One of my fears about Barrie, ON's CKVR going on air on RF10 was that I'd lose Rochester, NY's WHEC and the sassy fabulousness of Rebecca Leclair. Fortunately, after the Canadian DTV transition, I found WHEC still squeaks through in strong tropo conditions! (Seen July 5, 2011.)
One big difference between the 2011 DX season and previous years was a lack of Detroit, MI reception. July 21st was one of the few occasions I saw WMYD (RF21).
Even Judge Ross had no idea what to make of the lack of Detroit reception in 2011. It was a tough case to crack! (Seen via Detroit, MI's WMYD, RF21, on July 21, 2011.)
Also on July 21st, I caught one of the last newscasts featuring Pat Bailey (seen below beside Adam Musyt) on Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29). Mr. Bailey deserves a Pat on the back for taking on a new career managing a sports bar in Utica!
There were snazzy new promos from WKTV touting the years of experience their photographers have brought to the news. The promos seemed timed to remind viewers of WKTV's longevity, as rival WUTR was prepping to resurrect newscasts in September 2011. (Seen July 21, 2011 via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)
I felt like meteorologist John DiPasquale was experiencing some...er...high pressure when he physically demonstrated a cold front "sneaking" in, as pictured below! My heart experienced a warm front when he did that! (Seen July 23, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WUHF, RF28.)
Over on the weather subchannel of Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10-2) there was an animated tumbleweed rolling behind the awesome Josh Nichols to show how hot and dry the season was. (Seen July 24, 2011.)
I experienced an unusual father-son bonding moment over an episode of the PBS series Vine Talk. (Seen July 24, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WXXI, RF16.) My Dad was enjoying the show because he loves wine. I was enjoying the show because of openly gay Cheyenne Jackson talking about how he grew up loving Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman! (Mirroring my own youth!) Who said tropo doesn't bring families together?
Funnily enough, I saw Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman on American Latino TV later that same night! The second pic shows the still gorgeous Lynda posing with an adorable fan while promoting her new CD Crazy Little Things. (Seen July 24, 2011 via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)
Syracuse, NY's WSYR (RF17) also paid a brief visit on July 24th with Raquel Asa on anchor duties. Asa has since moved on to Orlando's WFTV.
That same night, I caught part of the newscast on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10). Josh Nichols remarked, "I think TV Garth is at it again." Christine VanTimmeren then replied, "Is he taking pictures of us right now?"
Stormy weather couldn't keep me from watching the triumph of marriage equality taking place in New York state! It was thundering and rainy, but I still got to see Jennifer Johnson introducing a story about couples in Rochester getting marriage licences from City Hall. (Seen July 25, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13.)
My eyes popped out when I saw WHEC's Rich Caniglia talk about the storms passing over Markham right as they were happening. I wrote to him on his Facebook fan page to tell him how neat it was to see my town on the radar, and he wrote a nice reply! I was even more surprised when Nikki Rudd made her own comment about my post! (Seen July 25, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WHEC, RF10.)
The crazy weather even allowed WKTV's awesome duo of Don Shipman and Megan Koskovich to storm in on July 25th! (Seen via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)
I was shocked to see that Clearfield, PA's WPSU (RF15) had reunited Cagney & Lacey for the 170 Million Americans For Public Television campaign. Wait...that's not Cagney & Lacey? (Seen July 25, 2011.)
Another great WPSU logo comes courtesy of their Create subchannel, promoting a link that allows your online shopping to benefit their station! (Seen July 25, 2011 via Clearfield, PA's WPSU, RF15.)
On July 27, 2011 there was another storm passing through Markham, and once again their was some neat doppler radar that I saw via Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) with Rich Caniglia!
Josh Segarra educates viewers about his sweltering hotness on The Electric Company. (Seen August 6, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WXXI-C, RF16-3.)
I wouldn't mind helping Josh polish his trophy! I searched for more information on Segarra and found out he acted in an online gay series called Drama Queenz, complete with an amazing episode featuring him playing basketball shirtless! Talk about being Electric in that Company...
There was a nice promo for "WQLN Families" that I saw via Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) on August 13, 2011.
The World Wine Celebration promo featured an awesome array of Erie, PA logos including TV stations WQLN and WJET! (Seen August 13, 2011 via Erie, PA's WQLN-S1, RF50-2.)
My jaw dropped when I stumbled upon Pier 6 Wrestling as seen August 13th on Rochester, NY's CW-WHAM (RF13.) They featured an awesomely flamboyant wrestler named Tylicious who wasn't afraid to let his glitter shine in the ring. (Bonus points for his opponents wearing blue Wonder Woman-esque shorts with stars!)
Tylicious certainly didn't hesitate to get to the bottom of the situation in the ring! I was worried when I saw him being so over the top, thinking "Oh no, here's the 'flaming' gay guy who'll get his lights punched out by the macho guys at any second." To my surprise he actually won the match! I loved it! Go Tylicious and Pier 6 Wrestling!
Cleveland, OH's WQHS (RF34) gave a revealing look at their telenovelas on August 13th.
Another promo from WQHS showcased what appeared to be a Latina version of Mariska Hargitay in Casos De Familia!
Robin Swoboda and a fan make a berry good pear in this fruity promo for WKYC's 7pm newscast. (Seen August 13, 2011 on Cleveland, OH's WKYC, RF17.)
