Welcome to TV Garth!

Ever since I was a kid, I loved antennas and TV reception. It was always a thrill to hook up an antenna and see what stations I could get, and see if I could pick up anything from a far distance. With the transition to digital broadcasting happening, my love for OTA (over the air) reception came back and this blog will focus on what channels I'm able to receive via antenna from my home just outside of Toronto, Canada. Plus there may be occasional commentaries on shows that I see while adjusting my reception.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Reception Reports: July 2012 (Part 2)

Greetings TV Garth readers! July was jumpin' with so much reception, it's going to take a few reports to cover it all! Part 2 details encounters with Rochester, Syracuse and Utica, NY plus Cleveland, OH and Erie, PA!

July 10, 2012

Two public television stations and two "Kids" themed IDs! I captured a logo from TVO's analog repeater in Peterborough (channel 18) which was shutting down roughly a week later. I also caught Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) with an image illustrating that they tower over the competition!

2012-07-10
2012-07-10

Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) came in just in time for me to go GAA GAA for the hunky Josh Elliot on Good Afternoon America! Lara Spencer co-anchored!

2012-07-10

What I love about Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) is the natural fun and chemistry the team has on screen. Kevin Doran & Scott Hetsko always WROC the house!

2012-07-10

Bill Kardas was Nice & Hot during a promo on Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) that showed just how scorching the Summer was shaping up to be!

2012-07-10

I didn't get much reception of Utica, NY's WUTR (RF30) during the Summer. But it did show up briefly with ABC's World News Now featuring one of my favourite anchors Sunny Hostin! Hoping that the 2013 tropo season will let WUTR scrape in long enough for me to catch one of their newscasts!

2012-07-10

Meanwhile, Utica's WKTV (RF29) aired an episode of LatiNation that featured guys in speedos blasting all over each other with bottles of champagne. I'm TV Garth and I approve this message!

2012-07-10

Steve McMurray of Utica's WKTV (RF29) was promoted to station manager a little over a week after I saw this promo!

2012-07-10

When Utica reception comes in, I always check RF27 to see if I might catch WFXV. However, Peterborough's analog Global repeater often comes in astoundingly strong, as pictured below.

2012-07-10

Who's On Your Side? Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) certainly is!

2012-07-10

Anchor Danita Harris looked like she was ready to shoot a reality show about her life at WEWS with that cameraman behind her!

2012-07-10

I almost squealed when I noticed Toronto's TVO had shut down their transmitter for maintenance, allowing Syracuse, NY's WSYT (RF19) to come back for their second appearance in the Summer!

2012-07-10

It also didn't hurt that WSYT's Country Network subchannel had Shania Twain prowling around in a Divatastic leopard print outfit!

2012-07-10

It's been awhile since I had a Half & Half reference on the blog, but WSYT brought me Essence Atkins guesting on Tyler Perry's House Of Payne!

2012-07-10

I caught a promo on WSYT for Jeremy Kyle, which fellow DXer Fritze perfectly summed up as, "Springer-style ringless pro-wrestling with a British accent."

2012-07-10

July 11, 2012

WSYT's Country Network subchannel didn't string me along when they provided a great station ID at the top of the hour!

2012-07-11

Even Jenel Boston of Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) threw her hands in the air with joy over the appearance of the rare FOX 68! Bill Kardas didn't know weather or not he should join the celebration, though...

2012-07-11

I was spinning with glee and felt like I had won a fabulous prize when I caught WSYT's well branded Wheel Of Fortune promo!

2012-07-11
2012-07-11

Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) spun things in a more serious direction with Evan Dawson's report on the dangers of bath salts.

2012-07-11

Over on Rochester's WHEC (RF10) Rich Caniglia allegedly confessed, "I tried bath salts once, but all I got out of it were some extra bubbles in the tub!" Rebecca Leclair and Christine VanTimmeren were both surprised by the splashy revelation.

2012-07-11

New Channel Alert - I caught Buffalo, NY's low powered TCT repeater WBNF (RF15) for the first time. Despite a very directional pattern toward Canada, people from Stouffville, Oshawa and even Toronto have reported catching it. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Hamilton, ON's CHCH moves to RF15 in 2013.

2012-07-11

July 12, 2012

Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) featured a great backdrop of Rochester behind Jennifer Johnson and Doug Emblidge!

