Cable in Syracuse

The Enron of cable!

While the scope of cable TV in the US has changed over the decades, I decided to focus on my own backyard.  The earliest system I can remember Syracuse having is CableSystems (their old satellites remain at the Chimes Building downtown but may no longer even be operational).  In the suburbs there were NewChannels covering Onondaga County except Skaneateles, Jordan and Elbridge which were under whatever they may have had in Auburn (Newchannels and later TWC CNY's old headquarters in East Syracuse by Wegmans were just torn down).  CableSystems became Cooke Cable by the late '80s and the Adelphia by the mid-'90s which went down in scandal a decade later.  Time Warner Cable already absorbed Selectavision in Cazenovia, NewChannels and then Syracuse and much of Upstate New York north of the Catskills.  Comcast bought other Adelphia markets, though merging with TWC would have brought it all full circle.

Hotel TV

Motel in Mesa, AZ which gets HBO and Fox 10.

Whether you stay at a nice hotel in the big city or even a cheap fleabag motel in the middle of nowhere there will always be a TV in the room.  Many motels will say if there's HBO.  Used to be lucky to have colour TV or even cable in the old days!  When I go somewhere I don't go often I like to see what the local lineup is ahead of time unless it's somewhere I know well enough that I have it committed to memory but the varied nature of national TV means it's like the lottery machine as to which numbers go where for both terrestrial and pay-TV networks,  They always used to say and still do, "Check your local listings" (a rule of thumb with domestic syndication in laymans terms).  I get settled for the night and a list of what's available can be out of date if something changed its name (it could say Court TV instead of TruTV as it's called today) or the lesser known ones are missing (like the CW or myNetwork TV while CBS, C-SPAN or PBS are a given).  Of course you book a hotel 'cos you're on holiday, business, going to an event or what-have-you.  It can give you a sense of home if you like (within US soil anyway, but abroad, you may get a bit of culture shock if you don't find something familiar straight away).  Some hotels will have cable, but others I've gone to have satellite (one had DirecTV and another I think Comcast).  Usually pay-per-view and a looping tourism video channel will also be offered.  I just notice patterns over the years.  For countries with licence fees like the UK I wonder if they pay one per set or hotel and what the HMRCs (the UKs IRS if you like) policy on write offs are but that's another blog!  I just hope I can catch some Corrie again next time!

Planet Fitness

Columbia, SC location where they get NBC 10, CBS 19, ABC 25, and Fox 57.

For a few years I've gone to Planet Fitness and there are a number of TVs on mute that you can only hear through a few types of equipment on headphone.  They will have the first four along with Fox News (sister to Fox), CNN and HLN (ex-sisters to TWC), ESPN (sister to ABC), MSNBC and CNBC (owned by Comcast; you see the pattern), MTV and VH1 (ex-sisters to CBS), A&E (Duck Dynasty are the flagship show there now much to Morrisseys ire), and in the case of Time Warner Cable in Upstate NY, Time Warner Cable News; all depending on the franchise.  Other gyms may do this too as far as I know as there was a report on TVs in a publicly run community gym mainly used by pensioners the other week.  Back at PF sometimes a TV doesn't work right or at all. Some locations have Cardio Theatre which has a TV on each individual machine with a remote attached which will get all the channels provided by the cable company there.  As I posted earlier the future Cortland, NY location will have two stations each of CBS and Fox being roughly between Syracuse and Binghamton.  The existing one near Ithaca in the next county will have Onondaga County ones with one each for Broome and Chemung/Steuben County (both Twin Tiers).  Once my gym exists I can write off TWC and other business expenses on my taxes.  TV like the Tannoy (PA) can become part of the furniture however when people go to the gym to keep their figure!  Better than being at home on the settee all day!

No news is good news?

