TV Garth

Reception Reports: 2011 Highlights Part 4!

2012-01-26T04:09:00.001-05:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Welcome to the fourth installment of 2011 highlights! Sit back, grab a snack and take a look back at all the signals that visited Markham, Ontario, Canada throughout the year! This edition showcases the later part of the Summer through September!

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!

TV Garth Presents: An Interview With WSTM's Niko Tamurian!

2012-01-09T04:46:00.001-05:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Niko Tamurian from Syracuse, NY's WSTM graciously took the time to chat with TV Garth about his work at the station! Niko has won several awards from the Syracuse Press Club for his sportscasts and talked with me about what it's been like helping viewers keep score over the past five years!

(Photo credit: CNYcentral.com)

Garth Jensen: What sparked your interest in broadcasting and how did that lead to becoming a sports anchor at WSTM?

Niko Tamurian: I always wanted to be some sort of broadcaster for my entire life. When I was younger my interest was split between weather and sports. (I'm still what they call a weather-dork today and frequently shoot video of "cool" weather events that I come across.) As a kid, some of the best memories, of course, were of Syracuse University sports and the announcer's call. I can still remember it inspiring me. I hope I have that same affect on someone. I used to play sports video games with my brother as a kid and announce them. Ok, maybe I still do, but that's a secret.

How it led to my career is a bit roundabout. I went to Onondaga CC in Syracuse for my first two years of college, and while there I interned at WSYR TV. That sports internship cemented it for me, that I knew I wanted to be a sportscaster. Eventually after 18 months of interning there, they hired me as a news videographer, which obviously was a great experience that was essential for me to become a sportscaster. Eventually, WSTM had a sports opening, WSYR didn't and the rest is history.

Niko scores big with WSTM viewers! (Seen Oct. 11, 2011 via WSTM, RF24.)

GJ: This year will mark your fifth anniversary at WSTM. Can you tell me what it has been like to work for the station?

NT: It's been an absolute pleasure to work at the station. I love every day, because every day is different. Put it to you this way, I'm getting paid to cover the teams I love, and report the news to my fellow Central New Yorkers. People I meet most often say they enjoy watching because it looks like I'm having fun. It doesn't just appear that way, I really am having a blast. (Well, unless SU is losing.) I'm still fairly young (26) so I hope to have a long and successful time here in my hometown while working for CNY Central. I also hope to be an inspiration or a role model for people the way that sportscasters were to me when I was young.

GJ: Have you noticed any changes to the way sports are presented in local newscasts since your career began? Is there more pressure to link it to social media now?

NT: Absolutely. The thing that amazes me the most is just how much things have changed in my 5 years here. The biggest change though, has been the emphasis to utilize not just CNYCentral.com but the station's Facebook and Twitter accounts as well. Something that really wasn't a thought for a TV station is now among my top priorities in the course of my day.

The presentation has changed in a way I prefer. If you look back about 10 years, local sports certainly covered the big draws in town, but after that it was like a mini Sportscenter.

Now, at least the philosophy I employ is that unless it's a huge national story, people are going online or to ESPN to get it. I need to provide to Central New York stories they can only get at CNY Central. Whether it's extensive Syracuse University coverage, or local high school teams and athletes, or that amazing individual who if it weren't for local news would never have their stories heard.

Niko knocks it out of the park with Jackie Robinson on WSTM's evening newscast! (Seen Oct. 11, 2011 via WSTM, RF24.)

GJ: You've interviewed some amazing athletes, and covered major sports events. Can you tell me about any challenges you've faced in bringing those stories to the public? As well, what are some of the most rewarding or memorable experiences you've had?

NT: I've been fortunate enough to have some great interviews with athletes I admired, and in some ways still do. Shaquille O'Neal, Cal Ripken Jr., Carmelo Anthony, Joe Girardi. Those are things you never forget, but the ones that are rewarding are the local people going above and beyond.

One that comes to mind is a junior varsity group of rowers (14-15 years old) that saved a man's life. He was having a seizure and almost fell in the water, but this group of crew kids rowed over to him and essentially saved his life.

There were the special education students at a local high school that put on their own talent show with such enthusiasm that absolutely touched my heart.

There was the interview with Marc Mero who turned his life around in a way that inspires me every day I wake up. I'm actually a better person from interviewing Marc and getting to know him and putting into practice what he teaches.

That's the part I love the most about my job - what's the next story I'll do that will serve as an inspiration?

Watch Jack the Sports dog in action with Niko in this CNYcentral clip!

GJ: Jack the Sports Dog is adorable! How did it come about to use your own dog to predict the winning teams in the "Hot Pick From The Hot Dog" segments?

NT: Jack is a great dog. It's funny, we do an "Orange VIP" show, a half hour program that talks about Syracuse U. football and basketball. One Sunday in January of 2010, our entire panel of guests was out of town because Syracuse played that day in Cincinnati. Sports Director John Evenson and I were brainstorming ideas on how to fill the time. When I suggested the "Hot Pick", he agreed to it and I brought Jack in. He made his pick for how far that year's SU basketball team would go, and fans have loved it ever since. I remember re-airing the segment the next day and viewers writing and even calling telling us how much they loved it. So we have Jack make a pick every Friday now. He has even received Valentine's cards, Christmas cards and fan mail in his 2 years of making picks. (He's 3 years old now.)

GJ: Syracuse seems to have a lot of pride in their local teams. Can you tell me a bit about the popularity of those teams and how that resonates with people in the city?

NT: No question people love their Orange. Everywhere I go, I'm stopped to talk shop about the team that is currently in season. And I'll never forget the euphoria that ensued for months in 2003 when Syracuse won the NCAA Basketball Championship. I still watch the DVD of that. It just goes to show how much the local team means to me, and all CNY'ers

Niko introduces a report on the Syracuse Orange's final exhibition for the season! (Seen Nov. 9, 2011 via WSTM, RF24.)

GJ: As a proud Canadian I have to ask, do you have any favourite hockey teams and have you ever been to Canada?

NT: Although I don't currently hold a passport, I have been to Canada a handful of times. I finished my bachelor's degree at Buffalo State College, so you almost had to go to Canada. I also went when I was younger to Toronto and Niagara Falls (Marineland!). Our Sports Director, John Evenson is Canadian and to my knowledge has lived in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg.

As for my favorite hockey teams, the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) always holds a special place, but in the NHL I have to go with my Buffalo Sabres.

GJ: For people visiting Syracuse, what places would you recommend checking out?

NT: Anyone will tell you, you HAVE to go to Dinosaur BBQ when in town. It is phenomenal, and was even featured on Man vs. Food. There are so many incredible restaurants we are so lucky to have.

Syracuse and CNY as a whole have a lot of hidden gems. For Sports fans, there's SU Athletics, but also the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota is 20 minutes away, and the International Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is about 90 minutes away.

The Finger Lakes region, about an hour west of town is known for its fantastic wineries.

There are several beautiful parks around like Onondaga Lake Park, or Jack the Sports Dog's personal favorite Green Lakes State Park.

A big thank you to Niko Tamurian for chatting with TV Garth! Check out Niko’s CNYcentral bio, as well as his Twitter! You can also visit CNYcentral.com for more information on WSTM!

Happy New Year From TV Garth!

2012-01-01T23:19:00.003-05:00

TV Garth wants to wish readers a very Happy New Year! (The pic below comes from some surprise reception of Batavia, NY's WPXJ, RF23, on Dec. 30, 2011!)

Another New Year's treat was the debut of Antenna TV as the new subchannel on Buffalo, NY's WGRZ. (Promo below seen on Dec. 27, 2011.)

Antenna TV debuted shortly after Midnight on Jan. 1, 2012 and on New Year's Day they ran a Three Stooges marathon! (I was lucky enough to catch one of their early shorts, Three Little Pigskins, starring a young Lucille Ball!)

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more television fun in the New Year!

Reception Reports: 2011 Highlights Part 3!

2011-12-31T03:02:00.002-05:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Welcome to my third installment of 2011 highlights! So sit back, grab a snack and take a look back at all the signals that floated through Markham, Ontario, Canada at various times throughout the year! (Reception is more or less showcased in chronological order...)

Tropo got an early start this year with Rochester, NY's WXXI (RF16) showing up on Feb. 15th with a great depiction of the city at night!

On Feb. 23rd, I caught part of the newscast on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) with a chilly Winter forecast! Check out the anchor team of John Kucko, Kevin Doran, Maureen McGuire and Scott Hetsko.

Also on Feb. 23rd I got to see a battle of the screamin' Divas! Check out the singers on Rochester, NY's W42CO (RF42) and WUHF's Cool TV subchannel (RF28-2) below!

It always feels like Spring is coming when March Madness takes place! Here's an ad from Rochester's WROC (RF45) seen March 15th!

I also caught a promo for WROC's upcoming mayoral debate on sister station WUHF (RF28) on March 20th. I kind of love how stunned the candidates look!

Norma Holland was also surprised about the mayoral candidates! On a sidenote, I enjoy seeing Norma on WHAM's newscasts because of her Divatastic sense of fun! Love her laugh! (Seen on Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13, May 12th.)

Meteorologist Jeff Najder joined Norma on the May 12th WHAM newscast. I wondered if he...er...forecasts for the same team I'm on. Norma then looked at me incredulously and said "You can't speculate about that!"

One of the strangest tropo results occured late at night on May 30th! I had trouble receiving Buffalo, NY stations, when all of sudden I got a few minutes of Columbus, OH's WBNS (RF21)! Unfortunately the reception conked out just as they were about to air a repeat of their newscast. (Check out the "10" logo in the second pic!)

Like Matt Molloy, I would totally give a thumbs up to the lineup for the Rochester Musicfest shown below. If next year's lineup is similar, Al B Sure to recommend the event to friends! (Seen May 31st via Rochester, NY's WROC, RF45.)

Cleveland, OH's WQHS (RF34) rolled in on June 5th and the mention of El Salvador made me think of my pal Indira!

Also on June 5th, Cleveland's WKYC (RF17) made an appearance with a great promo featuring anchor Robin Swoboda.

Who said Sit & Be Fit dropped the ball on bringing good workouts to viewers? Unless...er...they literally drop the ball... (Seen June 5th via Clearfield, PA's WPSU, RF15.)

At the same time on Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) there was a completely different Sit & Be Fit episode with even more choreography!

The reception from Erie, PA was so strong on June 5th that I saw some of The Insider with Scott Bremner on WSEE's subchannel WBEP (RF16-2). Contrary to popular belief, WBEP is not connected to musical group Black Eyed Peas. Also of note, Scott won an Emmy this year for his "Thoughts From Under The Hat" segments on WSEE!

Here's a unique "PBS Kids" logo from Clearfield, PA's WPSU (RF15) seen on June 5th.

Donna Summer knows that PBS works hard for the money, so we better treat them right! The fabulous Ms. Summer appeared during a pledge break on a David Foster special. (Seen June 6th on Erie, PA's WQLN, RF50.)

The Rochester Red Wings' sassy mascot...er...Spikes some attitude towards Scott Hetsko and John Kucko! (Seen June 6th on Rochester, NY's WUHF, RF28.)

Watertown, NY's WWTI (RF21) popped up on June 6th with a promo for their local reporter Holly Boname, who files stories on their website. I'm also waiting for her to do an adaptation of a Rihanna hit, called "What's My Boname?"

Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) celebrated the amazing 45th Anniversary of their longtime anchor Don Alhart on June 6th!

I'm quite impressed with the longevity of the entire WHAM anchor lineup below! From left to right are Glenn Johnson, Ginny Ryan, Don Alhart and Mike Catalana.

Syracuse, NY's WSYR (RF17) features a savings program called Groupigg and I totally heart the adorable mascot pictured below! (Seen on June 7th.)

I've got a bone to pick with the Calcium Community Church! I'm still trying to figure out if their Jam Session featured music or fruit spreads! (Seen June 8th on Watertown, NY's WWTI, RF21.)

I also caught this great promo from Watertown's WWTI (RF21) touting the winner of their Hooray For May contest. Hopefully Ms. Petrie will dish about her prizes!

On June 8th, WWTI came in just long enough for me to see them simulcasting the news from Syracuse's WSYR. (They ended their own local newscasts a few years ago.) While the content is from WSYR, they still brand themselves with a neat "ABC 50" logo in the bottom corner.

That same morning, I caught the newscast directly from Syracuse, NY's WSYR (RF17) with anchors Keith Kobland and Tanja Babich.

The one thing different with WWTI's simulcast is that they get a local weather insert for the Watertown area provided by WSYR's meteorologists. Below you can see Dave Longley giving the rundown of temps!

I was excited to see Rebecca Leclair's spontaneous impersonation of Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. Maybe Josh Nichols and Pat McGonigle were supposed to be the bandits? (Seen June 8th on Rochester, NY's WHEC, RF10.)

I wish I was more exposed to WICU's Vince Slomsky. (Or maybe not...I might get arrested!) All tasteless innuendo aside, I think it's very cool that he created the Giving You The Business segments that highlight Erie establishments. This was my only time seeing the "Business" over-the-air since WICU didn't come in as much in 2011 compared to the 2009/2010 DXing seasons. (Seen June 30th via Erie, PA's WICU, RF12.)

Fireworks were in the air as the handsome duo of Matt Molloy and John DiPasquale anchored the 4th of July morning newscast on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45).

I enjoyed seeing Rich Caniglia's forecasts on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) throughout the Summer! It was also neat to see my town Markham pop up on their doppler radar quite frequently! (Look closely at pic below from the July 5th newscast and you'll see Markham at the top of the screen behind Rich!)

Another Summer tradition I've had for the last few years is catching the promos for Utica Monday Nite on Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29).

On July 7th I caught a neat logo for Utica, NY's FOX affiliate WFXV via WPNY-LP (RF30-2). WPNY-LP is the subchannel of WUTR, and at night their infomercial feed comes direct from sister station WFXV.

On the main channel, WUTR (RF30) was showing ABC World News Now with (Canadian!) David Sieberg and Peggy Bunker.

Speaking of WUTR, I caught a repeat of WKTV's newscast featuring Caroline Gable on July 7th. What does that have to do with WUTR, you ask? Gable left WKTV shortly after this to become an anchor for WUTR's revamped HD newscasts that began in September 2011.

On July 13th, I caught the awesome Scott Hetsko of Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) engaging in some gratuitous shirtlessness during one of his Backyard BBQ segments for the station! He was ready to Dive In The Pool just like singer Pepper MaShay did many years ago!

Caroline Tucker appeared to get a major case of the giggles during the July 16th newscast seen on Rochester's WUHF (RF28). Even meteorologist Stacey Pensgen looked bemused about the whole thing!

I loved seeing the Divalicious Maurielle Lue pop up from time to time on Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15), seen here on July 20th. Lue has since moved on to a different market, reporting now for Detroit, MI's WJBK.

