Reception Reports: July 2012 (Part 2)

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

July 10, 2012

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




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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



July 11, 2012

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



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



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




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



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



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



July 12, 2012

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



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



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



July 13, 2012

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



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



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



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




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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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




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



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



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



July 14, 2012

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



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

Reception Reports: May 2012 (Part 2)

Greetings TV Garth readers! The May-hem continues as we move on to Part 2 of the Spring Reception rundown! (Click here for Part 1.) In the later part of May, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica were still on display, plus there was a pinch of Pennsylvania!

May 23, 2012

Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) had sports director John Kucko making the newscast a black tie event! Along for the swanky affair were Kevin Doran, Maureen McGuire and Scott Hetsko!



May 26, 2012

It's always fun to catch WROC in my neck of the woods!



There was an amazing WROC bumper that featured some historical logos and a great station ID! Surprisingly, this is the only time I've seen it air.




I knew Summer was on the way when I saw a promo for Scott Hetsko's Backyard BBQ on Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28). The BBQ is appropriate because he sizzles on air and cooks up an entertaining forecast every time!



Later that night, I didn't have to wrestle with my reception too much as I jumped in the ring with Rochester's CW-WHAM (RF13-2)! Pier 6 Wrestling was on with hunktacular Dain "the Pain" Jacobs showing off in the awesomely named Hamlin Sportatorium.



I wasn't dragging my heels on capturing some awesome gender bending on late night TV! First up was the legendary Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert airing on Hamilton, ON's CHCH (RF11).



Springville, NY's WBBZ (RF7) was running what should have been called Get Smart Ensembles as one character was (half) dressed up as a Diva!



May 27, 2012

The fabulousness continued the next day with an airing of To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar on WROC's Bounce TV subchannel!



Olympia Dukakis was promoting her movie Cloudburst on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. (Seen on Toronto, ON's CBLT, RF20.) The film was screened with Dukakis in attendance at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival right around this time! (A pal saw the screening and said it was a great!)



You otter know about the stuffed animal that's the driving force behind Auto Junction's amazing commercial! LOVE it! (Seen via Rochester, NY's WROC subchannel Bounce, RF45-2.)



WHEC's MeTV subchannel aired an ad that brought together three awesome anchors from rival Rochester stations! Janet Lomax, Maureen McGuire and Ginny Ryan banded together for YWCA's Stand Against Racism.



It was neat to watch I Love Lucy on WHEC's MeTV subchannel! I became a huge Lucy fan nearly twenty years ago when I saw repeats airing on Barrie's CKVR and Buffalo's WUTV.



I caught part of the newscast on Rochester's WHEC (RF10) with Amanda McDonald, Christine VanTimmeren and solid new sports hire Justin Granit!



Syracuse, NY's WSTM subchannel CNY (RF24-3) was showing a newscast with Jessica Cain!



CNY also featured a major ad with Stephanie Miner (the mayor of Syracuse) for The Cart Starts Here, which encourages folks to "buy local." I would also love it if Stephanie's supporters called themselves The Miner League!



I saw the Memorial Day celebrations on several PBS stations that night including Rochester, NY's WXXI (RF16). After seeing Jessica Sanchez sing her face off, I wanted to call the police to report that she had been robbed of the American Idol crown by Phillip Phillips.



I also saw Daughtry perform, which reminded me how much I loved the song "Breakdown" from their first album! (Years ago I wrote a long ramble on sister blog Frothy Pop Treats about how I thought the song could work as a gay rights anthem!)



The N.Y. Temperatures go up a few degrees as meteorologist Stacey Pensgen rocks a fierce ensemble on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45).



Tina Shively and Ashley Zilka were both WROCin' the newscast that evening!



Preparations were down to the wire for Nik Wallenda's historic walk across Niagara Falls! The event would be all wet if the arrangements weren't properly balanced!



May 29, 2012

I wondered if the temperatures were in the 60s given the psychadelic colours on the doppler radar behind WROC's Scott Hetsko!



Don Alhart never phones it in during his newscasts on Rochester's WHAM (RF13).



Since 2009, I've blogged about Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) running infomercials, religious programs and pretty much anything but Last Call With Carson Daly at 1:35am. These days they run repeats of The Office, with Phyllis getting sassy in the pic below.



Clearfield, PA's WPSU (RF15) made a surprise appearance. RF15 is a very crowded channel these days and DXing will become even more difficult when Hamilton's CHCH moves there next year. So far, this is WPSU's only logging this year!



May 30, 2012

Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) showed up with Don Shipman looking very dapper in a station promo!



Don Shipman's new co-host on WKTV's morning news is Jenel Boston, and by the looks of it, they're getting along quite well! (Rumour has it that Boston narrowly beat out Jasmine Chicago for the gig!)



One Bill that folks actually like to see is Mr. Kardas during his forecasts on WKTV.



Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28) featured a great FOX Rochester logo during a promo for their DTV activity reports.



Meanwhile, viewers were ready to (Reach Up For The) Sunrise with Katrina Irwin and John DiPasquale on WROC!



Viewers have shared many highs and lows with Marty Snyder through the years on Rochester's WHAM (RF13).



I stayed up until 8am to watch country star Chely Wright on CBS This Morning. (Seen via Buffalo, NY's WIVB, RF39.) Only a few days earlier, I had seen her amazing documentary Wish Me Away at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Chely was in attendance, and I got a nice pic of her talking to the audience after the screening!




Stay tuned to TV Garth as we'll be jumpin' into June's Reception Reports right around the corner!