Reception Reports: July 2012 (Part 4)

Greetings TV Garth readers! As the temperatures in January reach new lows, so do the puns and tasteless innuendo on my blog as I wrap up Part 4 of July's reception roundup! Stay tuned for a look back at how Summertime sweltered with stations seen from Erie, Johnstown, Buffalo, Rochester, Utica, Cleveland, Peterborough, Wingham and Toronto!

July 22, 2012

Johnstown, PA's WJAC (RF34) offered up a juicy promo for the Clearfield County Fair, which featured a watermelon eating contest and a scavenger hunt. I LOVE the Highlights For Children-esque graphics in the ad!




I'm very partisan about my love for Erie, PA's WICU (RF12) especially when they Capital-ize on their station ID in "Decision 2012" promos!



Also on WICU, The Insider had Alexandra Dusckas making waves with her interview about Erie's tourist attraction Presque Isle.



Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) featured a nice promo with evening news anchors Lia Lando and Rich Funke! (And I swear WHEC should have used C&C Music Factory's "Do Wanna Get Funky?" as the music in the background!)



Our Region's Business popped up on Johnstown, PA's WJAC (RF34) with Manoj Jegasothy, the managing partner at the Pittsburgh offices of law firm Gordon & Rees!



Rochester In Focus appeared on WHEC (RF10) with Ray Levato talking to Vietnam veterans in the early AM.



If station IDs were competing for medals, I'd give the gold to Buffalo, NY's WGRZ (RF33) for their Olympic themed logo!



July 23, 2012

TV Ontario's analog transmitter in Peterborough (RF18) was close to shutting down, but I snagged a nice station ID days before they went off the air.



July 25, 2012

Temperatures weren't in the 60s, but the shirt on Scott Hetsko's cutout was still pretty groovy! Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28) featured two times the Hetsko awesomeness in this great promo!



July 26, 2012

George Stroumboulopoulos was interviewing Zaib Shaikh, Sitara Hewitt and Zarqa Nawaz about Little Mosque On The Prairie on Toronto, ON's CBLT (RF20.) They were all shocked and horrified to find out my blog gets many hits from people searching for "Zaib Shaikh shirtless."



Who says that TV Garth doesn't give the readers what they want? I managed to catch a shirtless Shaikh during a repeat of Metropia on Toronto, ON's CFMT (RF47) in October 2012.



July 27, 2012

I sense a pattern forming... Buffalo, NY's WGRZ was showing The Pursuit Of Happiness on their Antenna TV subchannel. I didn't see the whole thing, but caught a scene where the film's young protagonist defends a gay character after people try to reduce him to a lecherous stereotype. Pretty progressive for 1971!



July 28, 2012

Peterborough, ON's CHEX (RF12) is still in analog, but the fuzzy reception didn't dampen the awesomeness of Mike Judson's forecast! Judson's delivery showers the Kawarthas and beyond with lively energy and crackling enthusiasm!



Another thing I appreciate about CHEX is the unique station branding on their set, which is rare on Canadian newscasts these days!



I caught a nice ad for the CBS Sports Fantasy Football Games on Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45.) I was surprised to see that Canadian residents were allowed to participate in the "Premium Gold" category!



WROC's Tina Shively talked with reporter Cierra Putman about a building implosion that took place. Apparently the building took one look at Putman's fierce polka dot dress and collapsed.



Rochester, NY's low powered analog station WHSH-LP (RF36) steamrolled over Hamilton's CITS for awhile. The Home Shopping Network affiliate featured a host going so over-the-top with her praise for a laptop that I was tempted to order one!



The Olympics coverage on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) gave visual proof that swimmer Ryan Lochte is a dripping wet sex god!



NBC's Andrea Kremer immediately asked Michael Phelps, "What do you think of TV Garth's declaration that Ryan Lochte is a dripping wet sex god?" Phelps allegedly replied, "Well...kid's got a few moves, but I've got some powerful strokes of my own that I can't wait to show off!"



A promo for NBC's fall series Chicago Fire blazed through on WHEC. Firefighters deserve a lot of respect for being fearless, brave and heroic in extreme circumstances. I also have a new appreciation for them after reading an AMAZING gay romance novel called "Hot Head" by Damon Suede.