I know that most networks want their newscasts to have legs, but I didn't expect Univision to take it so literally! (Seen July 20th via Cleveland, OH's WQHS, RF34.)

I was excited to see Ways 2 Save on Cleveland, OH's WKYC (RF17) during their morning news on July 20th! That's the awesome (and Canadian) Matt Granite to the right of WKYC anchors Mark Nolan and Hollie Strano! Granite started the popular segment at Buffalo, NY's WGRZ before moving to sister Gannett station WKYC in Cleveland. He now reports for both of them!

Also on July 20th, I caught a promo for WKYC's news with Romona Robinson. Robinson has been a longtime staple of the Cleveland market, but recently left the station after problems with her contract renewal.

Betsy Kling also popped up in a WKYC promo on July 20th! Kling was recently promoted to Chief Meteorologist at the Cleveland NBC affiliate. Personally, I wish she'd host a current affairs talk show called "Betsy Kling On..." so that they could draw huge ratings from Star Trek fans.

Fritze of the awesome SEARK DX And Media Report reminded me that all the Gannett stations, including Cleveland's WKYC (RF17) below, feature the "Deal Chicken" promotions!

I feel like I'm going on and on about WKYC, but before I move on from their July 20th appearance, I had to post this gorgeous logo shot that starts off their newscasts!

I was happy to pick up Erie, PA's WICU (RF12) on July 20th with sports anchor Mike Ruzzi talking about the Erie Seawolves!

The wicked cool Ray Petelin talked about how hot the Summer was over on Erie's WSEE (RF12-3) that same morning. He's moved on to Pittsburgh's WTAE, so check out their website or follow him on Twitter! He rocks!

Back over on WICU (RF12) reporter Cy Sharp cuts through the usual stories to make a splash with her take on Erie's water parks!

The fabulously named Shaquanda Crump needs to star in a new David E. Kelley drama where she'll play a feisty lawyer whose tagline is "You don't want the Crump to go after your rump!" Later in the series, Ms. Crump will be miffed that office mates nickname her "Shaq" because her cases are slam dunks.

See? She became a lawyer already! Take a look at the ad for Davis & Crump seen below! (Seen via Erie, PA's WFXP, RF22, on Sept. 10, 2011.)

Harry Leslie's first name seems very appropriate. That is all. (Seen via Erie, PA's WICU, RF12, on July 20th.)

We close this highlights reel with a great promo for Mornings Live with Ray Petelin and Eva Mastromatteo! (See via Erie, PA's WSEE, RF12-3, on July 20th.)

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more highlights from 2011 coming your way!

Happy Holidays From TV Garth!

2011-12-26T00:57:00.009-05:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Here's a quick recap of all the Holiday delights I was able to capture via over-the-air television!

Batavia, NY's ION affiliate WPXJ (RF23) made a surprise appearance on Dec. 13th with this promo for A Golden Christmas 2!

WPXJ (RF23) was also talking turkey with a Pepto Bismol ad foreshadowing all the Holiday parties that would be taking place!

Toronto, ON's CBLT (RF20) featured this ad for the Tim Allen film The Santa Clause 2 on Dec. 17th!

Buffalo, NY's WGRZ (RF33) took a trip to Fort Erie, Ontario on Dec. 22nd to visit a "Christmas House" that was decorated with tons of neat trees!

Buffalo, NY's WIVB (RF39) aired their annual Holiday promo featuring the awesome Jacquie Walker on Dec. 23rd!

Also on Dec. 23rd, WIVB featured a report from the handsome Ed Drantch about last minute shopping! Check out his Twitter or Facebook page!

The next day, WIVB's sister station WNLO (RF32) featured another report about late shoppers with Rachel Kingston posing with the store window mannequins! So Divatastic! (Rachel gave credit to the aforementioned Ed Drantch for the idea!)

WGRZ (RF33) featured Jimmy Fallon's duet with the Muppets on Dec. 23rd!

Buffalo, NY's WKBW (RF38) featured their Christmas Day forecast on Dec. 24th! It looked extra festive!

I also caught a neat promo where WKBW (RF38) wished viewers a Happy Hanukkah!

WGRZ reporter and anchor Marissa Bailey appeared in their Holiday promo, seen on Dec. 24th! (Unfortunately for viewers, she's leaving the station in January to look for opportunities in Chicago!)

On Christmas Eve, Toronto's CITY (RF44) featured a great musical special called Carol Sing.

Buffalo, NY's WKBW (RF38) wished viewers a Merry Christmas with this golden promo!

Meanwhile, Hamilton, ON's CHCH (RF11) featured a rather unusual, but festive Angel in their late night game show. (Maybe she was an "Imperfect Angel" a la Mariah Carey?)

Last, but not least, Buffalo's WGRZ (RF33) wished viewers a Merry Christmas with a warm fireplace in the background!

There was also an AWESOME Holiday promo from Rochester, NY's WROC! I didn't catch it over-the-air, but saw it via their Facebook page. You can watch it by clicking here!

No matter what you celebrate, TV Garth wishes all readers a wonderful, safe and magical Holiday season! Stay tuned to TV Garth for more television mayhem!

Meeting CFTO's Tom Brown at Markville Mall!

2011-12-19T04:42:00.002-05:00

Back on November 29, 2011, I went out to grab a newspaper during a break from work at my local mall. Thank goodness I had a craving for news that day, because I stumbled upon a TV event taking place! My eyes popped out when I saw a CTV crew setting up to do a live broadcast with Tom Brown from Markville Mall for the 2011 Toy Mountain campaign. I was lucky enough to get a pic with Tom before he went on air!

Tom Brown is CFTO's weatherman on the 6pm and 11pm news! He has a great, energetic delivery of the forecasts and is enjoyable to watch. In fact, he made it onto my list of top weather people of 2009! Click here for his full bio! (Pic below as seen on CFTO, RF9, on Nov. 29, 2011.)

Since it was my dinner break, I wanted to eat, but also wanted to catch the broadcast. So I wolfed down some McDonald's in record time, and raced back to see the action! Here we have Tom with Ed Arabian (from Ed's Fine Imports) on the left and Markville Mall general manager Kevin Gray on the right! (The second pic comes from the recap of the event on CFTO's 11pm news!)

I was very impressed with Tom Brown's ability to "go big" for the camera when the live report started! Everything was more or less laid back until air time and then the magic happened!

Here's Tom interviewing the dashing Ed Arabian! (I wouldn't mind experiencing some Arabian Nights...er...shopping for fine imported clothing at his store. That's what I meant...) I also think Rudolph should have at least bought Tom a drink before getting so...uh...comfortable with him!

When I saw an official group shot being taken, I went into full TV Garth mode and shouted "Can I get another one over here?" From left to right are Ed Arabian, Kevin Gray, Tom Brown, and John Murray!

Click here to see video of the event. The segment appears around the 11 minute mark!

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more festive follies and television fun!

CanCon In The US: WGRZ Talks Canadians & Black Friday!

2011-12-15T01:42:00.005-05:00

I came home stressed out on November 25, 2011 due to working on the Canadian version of Black Friday. (It wasn't as intense as the US version, but still pretty crazy...) But I perked up when I came home to see Buffalo, NY's WGRZ (RF33) opening their newscast with a story about Canadians flocking across the border for US bargains! Click here for the full story and video. Below are the pics I captured when I was watching over-the-air!

Check out anchor Maryalice Demler introducing the report!

"Cheryl Cooper: Toronto Shopper" almost sounds like an exciting new investigative series. They interviewed her in the parking lot of the Niagara Falls outlet mall, which my friends and I shopped at during last month's Rochester road trip!

I love to see the Canadian flag fly! The report showed stats from Bank of Montreal that indicate almost a quarter of Ontarians will shop in the US this season!

The trippiest thing was seeing a newscast within a newscast as WGRZ filmed CFTO's crew who were doing a live report for CTV Toronto's story about Buffalo bargains! The second pic shows CFTO's Christine Bentley and Ashley Rowe!

Near the end of the segment, WGRZ's Michael Wooten gave stats about Canadian shoppers that showed we spend about twice as much as Americans when we cross the border! Can I get a "woot, woot"? (You know...cause of Wooten? Never mind...)

After seeing this story, I posted about how much I liked it on WGRZ's Facebook wall and they "liked" my post! I was flabbergasted, and appreciated that 2 really is on my side!

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more television mayhem!

Rochester Road Trip 2: Electric Boogaloo! (November 19-20, 2011)

2011-12-08T05:33:00.002-05:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! For my birthday this year, I decided that I wanted to embark on a sequel to my previous Rochester Road Trip. (Last year's blog entry includes full disclosure about my obsession with the Flower City!) This time the journey involved two cars, two days and too much mayhem! We also made an impromptu visit to Rochester's ABC affiliate WHAM! So sit back and get ready for a recap that's part travelogue, part TV-log! (All television pics are from my reception in Markham, unless otherwise noted!)

Saturday Nov. 19, 2011

We began our journey to Rochester with a stop in Niagara Falls, NY for some shopping. I know we've crossed the border when we start seeing gigantic Cellino & Barnes billboards.

It felt bittersweet to see a vacant storefront for longtime Western New York staple Rosa's, as they held bankruptcy closing sales earlier this year. (Ad seen via Buffalo, NY's WGRZ, RF33 on Feb. 10, 2011.)

We also passed a Metro Mattress outlet during our travels. I heart their ability to turn any occasion/holiday into a sales event, as evidenced by their "March Mattress" ad seen on Buffalo's WIVB (RF39) on March 27, 2011.

Mighty Taco is a famous Buffalo institution, though on our last two trips to Buffalo we opted for rival Salsarita's. (Ad seen via Buffalo's WKBW, RF38 on June 4, 2011.)

We stopped off at Wendy's to eat before continuing on to Rochester. I have to say Wendy's is one of my favourite fast food restaurants on both sides of the border. I adore the baconator!

I also adore television related advertising! There were some amazing cards sitting at all the tables promoting a WUTV (FOX 29) and WNYO (My TV Buffalo) sponsored event called "No Shave November." I may have grabbed one or two as souvenirs before leaving.

Here's a pic of my tasty travel gang! From left to right are me, Chris, Ilana, Mr. A (front), Indira, Adam and Brian!

Indira reminds us that we've always got time for Tim Horton's at a rest stop in Corfu, NY. The coffee giant is becoming as ubiquitous in Western New York as it is in Canada! (Check out the ad for the chain as seen on Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13, on September 9, 2011.)

Mr. A was just as surprised as I was to see a Checkers restaurant at this rest stop. I knew the chain from ads I'd seen back in the Summer on Ohio TV stations (Check out the ad below, as seen August 13, 2011 on Cleveland, OH's WEWS, RF15.) It was unusual to see it in Upstate New York, as I haven't seen ads on any Buffalo, Rochester or Syracuse stations for it.

Later that day, we arrived in the Roch-cha-cha and checked into the Rochester Plaza Hotel. One of the first things I did was pull out my new Eviant portable digital TV that was a gift from my parents and my Grandma! I scanned for channels and picked up most Rochester channels, plus a couple of Canadian ones!

I caught WHEC and spaced out when I saw their MeTV subchannel (RF10-2) showing Star Trek!

WHAM also came in on RF13, and the pic below shows their CW subchannel on 13-2 with a local ad for the Marina car dealership.

WXXI (RF16) was Keeping Up Appearances on my new portable TV!

Batavia, NY's ION affiliate WPXJ was also present on RF23.

I was surprised to be getting a relatively decent analog signal from Peterborough, ON's CIII (Global) repeater on RF27! (They haven't gone digital yet, as Peterborough wasn't on the list of cities that had to transition on August 31, 2011.)

WUHF was looking FOX-y on RF28!

I also picked up a couple of analog Rochester stations, such as WHSH-LP (HSN) on RF36! (I've also noticed this pop up a couple of times in my own neck of the woods during tropo last Summer!)

WBGT-CA is Rochester's MyTV station and broadcasts on RF40, which has also turned up in my area a few times after the Canadian DTV transition.

Low powered TCT repeater W42CO showed up on RF42!

One more Canadian analog popped up! It was a fuzzy signal from Peterborough, ON's CBLFT (R-C) repeater on RF44. (Note the CBC logo in the bottom right corner.)

After feasting on some over-the-air TV, I was ready to dance! Our group got ready to head to Tilt and waited in the hotel lobby. Mr. A shot this pic of us while we were waiting for our cab!

The Rochester Plaza Hotel has great murals of the Rochester Jazz Festival, which I gamely posed with! (Check out the second pic which I caught on WHAM, RF13, back on June 15, 2011.)

Speaking of the Festival, I enjoyed seeing Adam Chodak's report about it this past Summer because he makes me feel jazzy! (Be glad I didn't opt for the pun involving horns...) Seen via WHAM, RF13, on June 15, 2011.

Mr. A snapped this gorgeous shot of the Tilt entrance in black and white, adding a cool feel to a hot nightspot!

I was ready to go full Tilt with my sassy crew!

I was surprised that the club brought in Minnie Driver to entertain the crowd until I realized it was actually the fierce drag performer Sasha Sashay! (Love that name!) She worked the crowd into a frenzy with the hot Freemasons remix of Loleatta Holloway's Love Sensation!

We indulged in Tilt's dangerous $2.50 shots, though I seemed to be the only one Tilting by the end of the night. (I think that was also due to some sweet vodka cokes I had guzzled down.)

As we left the club, I ran into this fabulous Diva and had to take a pic with her! I also started to ramble about how much I loved her city's stations and pointed at my shirt in the process!

Back at the hotel, some folks were getting ready for bed, but you couldn't pry the remote out of my hand as I surfed the hotel cable. Around this time, Adam ordered a pizza for the night owls to chow down on!

In my tipsy state I was utterly fascinated by the turkeys shown on WXXI.

I was also utterly fascinated by the wrestlers being shown on WBGT-CA.

Then came the highlight of the night! I stumbled on the Mr. T Flavorwave infomercial (one of my faves) and introduced it to my gaggle of pals as we ate pizza!

I'm not sure where we ordered the pizza from, but it was delicious! (Adam couldn't remember the place he'd called, and the box was generic.) I sent an e-mail to the Pizza Guy from the awesome Rochester NY Pizza Blog and he thinks it may have been from either Big Deal Pizzeria or Mark's Pizzeria!

Sunday Nov. 20, 2011

After all my drinking the previous night, this is what I felt like in the morning. (Seen via WHEC's MeTV subchannel, RF10-2, on my portable TV.)

I scanned for channels again on my l'il digital TV and caught WROC (RF45) which hadn't come in the previous night. The woman below is advertising implants. Dental implants, you dirty minded readers!

