Reception Reports: June 2012 (Part 1)

Greetings TV Garth readers! June was jumpin' with my first DTV E-skip reception, plus Rochester, Erie and Cleveland making appearances. There was so much to cover that I've split the month into three parts! Stay tuned as Part 1 of the June roundup begins!

June 6, 2012

I was excited to see Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) pop up only a few days after the amazing tour of the station I experienced. Ashley Zilka was reporting on the annual Tim Hortons Camp Day from a location in Henrietta!



Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28) showed off the Weather Team You Can Trust - John DiPasquale, Scott Hetsko and Stacey Pensgen!



WROC's Bounce subchannel (RF45-2) featured a promo with vintage footage of John Kucko in honour of his 23 years covering sports in Rochester!



Rick Mercer deserves a shout out because he rocks and he's been friendly both times that I met him during Pride Parades in Toronto! The Rick Mercer Report celebrates being on air for a decade this year! (Seen via Toronto, ON's CBLT, RF20.)



June 7, 2012

Rochester's WROC (RF45) scores a hole-in-one with their fantastic golf inspired station ID!



Erie, PA's WQLN (RF45) had viewers going "Can I get an Amen?" when Dr. Daniel's Use Your Brain To Change Your Age aired during a pledge drive!



June 8, 2012

I loved Lucy's film The Fuller Brush Girl when it popped up via Buffalo, NY's Antenna TV subchannel on WGRZ (RF33-2.)



June 9, 2012

Maureen McGuire looked fab during her story about a Gala celebrating 31 scholarships awarded to students by the Ibero American Action League. 31 is appropriate since the story aired on Rochester's "FOX 31" WUHF (RF28)!



I finally got to see almost all of the fabulous To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar on WROC's Bounce subchannel. (I'd only caught bits and pieces previously.) The 1995 movie felt ahead of its time with positive LGBT portrayals and showing a community inspired by and supportive of the flamboyant queens! It was FIERCE!



June 10, 2012

Speaking of flamboyant, I caught some Theater Talk with legendary "Village Voice" writer Michael Musto on Rochester's WXXI (RF16.)



Lucy counts the reasons to watch MeTV as Ricky looks on in a vintage episode of I Love Lucy! (Seen via MeTV, RF10-2, on Rochester, NY's WHEC.)



I got to catch the early evening newscast on Rochester's WHAM (RF13) with Rachel Barnhart and Mike Catalana!



Hopefully viewers of Rochester's WHEC (RF10) don't have any misConcepcions about the station's fab new reporter Joangel Concepcion!



Christine VanTimmeren and Josh Nichols were all smiles during WHEC's newscast!



I also saw the Divatastic duo of Tina Shively and Stacey Pensgen on Rochester's WROC (RF45.)



I was happy enough to be getting a full Rochester burst, but my smile grew as big as the one below when I got my first DTV E-Skip from North Platte, NE's KNOP (RF2) approximately 1,105 miles away from me!



I discovered the E-Skip when I was checking for "blinks" on RF2 on my Zenith DTT901 digital box. When I saw RF2 start lighting up, I knew my usual rabbit ears probably wouldn't cut it, so I dragged out a Channel Master CM3016 from my basement. (It was in storage since it didn't seem to work much better than my rabbit ears when I bought it in 2010.) I threw the CM3016 onto an old CD tower and put it on a patio table outside where it worked wonders for my E-Skip reception!



While I didn't get a station ID for KNOP, I caught a nice NBC promo for the U.S. Open!



I also caught a great local ad on KNOP for the Nebraskaland Days festival featuring Toby Keith and Brantley Gilbert performing at the Wild West Arena.



In previous years I cried "D'oh!" at the thought of E-skip slipping through my fingers, so I enjoyed catching The Simpsons on KNOP's FOX subchannel K11T-SD!



At one point KNOP's signal was so strong I thought Dateline NBC should do an investigative report on it! (I was also surprised to learn that host Keith Morrison is a Canadian!)



Since my parents weren't too fond of E-skip as their primetime entertainment, I took the DX party to my basement TV set. That's where I was stunned to discover Sydney, NS's CTV station CJCB on Channel 4 in analog!



