Greetings TV Garth readers! This is my attempt to summarize the year in reception, as well as other TV related treats from 2010! I’m breaking the year down into three parts, so stay tuned and enjoy Part One, which highlights January through April 2010!
JANUARY
- Spotted the W Network series How To Look Good Naked Canada filming at my local mall on Jan. 12-13. I took pics, made a short video, and professed my love for handsome host Zain Meghji in this blog post.
- I got to witness the most jaw dropping four days of long distance reception I’ve ever seen in the short time that I’ve DXed digital TV. Stations floated in from as far away as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan & Ohio. (This tropo wave also brought my current DX record – Peoria, IL’s WMBD from a whopping 571 miles away.) It was simply a flabbergasting event, and I’m not sure it will be easily duplicated. Check out my extensive coverage: Magic Tropo Ride (Jan. 15-18), and Things I Learned From The Magic Tropo Ride.
- NBC’s flap with Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno turned into a PR nightmare and certainly made lots of “Headlines.” Although I’m still very much with Team Coco, my dislike of Jay has mostly dissipated since the debacle took place. (I’ve been reading the excellent book “The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy” by Bill Carter. It details much of what happened, and the majority of the blame seems to fall on NBC’s inept handling of the situation.)
FEBRUARY
- There wasn’t much to report in terms of DX, but I was glued to the Winter Olympics that were held in Vancouver, BC! Canada racked up the most gold medals of any Winter games! Even MTV Canada personalities Jessie Cruikshank and Dan Levy weighed in on the events (pictured below on Toronto’s CFTO, RF40.) I did two recaps of the events as seen on CTV and NBC. Check out Olympic Mania followed by my Olympic Wrap-up.
- Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ (RF33) chose February to debut their enhanced widescreen 16x9 SD newscasts. Though it isn’t true HD, it looks great and is far more dynamic than their competition. (Surprisingly, Buffalo is one of the larger TV markets without any full HD newscasts.)
- WROC’s meteorologist Brian Neudorff came across my blog and used one of my pics in his post about National Weatherperson’s Day! I was totally amazed, and it was the first time I realized TV personalities were checking out TV Garth! Brian is very interactive with his viewers and you can check out his weather blog at WX-MAN.com or follow him on Twitter. I wouldn’t get to see Brian on TV again until my Rochester reception came back in the following month.
The pic above comes from my first viewing of WROC’s News 8 Now in 2010 which took place only days before Spring had officially arrived, and that would bring us to...
MARCH
- Very shortly after the one year anniversary of my blog, I got to publish my first interview! Don Shipman of Utica, NY’s WKTV graciously took the time to answer a few questions for TV Garth. (Funnily enough, the interview went up shortly after I got reception of WKTV for the first time in 2010!)
- March brought back the first real wave of DX since the crazy January tropo. The usual suspects from Rochester & Utica, NY arrived followed by some light activity from Erie, PA. I did a brief recap of my reception in March. I also went insane with glee when the tropo came back, much like the guy from Unclaimed Freight below, as seen March 10 on WUHF (RF28).
- The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games took place around mid-March, and I watched the opening ceremonies on Buffalo’s WGRZ (RF33). Check out the pics below to see one Canadian institution celebrate another as CTV’s Lloyd Robertson introduced a segment about the legendary Terry Fox.
- Late in March, I went on a family vacation to Las Vegas, NV and Santa Maria, CA. I made sure to pack antennas and a digital box, and documented my OTA adventures during the trip in three recaps. Check out my Vacation Reception Reports Part One, Part Two and Part Three!
APRIL
- Rochester, NY reception began showing up more regularly. On April 7, WHEC (RF10) presented a very revealing story about a flasher! Rebecca Leclair’s intro to the story is pure television magic! Check out the video below:
- Temperatures were also well above average (maybe the aforementioned flasher was just really hot and had to take off all his clothes like that Nelly song from years back!) Matt Molloy talked about the bump Rochester businesses received from the hot weather April 2 on WROC (RF45).
- Proving that even fierce rivals can be united for the right cause, the United Way pulled together a gaggle of Rochester news personalities for their campaign. (As seen April 6 via WHEC on RF10.) The ad included WHEC’s Jennifer Johnson (who would move to WHAM later in the Summer), WHAM’s Norma Holland, and WROC’s Scott Hetsko. (I’m not sure who the guy on the far left is, but I’m sure he’s awesome! Maybe he’s from cable news outlet YNN: Rochester? Casey Bortnick?)
That concludes Part One of the TV Garth Year In Review for 2010! Stay tuned for further installments and more TV related mayhem!
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