Having the portable TV gave me access to channels I wouldn't see on hotel cable, like WHEC's weather subchannel (RF10-3) with the awesome Josh Nichols giving the upcoming forecast!

Brian snapped a pic of me documenting my reception that morning!

When we checked out of the hotel, I noticed a sign featuring the Visit Rochester logo I've admired since seeing it on WXXI (RF16) way back on March 17, 2009.

As we drove away from the hotel, I caught this pic of an ad for the Rochester Lancers on a bus shelter. I remembered seeing a story announcing the arrival of the pro indoor soccer team back on July 21, 2010 on WROC (RF45). I really think the team should work with PBS affiliate WXXI to produce a kids educational show called The Lancers Have All The Answers.

On roadtrips, I'm always snapping away at sights I recognize from tropo TV viewing at home. I was excited to spot the Blue Cross Arena, which is home to the Rochester Americans, Knighthawks and the aforementioned Lancers! Check out the second pic showing Cory Hepola reporting live in front of the arena on WROC (RF45) back on Sept 26, 2011.

My pal Brian captured a great shot of the iconic Ford Street Bridge, which is frequently used in Rochester promotional pics. Check out the bridge as seen behind Jennifer Johnson and Doug Emblidge on WHAM's morning news back on July 28, 2011. (As a sidenote, I love WHAM's morning news and this past Summer Don Shipman & I praised their show on Twitter which led to some neat Tweet backs!

Last year, I was blown away by Kasha Davis at a Drag Brunch I saw during my previous Rochester road trip. Although I didn't get to see her live, I was still very happy to find Kasha on a poster for a play she recently starred in at the Blackfriars Theater!

Soon our group was reunited to eat at a wonderful greasy spoon called Jim's Restaurant Too! The diner featured some great breakfast food!

Not long after eating, we were on the road again and I caught a nice shot of downtown Rochester! Compare it to the backdrop on WHAM's morning show a few pics above and it appears to match the skyline, but in reverse.

I zoomed in to capture the Cellino & Barnes billboard. They advertise so heavily on Western New York stations that even Canadians can sing their jingle. I love the second pic where the duo seem to have mischievous grins on their faces. I can picture them starring in a pilot for a humourous law show, where the pair would be framed for a dastardly crime, but since they're lawyers, they'd find a way to get themselves off. Parental watchdog groups would misunderstand the part about two men getting themselves off and protest, but the ensuing controversy would guarantee a hit! Cellino & Barnes coming soon to TNT! (Ad seen on WHEC, RF10, on August 4, 2011.)

Our next destination on the road trip was Rochester's ABC affiliate WHAM. Their station was the only one I hadn't tried to visit on my last trip to the Flower City. On the way to WHAM, we passed the building for ABVI (The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired). I remembered seeing anchor Don Alhart promoting a gala for ABVI's 100th Anniversary on WHAM (RF13) back on Oct. 10, 2011!

As we made our way to WHAM, it felt like we were travelling through an advertising alley on West Henrietta Road! In rapid succession I saw place after place that had been advertised on Rochester stations! Sleep City has a catchy jingle, and I caught one of their ads on WHAM (RF13) as recently as October 6, 2011!

Upstate Auto Credit popped up next, and I recalled seeing their ad on WUHF (RF28) back on April 7, 2011!

The York Furniture Gallery appeared shortly after and I caught their ad on WHAM (RF13) back on July 28, 2011.

Ruby Gordon is furnished with a wonderfully retro appeal, and their ad is equally chic as seen on WHAM (RF13) July 7, 2011!

We motored by one of the many Dorschel dealerships on the strip, which reminded me of an ad I saw on WROC (RF45) on February 23, 2011!

I zoomed by the John Holtz dealership as well, which brought to mind another ad I saw on WROC (RF45) back on August 16, 2011.

Soon enough we had arrived at WHAM! I was a bundle of nerves as I was super excited to see the station, but too scared to knock on their door. My pal Mr. A stepped up and used the phone outside their entrance to ask someone inside if we could get a tour. The person inside agreed to meet us at the door with the news after he checked with his boss.

The gentleman who came to greet us was super friendly, and explained that they couldn't give us a tour, but he did give me a WHAM business card with the station logo on it! (I loved it!)

Here's a close up of the card, which is an awesome souvenir! (I love station swag, especially if it has a great logo!)

The man from WHAM also agreed to take a picture of our group spelling out TV GARTH! (I knew I probably wouldn't get a tour on such short notice, but my backup plan was to spell out my blog's name as a group outside the station!) From left to right are Brian, Adam, Ilana, Mr. A, Indira, Chris and myself!

Before I left, I had to get pics with the WHAM news vehicles! According to Mr. A I always become Vanna White when I pose with the cars at TV stations.

The relatively new WHAM logo (the "circle 13") appears on this car!

WHAM is ready to drive over their competition with this well branded hood!

I also posed with the main station sign that can be seen from the road.

After visiting WHAM, we drove through a Tim Hortons that looked almost exactly the same as one that's down the street from me. That reminded me of a unique Tim Horton's ad that I saw on WHAM (RF13) back on April 7, 2011 that declared their coffee was "Roasted In Rochester."

Our next stop on the road trip was the legendary House of Guitars! Their wacky commercials are great and I remember making a mental note to visit them after seeing their ad on WUHF (RF28) back on August 6, 2011.

What really sold me on visiting the store was their ad's declaration that they carried "Over 4 Million CDs, LPs & DVDs." I love browsing through a great music store! (Compare our visit with the commercial, as seen on WUHF August 6, 2011.)

Look carefully and you can spot me browsing the CDs in the middle of this pic! While inside, I chatted with one of the store's employees and he gave me some great stories about musicians who have passed through! (I also squeezed him for some tidbits about the WROC-WUHF sponsored American Idol contest!) I love a place where people are passionate about music, and they provided great customer service!

I can't give enough praise to House of Guitars, but if you ever go to the Rochester area I highly recommend stopping in! I bought a bag full of musical goodies to take home with me, and their selection was very impressive!

Here's a montage of everything I bought at the House of Guitars. Given the totally butch selections I made, I'm sure they had no clue about my sexual orientation!

Soon after leaving House of Guitars I caught a great pic of a "City of Rochester" sign, complete with the flower symbol. (Compare with the logo as seen on WROC (RF45) back on July 13, 2011.)

We drove by the Peppermill Restaurant which seemed vaguely familiar. I spent a long time going through my 2010-2011 "TV G'Archives" to find a TV photo of it but had no luck. As it turned out, the pic I was thinking of was seen on WROC (RF45) all the way back on June 11, 2009!

The KOST was clear as we passed by the tire and muffler shop! (Compare with their ad seen on WROC, RF45, on July 28, 2011.)

I was surprised to see another Upstate Auto Credit location, which was fairly new given the "Now Open" sign on their window. (Compare with the ad seen on WUHF, RF28, on April 7, 2011.)

There were quite a few Delta Sonic locations in the area. (We stopped in at one to get gas, and there was a whole kerfuffle about Canadian postal codes not working at the pump. Meanwhile, I bought a Cherry Coke and was happy!) Compare with their ad on WHEC (RF10) as seen on June 20, 2011.

I wasn't too tired to snap this pic of Dunn Tire, which I know from their frequent ads on Buffalo and Rochester stations. (Compare with their ad seen on WROC, RF45, on July 15, 2011.)

We decided to visit the Jell-O Museum in Le Roy, NY again because we enjoyed it so much the first time around. (Plus we were travelling with a few folks who hadn't seen it before.) And besides, there's always room for Jell-O! As you can see below, Adam was revving up for our tour in the Jell-O mobile!

Here, Chris and Indira give Bill Cosby a run for his money as Jell-O spokespeople!

Ilana fell in love with this beautiful retro wagon which is part of a showcase of vintage Le Roy vehicles in the basement of the museum.

These were our wonderful Jell-O tour guides, and they are both as sweet and enjoyable as the dessert their Museum celebrates! Love them! (Click here for the recent profile of the Museum shown on CBS Sunday Morning.)

After the Jell-O Museum we ate at McDonald's and I spotted a Pontillo's Pizzeria location nearby. (Compare with the ad seen on WUHF, RF28, on August 13, 2011.)

Shortly after our McBreak in Le Roy, we began our journey home! The pic below showcases the collection of Rochester and area TV Guides and other souvenirs amassed during the trip! Included are TV Week (Rochester), TV Topics (Buffalo), The Empty Closet, TV Guide, Remote Patrol (Batavia), plus my WHAM card, my WUTV-WNYO standee and delicious Girl Scouts cookies I bought in Niagara Falls!

A big thank you to Adam, Mr. A, Brian, Chris, Ilana and Indira for helping make my trip to Rochester electric! A huge thanks as well for the amazing photos from Adam, Mr. A and Brian that joined my pics to create a well rounded travelogue!

And thank you my dear readers for letting me celebrate my love of TV reception and related travels with you! Stay tuned to TV Garth for more antenna antics coming your way!

Reception Reports: More Highlights from 2011!

2011-11-12T03:31:00.002-05:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! As the season gets colder and the tropo slows down, I wanted to present some more highlights from the 2011 DXing season! Sit back, grab a snack and enjoy a mix of long distance reception pics paired with TV Garth's commentary and ~~tasteless innuendo~~ unique observations!

WROC's Maureen McGuire looked very happy about Alec Baldwin visiting the Rochester area! (Seen on Rochester, NY's WROC, RF45, April 7, 2011.)

I think Alec was just passing through Rochester on his way to Baldwinsville. (Seen on Syracuse, NY's WSTM subchannel CNY, RF24-3, Sept. 25, 2011.)

On June 30th, I got to see awesome meteorologist Ray Petelin doing double duty on two Erie, PA stations! Below, Ray co-hosts with Kara Coleman on WICU (RF12).

Next, I saw Ray on WSEE (RF12-3) with Eva Mastromatteo on Mornings Live. (I've previously noted Ray's ability to make his co-hosts laugh and have fun, and this day was no exception!) Ray has since moved on to Pittsburgh, PA's WTAE. When I asked on Twitter if he was joining WTAE, he sent an awesome reply to me!

Erie, PA's WICU (RF12) features a segment called "Giving You The Business" in which reporter Vince Slomsky "brings scoops and insights" to viewers about local Erie businesses.

Vince Slomsky is certainly welcome to give me the business anytime he wishes!

My jaw dropped when Erie, PA's WBEP (RF12-2) showed this ad for Big Woodie's. I especially love the tagline "...when you're ready to make some noise, come see us."

Speaking of Big Woodie's, I almost fell over when Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) ran the headline "Weiner Officially Out Tomorrow" on June 21, 2011.

Also on June 21st, WHAM (RF13) ran this great promo for a New York Yankees baseball game they were showing. I love that they promote their over-the-air channel in the second pic!

On July 19th, I caught this promo for New Girl on Watertown, NY's WNYF (RF7-2). Now that I've seen the show, I have to declare how awesome it is! Zooey Deschanel totally rocks her character!

I caught this great station ID for Springville, NY's WNGS (RF7) on July 22, which was only a short time before they officially changed their call letters to WBBZ. At this time they promoted themselves as "Buffalo's Movie Channel" due to their affiliation with This TV.

Nice try Nicole Scherzinger, but placing four backup dancers behind you won't fool us into thinking your new solo video is by the Pussycat Dolls. (Seen on Rochester, NY's WUHF subchannel Cool TV, RF28-2, June 30, 2011.)

Speaking of dancers, Cleveland, OH's WQHS (RF34) provided this amazingly flamboyant spectacle with colourful men and sassy Divas working the stage on September 10, 2011. Muchas gracias, Univision!

Speaking of colourful Divas, I discovered many Katy Perry lookalikes popping up across different stations. Here we have one on Rochester, NY's low powered TCT repeater W42CO (RF42-2).

Next up in the Katy Perry look-a-like sweepstakes is Lindsay Ward of Johnstown, PA's WJAC (RF34) seen here on October 5th!

It felt weird to see Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) on July 22 after they'd let Kimberly Gill and Pete Kenworthy go from their morning show. (Thankfully Kimberly Gill landed at Pittsburgh's KDKA shortly after!) Meteorologist Christine Ferreira gamely smiles, even through all the AM show chaos! Ferreira is great, so I'm hoping she'll survive in the new incarnation of Good Morning Cleveland.

WEWS reporter Curtis Jackson filled in during the Summer on Good Morning Cleveland.

Patty Harken (seen here on WEWS on July 22) also left Good Morning Cleveland recently. At least she went out with a bang, making an on air joke about receiving "adult gifts" from her co-workers on her birthday shortly before leaving.

Cleveland, OH's WKYC (RF17) also popped up on July 22 with this awesome Facebook promo that also spells out the meaning of their call letters!

Here's a look at WKYC's morning team Mark Nolan and Hollie Strano on Channel 3 News Today! (Seen July 22, 2011.)

Who said religious kids shows had to be a drag? Unless...er...you actually have men dressed up as women in them! (Seen on Jamestown, NY's WNYB-SD2, RF26-3, Sept. 14 and Oct. 6 respectively.)

Stacey Pensgen is a great addition to Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45). She brings a sense of fun to her weather forecasts, banters well with anchors and has a Divatastic fashion sense! Pensgen is seen here on September 25 after one of the first major victories by the Buffalo Bills in the current football season.

I can't express how much I LOVE getting Syracuse, NY's WSTM (RF24) again! (WSTM was last seen in Markham back in June 2009 and became receivable again after the Canadian DTV transition.) Check out the ad for their HD channel on Time Warner cable, seen on Sept. 25, 2011.

I caught part of WSTM's news, which promoted the Orange VIP Pass sports show being carried on their sister station WTVH!

Both Chris McGrath and Niko Tamurian were shocked and stunned when I declared that Niko was my new Syracrush!

Chris quickly remarked "Whatever floats your boat, man!" to which Niko replied "Dude! Don't encourage him!"

Despite only being in widescreen SD, WSTM seems to have a pretty sharp picture during their newscasts. (Seen September 25, 2011.)

I've really been enjoying Morning Live First Edition on Hamilton, ON's CHCH (RF11) with Tim Bolan and Jaclyn Colville. It's the first "early AM" newscast in Canada, starting at 4am each night! Jaclyn rocks it, doing weather, traffic and having fun banter with Tim Bolan. (Seen October 3, 2011.)

One of my favourite moments of the year was seeing coverage of Don Shipman (of Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29) and his partner Adam Lawless getting married! I first read the news on WKTV's website, and was lucky enough to see a recap of it over-the-air on October 10, 2011!

This was especially exciting for me to see, given that Marriage Equality had only recently been passed into law in New York State!

Megan Koskovich showed viewers pictures from the wedding, including this great shot of WKTV personalities past and present celebrating the event! (Also, note the PSIP at the top of the screen. I was watching this on my Dynex TV in the basement, which mapped WKTV to 29-1 instead of 2-1!)

