Reception Reports: June 2012 (Part 2)

Greetings TV Garth readers! My journey through June continues with appearances from Rochester and Syracuse, NY plus Detroit, MI and Cleveland, OH! The biggest surprise was the appearance of Syracuse, NY's WSYT which slipped through on a night when Toronto's TV Ontario was off the air for transmitter work! I also enjoyed seeing Detroit, since my reception from the Motor City was pretty scarce in 2011!

June 23, 2012

I was really Psych'ed to see Syracuse, NY's ION outlet WSPX show up briefly on RF15!



Springville, NY's WBBZ (RF7) was also speeding through with some retro action on Car 54 Where Are You?



June 26, 2012

Longtime anchor Victoria Hong left Buffalo, NY's WIVB (RF39) in late June for a communications job at Delaware North Companies! Check out Alan Pergament's article about Hong's big move!



I had a super time watching the hunky George Stroumboulopoulos talk about the influx of gay characters in comics on Toronto, ON's CBLT (RF20.)



Things got even more super when I picked up Syracuse, NY's WSYT (RF19) for the first time digitally! (I remember catching it back in the day in analog on Channel 68!) Toronto, ON's TVO transmitter was off the air overnight, allowing shows like It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia to sneak through!



Catching the rare WSYT made me feel like I had tiger blood running through my veins, especially when a Two and a Half Men promo came on!



There was a great FOX 68 logo on screen during their Seinfeld ad!



This ad for Brzostek's Auction Service looked like something I might have seen back in the day on WSYT, which is why I loved it! Their website also has links to lots of cool stories about their auctions!



FOX 68 cares, y'all! This promo made prominent use of WSYT's web address!



In Syracuse, it was semi-scandalous that Jeopardy and Wheel Of Fortune were moving to WSYT away from rival WTVH! Check out this article on CNY Radio's blog for more info!



June 27, 2012

Today In CNY's Lisa Spitz was excited to hear that I was picking up WSYT! (Seen via Syracuse, NY's WSTM, RF24.)



It felt like there was a Syracuse Festival taking place in my house with WSTM and WSYT blasting in!



I looked as puzzled as Julia Louis-Dreyfus when I saw how strong the signal was on Syracuse's WSYT (RF19) that morning!



Toronto, ON's TVO (RF19) came back on the air a little after 5:30am, but as you can see, WSYT was still cutting into its signal!



As much as I wanted more WSYT, I have to give props to TVO's Steve Paikin who hosts the awesome current affairs program The Agenda. Paikin does a great job covering a wide range of topics and viewpoints with his guests!



Rochester, NY's WHEC (RF10) was also in that morning with Nikki Rudd wearing a fab striped top!



A bit later, I was excited to see Detroit, MI's WDIV (RF45) arrive with Local 4 News featuring Guy Gordon and Bisi Onile-Ere talking to Today's Natalie Morales.



WDIV's meteorologist Andrew Humphrey had the temperatures right at his fingertips that morning!



London, ON's CFMT translator (RF48) also came in with Clara Abreu anchoring OMNI News: Portuguese Edition! Abreu has been with CFMT since 1985!



Woodstock, ON's CITY repeater (RF31) was in with the awesome Kevin Frankish anchoring Breakfast Television!



Detroit, MI's WMYD (RF21) arrived with a promo for News at Ten featuring Jorge Avellan. I heart that their newscast is "Straight To The Point!"




It wasn't Payne-ful to see this promo for a Tyler Perry comedy on WMYD!



WDIV's Paula Tutman was reporting from Detroit's West Side that day about an 11 year old's death defying joyride! I'm not at all 4 that type of behavior.



Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) also showed up briefly with Christine Ferreira, Mike Dunston and Macie Jepson anchoring!



Meteorologist Christine Ferreira is always a fabulous part of the WEWS morning news!



Also fabulous in the AM? Breakfast Television's parade of scantily clad models on Toronto, ON's CITY (RF44.)



The children of Faithville recoiled in horror at the nearly naked folks on display above! Well, at least one kid recoiled and the other looks sorta fascinated... (Seen via Rochester, NY's W42CO Family subchannel, RF42-3.)



Rochester, NY's W42CO (RF42) was showing an extended trailer for the film Escape From Hell. I'm resisting the urge to declare it a hot film with an underground following...



Also escaping from hell that day was NBC's Ann Curry (seen via Rochester, NY's WHEC, RF10.) Curry's departure from the Today Show was marred by leaks to the press about her exit, as well as unflattering comments from NBC brass. Curry is a great reporter and anchor and deserved better...



Rich Caniglia was all too aware of the stormy situation at NBC as he delivered his weather report on WHEC's subchannel!



Later that day, WROC (RF45) had Maureen McGuire talking to Mark Gruba about the Rochester Jazz Festival, one of the few events where tooting your own horn is a good thing!



There was also a story on WROC about the bullied bus monitor Karen Klein meeting up with Toronto's Max Sidorov, who started the online fundraiser to send Klein on a vacation!



WROC also covered National HIV Testing Day and featured an interview with Ernest Wilson, who was encouraging people to get tested.




"You Keep Me Hangin' On" could be my ode to tropo reception, so it felt appropriate seeing Diana Ross on WROC's Bounce subchannel!



I love Rochester, NY's WHAM (RF13) so it felt great to see that they love their viewers right back! The "13 Loves You!" promo also used the classic "Hello Rochester" jingle heard on the station back in the 1980s!



