; originally from WNY)
Bob Costas*

Lindsey Vonn*

Marv Albert*
Ted Koppel*
John Walsh (born in Auburn)
Annette Funicello (born in Utica)
Dick Clark*
Taye Diggs*
Jerry Stiller*
Vanessa L. Williams (pictured; was on Ugly Betty, and is now on Daytime Divas, and is the only local legend on both this and the sister blogs post on CNY)*

*SU alumni

NBC 26 WNYD

Had to edit the picture due to Fox/Disney split.

    They say that one thing leads to another, and it always does.  Also, just when you think the entire country is covered, somewhere falls through the cracks.  Someone mentioned getting NBC 7 & 4 from Traverse City which lead me to finding out the resort town of Alpena, MI until recently were in the same boat as fellow Great Lakes city Watertown, NY as far as not having NBC or MyNetworkTV to call their own, making this the next frontier to conquer.  However, I've only been to the Midwest once in my life, so I know even less about there myself than New Yorks North Country which I have been to several times.  Then again, NBC 45's owner are based in southern Georgia, so it's not uncommon for a station owner to be based out of town and/or state as it's not uncommon, even in Roscommon.  The FCC just cares that a licence is paid for and regulations are followed.
    Through a shared sales agreement, cable-only CW 21 WBAE (yes, that's a real station!) could be simulcast on 26.3 as predecessor The WB had cable based affiliates for smaller markets in the past.  One of the little networks like ThisTV could be on 26.4.  Channels 18 and 31 are also available to create new tiers with these newer netlets as the possibilities are almost endless now.  New call letters would have to be found as the ones they had look more like the kind for translators such as W63AE in Oneonta which simulcasted ABC 20 WUTR in Utica back in Upstate NY in analogue days to Otsego County and the northern Catskills, yet these new stations will be over in the Wolverine State, which like much of the Midwest largely lacks elevation which can disrupt signals especially in the elements.  Sky truly is our (if) only limit now.
If there's another lesser known area missing a certain channel based there I'll eventually hear of it and come out of my occasional writers block.  Meanwhile, Alpena sounds like a nice place to visit during the summer, so I could see how it goes there, but that's a story for another day.

UPDATE: The major networks are now on WBKB 11, with CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox and MyNetworkTV together respectively. A real WBAE licenced with the FCC is a radio station in Portland, ME. WNYD is an unused station in the NYC Tri-State (which makes more sense, even though there's more than enough on air there, while Alpena is the polar opposite, with only two DMAs even smaller than them). Now a silent signal registered in Thunder Bay could be revived for the smaller networks, but that would take research for another post.

Smaller networks

The most elusive of them all.

In the past decade or so, new networks like ThisTV, Antenna TV and RTN have cropped up on DTV giving people more choice over the air.  Older generations recall being lucky to have three channels on the dial!  Now they can see the shows they grew up with on most of these netlets.  MeTV and Antenna TV have picked up rights to several classics.  Series shown had reruns aired in syndication and on cable in the past after their network run had ended (yet off-network repeats usually start after Series 4 when there are enough to pad out a cycle to avoid too much repetition in a short span of time).  Some have yet to even appear on DVD, BluRay or streaming (The Golden Girls for example are on a few cable stations and now Hulu, twenty-five years after the original series left NBC and twenty after terrestrial broadcast rights expired in the US).  Other chestnuts had not aired at all in years and are now available for a new generation to enjoy although the ratings for these fledgling networks may be bubbling under in the Nielsens as they are low priority next to the big boys today.
Only Albany, Syracuse (now on WONO 11.2), and Buffalo have a ThisTV affiliate Upstate at this time.  Watertown (45.3), Rochester (36.1), Binghamton (20.2), Elmira (39.2) and Plattsburgh (3.3) have space for it.  In my area, if the existing tiers won't expand for the other networks, a new one could open and could get the old CBS 5 studio in the city or the one for WCNY (PBS) in Galeville (Liverpool).
Decades, H&I, Justice, Newsnet, TBD (an actual network, not an undetermined one; currently in CNY and WNY), Movies! and CoziTV are now in the Syracuse DMA, while Escape, Cheddar, GetTV (on air for a time in CNY but now just on Dish with national feed), The Country Network, Localish,  The Works, Light TV (sister to ThisTV; owned by Byron Allen of Funny You Should Ask), MHz Worldview, Newsmax (also on cable and satellite), Quest, Retro, Rev'n, Stadium, WeatherNeation, World (formerly available through WCNY), and YouToo (which is even older than Fox) all also have yet to reach CNY airwaves, although some may be available on cable and satellite as even Fox had a national feed for small markets yet to catch up with the rest of the country with their own station as recently as over a decade ago, but now these poor mans versions of Nick at Nite/TV Land provide an alternative for those tired of todays headlines, reality shows and reboots yearning for a simpler time.  They do have something for the kids if not what I may have watched in my day to meet FCC E/I programming requirements, even if no one really watches at all.
TheCoolTV is down to just a couple stations despite playing more music videos than MTV, BET, VH1 and MuchMusic for that matter combined as late payment of royalties to station owners if not record companies in addition to people watching them online may as well shut the network down.  The Tube previously had the same thing but could also be seen on cable.  I remember The Box with a 900 number back in the '90s where my43 and AMG are today.
If these newbies have new series it might not work due to their low-man status on the totem pole.  Catalogue or library titles account for much of their budgets as far as royalties, rights and residuals.  Old or new there is more competition than ever in America yet only the front line networks get feedback at the water cooler the next business day as opposed to the old guard from when you used the tap.  Still it's good to have more choice when some parts of the world are lucky to even have the bare essentials.