It was pure luck that I caught CJCB during a commercial talking about the IWK Telethon For Children that raised funds for people in the Maritimes. That helped me narrow down the station ID when I went looking on William Hepburn's amazing DX Info Centre!



I practically broke into a choreographed dance routine when I caught Florence, SD's KDLO (RF3) showing the Tony Awards! It felt like I was in a production of How To Succeed At Catching E-Skip Without Really Trying!



KDLO's subchannel (RF3-2) is a My Network TV affiliate called UTV!



I soaked up as much local flavour on KDLO as I could, including this ad for Northland Ford Dealers!



Then came an awesome station ID for KDLO, which is one of several translators for Sioux Falls, SD's KELO! (Their coverage area is dubbed "KELOland"!)



KDLO's UTV subchannel had a great ad for the Handy Man Plumbing Superstore which is a locally owned business with stores in South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska!




I also caught an intoxicating ad on UTV for the awesomely named Heart T Stop located in Hartford, SD. Though the signal was spotty, my love for the "only liquor store" in Hartford couldn't be diluted! Cheers to Heart T Stop! (They also bill themselves as a "full service convenience store!")



It was neat to catch parts of the KELOLAND News via KDLO even thought it was showing up in very brief spurts. (I really can't complain when it's a station 906 miles away from me...) Here we have Sam Kooiker, the mayor of Rapid City, SD!



KELOLAND News was brought you by Aquafresh Home Federal Bank!



I was thrilled to be Inside KELOLAND this evening! I caught a glimpse of the local community show on KDLO just before the E-skip disappeared!



June 21, 2012

Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) came in with a show sponsored by WQLN Education and IU5, which sounds suspiciously like a European dance group...



In the recap of my early Spring visit to Erie, I mentioned my hope of catching a newscast on WJET (RF24.) The ABC outlet finally JETted into my area with Jill McCormick anchoring! I've liked Jill since I saw her on WICU a few years ago, so it was neat to see her on morning TV again!



WJET's David Belmondo was searching Erie's restaurants for the best hamburger in town. Look closely in the background and you'll see an angry hot dog trying to douse a woman with ketchup! Delicious!



Meteorologist Tom DiVecchio made waves with his Lake Erie forecast that morning!



Good Morning Erie rocked my socks with Jill McCormick and Tom DiVecchio on hand! Be sure to check out Jill's Facebook page!



Craig Smylie gives viewers reason to grin with his sports coverage on WJET!



Just after Good Morning Erie, I captured a great station ID for WJET!



Later on, Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) also arrived with a promo for a special called My Ohio With Leon Bibb! Viewers drooled with anticipation!



I was singing the praises of Akron, OH's WEAO (RF50) for being able to slip past the normally overpowering WQLN from Erie that night!



I was also singing the praises of the muy guapo Osvaldo Friger hosting Nota Musical on WEAO's Spanish language subchannel V-me! Friger es muy caliente!



I almost turned as red as Christine Ferreira's fierce dress when Jason Nicholas (far left) caused my temperature to rise. Jason and Christine were joined by Mark Johnson and Trent Magill in the "Power of 5" weather team promo on Cleveland's WEWS (RF15.)



Stay tuned to TV Garth for the next two installments covering what was jumpin' in June!

Reception Reports: May 2012 (Part 2)

Greetings TV Garth readers! The May-hem continues as we move on to Part 2 of the Spring Reception rundown! (Click here for Part 1.) In the later part of May, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica were still on display, plus there was a pinch of Pennsylvania!

May 23, 2012

Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) had sports director John Kucko making the newscast a black tie event! Along for the swanky affair were Kevin Doran, Maureen McGuire and Scott Hetsko!



May 26, 2012

It's always fun to catch WROC in my neck of the woods!



There was an amazing WROC bumper that featured some historical logos and a great station ID! Surprisingly, this is the only time I've seen it air.




I knew Summer was on the way when I saw a promo for Scott Hetsko's Backyard BBQ on Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28). The BBQ is appropriate because he sizzles on air and cooks up an entertaining forecast every time!



Later that night, I didn't have to wrestle with my reception too much as I jumped in the ring with Rochester's CW-WHAM (RF13-2)! Pier 6 Wrestling was on with hunktacular Dain "the Pain" Jacobs showing off in the awesomely named Hamlin Sportatorium.