We close this 2011 Highlights reel with a great shot of Adam Lawless, Megan Koskovich and Don Shipman taken at the wedding. In a time where kids are still committing suicide because of their sexuality, having a proud, openly gay anchor marry his true love and get an outpouring of support from his station and the Utica community is proof that it really does get better! I LOVE it! Click here to see video of the wedding!

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more TV watching mayhem!

Happy Halloween: 2011 Edition!

2011-10-31T15:19:00.001-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! It's time once again for the annual Halloween round-up! This year, I've collected pics of spooky treats I've seen over-the-air from Johnstown, PA as well as Buffalo, Syracuse, and Utica, NY!

Johnstown, PA's WJAC (RF34) made no bones about their coverage of a controversial Halloween attraction on October 5th!

A "Racy Haunted House" was certainly nothing to clown around about! (Seen via Johnstown, PA's WJAC, RF34.)

An episode of Jimmy Kimmel was about to explode with pumpkin-y goodness! (Seen October 6th via Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13)

Over on Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) I caught an ad for October Fest on Oct. 7th!

This Boo-tiful pumpkin was also seen on Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) a couple of days later on October 9th!

Syracuse, NY's WSTM (RF24) was presenting local area "Halloween Homes" throughout the month of October!

The following pic of a Halloween Foursome was one of the few they could actually show before things got too carried away! (Seen October 23 via Syracuse, NY's WSTM, RF24.)

A pumpkin this big guarantees it'll be a Gourd-geous Halloween in Central New York! (Seen via Syracuse, NY's WSTM subchannel, CNY on RF24-3.)

One of the treats I discovered in October were late night repeats of Kathie Lee & Hoda's Today show at 2:05am on NBC! (Seen Oct. 26 via Buffalo, NY's WGRZ, RF33.) Here, the Divatastic ladies are haunted by great party ideas!

Since Kathie Lee was gone, Hoda could breathe for the first time! (Kidding!) Kelly Clarkson stepped to help with the creepy cocktails while Kathie Lee was away on the Oct. 28th edition of Today. (Seen via Buffalo, NY's WGRZ, RF33.)

Buffalo, NY's WGRZ (RF33) featured a Halloween forecast with meteorologist Autumn Lewandowski, but there was nothing scary about the station's recent converstion to full HD newscasts!

It felt appropriate that Autumn delivered the weather report about...er...Autumn trick or treating conditions! (Seen October 30th via Buffalo, NY's WGRZ, RF33.)

The Halloween edition of ABC's World News Now drove viewers batty! (Seen Oct. 31 via Buffalo, NY's WKBW, RF38.)

World News Now hosts got into the spirit with retro candy and outrageous costumes! (Seen Oct. 31 via Buffalo, NY's WKBW, RF38.)

That wraps up this year's Halloween Spooktacular! Have a safe and Happy Halloween, and stay tuned to TV Garth for more TV related fun!

Reception Reports: The Great Canadian DTV Transition of 2011!

2011-10-15T03:14:00.004-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Canada finally underwent their DTV transition, with most major cities shutting down their analog transmitters as of August 31, 2011. (There have been exceptions made for smaller towns, and CBC got permission to keep many of their analog repeaters running throughout Canada for at least another year.) I had already survived one DTV Transition (the American one in 2009, where ironically the highlight of the day was analog E-Skip from Louisiana.) And now I was ready to celebrate the homegrown DTV switch! Sit back, grab a snack and let TV Garth take you through the transition highlights!

THE ADVERTISING

Public service announcements began airing in 2011 to alert Canadians to the coming digital transition. I think my favourite campaign was the print ad put out by the goverment that declared "No More Snow In Canada." Check out Average Joe Consumer Products Review for a look at the ad. That blog also has a great breakdown of the PSAs on TV and why many of them were misleading.

I caught the following DTV transition ad on CFTO (RF40) on May 24, 2011.

I also caught an ad on CIII (Global, RF65) on May 24, 2011. I was happy to see Global using some cool antennas in their commercial.

Later on in the Summer, I caught an ad on CBLFT (RF24) on August 1st, which provided info en Français on how to continue watching rabbits on TV.

CJMT (OMNI 2, RF44) ran the following ad on August 27th and seemed to be a little too enthusiastic in giving the thumbs up to cable or satellite as a replacement for analog reception. (The worst part is that their web address often redirected people to a pitch for their cable service rather than transition information.)

PRE-TRANSITION HIGHLIGHTS

"Don't worry Mildred, it's not too late to get yourself a digital converter box," implored the woman on the right during the last night of Hamilton, ON's CHCH on RF11 in analog. (Seen August 14, 2011.)

By the morning of August 15th, CHCH had fired up their digital signal on VHF 11 and shut down their pre-transition RF18 transmitter. Although the switch improved my reception, it became a VHF nightmare (tm Rabbit Ears) for a large amount of people.

On August 17th it felt appropriate to say goodbye to TV Ontario's analog signal on RF19 with their PSA about the digital transition. (TVO was the only Toronto station not to have a pre-transition digital signal.)

Shortly before 2am, TV Ontario was back on the air with their digital signal on RF19.

On August 22nd, Toronto's CFTO did a test of their digital signal on RF9 that lasted for a few hours.

Also on August 22nd, Barrie, ON's CKVR ran a test of their DTV signal on RF10 for a few hours. This was especially noteworthy as it would be the only time their "A" branding would be shown on their digital signal. (They rebranded to "CTV Two" by August 29th.)

On August 25th, Toronto, ON's CIII (Global) shut down their analog signal early and launched their post-transition signal on RF41. (Their temporary transmitter on RF65 would stay on air until the actual transition date.)

Towards the end of the month I noticed more Canadian DTV tropo happening as I caught TV Ontario's Kitchener repeater (RF28) on August 26th.

On August 30th, I checked out Hamilton, ON's CITS on RF36 and was shocked to see Rochester, NY's low powered home shopping station WHSH stomping over top of it! They were fashionably co-channeling in vintage analog!

Not long after midnight on August 30th, Toronto's CFTO made the jump to RF9 permanently. (It appears that most CTV related stations transitioned around the same time, slightly earlier than other broadcasters.)

AUGUST 31st - DTV TRANSITION

In the early morning hours of August 31st, I aimed to capture the last gasps of analog.

Toronto's CBLT was still in analog on RF5 with a great logo celebrating CBC's 75th Anniversary. (CBLT chose to remain on their pre-transition digital channel, RF20.)

CBLT also showed a great Being Erica promo with a Toronto backdrop!

CBLFT would be saying au revior to their analog signal on RF25 later on this day.

CFMT on RF47 couldn't wait to mop away their old signal!

CKXT (Sun News Network) was still present on RF52 looking almost as fuzzy as their station's logic.

The DTV transition would be exciting, no butts about it, as evidenced by CJMT's infomercial seen on RF69! Soon they'd be rid of their unsightly multipath!

The OMNI stations (CFMT/CJMT) were still on their pre-transition frequencies, but began implementing new PSIP in the early afternoon. CJMT (still on RF44) suddenly began remapping to its analog channel number 69-1.

Likewise CFMT (on RF64) began remapping to 47-1.

I couldn't help but notice that CJMT (OMNI 2) was showing a sport that I really wanted to stay on top of...er...I mean, a sport that I could really get behind.

I suppose I should Keepa my attention focused on the transition at hand!

By early evening, CJMT (OMNI 2) launched their new transmitter on RF51 (remapping to 69-1 via PSIP.)

Around the same time, CITY moved from RF53 to their permanent allocation on RF44, however, they still remap to their iconic 57-1 channel number.

CFMT (OMNI 1) was the last of the Rogers stations to transition, landing on RF47 sometime during prime time. Homer and Marge were absolutely shocked that they were no longer in analog!

Despite Barrie, ON's CKVR launching on RF10, and Kitchener, ON's CKCO firing up on RF13, they were no match for Rochester stations this day! To my surprise WHEC plowed through CKVR on RF10. (CKVR makes WHEC more difficult to snag these days, but it still comes through in strong tropo conditions!)

I've thought of Rochester, NY's WHAM and Kitchener, ON's CKCO (both RF13) as fierce co-channel battlers since the analog days, so it makes sense that it would carry over to the digital era. At 11pm WHAM was blasting in with local news.

Yet, only two hours later CKCO came in for the first time!

Andy Richter totally shared my enthusiasm in catching CKCO!

Since CFTO had vacated RF40, I was able to see Rochester's low powered MyTV station WBGT-CA, which still broadcasts in analog.

CBLFT was the last station to transition, moving from RF24 to RF25 very shortly after midnight.

THE AFTERMATH

There were a surprising number of misleading articles and news reports around the time the Canadian DTV transition took place. (One of the biggest myths that seemed to take hold was that rabbit ears were obsolete due to the switch.) François Caron created an awesome video titled Surviving The Digital TV Transition that obliterates much of the misinformation about DTV floating around. Check it out here:

POST TRANSITION HIGHLIGHTS

It felt appropriate that immediately after one major "end of an era" there was another. September 1st marked Lloyd Robertson's last time anchoring the CTV National News. (Seen via Toronto, ON's CFTO, RF9.)

CKXT (originally independent, but now known as Sun News Network) got permission to stay on RF66 until October 31st. (They shut down their analog transmitter on August 31st.) The station has agreed to surrender their OTA license to the CRTC at that time in order to focus on Sun News as a cable/satellite service. (Seen September 2, 2011.)

One station that I had trouble receiving post-transition was Hamilton, ON's CITS on RF36, seen here on September 2nd. (However, their signal wasn't much better for me on RF35 pre-transition either.)

Also on September 2nd, I got to see Kitchener, ON's CKCO (RF13) airing their Community Calendar!

One thing I heart about CKCO is their local commercials. Here's a great ad for the Country Boy family restaurant! "Fills me up" has to be one of the best on screen testimonals I've seen for an eatery! Love it! (Seen September 2, 2011.)

The Beat is one of the few locally produced shows on CKCO outside of their newscasts. My one beef with Canadian network branding is that it becomes too generic when you tie everything to the network instead of the station (i.e. "CTV" instead of "CKCO").

Another local commercial alert! Strickland's car dealership ad starts off as a faux dating service, but the big reveal is that some people just really really love their cars. (Didn't David Cronenberg do a movie about that awhile back?)

Another Canadian DTV station that was new to me was the Woodstock, ON repeater for CITY on RF31. (Seen on September 2, 2011.)

My first look at the London, ON repeater of CFMT (OMNI 1) almost confused me as they broadcast on RF48, but remap to 69-1 which is the same PSIP as Toronto's CJMT (OMNI 2).

I had to check my Zenith DTT901 to make sure I was getting the London station - and sure enough that was it on RF48!

When I got back into DXing in early 2009, one of the infomercials I loved was Mr. T and the Flavorwave! So it felt appropriate to catch the "sequel" to Mr. T's Flavorwave ad on London, ON's CFMT repeater (RF48)! During the show, Mr. T praises quiche and exclaims that he wants none of that "jibber jabber" to his game co-host. Amazing!

One station I was happy to get back was Syracuse, NY's WSTM (RF24) seen here on September 3, 2011. I lost WSTM in 2009 when they moved to RF24, which was used by CBLFT at the time. Now that RF24 was vacated, WSTM returned! It was great to see Lisa Spitz and my new Syracrush, sports reporter Niko Tamurian! (Funny how both of my Syracrushes are sports reporters - I also like WSYR's Steve Infanti!)

On September 14th I caught Barrie, ON's CKVR (RF10) with Jayne Pritchard on a repeat of their evening news. Jayne has been with CKVR since 1982!

Here's a look at CKVR (RF10) via my Zenith DTT901 digital box. They remap to their longtime analog channel number 3-1 via PSIP.

I haven't watched a lot of CKVR's news, but reporters like Mike Walker definitely give me a reason to tune in.

Later that same day, I caught part of Jimmy Fallon on CKVR. I thought of Katy Perry singing "Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?" when I saw the CTV Two logo hastily slapped over top of NBC's.

Katy's line "Come on baby let me see, what you're hiding underneath" came true when CKVR let NBC's peacock briefly flash viewers at one point.

I was finally able to capture a great shot of the CTV Two logo on CKVR! (My reception of CKVR on RF10 is only occasional at this point, though CTV has applied to put up repeaters of CKVR in Hamiltion and Niagara to extend coverage.)

One exciting post-transition moment was seeing CITY-TV finally add accurate program descriptions and info to their PSIP as of September 16th! This was after years of useless PSIP descriptions that had nothing to do with the shows that were on.

On September 22nd, I was finally able to snag the elusive WJET from Erie, PA on RF24! WJET was another station I couldn't receive before CBLFT vacated RF24. (Check out the Divatastic Linsey Davis next to the awesome JET 24 logo!)

That about covers the Great Canadian DTV Transition! Stay tuned to TV Garth for more reception reports, including some of the amazing tropo in "Hot-tober" (otherwise known as October.)

Reception Reports: 2011 Highlights

2011-09-10T18:58:00.004-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! I'm notoriously bad at creating regular Reception Reports, despite my continued love of tracking my over-the-air results! So thus begins a highlights reel of what I've been DXing, watching, and enjoying throughout 2011!

Summer has flown by, but has included lots of reception from Rochester, NY as well as some decent appearances from Syracuse, Utica and Watertown, NY. (Utica's WKTV on RF29 at 222 miles away stands out as the farthest station to make major appearances in the Summer.) Erie, PA reception seemed weaker compared to 2009/2010, though Cleveland, OH was surprisingly robust! Detroit, MI has been MIssing for most of the season, but in late August Pittsburgh, PA made a surprise appearance. As well, the Canadian DTV transition finally took place! (That'll be covered in the next Reception Report!)

So grab a snack, sit back, and enjoy a flamboyant look back at the reception and programming I enjoyed so far throughout 2011!

It doesn't feel like the DX season has truly begun until I've seen a wacky commercial on a Rochester, NY station. Here we have a wigged out ad from Unclaimed Freight as seen on WUHF (RF28) on April 7, 2011.

News 8 First at 4 features hilarious banter between Matt Molloy and meteorologist Scott Hetsko. (Click here for my recent interview with Matt! He rocks!) Below, Scott is imitating the sleeping air traffic controller that made headlines that week. (Seen on Rochester, NY's WROC, RF45, on April 7, 2011.)

I had no idea why I was getting Newsweek for free until I saw this promo for WXXI's Auction (seen on Rochester, NY's WXXI, RF16 on April 7, 2011.) They mentioned that the subscription is a bonus for signing up for an auction account. (I signed up in 2010 to bid on a Scott Hetsko tour at WROC! Unfortunately, I didn't win.)

Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) featured this story about the state vegetable debate. The corn gave an a-maize-ing speech, but there wasn't a dry eye in the house after the onion took the stage. (Seen April 7, 2011.)

Watertown, NY's WWTI (RF21) made a surprise appearance on April 13, 2011! Check out their Dr. Oz promo, as well as a unique station ID for their CW subchannel WWTI-2 (RF21-2).

I couldn't tell if Hoda Kotb was excited or concerned as Kathie Lee Gifford went wild with the drink mixing on NBC's Today. (Seen via Rochester, NY's WHEC, RF10, on May 10, 2011.)

I always enjoy getting a Taste of Syracuse via WSYR (RF17) seen here on June 3, 2011 with anchors Dan Cummings and Tanja Babich.

I also didn't mind getting a taste of Vince Slomsky via Erie, PA's WICU (RF12) on June 4, 2011.

The promos for events on Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) often feature great logos from their own station, as well as Erie's ABC affiliate WJET. It's worth noting that WJET has recently retired the classic logo seen below. (Promo seen June 4, 2011.)

Clearfield, PA's WPSU (RF15) was a surprise visitor on June 4, 2011. The town of DuBois sounds like a Stella place to visit.

I enjoy watching Newschannel 2 at Daybreak (seen June 7th with Don Shipman and Bill Kardas) whenever I catch Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29).

Don looks almost as excited as I was to see the station come through during a ferocious thunderstorm on June 7, 2011. It was a bit scary hearing the rumbles of thunder right outside the house, but I couldn't help watching the tropo that was on!

How ferocious was the storm? Take a look at Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) with Josh Nichols showing doppler radar with my town on the map! Markham was covered with thunderbolts! (It was neat to see Josh all the way in Rochester talking about Markham's storm while I was watching WHEC in Markham!)

Also ferocious in the AM? WHEC's Rebecca Leclair! I love her sassy newscasts. (Seen June 7, 2011.)

On June 18th after having drinks with a pal, I came home and saw the "sneak preview" of MeTV programming on the 67-3 subchannel of Springville, NY's WNGS. (MeTV didn't go full time until August.) I caught an ep of Dobie Gillis, which prompted me to think Bob Denver was pretty good looking back in the day. (That may have been influenced by the rum and cokes that I had, but I digress...)

I knew Casey Abrams was upset about getting voted off of American Idol Season 10, but I didn't think he'd go This far! Wait... that's not Casey? (Seen June 18, 2011 via Springville, NY's WNGS, RF7.)

Speaking of WNGS, I caught this awesome station ID on June 20, 2011! This is as good as place as any to mention that WNGS (now WBBZ) is one of the more sought after channels in the Greater Toronto Area. Check out this thread on the Digital Home Canada forums about people trying to catch the station, including forum member HWP who installed an impressive setup that helps him receive the channel more regularly now!

I was excited to see Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) come through on Canada Day (July 1st) just before I went downtown for the annual Toronto Pride festivities. Unfortunately, I didn't know this would be the last time I'd see Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill anchor the morning show. (WEWS shook up the anchor line up only days later.)

I was very GLAAD to see a repeat of Cheers on July 15, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10). The award winning ep dealt with homophobia in a very progressive way, which was a shock considering it was filmed such a (Shelley) long time ago!

Chuck Wade delivered a report on soccer all-star Abby Wambach, who hails from the Rochester area. (Seen July 17th on Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13.) I wondered if she became Crabby Wambach after her team lost the FIFA Women's World Cup final. Only kidding! (She might punt a ball towards my head if I'm not careful!)

At first I couldn't tell if the following was a PSA about disasters, or a snazzy promo for So You Think You Can Dance. (Seen July 17th via Syracuse, NY's WSYR-2, RF17-2.)

During one strong tropo day on July 19, 2011 I finally got a station ID for Syracuse, NY's ION outlet WSPX (RF15). Check out the call letters at the bottom of the screen in the pic below!

Also seen on July 19. 2011 was a rare appearance of Watertown, NY's WWNY (RF7) and their subchannel WNYF-SD.

I was excited to see WNYF-SD (RF7-2) promoting a "Men Guide" until I realized it was actually about restaurant dining...

Here's a great promo for Two And A Half Men with a great shot of the FOX 28 logo on WNYF-SD (RF7-2)! Unfortunately, the signal was about as stable as Charlie Sheen and faded not too long after this.

I squealed when Jeopardy featured a Ke$ha related question because my pal Mr. A and I were going to her August 14th concert in Toronto! (Seen August 2, 2011 on Rochester, NY's WROC, RF45.)

Speaking of Ke$ha, when I was at her concert on August 14th I bumped into ABC's Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad hunk Justin Rego! He was very friendly and posed for pics with lots of people!

While on the topic of Ke$ha, check out the animal print and fierce hair on WHEC's Lynette Adams! She needs to start a music career and do a song called "I've Got News For You." I'm sure it would reach the Top 10! (Seen August 4, 2011 via Rochester, NY's WHEC, RF10.)

I think I've developed a schoolgirl crush on Adam Chodak (seen here with Doug Emblidge August 4, 2011 on Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13.)

Sigh...Adam... (Imagine me holding a Trapper Keeper notebook with hearts and TV station logos doodled in pen...)

It was oddly nostalgic to stumble across a scene from the film Nick of Time that...er...stood out to me when I was a teenager. Johnny brought Depp-th to this mid-90s caper in which he had to trade clothes with a hotel worker to sneak past the bad guys. If dropping trou helps stop evil, I'm all for it! (Seen August 4 via Springville, NY's 67-3 This TV subchannel on WBBZ, RF7-3.)

In early August, my pal Felix visited Toronto for the first time in years. When people marveled about how youthful he looked I joked that he must be using the Principal Secret. The very next day (August 4, 2011) I saw one of the Principal Secret infomercials on Cleveland, OH's WUAB (RF28).

Stations were pulling out all the stops in honour of Lucille Ball's 100th Birthday! I caught a great promo for a Lucy marathon on the newly rebranded WBBZ (formerly WNGS from Springville, NY on RF7.) This ad for the Queen of Comedy was seen August 4, 2011.

I was excited to see a story about Lucy's birthday show up via Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28) on August 6, 2011. To mark the occasion, anchor Tina Shively recreated one of Lucille's trademark facial expressions! (Click here for a great post about Lucy's birthday by Bill Brioux.)

On August 17th I was able to capture the new station ID from Springville, NY's WBBZ (RF7). They switched their call letters from WNGS as of August 1st, as well as replacing This TV with MeTV on their main channel. (This TV is still available as a subchannel, though.)

I couldn't quite put my finger on why Gary Liberatore's report really bugged me on August 19, 2011. (Seen via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)

Jill Reale stormed in that night to deliver the weather report! (Seen August 19, 2011 on Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)

I loved that the antique fest got GIANT CAPS in the news teaser. Like [insert monster truck voice] RUN DON'T WALK - IT'S THE ANTIQUE FEST!!! (Seen August 19, 2011 via Utica, NY's WKTV, RF29.)

August 19th was a big day for Erie, PA reception and I was able to recieve two new stations! Two Buffalo stations (WNED, RF43 and WNLO, RF32) were off for maintenance, so I was able to pick up Erie's RTV/Tuff TV affiliate WLEP-LD (RF43) for the first time!

I also picked up Erie's low powered 3 Angels Broadcasting affiliate W32DH (RF32) which showed me what Carlton Banks has been up to lately!

More familiar catches on August 19th included WFXP (RF22) with their recently revised FOX 66 logo!

WSEE (RF12-3) featured a great promo for Tim Mello, who appears to be an easygoing kind of guy. (Seen August 19, 2011.)

Check out this promo for The Closer on WSEE (RF12-3) which showcases their newer logo and font. Compare with the logo in the previous pic. (Seen August 19, 2011.)

August 27, 2011 brought a surprise burst of Pittsburgh, PA reception! I caught several stations for the first time including MyTV outlet WPMY (RF42).

I experienced a lot of Happiness when I saw WPMY's Cool TV subchannel (RF42-2). Check out Alexis Jordan belting it out in the video below!

I also picked up Pittsburgh's NBC affiliate WPXI (RF48) for the first time and even got a few minutes of their local newscast! (Seen August 27, 2011.)

WPXI's Gordon Loesch brings us the coverage we can count on! Most newscasts were focusing on Hurricane Irene that weekend.

The WPXI newscast mentioned that several Pittsburgh flights were cancelled due to Irene.

WPXI's subchannel recently became a MeTV affiliate after originally being an RTV station.

Also making an appearance on August 27th was Johnstown, PA's WJAC (RF34) with an episode of Saturday Night Live!

Like WPXI, WJAC's subchannel recently switched from RTV to MeTV.

Erie, PA's WQLN was off the air due to transmitter problems, so I was able to catch Greensburg, PA's WPCB (RF50) which is a Cornerstone religious station serving the Pittsburgh market.

The most thrilling part of the Pittsburgh burst was getting ABC affiliate WTAE (RF51) only days before Toronto's OMNI 2 began broadcasting on the same channel! The logo below isn't perfect, but I was glad to catch it!

WTAE's subchannel (RF51-2) is a This TV affiliate, and I was lucky enough to capture a great station ID below!

That wraps up just some of the highlights of 2011 (expect a sequel very soon!) But coming up next - it's time to recap the Canadian DTV Transition! Stay tuned to TV Garth for all the coverage of what got shaken up on the dial in late August and early September!

TV Garth Presents: An Interview With WROC's Matt Molloy!

2011-08-21T02:00:00.002-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Matt Molloy from Rochester, NY's WROC graciously took the time to chat with TV Garth about his work at the station. Molloy currently anchors News 8 First at 4 and has been with WROC for nearly five years. Read on for some great insights into his career in television news, the pressures of originating a 4pm newscast, as well as his thoughts on being a gay role model!

(Photo Credit: rochesterhomepage.net)

Garth Jensen: What sparked your interest in journalism and how did you start your career?

Matt Molloy: I think I really got my start in middle school in Connecticut where I grew up. I would read the morning announcements which were televised -- that was really my first taste of broadcasting. My high school had a TV station and I worked my way up to being the technical director and also did some on-air reporting. I also took part in a local student news program put on by the Fox affiliate in Hartford, CT. So when I graduated high school, I knew I was going into broadcast journalism. I went to Boston University where I got my B.S. in Broadcast in 2003.

GJ: I'm curious about your experience working for WWTI in Watertown. (WWTI pops up occasionally in the TV Garth reception area!) Can you tell me a bit about what it was like working there?

MM: Ahhh, Watertown. Well, I went from city life in Boston to Watertown, NY. So that for me was a very fast culture shock, but I really enjoyed my time there. It was my first TV job and I was very excited. I worked as a "one-man-band" meaning I did everything. I shot my video, wrote my stories and edited them. It was a great experience. I was there for about a year before I got offered an anchor position at WETM in Elmira.

Matt Molloy out in the field (literally) reporting for WROC's sister station WUHF on FOX First at Ten. (Seen Aug. 2, 2010 via WUHF, RF28.)

GJ: How did you get started working for WROC?

MM: After spending 2 years anchoring in Elmira I applied all over the country (much like I had for my first job). I knew a few people already working in Rochester and knew there was an opening at WROC. So I showed some initiative and showed up one day -- hoping to get an impromptu interview with the news director. It worked -- I got the interview and a few weeks later had the job offer. This fall I will make 5 years at WROC. I started as a reporter and last year re-signed as the anchor of our 4pm newscast.

GJ: What have been some of the most challenging and/or rewarding experiences while reporting and anchoring for WROC?

MM: I think the most rewarding and challenging experiences are often one in the same. Typically it's a big story -- like the plane crash in Buffalo, or the mass shooting in Binghamton. Big stories that are difficult to cover -- both because of the subject matter and the logistics of trying to convey such a big story with so many angles to the viewers at home. It's rewarding when you walk away from a newscast knowing you pulled that off, but always difficult to cover a tragedy that big.

GJ: Did you feel any pressure when you were asked to anchor News 8 First at 4? What has it been like to originate a 4pm newscast for the station?

MM: There was definitely some pressure when we first launched the 4 o'clock newscast. This was something brand new and I was the face of the show. That said, it's been one of the best experiences of my life. We're coming up on the first anniversary of the show and it's doing exceptionally well with viewers. We've seen a significant increase in viewership in a very short time. The show is very much me -- trending topics (hot stories from the web) and viral videos. I like to sprinkle in some fun stuff with the important news of the day. I find people like to get their serious news, but really enjoy when you can lighten things up as well.

GJ: News 8 First at 4 engages viewers through the use of social media. What do you see for the future of local TV news as the line between traditional newscasts and social media increasingly blurs?

MM: Social media is huge and finding that balance between TV and social media isn't easy. The key I've found is driving people from social media to your newscast. Facebook and Twitter are important tools, but ultimately the product is TV. Our "Your Turn" segment engages viewers on a subject of the day, then asks them to tune in for their comments on TV. We also feature a "Facebook Fan of the Day" randomly choosing a viewer from my fan page and showing their picture. I've seen how social media can work in conjunction with TV and not as a separate entity -- that's a balance I think you've got to find as you incorporate new media.

GJ: As a gay blogger, I was thrilled to see marriage equality become a reality in New York State. Can you tell me what it was like to cover the stories about the Marriage Equality Act at the local as well as state level?

MM: It was definitely cool to cover marriage equality here in New York. It's a big story that has been ongoing for years now. I've interviewed those for and against, politicians, you name it. I happened to be in New York City the weekend it passed (on a little vacation) and witnessed the celebration at Stonewall. I think it was very cool to watch both as a journalist and an individual.

GJ: Have you had any difficulties or challenges being an openly gay reporter and anchor?

MM: Not that I can think of -- I've never shied away from being myself, it's not my style. I also find it's important to be a role model -- with the epidemic of gay teen suicides I think it's more important than ever they see successful gay adults. I've been very impressed with the "It gets better" campaign and think it's a great message.

GJ: What do you feel are the most important things to bring to viewers in Rochester and beyond?

MM: I think the most important thing I can do as a journalist is be genuine. People trust people they can relate to when they watch -- that's my goal during every newscast.

Matt Molloy anchors an explosive AM newscast as seen July 4th, 2011 on WROC.

GJ: For readers who might consider coming to Rochester, what places would you recommend visiting? (And as a sidenote, have you ever been to Canada, and if so how did you enjoy it?)

MM: Rochester has a lot of attractions! The George Eastman House is fantastic -- tons of history about how this city came to be and the man who played a big role in building it. Come during any weekend in the Spring and Summer and you'll find a festival -- Lilac Festival, Corn Hill Arts Festival, Park Avenue Festival -- we've got plenty! And yes, I have been to Canada. I actually have family that live in Mississauga -- so I try to visit fairly often! I enjoy my visits quite a bit -- I'm always watching my kilometers on the QEW though!

