April 6, 2013
Hamilton, ON's CITS (RF36) arrived in the afternoon kicking off an invasion of Canadian reception in Erie!
Houston we have a problem! A harrowing situation unfolded as Forgive Or Forget Bounce'd in on a subchannel of Detroit, MI's WXYZ (RF41.)
TV Ontario's Ideas were so Big they appeared on TWO stations crossing the border from Kitchener (RF28) and Chatham (RF33) respectively!
Nothing says "I love you" like a used gun, seen in this ad for Garner's Jewelry on Detroit, MI's WWJ (RF44.) The CBS affiliate also took a shot at advertising Family Feud and displaying an awesome station ID!
Detroit's WXYZ (RF41) was keeping me informed with weather promos featuring Dave Rexroth alongside the team that takes action for you! (Does that mean they shovel your walkway when it snows?)
One of the Detroit stations I occasionally catch from home is WDIV (RF45) seen here with Jamie Edmonds reporting on the Final Four!
There was plenty of Action in WXYZ's News with hunky reporters covering the Final Four basketball tournament!
Meanwhile, Erie, PA's WJET (RF24) featured a story from Danielle Woods. (Check out Part One for a recap of the AWESOME tour of the station I received from the fabulous Jill McCormick!)
Erie, PA's WICU (RF12) had a weekend newscast with Lisa Adams and John Stehlin!
I also saw some Canadian news with Woodstock, ON's CITY (RF31) getting an exclusive interview with Adele! Rumour has it that Adele allegedly witnessed someone setting fire to the rain!
This might look like an episode of Anger Management or Old Yeller, but it's really the Global newscast on Sarnia, ON's CIII repeater (RF29)! Carolyn MacKenzie kept calm in the face of...er..an angry face.
I was happy to see Detroit's WXYZ (RF41) since it's always blocked at home by Global's Toronto transmitter!
This was my very basic hotel room DXing setup. A Zenith DTT-900 converter box with a Channel Master clone antenna stretched precariously due to wires not quite reaching various outlets! WDIV was on screen at the time!
I'm all 4 seeing WDIV's newscasts, though ironically "Local 4" is never local when I'm viewing it!
It was surreal catching Canadian landmarks and logos from the US side of the border via CIII's Sarnia, ON repeater on RF29!
It was also pretty cool catching the Final Four on three different CBS stations at the same time! The tri-state slam dunk came in via Detroit, MI's WWJ (RF44), Buffalo, NY's WIVB (RF39) and Erie, PA's WSEE (RF16.)
John Mayer was clearly broken up about his on-again off-again relationship with Katy Perry, as seen on Detroit's WMYD (RF21.)
London, ON's CHCH repeater (RF51) also appeared with their Evening News featuring Eric Gage and Kate Carnegie!
It's always good to have familiar Friends like Buffalo's WNYO (RF49) show up while traveling!
The Action continued on Detroit's WXYZ (RF41) with cool promos featuring Stephen Clark and Carolyn Clifford!
Then came a giant burst of Toronto reception! CBLT (RF20) was coming in all the way from the C.N. Tower with Hockey Night In Canada!
After seeing TV Ontario's Kitchener and Chatham transmitters, the flagship Toronto station came in on RF19!
Oh my goodness it's Sandra on CBLFT (RF25) in a French dubbed version of Grey's Anatomy!
Rounding out the Toronto burst were the two Rogers owned OMNI stations CJMT (RF40) and CFMT (RF47)!
Everybody Loves Detroit's CW affiliate WKBD (RF14.)
Earlier in the day WIVB was in on RF39, but at night it switched over to Detroit's WADL with Kickboxer and a retro subchannel!
Even the TV knew I was in town for a gay event as Liza Minelli popped up with a Smash-ing appearance on Detroit's WDIV (RF45.)
At Drenched Fur, some American sports fans visited my hotel room and I geeked out showing them live hockey coming in on CBLT (RF20) via antenna!
I also caught Erie's own WLEP (RF43) airing Retro TV programming!
Detroit, MI's low powered TCT affiliate WDWO (RF18) also squeaked in that night.
London's CHCH repeater (RF51) offered up a wondeful station ID!
This Big Bang Theory promo was the closest I could get to a station ID from Detroit's WKBD (RF14) that evening!
Soon I was whisked away to Splash Lagoon for fun and revelry with other Drenched Fur attendees! Splash Lagoon is an amazing water park with lots of fun attractions to enjoy!
April 7. 2013
I couldn't leave without getting a shot of the hotel channel guide!
On our way back home, I captured shots of WNED and WKBW as we passed through Buffalo! (More or less a road trip tradition at this point!)
I came back with a big stash of goodies including some neat swag from WJET and WQLN, plus several TV magazines, pamphlets and Erie Gay News!
Stay tuned to TV Garth for more road tripping fun and DXing goodness!
