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!