A big thank you to Matt Molloy for chatting with TV Garth! Check out Matt’s Facebook Fan Page, as well as his Twitter! You can also visit Matt’s official bio at the WROC website! Don't forget to catch Matt Molloy weekdays on News 8 First at 4 on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45.)

TV Garth Visits Toronto Gay Pride 2011!

2011-08-06T21:35:00.002-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Every year I make the trek to downtown Toronto for the annual Gay Pride festivities. Since 2009, it has become my goal to find as much TV related mayhem as possible during the celebration! This year I was overwhelmed with how many reporters I saw, and I wanted to do a special post to showcase it all! The highlight was being interviewed by Global's Christina Stevens on the day of the parade! Sit back and get ready for a recap that's proud as a peacock! (More on that in a bit!)

Friday July 1

Not too long after arriving in downtown Toronto, I spotted a City TV news crew setting up a live shot!

Reporter Cynthia Mulligan was getting ready to report on Pride near the Churchmouse & Firkin pub! Check out her story by clicking here.

Of course I had to snag a pic with Ms. Mulligan!

Next up, I noticed CTV Toronto's Colin D'Mello getting ready for a live shot from another section of the street.

Look closely and you'll see he's wearing a rainbow hankie in his front pocket!

It wouldn't be "TV Garth at Pride" if I wasn't Colin out for Mr. D'Mello's picture! (Click here to see many of CTV Toronto's Pride stories!)

During the Trans March I saw Global Toronto's David Shum interviewing some of the folks who were in the parade.

Later that night at my hotel, I saw his story on Global news. (Seen via hotel cable, and not OTA unfortunately!)

I was proud as a peacock (and perhaps a little tipsy at this point) after my pal Mr. A surprised me with an NBC pillow that he'd ordered online from the NBC store!

Since it was around 11pm, I posed with my new friend alongside the newscast on Buffalo's NBC affiliate WGRZ. (Again, seen via hotel cable.)

Nothing says Pride like a rainbow flag, alcohol and dogs wearing inappropriate outfits on TV!

Saturday July 2

I was waiting with friends for the Dyke March to begin and squealed when I saw CTV Toronto's Colin D'Mello again! He probably thought I was crazy, but I couldn't help wanting to Snapple up as many pics of TV personalities as I could get!

Toronto city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam appeared during the march!

Later, I saw Kristyn Wong-Tam over the air on Global Toronto's July 3 newscast when I got home Sunday night. (Seen via Toronto's CIII, RF65.)

CFTO's Colin D'Mello was interviewing one of the allegedly "controversial" groups that marched in the parade that day. He did a great job reporting over the weekend, and sent out this neat Tweet after the Sunday parade: "Pride today was awesome! Was manhandled by both sexes, hit on, soaked with water and pretty damn happy to be a part ot it all!"

Global Toronto's David Shum was also sniffing out potential stories during the march.

Check out David Shum and his cameraman chasing the action!

You can see David's story here:

I was surprised to see a CHCH cameraman there too! (Click on the pic and enlarge it via Flickr to see the detail on the microphone!)

After the march I came across a City TV cameraman and reporter Saphia Khambalia! Click here for Saphia's story where she awesomely states that the goal of the Dyke March is to "kiss old stereotypes goodbye." (Contrast that with Cindy Pom's Sun News story which is a tad more stereotypical.)

Sunday July 3

Christina Stevens from Global National interviewed me right before I marched in the Pride parade! It was a total thrill and I loved the experience! (Stevens asked me about my thoughts on Toronto mayor Rob Ford skipping out on Pride.)

Here I am with Global's Christina Stevens and her cameraman!

Check out the story here:

I also saw Sun News reporter Cindy Pom with her cameraman getting ready to cover the parade! (Currently Sun News is both a cable specialty channel, and still available over the air on analog 52 and digital 66.) Click here for Cindy's story, which she ended with, "You've heard the expression 'over the moon'? Well I guess you could say that people are 'over the rainbow.'" That's probably the most Pom wonderful use of a Pride cliche in a news report I've ever seen!

During the parade march we passed the Shaw Media building which includes Global TV!

Speaking of Global, we passed a hands on billboard for their new Summer series Combat Hospital.

As the march continued, I got to see Global Toronto's Laura Zilke reporting live during the Pride parade!

I couldn't pass up the chance to take a pic with Ms. Zilke!

Later that night when I got home, I saw Zilke's report on Global's 11pm news! (Seen via Toronto's CIII, RF65.)

Check out the full story here:

I was impressed that dozens of people climbed the roof to celebrate over the air reception with that classic antenna! (Either that, or they just wanted a better view of the parade. I prefer to believe the former.)

It was hot outside, but CP24's Gurdeep Ahluwalia was pretty scorching himself. He was joined by the divalicious Melissa Grelo to host cable news channel CP24's Pride Parade coverage! (I heart CP24 for always doing live coverage of the full parade on TV!)

Here's one more pic of CP24's Gurdeep Ahluwalia and Melissa Grelo for good measure! After the parade, Gurdeep Tweeted "What a blast! Best party in #TO." Love him! (And not just because of those tight blue jeans...although that does help the love!)

A delicious pic of the CTV tent and a CP24 satellite truck straddling a McDonald's!

I also captured some Fierce Diva Action as I snapped the fabulous Andrea Bain doing Pride coverage for Yahoo Canada! Click here to check out her story!

After the parade was over, I bumped into an awesome City TV street team that was promoting Modern Family! The woman on the right generously gave me her last City TV Pride themed wristband! (She made my weekend!) Also check out the awesome sign featuring Modern Family's gay couple Mitch and Cameron!

Here's the City TV Modern Family Pride wristband in all its glory! I love it!

Click here to see my full Flickr set of Pride 2011 pics (including some outtakes!)

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more proud coverage of TV related fun!

Not such a Good Morning in Cleveland...

2011-07-06T03:32:00.004-04:00

Something making Good Morning Cleveland viewers feel WEWS-y right now are reports that Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill have been let go as anchors of the station's morning show. (The news was broken in this article from Ohio Media Watch.) WEWS is one of my favourite "tropo" stations, and from what I've seen Good Morning Cleveland has always been heavily advertised and promoted. (Check out the pic above, as seen on July 28, 2010.) The team seemed slick, had good chemistry, and seemed to be successful. So it puzzles me why the pair would be let go so abruptly. In the meantime, check out their Twitter accounts: Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill. I didn't realize how Divatastic Kimberly Gill's tweets were until I looked them up! (Also of note, before joining WEWS Pete Kenworthy worked at a station much closer to me - Buffalo, NY's WKBW!)

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more news about WEWS!

The Big Buffalo Bonanza! (aka I'll Never 4get My Visit To Buffalo's WIVB!)

2011-06-14T02:32:00.001-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! After a long delay, I'm finally posting about an amazing visit to Buffalo, NY that I experienced this past February. Thanks to my pal Marsha, we scored some free MegaBus tickets and rode across the border for some TV related mayhem! Marsha and I also invited our pals Mr. A and Indira to make it a perfect group of 4. Speaking of 4, the highlight of the trip was a tour of Buffalo's longtime CBS affiliate WIVB! I also got some neat snaps of WNED and WKBW on the way to and from Buffalo. (At the end of the entry there are also some "bonus" shots of the WUTV/WNYO building that I got this past May!)

We borded the MegaBus Saturday morning on February 12th and I caught this pic of a giant billboard for City TV (and The Bachelor) as we left downtown Toronto.

As soon as we crossed the border, I finally got a shot of Buffalo's PBS station WNED! I've seen their building on previous trips, but never managed to get any pictures of it.

When we arrived at the Buffalo bus terminal, I was happy 2 see a box for the WGRZ related "2 Find Your Home" newspaper on my side.

We took public transit to get to our hotel, where we struck up a conversation with some awesome and friendly riders. When they found out we were Canadian, one guy enthusiastically remarked that Global TV was "off the chain." They also recommended we should eat at Salsarita's, which coincidentally was located in the same complex as our hotel! (I saw the chain advertised as part of the Mobideals campaign about a month later on Buffalo's WNYO, RF49!)

Our hotel cable (Time Warner) included Toronto's CFTO, with Ben Mulroney hosting eTalk as seen below.

After a night of eating (TGI Fridays!) and dancing (Club Marcella's!) we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to visit the WIVB studios! (The building also houses sister station CW23 WNLO.) WIVB is Buffalo's longtime CBS affiliate, and a station I grew up with! (The station was also used as a draw to get Toronto residents to buy television sets back in the late 1940s!) WIVB's Director of Engineering Dennis Majewicz generously provided my group with an amazing tour of the station.

Marsha, Mr. A, Indira and I were all ready 4 our tour!

As soon as we went in, there was an intriguing sign that caught Mr. A's eye, as seen below:

Little did we know that the note was for a program that came to WNLO only a couple of months later! Check out the promo for Winging It: Buffalo Style (with Victoria Hong and Joe Arena) as seen on WNLO (RF32) on April 11, 2011. (The show airs weekdays at 8am.)

Dennis recently passed along some great shots he had of the Winging It: Buffalo Style sets! Here are a couple that he sent me, including a look at their sizzling kitchen layout:

My eyes were as wide as a kid in a candy store when we stepped onto the WIVB news set. It was a thrill to be touring a station I've watched for so many years! (Compare the set with a shot from Wake Up with Mike Cejka, Joe Arena and Victoria Hong as seen on Feb. 17, 2011.)

The WIVB set includes a flat screen TV used during news items, as well as a great backdrop of Buffalo seen behind the anchors.

It was exciting to sit on the same set where longtime anchors Don Postles and Jacquie Walker deliver the news! I actually remember seeing Jacquie Walker on WIVB when I was a kid! She rocks! (Check out the pic of Don and Jacquie on air Feb. 18, 2011.)

My attempts to pose like a serious anchor couldn't hide how excited I was to be sitting there! (Either that, or I'm trying to channel some of Jacquie's fierceness!)

I also enjoyed sitting at the Weather Watch 4 desk!

I didn't enjoy the "Let It Snow" sign, given the cold season we were experiencing...

WIVB has a great team of meteorolgists including Mike Cejka, Amelia Segal and legendary Don Paul (pictured below on Feb. 14, 2011.) Look closely at the pic below and you'll see my city - Markham - near the top of the Doppler Radar above Toronto!

Marsha got to become a weather girl (however, it wasn't raining men in her forecast.)

I also took a shot at being a weather man! It was awesome to get a live demonstration of how they insert the graphics behind you while you're on the green screen.

Mr. A did a great job capturing all the action taking place!

Indira also enjoyed hanging out on the WIVB set.

Marsha and I sat down for a chat on the set used for WIVB's local talk show By The People! (Compare with a pic from their June 5, 2011 broadcast below.)

I was all 4 the cute snow family and the gorgeous station logo beside me!

After thoroughly enjoying the news set, we continued our tour with a look at one of the old control rooms previously used at WIVB! (The master control is now run out of a hub in Springfield, MA.)

I fought the urge to shout "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" as we explored the control rooms! (tm "Network".)

Dennis showed us the DTV encoders that process the feeds for both WIVB and WNLO. (The small screens at the top showed what programs were being relayed on both stations.) I was also surprised to learn that they track Canadian ratings for BBM, even though they can't "officially" be counted in the total ratings for the stations.

Here's a look at the WIVB newsroom in all its glory!

One of the cool things in the newsroom was an award presented to WIVB for their "clean sweep" of the ratings. You just can't brush off success like that!

Before we left we got to see a soundstage that's used for shooting promos and we posed just like the folks they show at the end of the evening newscasts! (Compare us with the closing credits of the Feb. 13th newscast.)

One more 4 the road! I couldn't resist getting one last shot of me posing with the WIVB banner.

A BIG thank you to Dennis Majewicz for providing us with such an amazing and informative tour of WIVB! (Check out WIVB.com for more about the station!)

On the way home, I pressed up against the MegaBus window and caught the following shots of Buffalo's ABC affiliate WKBW.

Upon getting back to Markham, I rushed into my house and turned on the WIVB 11pm newscast! It was neat to see the news after being on their set that very same day! The Sunday news featured Amelia Segal, Mylous Hairston and Paul Peck.

And here's a special Buffalo Bonus! Marsha loved Salsarita's so much that Mr. A and I went along with her on a day trip to Buffalo on May 1st. The only Buffalo station I hadn't visited in some form was WUTV/WNYO. So we drove up and I took pics in front of their building!

There you have it! A Buffalo Bonanza of TV adventure! Thanks again to Dennis Majewicz for the WIVB tour! Stay tuned to TV Garth for more television related mayhem!

Happy Easter from TV Garth!

2011-04-22T03:02:00.004-04:00

TV Garth wishes readers a wonderful Good Friday and a Happy Easter! Have no Frears because Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) provides a hoppin' ad appropriate for the upcoming weekend! (As seen on April 14, 2011.)

Year In Review – Part Four (November-December 2010)

2011-03-30T05:43:00.002-04:00

Greetings TV Garth readers! Here it is – the final part of the Year In Review covering my reception in 2010! (Long overdue, but still arriving close to the two year anniversary of this blog!) This entry is the biggest one yet, so grab some snacks and enjoy the TV events of November through December 2010!

NOVEMBER

In the second last month of 2010 I experienced the last full on wave of tropo before the Winter “slumber”, as well as a rockin’ road trip to Rochester! November also brought the return of Conan O’Brien to TV, and my first look at WROC’s First at 4 newscast with Matt Molloy reading one of my tweets on air!

On November 8th it was a Pennsylvania night, with these highlights:

Johnstown, PA’s WJAC (RF34) arrived with Jimmy Fallon.

WJAC features RTV (Retro Television) as a subchannel, and I snagged this wonderful station ID!

Conan O'Brien finally made his way back to late night TV! His new show airs weeknights in Canada at 12am on Comedy Network and 1:07am on Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) as seen below.

Clearfield, PA’s WPSU (RF15) only came in briefly, which is the Nature of tropo reception sometimes.

Erie, PA’s WQLN (RF50) also came in with Masterpiece Mystery!

It felt appropriate seeing Janet on the repeat of Jay Leno on Johnstown, PA’s WJAC (RF34.) The station could be renamed WJACkson. Janet was hoping for positive Feedback on her latest role in the movie For Colored Girls.

On November 9th I caught a few minutes of Springville, NY’s WNGS (RF7) which is still difficult to pick up in the Greater Toronto area. They were showing a 70s flick, and after seeing the ~~coked out~~ come hither look on the woman’s face and a rugged shirtless guy, I figured some sweet retro lovemaking would begin. Instead, the guy puts on boxing gloves and pummels that poor woman’s face in! Total weirdness! It reminded me of the time in 2009 when I saw a similarly violent flick on WNGS and wrote about it on my sister blog, Frothy Pop Treats.