In case you didn't know, WHEC is Rochester's Official Election Source!



Long before the FlavorWave, Mr. T sizzled in the 1980s Canadian show T and T. So it was exciting to see Straight Line (compiled from T and T eps) pop up on WROC's Bounce subchannel. Take one "punky" kid, add a sassy lawyer in a power suit, mix with a member of The A-Team and serve!




WHSH-LP (RF36) offered a special cross promotion on HSN where viewers could buy the shoes worn by the sassy lawyer in Straight Line! (No word on whether HSN also offered deals on the FlavorWave.)



WHEC (RF10) aired a great promo for Rochester with the awesome Rebecca Leclair giving inspiring testimonials about the city!




July 29, 2012

A neat promo on WHEC's classic TV subchannel declared "MeTV Loves Lucy!" I love them for celebrating the hilarious, iconic redhead!




Wingham, ON's CKNX (RF8) still broadcasts as an analog repeater of London, ON's CFPL. (Budget cuts ended CKNX's own newscasts several years ago.) I caught a nice shot of the "CTV Two" logo from the station!



CKNX aired a repeat of the CFPL newscast with anchor Priya Mann. I would love it if Priya got to do gritty undercover consumer investigations for the station. That way, when shady businesses get exposed, her tag line would be, "The name's Priya and you've just been Mann-handled!"



Toronto, ON's CFTO featured Colin D'Mello reporting on the Collingwood Elvis Festival. The story was appropriate, since D'Mello is a hunka hunka burnin' love that has me All Shook Up!



New Channel Alert - Speaking of CFTO, I caught their Peterborough repeater CFTO-54 on RF35 for the first time with Brian Williams doing Olympic coverage!



Despite wavering critical support, I really enjoy NBC's sitcom The New Normal seen below in a promo on Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10.)



If Buffalo's WGRZ got a gold medal for their station ID, I give a solid silver to Rochester's WHEC for the great, unique logo below!



July 30, 2012

I love the wacky fun had on air by Marty Snyder, Jennifer Johnson and the rest of the gang on Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13.) No Warm-Up needed to enjoy their antics!



Many NBC stations had special "Olympic Zone" coverage of the Summer games featuring local anchors. Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) invited viewers to Zone out with Rich Funke, Janet Lomax and Robin De Wind!



It's practically a Summer tradition to watch for animated tumbleweed (seen with Rich Caniglia) rolling by during weather reports on WHEC! It really appeals to my dry sense of humour!



Utica, NY's WKTV (RF29) also got into the spirit of the Olympics with a neat backdrop behind Don Shipman and Jenel Boston! Central New York viewers definitely carry a torch for the awesome Daybreak team!



Peterborough, ON's CHEX (RF12) was coming in pretty strong in analog with a repeat of their newscast.



Pamela VanMeer was totally rocking a Divatastic Suzanne Somers-esque hairstyle! It certainly CHEX out with fashion conscious viewers!



When longtime anchor Don Alhart talks about marriage equality, I listen! (Seen via Rochester, NY's WHAM, RF13.)



Semi New Channel Alert - Maury Povich was scandalized by Toronto, ON's CJMT (OMNI 2) relocating to RF40 from their previous home on RF51. Both signals stayed on through August, but the RF51 signal was shut down in early September.



July 31, 2012

Cleveland, OH's Univision affiliate WQHS (RF34) showed up with a reporter paying tribute to Janet Jackson's legendary Superbowl performance! (The cameraman played the role of Justin Timberlake...)



WEWS (RF15) also rolled in from Cleveland with Mike Dunston and Macie Jepson anchoring. Jepson introduced herself to viewers by singing, "Hey, I just met you. And this is crazy! I'm new to Cleveland, but call me Macie!"



Meteorologist Christine Ferreira was heating things up during her forecast on WEWS that morning!



I wasn't complaining when I caught NBC's Andrea Kremer interviewing a gaggle of hot swimmers on Buffalo, NY's WGRZ (RF33.) It prompted a pole vault totally innocent appreciation for the athletic skill of the Summer games!



That wraps up my Summer-y of July's reception! Stay tuned to TV Garth for more fab fun with far off stations!

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!