2012-07-12

WHAM's Marty Snyder looked like he had the power of weather radiating from his fingertips that morning!

2012-07-12

Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) featured This Old House with one handyman allegedly insisting, "Sometimes you just gotta wave your hand in the air, and wave it like you just don't care."

2012-07-12

July 13, 2012

Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) gave me something to crow about as the Red Wings weren't afraid to welcome the San Diego Chicken to the Flower City!

2012-07-13

WROC also showed that it's important to have a can do attitude when supporting Foodlink's hunger relief efforts, especially when a dance party breaks out!

2012-07-13

I'm not ribbing you when I say that I enjoyed Stacey Pensgen's tasty report on WROC about the various barbecue booths she checked out!

2012-07-13

WROC's Bounce subchannel was once again running To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar and once more I have to rave about what a fun, fabulous, feel good movie it was! Great performances and empowering messages!

2012-07-13
2012-07-13

WROC's Kevin Doran introduced a story about the annual duck drop that had viewers quacking up!

2012-07-13

Scott Hetsko, though, showed that it was nearly impossible to duck the heat that was surrounding Lake Ontario in July!

2012-07-13

There was a hole lotta fun in the ad for Paula's Donuts seen on Springville, NY's WBBZ (RF7.) Even Drew Cerza the "Buffalo Wing King" didn't chicken out when it came to promoting the tasty treats! (Check out those cute animated pastries at the bottom too!)

2012-07-13

Syracuse, NY's WSYR-2 (RF17-2) arrived with meteorologist Dave Longley looking pretty excited about those donuts!

2012-07-13

WSYR's Rod Wood and Christie Casciano, though, look a little more skeptical. Too much sugar!

2012-07-13

Meanwhile, WSTM's CNY subchannel (RF24-3) was airing a repeat of their CW6 newscast! Sports director John Evenson isn't a Yankee, but that's A-ok with me, since he's a fellow Canuck!

2012-07-13

WSYR-2 featured a great promo with Jim Teske, Chris Brandolino, Julia Weiden and Dave Longley being declared the "Most Accurate" weather team in Central New York!

2012-07-13

When I first caught Syracuse, NY's WSTQ (RF24-2) digitally they were running a marathon of Sun car commercials, so all these years later I still consider them a bright spot!

2012-07-13

WSYR's Sports director Steve Infanti caught wind of being labelled my Syracrush and allegedly said, "You stop that right now, or I'm sending you to the showers to cool down!"

2012-07-13

The awesome Jackie Robinson was anchoring over on CNY and recently retired after an amazing run at the station! Robinson knocked it out of the park at WSTM for 34 years!

2012-07-13

I also caught a great promo featuring a look a WSYR's history as they celebrate 50 years of being on air!

2012-07-13
2012-07-13

Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) had John Holmes presenting What's Hot In The Roc with a Divalicious singer belting it out on the left!

2012-07-13

WHAM also advertised a salon where the woman getting her hair done looks concerned her stylist might have a Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction!

2012-07-13

Speaking of wardrobe malfunctions, I certainly wasn't laughing when Rochester's CW-WHAM (RF13-2) featured a half naked hunk sandwich on Who Wants to Date A Comedian?

2012-07-13

July 14, 2012

I think the trio above were really just trying to form a Gay Straight Alliance like the ones George Stroumboulopoulos talked about on Toronto, ON's CBLT (RF20.)

2012-07-14

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more of the ROCkin' reception that made my Summer Syr-iously exciting!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Reception Reports: July 2012 (Part 1)

Greetings TV Garth readers! As the weather gets colder, I harken back to the warmth of the Summer tropo season! July was so huge, it's going to take several parts to break down! Part 1 covers Pittsburgh mania, along with Cleveland, Johnstown, Erie, Rochester and Syracuse!

July 4, 2012

Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) had Michael Chiklis bringing an explosive appearance to the 4th of July festivities on CBS. I heart the blatant promo for his new show Vegas just coincidentally popping up on screen with him!

2012-07-04

Glee's Amber Riley TORE the roof off with her powerhouse vocals during the PBS 4th of July ceremonies, seen on Rochester, NY's WXXI (RF16.)

2012-07-04

WSTM (RF24) featured meteorologist Wayne Mahar promoting the Syracuse Festival!

