Greetings TV Garth readers! This report covers my first digital reception of Cleveland stations WEWS and WJW, as well as my “usual suspects” from Rochester & Erie! There are two Cleveland reports, as it appears first in the middle of June 2nd report, and some great shots of WEWS appear down in the June 5th report.
June 2, 2009
June 2nd began with Rochester coming in strong, as we see Seinfeld below on 31-1 WUHF.
Meanwhile, Worldfocus was on 21-1 WXXI.
I also caught the Pinpoint weather happening on 10-1 WHEC’s 11pm newscast.
I heart the Nasa commercial below, on 10-2 WHEC-DT, since it uses the awesomely bad pun “Nasa has space for you.”
Check out Toronto as featured on the Rochester weather map on WHEC, followed a shot from their evening news.
8-1 WROC also floated in with part of their 11pm newscast, this time showing off President Obama with Nancy Reagan. Plus, shortly after they ran a great shot of the CBS HD commercial.
I included the shot below since I love Diet Coke, and McDonald’s on both sides of the border have been doing a promotion in which you can snag any size soft drink for only $1. Makes me go “mmmmmmm” just like the sign behind that lady.
13-2 CW-WHAM brought us the klassy Steve Wilkos show, in which yet another skinny, sketchy looking hooligan stands up to raise a ruckus, only to be shot down by mighty Steve.
Meanwhile, the main WHAM channel on 13-1 gave us Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen featuring comedian Sheryl Underwood below.
I was surprised to see a very clear CKCO from Kitchener on analog 13 coming in this night. (Depending on which direction I turned the antenna, it would be fighting with Rochester’s WHAM.)
Then came CLEVELAND! My jaw dropped when I saw flickers of signal on RF 15, so I aimed the antenna until the flicker got stronger and soon enough it came in as 5-1 WEWS, the ABC station from Cleveland!
At this time they were running ABC World News Now, with a flashback segment that included anchors Frank Reynolds and the Canadian Peter Jennings!
I clicked over to RF 31, which was also flickering on the signal meter, and to my surprise it also came in! Below is how it appeared on my Panasonic tuner as it took a few seconds to decode the PSIP data. When the PSIP showed up, it was 8-1 WJW, the Fox station from Cleveland. (This and WEWS only came in for about a minute or two, though.)
Then it was back to Rochester, NY for the night, and I caught a couple of great local ads. Below is a promo for the morning news show on 10-1 WHEC. That breakfast looks really good.
Then, over on 13-1 WHAM, came a great commercial promoting themselves as Rochester’s “Weather Authority”!
And of course, a visit to Rochester wouldn’t be complete without an episode of Half & Half, seen on 31-1 WUHF.
Tonight’s episode featured special guest star Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child fame!
Back on 13-1 WHAM, anchor Norma Holland was delivering the morning news. This was followed by a live story about the Landmark Society House And Garden Tour in East Rochester.
But best of all was a live report on 8-1 WROC covering Camp Day at a Rochester Tim Hortons!!!
Then there was a great shot of WROC’s primetime lineup!
Even Half & Half’s Alec Mapa was excited about WROC’s evening shows! (Like myself, he was probably most excited about the Julia-Louis Dreyfus hit The New Adventures Of Old Christine!)
“Did you say The New Adventures Of Old Christine is on tonight? I have to set up my video recorder!”
***
June 4, 2009
WOW! I love the groovy afro Bob Ross sports on The Best Of The Joy Of Painting, seen here on Erie’s 54-2 WQLN-S1. This was followed by Create network promos.
There’s an epic PBS commercial about sparking kids’ imaginations, in which the dewy eyed boy below picks up a magic rock and starts hallucinating things like Big Bird riding on a bus and other exciting events. So it’s either a touching ad for creativity, or a metaphor for drugs. You be the judge!
Meanwhile, Rochester’s 21-1 WXXI was showing Craft In America.
8-1 WROC was promoting a Torch Run that involved the Gates Police Department, and ends at Liberty Pole. I’ve seen movies that begin and end the same way.
WROC anchor Katrina Irwin isn’t so sure about that last double entendre.
Even Alec Mapa is shocked by my tastelessness over on Half & Half on 31-1 WUHF!
But we all recover in time for the WROC weather forecast!
I saw this story on a spotty looking 10-1 WHEC, and found it funny that this was the big scandal of the day. Firefighters busted for pot possession. Sigh. Maybe I’m getting too liberal, but as long as they weren’t smoking it while they were working, I don’t think it’s that big a deal.
And here we have the wonderful city of RochesUse! The signal on WHEC was barely coming in, so this is the best shot I could get of the Rochester traffic cam in the morning.
***
June 5, 2009
June 5th brought another Rochester burst, but the best surprise was picking up Cleveland’s WEWS for nearly an hour!
We begin in the afternoon with kids’ programming on 21-1 WXXI!
Look at the Rochester traffic cam bright and clear in the afternoon on 10-2 WHEC-DT!
Judge Karen gets ready to throw down over on 13-2 CW-WHAM.
Meanwhile, on Guiding Light soap opera lovers stroll peacefully over on 8-1 WROC!