my Chicago TV

This can always be changed.

With WGN 9 going back to their indie roots, WPWR 50.1 is not only CW for Chicago, but myNetworkTV as well in an unusual move for the nations third largest TV market and the largest in the Midwest.  This is something you'd expect in the past or now in a small town not the Windy City.  However, there is a space on 50.5 when the other four are in use as some tiers have five channels like ion in some areas.  It should be used for myNetworkTV alone.  They are based in Gary, IN of Jacksons fame which is part of the Chicagoland metroplex.  As for syndicated programming (much of what used to be made in Cook County) there might not be enough even Entertainment Studios, informercials or other available programming.  Then RCN, Comcast, Dish and DirecTV have to agree to carry it as WGNs owner Tribune only just made peace with Dish recently (I only missed WGN America, the national counterpart for outside the Chicago area).  To boot, WPWR as myNetworkTV is an O&O (and sister to Fox 32 WFLD) so they should be a priority along with carrying a competitor (this is similar to my38 WSBK in Boston which is now owned by CWs half-owner CBS whose O&O there is CBS 4 WBZ; the switch made after UPN folded into the CW and WSBK too went back to being network-free for a period like it was back when I could watch it on cable growing up, as I only went to both big cities in more recent memory, yet WGN also only came later to my area).  myNetworkTV prove to be a weak sister to Fox and FNC as far as ratings go and don't be surprised if they go the way of Dumont and the WB (the other network hermaphrodited into the CW).  It is more of a syndicated package than a network and another Great Lakes region, Watertown, NY only just got a myNetworkTV and an NBC station to call their own.

UPDATE: my50 is pure again and CW 26 exists now.

ClearTV review

My own ClearTV antenna in the window.

Put this on eBay but it was too good not to put here too.  Picks up where I left off six months ago:

I bought this as I have an antenna installed upstairs to save on having satellite on all three TVs (lucky there's no such thing as a licence fee in the US like there is in most of the Commonwealth if not EU).  I have the old school aerial on the chimney but it has to be taken off my house soon due to damage and the dish moved over to the roof.  If you're looking to cut the cord you should have this for local programmes at least as not all terrestrial programming is streamed like some cable ones are these days with Amazon Prime, Netflix or Sling.  Much of what I watch is on Fox (FNCs sister) and PBS so this is all I need right now.  My TVs are older so they have converters I bought with FCC-sponsored gift cards when they came out several years ago.  However if you live in an area that doesn't have a network affiliate of its own like one I go to which used to get CBS on cable from my town and another that still does the same with NBC and you're on your own for MyNetworkTV, then maybe this isn't gonna be enough if you wanna watch something that's carried on an out of town station on cable or satellite.  Also even adding the amplifier may not help if you live too far from a TV market or there's nature in the way like hills outside the Midwest and Steppes for that matter.  Also this is more for NTSC DTV and HD signals in North America.  I saw this on TV in an informercial but it's better value for money to order from here and I will get another in the foreseeable future.

The Future of TV: Learn How You Can Protect the Future of Free, Local Television and Keep the News, Emergency Information and HD Programs You Love

The Future of TV: Learn How You Can Protect the Future of Free, Local Television and Keep the News, Emergency Information and HD Programs You Love