2012-07-04

July 6, 2012

I really enjoy the early 4am news on Hamilton, ON's CHCH (RF11) with the Divalicious Jaclyn Colville motoring through with traffic and weather reports!

2012-07-06

In the evening, things went crazy with waves of Ohio and Pennsylvania reception! Cleveland, OH's WKYC (RF17) had a story about one Ohio family feeling sour about their dillema with the extreme heat! Kris Pickel and Jennifer Lindgren were on hand to discuss how they cooled down!

2012-07-06

I thunderclapped with joy over the awesome WKYC weather ID that popped up on screen!

2012-07-06

WKYC's meteorologist Betsy doesn't Kling to the same old weather models used by other stations!

2012-07-06

Cleveland, OH's WUAB (RF28) 30 Rocked my world that night! My expression mirrored Jack McBrayer's as Ohio stations kept floating in!

2012-07-06

WUAB's new subchannel also Bounced in with the late great Donna Summer in Thank God It's Friday!

2012-07-06

Cleveland's Univision affiliate WQHS (RF34) was looking muy Delicioso with Ingrid Hoffman!

2012-07-06

Everybody Loves Raymond, indeed, especially when he pops up on Akron, OH's WBNX (RF30.)

2012-07-06

Back over on WKYC (RF17) Dave Chudowsky was up at bat with his sports roundup! I was very happy to catch their newscast!

2012-07-06

New Channel Alert - I was surprised to see Akron, OH's TBN outlet WDLI (RF49) leapfrog over Buffalo, NY's WNYO for the first time! It was also exciting to see that TBN is now trying to appeal to gay audiences!

2012-07-06

Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) appeared with Mark Johnson, Danita Harris, Chris Flanagan and Andy Baskin closing out the 11pm newscast!

2012-07-06

There was a great Good Morning Cleveland promo on WEWS with Mike Dunston, Christine Ferreira and Macie Jepson. I kind of love how Macie brazenly steals focus with that Divatastic hand on her hip!

2012-07-06

Rosie Del Campo had the keys to success during her report on Kitchener, ON's CKCO (RF13.)

2012-07-06

CKCO also featured a story on the Laurier Golden Hawks from Lee Boyadjian! (On a sidenote, she should totally launch a pasta line called "Chez Boyadjian" to compete with "Chef Boyardee!")

2012-07-06

New Channel Alert - I was totally baffled when I saw Jimmy Kimmel pop up on RF36 until I realized that Youngstown, OH's WYTV was blasting through Hamilton, ON's CITS for the first time!

2012-07-06

WYTV also offers "My Valley Weather" on one of their subchannels!

2012-07-06

WYTV has MyTV programming on their 33-2 subchannel ("My YTV") and I stumbled across this amazing promo for WYTV's Daybreak! A woman walks by and tells Jim Loboy and Len Rome, "Looks like you guys have some great chemistry going on..." LOVED it! (Check out more of their ads here!)

2012-07-06

My YTV featured another news promo with Stan Boney, who doesn't rib viewers about the serious issues!

2012-07-06

I caught a great shot of the WYTV logo via their My YTV subchannel! They believe in this valley, and so do I! (At least when I get reception from it!)

2012-07-06

Akron, OH's WEAO (RF50) also showed up for a bit! PBS viewers were likely scandalized upon seeing an ordinary dressing room turned into a sex den on WEAO's Spanish language V-Me subchannel. Muy caliente, for sure!

2012-07-06

London, ON's CFPL (RF10) featured a local ID (CTVLondon.ca) which is pretty rare on Canadian stations! Their contest was sponsored by Porky's, who may or may not have also sponsored that PBS sex movie above!

2012-07-06

Hamilton, ON's CHCH (RF11) also offered up a deliciously unique ID from the Laura Secord House in Queenston Heights!

2012-07-06

Alliance, OH's WNEO (RF45) had me swooning when sexy Osvaldo Friger hosted Nota Musical on the V-Me subchannel!

2012-07-06

My eyes popped out when Pittsburgh, PA started to make a strong appearance. MyTV station WPMY was blasting in on RF42!

2012-07-06

Andy Samberg was appearing in a comedy sketch on Jimmy Fallon, but the signal strength from Pittsburgh, PA's WPXI (RF48) was certainly no joke!