Hopefully viewers weren't sick of these promos for The Doctors! (Seen August 13, 2011 on Cleveland, OH's WKYC, RF17.)
An MDA Telethon promo showed up August 30th on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10). The Telethon was controversial in 2011 due to the ouster of longtime host Jerry Lewis earlier in the year.
September 3rd brought my first Markham area reception of Syracuse, NY's WSTM (RF24) since 2009! I also discovered my newest Syracrush - the awesome Niko Tamurian, who I was lucky enough to interview recently!
On WSTQ (the CW subchannel on WSTM) I saw an awesome promo for Jim Kenyon Investigations! Check out the trio of station logos, representing WSTM, WTVH and WSTQ! (Seen September 3, 2011 via Syracuse, NY's WSTQ, RF24-2.)
I caught Extra talking about Adam Levine's OUT magazine interview where he blasted American Idol for being squeamish about gay contestants. (Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe subsequently had lame excuses about the matter.) I have a TON of admiration for Levine calling Idol out, especially after The Voice showcased talented LGBT folks with no qualms. (Seen September 3, 2011 via Rochester, NY's CW-WHAM, RF13-2.)
Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) showed off another neat promo on September 10th!
Cleveland, OH's WKYC (RF17) popped up briefly on September 10th with a great news promo featuring Dave Summers.
The promo also included longtime Cleveland meteorologist A.J. Colby, who moved to WJW a couple of months later.
The spot ended with another great WKYC logo, this time with a backdrop of Cleveland behind the "3"!
Using Ming Na in a Wen infomericial was a truly outrageous marketing synergy, given that she used to be billed as "Ming Na Wen" in the early days of her career! (Seen September 10, 2011 via Cleveland, OH's WEWSLWN, RF15-2.)
Cleveland, OH's Univision affiliate WQHS (RF34) showed off a wonderful station ID on September 10th!
A few minutes of Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) rolled in on September 10th with the Ford Sports Saturday report featuring a great Channel 5 logo!
I would love for WEWS' Andy Baskin to open a law firm with someone named Robbins so they'd be known as "Baskin-Robbins."
I was impressed with the commitment of WQLN to their Canadian members/viewers when they scheduled a showing of one of their new programs in both Erie, PA and London, Ontario! (Seen September 10, 2011 via Erie, PA's WQLN-S1, RF50-2.)
NBC decided not to...er...gamble on showing Poker After Dark after the show's main sponsor was accused of perpetrating a ponzi scheme. Even handsome host Ali Nejhad couldn't stop the show from being replaced with In Wine Country repeats a couple of weeks later. (Seen September 10, 2011 via Erie, PA's WICU, RF12.)
On September 11th, most stations did special news reports to mark the tenth anniversary of the tragic day that will never be forgotten. Below is the intro to the newscast on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10).
The special newscast was brought to viewers by longtime WHEC anchors Janet Lomax and Rich Funke.
I was happy to see musician Tori Amos pop up on an episode of Tavis Smiley. I love a lot of Tori's music, but my absolute fave is the pre-fame album she'd rather forget - Y Kant Tori Read! Check out the 80s-tastic "The Big Picture" from that CD! (Seen September 20, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WXXI, RF16.)
Don't stare directly at the Big Green Rabbit - he might eat you! Only kidding...but this does look like the type of show that would be great to watch while intoxicated! (Seen September 20, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WXXI, RF16.)
Not long after seeing the first episode of Whitney with my pal Mr. A, I found her popping up on Comedy.TV September 24th on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10).
I'm glad that WHEC decided to keep their weather subchannel, even after adding MeTV to their over-the-air lineup! I also like that their weather map was revamped to include Toronto! (Seen September 24, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WHEC-WX, RF10-2.)
We pause to admire the awesome 13 WHAM logo on display in their station ID! (Seen September 24, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13.)
I can't remember Wen I've seen a haircare infomercial pop up so much on TV! The glam Alyssa Milano pitches for Wen and much like Tori Amos, I'm a fan of the music that Alyssa would probably rather forget! I LOVE her "secret" Japanese pop career! (Seen September 24, 2011 via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)
I couldn't help but notice that Alyssa Milano's pre-Wen hair looks like a tribute to her awesome 1989 album Look In My Heart! Compare with the cover below! (Seen September 24, 2011 via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)
Syracuse, NY's WSTQ (RF24-2) was showing an awesome fitness infomercial starring "Finola Hughes: Award Winning Actress"! (That title needs to become a miniseries!) LOVE the slightly frugal looking graphics plus the fact that Finola looks like she's saying "Yo, bring it on! I got your workout, baby!" (Seen September 24, 2011.)
Before I close this recap, I had to send out an S.O.S. to readers that it was a September Of Subchannels! I was reminded of this when I read a post on the excellent SEARK Media and DX Report about Bounce TV and Live Well Network making their debuts! Ironically, as many debuts were taking place, Buffalo, NY's WGRZ dropped their RTV subchannel in September (thankfully they added Antenna TV in January 2012.)
I got to see the Live Well Network show up as a subchannel on Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) on September 10, 2011.
Bounce TV began promos on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) as early as September 10, 2011 to promote their debut later that month!
As well, Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) was heralding the future debut of MeTV on September 24, 2011.
That wraps up Part 4 of the 2011 Highlights! Stay tuned to TV Garth because you never know Wen I'll post my next wave of Reception Reports!