November 10th was the start of a MEGA Tropo Day! The morning was more of a warm up, but it really got going during the evening and overnight period. Here are the highlights:

Rochester, NY’s WXXI (RF16) came in with this woman schooling us during GED Connection.

Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) was breezy with Kara Coleman!

Poor Barry Grossman keeps getting gross comments from folks about his community college proposal as seen on the “You Said It” segment on WICU.

I would love for PBS to put together a montage of Charlie Rose’s most pointed questions and set it to the song “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” (Seen via Erie, PA’s WQLN, RF50.)

Johnstown, PA’s WJAC (RF34) rolled in again with Carla Gugino guesting on Jimmy Fallon.

Joey Stevens gave his fourcast during the weather report that evening. I almost thought he was giving a shout out to Buffalo’s WIVB! (Seen via Erie, PA’s WBEP, RF12-2.)

After reading about Joey leaving WSEE, the pic below seems more meaningful. It looks like Scott McDonnell wants to say “So you’re leaving, huh? You couldn’t tell me earlier, man?” To which Joey might reply “Sorry Scott. But you can still watch me on One Caribbean Weather.”

Dr. Terry Madonna hoped that Everybody would Get Together for his lecture before they went on Holiday for the season. The lecture had students Burning Up with differing views, but lively debate is always in Vogue.

Lisa Weismann remarked “What was up with that interview? It certainly didn’t Justify My Love of his teaching methods.” Scott McDonnell wisely noted “Don’t worry Lisa, You’ll See what he has up his sleeve!”

I would love it if Volk’s had a well branded vehicle that went around collecting jewelry. Then people could point and shout “Look! It’s the Volk’s wagon!” (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS, RF15.)

New Channel Alert! I picked up Alliance, OH’s PBS affiliate WNEO on RF45 for the first time! (Back in January 2010 I picked up their sister station WEAO!)

I didn’t even know Detroit, MI’s WMYD (RF21) had local news until I saw this promo! Check out the anchors Melissa Long and Curtis Smith below.

My20 News At 10 also features Dave Leval, Jorge Avellan, and the awesomely named Kila Peeples, who only needs to add an extra L to her first name to create a great rock band.

The closing shot of the My20 News At 10 promo features their slightly Fox News-ish slogan “Straight To The Point.”

I was Tangled up in this promo for WMYD’s movie contest, sponsored by the Greater Detroit Auto Auction.

Detroit, MI’s WDIV (RF45) also popped up with a promo for America’s Thanksgiving Parade. The Parade is held in annually in Detroit and shown live on WDIV (bumping the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.)

I also got to see some of WDIV’s 4:30am newscast with Andrew Humphrey and the awesome Rhonda Walker!

I would love to see Andrew Humphrey adapt an old Digital Underground song into his own anthem “The Humphrey Dance.” Also check out the girl in the background serving child labor realness as she rakes leaves during the After School Forecast.

I got to see this great promo 4 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on WDIV.

Here’s a great promo for WDIV’s 11pm news.

November 11th was another MEGA Tropo Day! The signals flowed freely from morning through evening with four States popping in. The highlights reel begins here:

Detroit, MI’s WDIV (RF45) stayed in as the Local 4 News Morning began at 5am with Steve Garagiola and Rhonda Walker!

It almost looks like Andrew Humphrey and Steve Garagiola told Rhonda a juicy piece of gossip here.

Another state, another NBC affiliate! Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) showed up with Kara Coleman presenting the weather.

If we don’t like Debra’s results in court, can we boo her? (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS, RF15.)

Good Morning Cleveland showed up on WEWS (RF15) with Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill. (I loved that I was seeing three different States on TV within a half hour…like a road trip without leaving my house!)

Christine Ferreira fashionably delivers the weather on WEWS! Love her glamtastic ways!

Patty Harken rolls through her traffic segment at just the right speed.

I almost fainted when I switched to Cleveland, OH’s WKYC (RF17) and heard Hollie Strano saying, “Just go at it…As far as the size, it’s whatever you want, but you have to use your hands…the technique is, you have to kinda squeeze.” I was shocked and appalled until I found out she was talking about how to prepare homemade meatballs!

Let’s give Mr. Butler a Pat on the back for his traffic reports!

I remember my pal Mr. A kept seeing Circle K signs and thinking they were K Marts during our Buffalo-Erie Road Trip of 2009. It didn’t help when I said, “Those are Circle K gas stations….I saw them all over the Erie news when they were being robbed.” (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS on RF15.)

Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) featured a report on a Carnival cruise that was anything but smooth sailing for passengers.

Maurielle Lue popped up looking fabulous on WEWS.

This woman was clearly on the ball during the morning show on WQHS (RF34)!

I was excited to see Pittsburgh, PA’s WTAE (RF51) roll in for a few minutes during their morning news. WTAE is one station I probably won’t get after the Canadian DTV transition. In Toronto, RF51 is marked for either CJMT or City TV depending on which report you read.

The weather sure wasn’t the Pitts that day!

Kelly willingly jumps into the Frey to deliver the morning news in Pittsburgh.

It almost looks like Kelly Frey is saying “Mike Clark is the man!”

New Channel Alert! I picked up Sandusky, OH’s WGGN (RF42) for the first time and it lasted very briefly, with Shepherd’s Chapel coming in.

WGGN’s subchannel (52-2 WGGN-FM) features the audio of a radio station, combined with on screen weather information.

Hollie Strano of Cleveland’s WKYC (RF17) looked proud with a patriotic flag (in honour of Veteran’s Day) on a monitor in the background.

It wasn’t a stretch to say I enjoyed picking up Alliance, OH’s WNEO (RF45) that morning. They have four channels of programming, including their Spanish language “V-Me” subchannel pictured below.

Erie, PA’s WBEP (RF12-2) featured a promo for the WICU Holiday Food Drive and a list of locations where you could drop off donations.

If You Could Only See how much I was enjoying the tropo that day, maybe you would understand! The reception was definitely an uplifting Tonic for me! (Seen via The Cool TV subchannel on Rochester, NY’s WUHF, RF28.)

Lisa Weismann appeared in a great promo on Erie’s WBEP (RF12-2) for Newswatch at Ten.

Sara Gilbert was giving us something to Talk about in SD on Erie, PA’s WSEE (RF12-3.)

I was able to check out The Talk in HD over on Rochester, NY’s WROC (RF45.) The show was decked out in patriotic backdrops and colours for Veteran’s Day. (Sidenote, I would love for Holly Robinson Peete to do one woman show called For Peete’s Sake!)

The Erie, PA tropo was strong enough to allow WFXP (RF22) to arrive with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

A short time after picking up WROC on RF45, I turned the antenna and picked up Detroit, MI’s WDIV on the same channel. Here we have the Real Housewives’ Kim Zolciak who sings the trashtastic guilty pleasure Tardy For The Party. (The Tracy Young remix is actually worth checking out!)

Speaking of trashtastic, Jerry Springer rolled in via Detroit, MI’s WMYD (RF21.)

After getting home from work (where I served a customer from Detroit and told them about picking up their channels that day) the reception continued. Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) was in with Primer Impacto Extra.

It’s rare for me to pick up Cleveland, OH’s WEWS (RF15) during the 11pm hour, so I’m providing a generous recap of their newscast. First up was John Kosich reporting live and wearing a jacket I’d love to steal!

WEWS did a story about a gathering of Veterans to celebrate the Thomas Mihalis Memorial. The event included an appearance from Ohio (D) Rep. Betty Sutton.

WEWS covered the ceremony for the Thomas Mihalis Memorial for Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 1079. The centerpiece reads “Dedicated November 11, 2010 to our Veterans and their families, past, present and future for their dedication, service and sacrifice to our country and defense of our freedoms.”

Danita Harris offered up an arresting story about a local youth!

Debora Lee was live in the WEWS newsroom. (Maybe she’s a relative of Sara’s and also has flair for making delicious desserts!)

Curtis Jackson also appeared live in the WEWS newsroom.

Mark Johnson is the Chief Meteorologist for WEWS!

The ball was in Mike Cairns’ court to deliver a slamming sports report!

Later that night, I caught a great ad for the Nautica Queen boat ride, featuring a station ID for Cleveland’s WUAB (RF28) at the bottom of the screen.

WUAB offers This TV as a subchannel. Note the logo “This Cleveland” at the bottom right.

Akron, OH’s WBNX (RF30) arrived with a showing of My Wife & Kids.

I noticed there was a new subchannel on WBNX. I love that they have a show called Sing, Sing, Sing, Come On Let’s Sing. It wasn’t until the fourth “Sing” that I knew they were really serious about it.

Cleveland For Hire…when Spenser’s busy. (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WKYC, RF17.)

Cleveland’s WEWS (RF15) was blasting into my neighborhood with a signal strength of 92% at various times during the night! Talk about NOHvember!

It looks like consumer reporter Jenn Strathman is telling this guy “Look! I’m gonna level with you!”

WUAB (RF28) is a sister station to Cleveland’s WOIO, which is why they often feature ads and promos with the “19 Action News” branding.

I was charmed by the “Just Pay Half” promo for Lady Luck’s Restaurant shown on WUAB.

Speaking of paying half, WUAB followed that promo with an ad for Taylor’s More 4 Less. These are the commercials I live for during tropo events!

Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) also came in with an ad for the Players of Utica production of Five Women Wearing The Same Dress. I think those women probably got a deal at Taylor’s More 4 Less.

Proof that these kids are no small fries (but are welcome to eat them) McDonald’s sponsors the Student Athlete of the Week on Cleveland’s WEWS (RF15.)

November 12th continued the late season tropo extravaganza! Here are the highlights:

There’s a bittersweet irony in sending the cops after a guy who spray painted “In The Streets World Peace.” (Seen via Utica, NY’s WKTV, RF29.)

WKTV’s Megan Koskovich was ahead of the other morning shows with info on the upcoming day.

It was neat to see Don Shipman and the whole Newschannel 2 At Daybreak crew, since I hadn’t seen the show over the air since September!

Rochester, NY’s WROC (RF45) provided a healthy signal for me to watch, with Katrina Irwin anchoring.

WROC was featuring an interview with a local veteran who was discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (I didn’t get to see the story, though, and can’t find it on the website.)

Brian Neudorff’s weather report on WROC showcased some of the reasons why my reception was so amazing during this mid-November stretch!

It looks as if Brian’s giving a thumbs up for the awesome weather that’s happening! Love it! His enthusiasm is awesome! Check out his web page WX-Man.com or follow him on Twitter.

Who’s on WEWS? Lue’s on WEWS! Maurielle Lue appeared again during Good Morning Cleveland. (Seen via WEWS, RF15.)

Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) also appeared with morning news.

Cleveland, OH’s WUAB (RF28) appeared with the religious program Believer’s Voice Of Victory.

It was shore fun to see all the various stations that morning, though it was no day at the beach for the poor guy below. Sea Hunt appeared on WUAB’s This TV subchannel.

WEWS did a report about Veterans being honoured at the Lake Erie Monsters game taking place later that day. Check out the details in the second pic.

Christine Ferreira, Pete Kenworthy, and Kimberly Gill make me wanna say “OH my gosh” as they rock Good Morning Cleveland! (Seen via WEWS, RF15.)

Hollie Strano is fair and cool over on Cleveland’s WKYC (RF17.)

Later that morning, I stumbled onto a wacky and wonderful Spanish language sketch comedy on Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34.) No idea what’s going on, but boas always make it better!

Erie, PA’s WSEE (RF12-3) featured Mornings Live with legendary Lisa Adams and rollickin’ Ray Petelin!

Liz Crawford talked to East High School students Wujdan Ahmed and Depend Tamba about the community college proposed by Barry Grossman. Going forward with the college really would Depend on positive reactions from the community.

Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) featured Mark Soliday talking live with Kara Coleman, who was on location with the winners of the “How Cool Is Your School?” contest.

Is it not vaguely disturbing that the sassy chicken puppet is coming out of the oversized clown’s mouth? It’s like the clown had a bad reaction to some KFC.

Rochester, NY’s WHEC (RF10) offered an interesting twist on the usual Veteran’s Day stories by showcasing “Women Warriors” who served in the military. Stacy Fogarty served in the Iraq war and you can check out the story by clicking here.

Rochester, NY’s WHEC (RF10) featured the awesome team of Rebecca Leclair, Pat McGonigle, and Christine VanTimmeren on morning news duties.

WHEC’s Rich Caniglia provided the Pinpoint 10 Forecast that morning. (Check out Canadian cities Peterborough and Trenton on the map behind him!)

Rochester, NY’s WHAM (RF13) also popped up with Marty Snyder giving us the temps for major cities including Toronto!

There was laughter to be had with Jennifer Johnson, Doug Emblidge, and Evan Dawson on WHAM!

WHAM’s Norma Holland sailed in to deliver a story about the disastrous Carnival cruise that was making waves that week for the wrong reasons.

WHAM featured a quick story about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and how the Pentagon’s study showed that repealing the law would not harm the war!

By the mid-afternoon, I had to leave for work. But since Rochester, NY was coming in so strong, I set up my DVR to tape WROC (RF45) in hopes of catching First At 4 with Matt Molloy. I lucked out and got the whole show plus most of their later news too! Check out Matt Molloy and Meghan Backus below!

First At 4 features the awesome meteorologist Scott Hetsko, although Matt Molloy doesn’t look too sure about his latest forecast.

I enjoy Scott Hetsko’s forecasts for his quick wit, energy and ability to make the weather entertaining! Great Scott, indeed! (Also check out his Twitter.)

One of the highlights of First At 4 is a segment called “Your Turn” where Matt Molloy reads viewers’ comments about various topics on air. (Check out Matt Molloy’s Twitter and Facebook Fan Page.)

I squealed when I saw that he read my tweet on air! (The question was: “Man is shot twice, but finishes his sandwich before going to the hospital! Is there anything you would try to fit in before going to the hospital?”)

At 5pm Kevin Doran counted on Caroline Tucker to report on absentee ballots in Henrietta.

WROC’s Meghan Backus was on deck with a report about a school that, unfortunately, exercised its freedom to close down.

Ali Touhey did a story about mapping crime in Greece. It’s about time they started cracking down on counterfeit Rand McNally guides. Police Captain Steve Chatterton wouldn’t stop talking about it in the interview that followed.

I don’t know who this is, but I definitely want to help get his cable gets screwed into the right outlet after seeing him sign up for Time Warner Cable Business Class. (Seen via Rochester, NY’s WROC, RF45.)

Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) was still there when I came home from work. Bill Worden anchored the 11pm news.