2012-07-06

The State of Ohio is sometimes an uneasy Alliance between opposing sides, as seen on WNEO (RF45.) But folks like Mike give us a Sliva of the various situations important to residents!

2012-07-06

New Channel Alert - I was shocked to see Pittsburgh, PA's WPGH (RF43) sneak past Buffalo, NY's WNED for only a few seconds! It's pretty tough to knock out Buffalo channels in my neck of the woods!

2012-07-06

Johnstown, PA's WJAC (RF34) drove past my house late at night with an ad for Stocker Chevrolet. I love that Gene Stocker is billed as the "Owner & Great, Great Guy." With a name like Stocker, it makes sense to remind people you aren't going to hide in their bushes to close the deal!

2012-07-06

WJAC also brought this amazing ad for Our Coal Miners Cafe, which encourages viewers to come for a meal and stay for the rubdown! Seriously, "Steele's Therapeutic Massage" sounds like the title of a saucy romance novel. I can imagine it: She let love slip through her fingers one too many times, until one man's healing hands brought the touch she had desperately longed for..."Steele's Therapeutic Massage" now in finer drugstores!

2012-07-06

Old school clip art exploded all over the screen on WJAC during this wonderful ad promoting the virtues of dairy. Check out the animated guy doing jazz hands among music notes and the awesome slogan "Milk - It keeps your body in tune!"

2012-07-06

I was Fortuneate to catch this ad for a Wheely exciting contest on Pittsburgh, PA's WPXI (RF48.)

2012-07-06

Folks in Pittsburgh always look up to Tall Cathy and DJ Scottro on Kiss 96.1 for an entertaining time! (Seen via WPMY, RF42.)

2012-07-06

My reception of Pittsburgh felt like a gift, so it was appropriate that WPMY (RF42) made Christmas In July a reality with a festive repeat of Wendy Williams.

2012-07-06

WPXI (RF48) featured a great station ID under the intro to Mad Money where Jim Cramer appears to be shooting that poor woman with laser beams!

2012-07-06

I'm convinced this is what the Olympics would look like if they were turned into a musical by Green Day. Seriously, the guy on the right even looks kinda like Billie Joe Armstrong! (Seen via Pittsburgh, PA's WPXI, RF48.)

2012-07-06

July 8, 2012

Speaking of Olympics, Rochester, NY's WXXI-W (RF16-2) was running the great documentary Claiming The Title: Gay Olympics On Trial about the history behind the naming of the Gay Games.

2012-07-08

July 9, 2012

Erie, PA's WJET (RF24) flew in with a great promo featuring Chelsea Pompeani!

2012-07-09

I got to see some of Good Morning Erie on WJET with Traci Teudhope and the awesome Jill McCormick!

2012-07-09

Tom DiVecchio made a big splash with his Lake Erie forecast that day!

2012-07-09

Springville, NY's WBBZ (RF7) had Andrew looking very Keene on delivering his report for First Business.

2012-07-09

WBBZ also had me buzzing with glee upon seeing the handsome Steve Helling guest hosting The Daily Buzz!

2012-07-09

I saw a great promo on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) with the awesome team of Kevin Doran and Maureen McGuire hammering home the importance of Habitat For Humanity!

2012-07-09

Sometimes you need a little R & R in the morning! Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) provided that with Rebecca Leclair and Rich Caniglia anchoring in the AM!

2012-07-09

It almost looks like Rich Caniglia was saying "Stop me if you've heard this one," just before launching into a comedy routine!

2012-07-09

Rochester, NY's PBS outlet WXXI (RF16) has members like Kathryn who make Gallant gestures of support towards the station!

2012-07-09

Buffalo, NY's WUTV (RF14) brought me a triple play of shirtless awesomeness during an episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia!

2012-07-09

WUTV also aired a cute episode of According To Jim where Jim's son wants to go out for Halloween as Cinderella, which leads Jim and his friend to dress in drag as a show of support!

2012-07-09

Like many folks in Southern Ontario, I grew up watching WUTV and listening to Kiss 98.5 on the radio. So it was neat to capture a great double ID for the two in a promo for a Darien Lake contest!

2012-07-09

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more of the reception that was jumpin' in July!