Think the peace would last for long? Here comes Maury to blow that idea out of the water on 31-1 WUHF.
If you had “3 Shocking Sex Secrets” that you wanted to get off your chest before your upcoming wedding, is a nationally syndicated talk show the best place to be having that discussion? Just wondering.
Washington Week’s Gwen Ifill is disgusted with people who go on talk shows to reveal their shocking sex secrets! (Seen on Erie’s 54-3 WQLN-S2.)
Stevie Wonder was rocking the house on the main WQLN on 54-1.
Rochester’s WXXI put together another epic commercial to showcase their station, and I do say that the first pic below is inspiring. Continue down to see more shots from the commercial.
From inspiration to paid programming, here we find 8-1 WROC in the middle of an infomercial.
Here’s a shot of the Rochester traffic cam at night on 10-2 WHEC-DT.
The main WHEC on 10-1 was showing a religious show in their paid programming slot. I think it’s called Three 60 TV.
The following is one of my favourite shots from a Steve Wilkos show seen on 13-2 CW-WHAM. She looks like she’s saying “You think I’m a stalker???”
Steve’s response: “Mmmm Hmmm.”
The main 13-1 WHAM was re-running their evening newscast.
King Of The Hill was ruling the airwaves on 31-1 WUHF.
Then there was the legendary Dolly Parton being interviewed by Charlie Rose over on 54-1 WQLN!
Meanwhile, it looks as if author Azadeh Moaveni was thinking “I don’t like the question you’re asking me! You better watch it buddy!” (Seen on Tavis Smiley on 54-3 WQLN-S2.)
Paula Abdul had to clap and give a “You Go Girl” to Azadeh! (Seen on The Insider on 13-1 WHAM.)
There was a commercial for the Rochester Raiders indoor football team on 13-2 CW-WHAM.
And Nia Vardalos stopped by Tavis Smiley to promote her new film on 54-1 WQLN.
But here came the highlight of the night! Cleveland’s 5-1 WEWS came in again, and this time lasted for nearly an hour of reception! They were airing the sci-fi show ReGenesis.
Below is a local Cleveland commercial for The Jewelry Factory!
The formula may have been blurry, but the “5 ABC” logo in the bottom right corner was perfectly clear!
The smiley face you see on the chalkboard below was about the only uplifting thing is this episode of ReGenesis, given that it was mostly about dark, depressing sci-fi things.
Cue the ominous music as Victor Garber arrives on the scene selecting the young man on the right for some dastardly science project! (This ain’t your Grade 8 bristol board type of science project either!)
Thank goodness we have a commercial break to ease the tension! Below is an ad promoting Dish Network with some great shots of various TV logos!
Back on ReGenesis, the signal was suffering slightly, but check out the “5 ABC” logo popping up again in the bottom right corner.
Check out the guy on the right – he’s the one Victor Garber is sacrificing in the name of science! He’s all clammy and creepily serene as our hero on the left tries to stop the insanity.
Victor Garber takes over the conversation, and the young man gets his head shaved and the science team starts drilling into it!!! Thanks for putting the EW in WEWS, ReGenesis.
I think they were really just drilling the young man for information regarding All-Natural Weight Loss!
Then in the credits I noticed that ReGenesis is a Canadian show produced by The Movie Network!
Then we have a fabulous shot promoting the WEWS morning news!!! Good Morning Cleveland, indeed!
Hey Volk’s, Burt Kay wants your gold! You might like the prospects of that (at 417 Prospect Ave in downtown Cleveland, that is!) They pay top dollar, as stated in the second pic!
We have another great logo shot of WEWS in the ad for their special about James Lebron airing that weekend! (The title of the special sounds like the beginning of a new action show. Imagine it: “Lebron, MVP” where he’ll get sidelined from basketball for whatever reason, stumble onto a crime scene and become a private investigator! He’ll use his athletic abilities to assist in apprehending the bad guys. When it comes down to the climactic end of each episode and the case is solved, his catchphrase could be “That was a slam dunk!” Cut to playful eyerolls from the supporting cast, and finish on a freeze frame of Lebron smiling brightly!)
Then it was time for infomercials, but at least there was another great shot of the News Channel 5 logo, plus a giant blue “5” in the background.
WEWS was running the SMC program about how to start your own business.
Here’s (I believe) one of the main SMC honchos, who might be a perfectly fine gentleman, but the infomercial just seems a little too slick. (It looks like it basically promises that you’ll make a boatload of money selling flea market junk, provided that you buy their kit, of course.)
“Hey, I didn’t think it could work for me, but it did!”
Here I am on the phone with Mr. A, still in awe of WEWS, but it was starting to fade out at this point.
When WEWS faded, I went back to Rochester and caught this shot of the Rochester traffic cam on 10-2 WHEC-DT in the wee hours of the morning.
I also saw an ad for the Michael Spitale hair salon on 10-1 WHEC, and wondered if he was a distant relative of my friend Josie.
I still love these ads for Irondequoit Liquor, with endless bottles of booze and the tagline “You’re gonna love this place!” I think I would!
And there you have it! The first major appearances of Cleveland, along with Rochester & Erie. Stay tuned to TV Garth for more Reception Reports!