Fox 68/My 43 Studios in Syracuse

    Not all affiliates of the big four broadcasts get a newscast at 12 Noon and 10 PM or at all. I know ABC 20 WUTR in Utica didn't have news for a time but now even sister station Fox 33 WFXV has news at 10. Fox 68 WSYT along with sister station my 43 WNYS have changed hands recently so they may bring back news in the near future having carried NBC 3 WSTM and CBS 5 WTVH provided news (before they merged as part of CNY Central). However CNY Central no longer have 12.00 News on either channel anymore but have it on CW 6 WSTQ at 10 PM. Unfortunately with competition from Time Warner Cable news for local and regional stories and CNN and MSNBC for national and international coverage, local news operations struggle in the ratings and not many people are home at lunch time anymore for that. Smaller areas may also have limited news staff if any or have a simulcast from a sister station which is the case with ABC 50 WWTI in Watertown carrying Syracuse counterpart NewsChannel 9 WSYRs news two counties away sharing owners and network franchise with some central-casting. As if morning shows weren't cutthroat enough, trying to keep news departments running in low-rated markets can be an uphill battle.

ION Television

Positively Entertaining.

ION, formerly PAX and i, has had a unique yet underdog history going from airing family and religious shows to police procedural crime dramas and sitcoms.  However they have the least affiliates of all the commercial networks that existed before the DTV revolution in recent history.  ion 56 WSPX in my area have the largest digital tier with six subchannels yet have a small studio in East Syracuse near Walmart.  ion 51 WPXJ in Genesee County serves much of Western New York.  For areas that don't even have a low-power station over the air with ION cable or satellite should have it on their lineup.  Due to the vast size of the nation it'd take an eternity to come up with over a hundred markets that could use ION which could be why they could have lower ratings than my Network TV or the CW.  Upstate NY I know so I could just go from there and a few select other states just to get an idea.  Here's where ION could charge up:

Utica
Watertown
Binghamton
Elmira
Tallahassee (Floridas capital)
Philadelphia (even there)

Just several examples without going out on a limb.

NY Retail Roundup: The New Melody Maker: Contact information

Doggy says to reach us at our sister blog.

NY Retail Roundup: The New Melody Maker: Contact information

UK in the US

Recently deceased Corrie star Anne Kirkbride.

Since the '60s a number of UK comedies and dramas found their way across the pond to the US and Canada (both Commonwealth and via the US) mainly on NET the predecessor of PBS until 1970 when NET were absorbed by flagship WNDT in New York to become WNET. The BBC launched Lionheart Television (now BBC Worldwide Americas) which handled distribution and syndication with PBS member stations as PBS are technically the pubcaster for the US though not a de facto per se like Auntie (BBC). Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Butterflies, The Good Life (as Good Neighbours to avoid confusion with another show), Are You Being Served?/Grace and Favour (AYBS Again US), A Fine Romance, Prime Suspect, Absolutely Fabulous, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Only Fools and Horses, To the Manor Born, Eastenders, The Vicar of Dibley, Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances and Waiting for God (the last two I watch) just to name a few are or have been on participating affiliates but as an extra package as they're not network package shows like Downton Abbey (from ITV) and Call the Midwife are which give PBS ratings on par with their commercial competition yet air in North America several months after the UK depending on the show.
In markets bordering Canada or other select areas, if you can get the CBC on cable or over the air Coronation Street from ITV airs Sunday Mornings. Supernanny, Jeremy Kyle, Trisha Goddard and even Ant and Decs Wanna Bet? have all had brief US editions.
Ex-pats and diehard fans alike who can afford it can subscribe to an expensive satellite service which allows one to receive BBC 1-3, Channel 4, Five, itv, BSkyB and other UK networks but will still have to pay the licence fee and have equipment to rent to convert PAL signals to NTSC I would have to believe.
Some have had mainstream success Stateside while others have a cult following compared to back in Britain.  On cable BBC America only has a handful of Beeb programmes in order to appeal to US tastes making it BBC in name only if you ask me.