Over on Rochester, NY’s WHEC (RF10) Rich Funke (pronounced “funky”) anchored the news. I would love for him to release a 70s inflected R&B album called “Rich Funke: Tellin’ It Like It Is.” His backing band could be called the Funketeers.

Meanwhile, Rochester, NY’s WHAM (RF13) brought out Ginny Ryan, Don Alhart, and Mike Catalana in HD!

I was surprised to see Watertown, NY’s WWTI (RF21) make its way in. They no longer have their own newscasts, but show news from Syracuse’s WSYR. The interesting thing is that they keep their own “ABC 50” branding at the bottom right corner of the screen instead of WSYR’s.

Back on Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) I was excited to see Mike Levin cut to a live report from Andrew Donovan!

It was my first time getting to see Andrew on a WKTV newscast! Check out his TV and social media blog @AndrewDonovan or follow him on Twitter.

There was a great promo from Erie, PA’s WQLN (RF50) featuring an offer to get coupons for Borders Book Stores. (Unfortunately, the chain filed for bankruptcy…so if you’re near one, buy a book, a magazine, anything! Give them a boost!)

I really don’t (t)rust this guy. He looks like he’ll run me over if I don’t take his rust proofing. (Seen via Watertown, NY’s WWTI on RF21.)

I totally heart this ad for the Bay Drive-In Theatre shown on Watertown, NY’s WWTI (RF21.) Very neat to see a classic slice of Americana still running and showing current films.

Note the ABC 50 branding in the bottom right corner during Nightline on WWTI.

WWTI’s subchannel WWTI-2 is a CW Plus affiliate and showed a few local promos, including this one encouraging folks to visit their Price Trader 50 website for restaurant discounts.

WWTI-2 also hopes viewers will find their CW page on Facebook! Watertown is part of the “North Country” which is also how they brand their CW affiliate.

Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) was showing a telenovela called La Verdad Oculta (“The Hidden Truth.”) Google translations helped me figure out that the plot involves two men who love the same woman.

What a revealing plot, indeed! La Verdad Oculta es muy caliente! I was disappointed, though, that the other man never showed up during this scene.

Thankfully, Diane Keaton was on hand to discuss the telenovela with Kevin McHale over on Jay Leno. (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WKYC, RF17.)

There was an extreme fog advisory flashing on the weather subchannel of WKYC (RF17.) I often wonder if fog helps tropo provided the fog is in the area of the channel I’m receiving, but not at my own location.

Lou Ferrigno smashed his way onto to my screen so hard that the picture pixellated a bit. The Hulk actor proved he had the muscle to take charge in a jail cell….wait, that sounds….never mind. (Seen via Akron, OH’s WBNX, RF30.)

I noticed the new subchannel on WBNX had a different scenic backdrop the second night I caught it. However, they still feature the show that orders you to sing.

Take a look at “Le Roy” near the centre of the map. Later in November, my pals and I visited the Jell-O Museum which was in Le Roy! (Seen via Rochester, NY’s WHEC-DT, RF10-2.)

WSEE talked to Korean War Veteran Richard Dombrowski about the graffiti that covered an Erie County war memorial. Thankfully, Dennis Braendel of Braendel Painting stepped in with one of his crews to clean it up. (Seen via Erie, PA’s WBEP, RF12-2.)

Here’s Lisa Weismann and Scott McDonnell with a great WSEE backdrop on a repeat of the evening news. (Seen via Erie, PA’s WBEP, RF12-2.)

I was happy to see Julie Coates on hand for weather!

Mr. Fudgie Fudge is amazing! He looks like the more flavourful cousin of Spongebob Squarepants. Mr. Fudgie Fudge is exclusive to Kali’s Candy, which is located next to Big Woodie’s. I’m really not making this up. Click here to see the ad! (Seen on WBEP.)

I’m glad that Julie’s here to let us know if we need to wear our hats and Coates during the upcoming week of weather.

WSEE featured a story about Gannon University President Dr. Antoine Garibaldi parting ways with the school. (It also looks like he’s wearing a tie in honour of Veteran’s Day, with red poppies on it.)

I can’t bear gossipy reports that speculate on pregnancies. I mean everyone from Mariah Carey to Celine Dion have been buzzed about, but this is clearly too much…

Meanwhile, over on Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) Carson Daly took the cameras with him as he went on a very special date. “What are you talking about? This is not a date!” Carson screamed at me through the TV.

Below is a great closing shot of WSEE’s news crew (as seen via WBEP on 12-2) including Gary Drapcho, Lisa Weismann, Scott McDonnell and Julie Coates!

This ad was awesome! The guy in the middle trotted through The Liquor Loft dressed as a turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving! (Seen via Utica, NY’s WKTV on RF29.)

It wouldn’t be a full Watertown experience without seeing an FX Caprara car infomerical on WWTI (RF21.) At least they put up the ABC 50 logo with time and temperature in the bottom right corner.

Classic Westerns were a part of This evening’s programs on Springville, NY’s WNGS (RF7.)

I caught the late repeat of the news on Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) where Caroline was ready, willing and Gable to tell us about Black Friday deals. (I was actually lucky enough to meet Caroline Gable during my visit to Utica in Sept. 2010! She was sweet and totally rocked!)

We Musyt forget to watch Adam’s report about what the upcoming weather is like.

El Gordo La Flaca was serving red carpet realness on Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34.)

Charo was werking it out, looking much like she did in the 80s! I think she’s been drinking from the Mary Hart fountain of youth. (Seen via WQHS, RF34.)

November 13th was the last day of “big” tropo for 2010. Before the weather got colder, and Winter pushed away the distant signals, I caught some great treats including my first look at the news from Erie, PA’s WFXP! Here goes the highlights:

I love that The Cool TV shows a wide range of music videos from all eras, including classic 80s jams like Jermaine Stewart’s We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off. (Seen via Rochester, NY’s WUHF subchannel on RF28-2.)

College Football was on Rochester, NY’s WROC (RF45) and when I saw the team names I couldn’t help but think “Ole Miss Tennessee” could be a fierce Southern Fried drag Diva!

Rochester, NY’s low powered TCT affiliate W42CO (RF42) showed up with children’s E/I programming. Not sure how I should take the guy’s apron with the slogan “Kiss The [vaguely phallic shaped drawing] Chemist.”

It was an absolutely gorgeous, clear, sunny day in Rochester, NY as seen on WHEC’s weather subchannel (RF10-2.)

I got really excited to see the Wonder Woman football team on the field, until I realized it was actually West Virginia. (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS, RF15.)

Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) had a very enthusiastic host on Viva La Familia!

The WICU “trilogy” from Erie, PA was coming in including sports on subchannel WSEE (RF12-3.)

Cook’s Country: America’s Test Kitchen was serving a souffle of drama! It looks like he’s telling her “You know you’ve got a good grip on my whisk! This is a recipe for disaster!” (Seen via Erie, PA’s WQLN, RF50.)

At first I thought I stumbled onto a documentary about the film Deliverance. But it was really just an ep of the Canadian series Red Green, which became popular in the US via PBS. (Seen via Erie, PA’s WQLN, RF50.)

At 10pm I squealed with excitement over getting to see the news from Erie, PA’s WFXP (RF22) for the first time! Anchor David Belmondo opened the show!

It was Berry good to see Meteorologist Jason Berry on deck to deliver the weather!

WFXP uses “JET Pinpoint Doppler” since they’re a sister station to WJET (a station that I have yet to receive. Hopefully that will change after the Canadian DTV Transition.)

WFXP interviewed Belle Valley Fire Chief John Semple. I would love to do drag in that town so I could say I was the Belle of the Valley.

As the Christmas season got closer, Santa started making public appearances, including this one at the Millcreek Mall.

WFXP featured this great shot of WQLN’s banner during a story about the PBS station’s Holiday Craft Show. (Note the dual ID for Erie and London, Ontario.)

His name rolls off the tongue like a TV show waiting to happen. Imagine David Belmondo: Private Detective. Then his follow up series would be shortened to just Belmondo!

Tori Amos popped up on the Artists’ Den via Erie, PA’s WQLN (RF50.) Over the years I’ve loved a lot of Tori’s music, but the guiltiest pleasure of mine is her 1988 big haired pop album Y Kant Tori Read!

This is most certainly not RCCM TV! It looks like Rochester, NY’s WHAM (RF13) had the wrong program info, as RCCM TV is a paid religious show.

Meanwhile, WHAM’s subchannel CW-WHAM (RF13-2) was showing what I expected to see on RCCM TV – a locally produced religious show.

WHEC meteorologist Josh Nichols popped up on WHEC-DT (RF10-2) with updates through the night.

In Canada, many broadcasters wear red poppies in honour of Remembrance Day (recognized on November 11th much like Veteran’s Day is in the US.) Seen via Hamilton, ON’s CITS (RF35.)

On November 20-21 I went on a Rockin’ Road Trip To Rochester! I travelled with four awesome friends, and we had a blast! I got to meet Meghan Backus and Chetan Rakieten of WROC, as well as literally peek in at Josh Nichols and Nikki Rudd of WHEC! My pals and I also hit up Tilt nightclub, and saw a fabulous Drag Brunch at Edible’s Restaurant featuring Pandora Boxx, Kasha Davis and Poison Waters! Click here for the full recap!

On November 30th I caught a promo on Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) for the annual Toy Mountain campaign for children in need. The promo featured CFTO personalities Tom Brown, Ken Shaw and Christine Bentley! (The third pic is a shot I took in early December of the Toy Mountain box set up in my local shopping centre, Markville Mall.)

Also on November 30th, Conan featured a parody of the infamous Spider-Man musical, which included a man in drag as Wonder Woman! Love it! (Seen via Toronto, ON’s CFTO, RF40.)

DECEMBER

Long distance reception went to sleep for the season in December (despite a few “blinks” of Erie, PA trying to come in, but not quite making it.) However, Toronto and Buffalo stations stayed for the Winter, so I documented some highlights below.

On December 7th, I got to see an episode of In The Life that showcased the documentary Gen Silent. The film tells the story of KrysAnne Hembrough, a transgendered woman who battles cancer while trying to reconcile with her unaccepting family. An important and somewhat somber story enhanced by KrysAnne’s triumphant spirit. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WNED, RF43.)

On December 8th, Buffalo, NY’s WNED (RF43) ran their original production Don’t Touch That Dial: Great Moments In Local Broadcasting. The special gave a great look back at the history of TV & Radio in Buffalo, complete with interviews and rare footage. Legendary Buffalo personality Doris Jones popped up during pledge breaks and was vivacious and bubbly, while hilariously dismissing reality TV as “…just horrible.”

Also on December 8th, I caught an ad on Buffalo, NY’s WNYO (RF49) that showed the programs that viewers would lose if their negotiations with Time Warner Cable fell through. (Sinclair stations WNYO and WUTV were both seeking higher retransmission fees from Time Warner.)

December 11th brought one of the annual screenings of Holiday classic It’s A Wonderful Life. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ, RF33.)

Also on December 11th, Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) covered the funeral of broadcasting legend Mark Dailey. Dailey was one of the most recognizable faces and voices in Toronto for his work with City TV. Check out the excellent tribute by Bill Brioux as well as James Bawden’s memories. CFTO’s Andria Case introduced the coverage seen below.

On December 14th I got to see Rob Nelson and Vinita Nair looking extra festive on ABC’s World News Now. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

December 16th brought a promo for Great Romances of the Twentieth Century featuring a lovable Lucille Ball! (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WNED, RF43.)

Also on December 16th, I caught this awesome station ID for WNED (RF43) which identifies as Buffalo-Toronto due to their large Canadian support. Check out how far their signal stretches in the promo!

I cheered on December 18th when I saw the reports that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was finally repealed! Whoo! (Seen on NBC Nightly News via Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ, RF33.) Later that night at a pal’s karaoke birthday party, I sang En Vogue’s Free Your Mind in honour of the repeal!

On December 21st I was surprised and flattered to see that the Toronto Star had used two of my pics for their article about TV meteorologists! The pics of CFTO’s Tom Brown and CBLT’s Nick Czernkovich came from last year’s Fantastic Forecasters blog entry. However, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get any credit. (I wrote asking if I could get credit in the online version of article, even if it was just a link to my blog. The author was friendly and replied, but the editor he referred me to never responded.) Still, it isn’t every day you get your TV screenshots used in a national newspaper, so I’m still amazed and appreciate it.

Also on December 21st, Buffalo, NY’s WUTV (RF14) was upping the ante in their battle with Time Warner Cable over retransmission fees. Their new ads suggested you could “get a better deal” by switching your service to Dish Network or DirecTV. The situation with Time Warner was finally settled in the early part of the new year.

On December 22nd ABC’s World News Now showed a segment about the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and included comments from former Staff Sgt Eric Alva. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

On Christmas Eve (December 24th) I stumbled onto a wonderful special called A Christmas For Everyone which took place at New York City's United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew. The service was a multi faith experience that aimed to include people from all walks of life, and included a variety of speakers, including Rev. K. Karpen, pictured below. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WIVB, RF39.)

The special was so inclusive, they even brought back Claire Danes and Wilson Cruz to reprise their roles from My So-Called Life during the service. Wait…that’s not them? Oops!

On Christmas Day (December 25th) I got to see Ryan Seacrest & Maria Menounos hosting the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade! (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

I know Mariah Carey has done some Mickey Mouse things throughout her career, but it rarely becomes this literal! (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

Speaking of Mariah, my pal Mr. A joined me for my Holiday festivities and brought over his copy of Ms. Carey’s Merry Christmas II You. It went surprisingly well with CBC’s Divatastic Holiday Festival On Ice 2010, which we posed with below. (Seen via Toronto, ON’s CBLT, RF20.)

Mr. A also posed with the awesome Claudine Ewing, who was anchoring the news on Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ (RF33) that night.

Buffalo, NY’s WUTV (RF14) was running TV's Funniest Moments: A Paley Center for Media Special, which included the classic clip from I Love Lucy seen below.

Here’s a great trio of Holiday greetings from Buffalo, NY’s WIVB (RF39), WKBW (RF38), and WUTV (RF14.)

On December 27th I caught a great story on Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) about their upcoming 50th Anniversary. The story included some awesome vintage photos, and footage of their opening night in 1960 which included Diva dancers sashaying around with giant call letters.

On December 31st my pal Adam hosted a wonderful New Year’s Eve party and I ~~squealed and hollered~~ politely suggested that we watch the Dick Clark New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special on WKBW (technically this wasn’t OTA as Adam subscribes to Rogers Cable.) Check out Ryan Seacrest with the legendary Dick Clark below.

And there you have it! 2010 is finally wrapped up! Thanks to all my readers, my pals, and the stations/personalities that have shown so much kindness to a wacky TV loving pop culture geek. Stay tuned for more television treats, station visiting antics, and reception mayhem!