I wasn't dragging my heels on capturing some awesome gender bending on late night TV! First up was the legendary Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert airing on Hamilton, ON's CHCH (RF11).



Springville, NY's WBBZ (RF7) was running what should have been called Get Smart Ensembles as one character was (half) dressed up as a Diva!



May 27, 2012

The fabulousness continued the next day with an airing of To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar on WROC's Bounce TV subchannel!



Olympia Dukakis was promoting her movie Cloudburst on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. (Seen on Toronto, ON's CBLT, RF20.) The film was screened with Dukakis in attendance at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival right around this time! (A pal saw the screening and said it was a great!)



You otter know about the stuffed animal that's the driving force behind Auto Junction's amazing commercial! LOVE it! (Seen via Rochester, NY's WROC subchannel Bounce, RF45-2.)



WHEC's MeTV subchannel aired an ad that brought together three awesome anchors from rival Rochester stations! Janet Lomax, Maureen McGuire and Ginny Ryan banded together for YWCA's Stand Against Racism.



It was neat to watch I Love Lucy on WHEC's MeTV subchannel! I became a huge Lucy fan nearly twenty years ago when I saw repeats airing on Barrie's CKVR and Buffalo's WUTV.



I caught part of the newscast on Rochester's WHEC (RF10) with Amanda McDonald, Christine VanTimmeren and solid new sports hire Justin Granit!



Syracuse, NY's WSTM subchannel CNY (RF24-3) was showing a newscast with Jessica Cain!



CNY also featured a major ad with Stephanie Miner (the mayor of Syracuse) for The Cart Starts Here, which encourages folks to "buy local." I would also love it if Stephanie's supporters called themselves The Miner League!



I saw the Memorial Day celebrations on several PBS stations that night including Rochester, NY's WXXI (RF16). After seeing Jessica Sanchez sing her face off, I wanted to call the police to report that she had been robbed of the American Idol crown by Phillip Phillips.



I also saw Daughtry perform, which reminded me how much I loved the song "Breakdown" from their first album! (Years ago I wrote a long ramble on sister blog Frothy Pop Treats about how I thought the song could work as a gay rights anthem!)



The N.Y. Temperatures go up a few degrees as meteorologist Stacey Pensgen rocks a fierce ensemble on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45).



Tina Shively and Ashley Zilka were both WROCin' the newscast that evening!



Preparations were down to the wire for Nik Wallenda's historic walk across Niagara Falls! The event would be all wet if the arrangements weren't properly balanced!



May 29, 2012

I wondered if the temperatures were in the 60s given the psychadelic colours on the doppler radar behind WROC's Scott Hetsko!



Don Alhart never phones it in during his newscasts on Rochester's WHAM (RF13).



Since 2009, I've blogged about Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) running infomercials, religious programs and pretty much anything but Last Call With Carson Daly at 1:35am. These days they run repeats of The Office, with Phyllis getting sassy in the pic below.



Clearfield, PA's WPSU (RF15) made a surprise appearance. RF15 is a very crowded channel these days and DXing will become even more difficult when Hamilton's CHCH moves there next year. So far, this is WPSU's only logging this year!



May 30, 2012

Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) showed up with Don Shipman looking very dapper in a station promo!



Don Shipman's new co-host on WKTV's morning news is Jenel Boston, and by the looks of it, they're getting along quite well! (Rumour has it that Boston narrowly beat out Jasmine Chicago for the gig!)



One Bill that folks actually like to see is Mr. Kardas during his forecasts on WKTV.



Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28) featured a great FOX Rochester logo during a promo for their DTV activity reports.



Meanwhile, viewers were ready to (Reach Up For The) Sunrise with Katrina Irwin and John DiPasquale on WROC!



Viewers have shared many highs and lows with Marty Snyder through the years on Rochester's WHAM (RF13).



I stayed up until 8am to watch country star Chely Wright on CBS This Morning. (Seen via Buffalo, NY's WIVB, RF39.) Only a few days earlier, I had seen her amazing documentary Wish Me Away at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Chely was in attendance, and I got a nice pic of her talking to the audience after the screening!




Stay tuned to TV Garth as we'll be jumpin' into June's Reception Reports right around the corner!