That wraps up Part 2 of the reception captured in June! Stay tuned for Part 3 with more Detroit, more Cleveland, more Erie and of course, more Rochester!

Reception Reports: June 2012 (Part 1)

Greetings TV Garth readers! June was jumpin' with my first DTV E-skip reception, plus Rochester, Erie and Cleveland making appearances. There was so much to cover that I've split the month into three parts! Stay tuned as Part 1 of the June roundup begins!

June 6, 2012

I was excited to see Rochester, NY's WROC (RF45) pop up only a few days after the amazing tour of the station I experienced. Ashley Zilka was reporting on the annual Tim Hortons Camp Day from a location in Henrietta!



Rochester, NY's WUHF (RF28) showed off the Weather Team You Can Trust - John DiPasquale, Scott Hetsko and Stacey Pensgen!



WROC's Bounce subchannel (RF45-2) featured a promo with vintage footage of John Kucko in honour of his 23 years covering sports in Rochester!



Rick Mercer deserves a shout out because he rocks and he's been friendly both times that I met him during Pride Parades in Toronto! The Rick Mercer Report celebrates being on air for a decade this year! (Seen via Toronto, ON's CBLT, RF20.)



June 7, 2012

Rochester's WROC (RF45) scores a hole-in-one with their fantastic golf inspired station ID!



Erie, PA's WQLN (RF45) had viewers going "Can I get an Amen?" when Dr. Daniel's Use Your Brain To Change Your Age aired during a pledge drive!



June 8, 2012

I loved Lucy's film The Fuller Brush Girl when it popped up via Buffalo, NY's Antenna TV subchannel on WGRZ (RF33-2.)



June 9, 2012

Maureen McGuire looked fab during her story about a Gala celebrating 31 scholarships awarded to students by the Ibero American Action League. 31 is appropriate since the story aired on Rochester's "FOX 31" WUHF (RF28)!



I finally got to see almost all of the fabulous To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar on WROC's Bounce subchannel. (I'd only caught bits and pieces previously.) The 1995 movie felt ahead of its time with positive LGBT portrayals and showing a community inspired by and supportive of the flamboyant queens! It was FIERCE!



June 10, 2012

Speaking of flamboyant, I caught some Theater Talk with legendary "Village Voice" writer Michael Musto on Rochester's WXXI (RF16.)



Lucy counts the reasons to watch MeTV as Ricky looks on in a vintage episode of I Love Lucy! (Seen via MeTV, RF10-2, on Rochester, NY's WHEC.)



I got to catch the early evening newscast on Rochester's WHAM (RF13) with Rachel Barnhart and Mike Catalana!



Hopefully viewers of Rochester's WHEC (RF10) don't have any misConcepcions about the station's fab new reporter Joangel Concepcion!



Christine VanTimmeren and Josh Nichols were all smiles during WHEC's newscast!



I also saw the Divatastic duo of Tina Shively and Stacey Pensgen on Rochester's WROC (RF45.)



I was happy enough to be getting a full Rochester burst, but my smile grew as big as the one below when I got my first DTV E-Skip from North Platte, NE's KNOP (RF2) approximately 1,105 miles away from me!



I discovered the E-Skip when I was checking for "blinks" on RF2 on my Zenith DTT901 digital box. When I saw RF2 start lighting up, I knew my usual rabbit ears probably wouldn't cut it, so I dragged out a Channel Master CM3016 from my basement. (It was in storage since it didn't seem to work much better than my rabbit ears when I bought it in 2010.) I threw the CM3016 onto an old CD tower and put it on a patio table outside where it worked wonders for my E-Skip reception!



While I didn't get a station ID for KNOP, I caught a nice NBC promo for the U.S. Open!



I also caught a great local ad on KNOP for the Nebraskaland Days festival featuring Toby Keith and Brantley Gilbert performing at the Wild West Arena.



In previous years I cried "D'oh!" at the thought of E-skip slipping through my fingers, so I enjoyed catching The Simpsons on KNOP's FOX subchannel K11T-SD!



At one point KNOP's signal was so strong I thought Dateline NBC should do an investigative report on it! (I was also surprised to learn that host Keith Morrison is a Canadian!)



Since my parents weren't too fond of E-skip as their primetime entertainment, I took the DX party to my basement TV set. That's where I was stunned to discover Sydney, NS's CTV station CJCB on Channel 4 in analog!



It was pure luck that I caught CJCB during a commercial talking about the IWK Telethon For Children that raised funds for people in the Maritimes. That helped me narrow down the station ID when I went looking on William Hepburn's amazing DX Info Centre!



I practically broke into a choreographed dance routine when I caught Florence, SD's KDLO (RF3) showing the Tony Awards! It felt like I was in a production of How To Succeed At Catching E-Skip Without Really Trying!



KDLO's subchannel (RF3-2) is a My Network TV affiliate called UTV!



I soaked up as much local flavour on KDLO as I could, including this ad for Northland Ford Dealers!



Then came an awesome station ID for KDLO, which is one of several translators for Sioux Falls, SD's KELO! (Their coverage area is dubbed "KELOland"!)



KDLO's UTV subchannel had a great ad for the Handy Man Plumbing Superstore which is a locally owned business with stores in South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska!




I also caught an intoxicating ad on UTV for the awesomely named Heart T Stop located in Hartford, SD. Though the signal was spotty, my love for the "only liquor store" in Hartford couldn't be diluted! Cheers to Heart T Stop! (They also bill themselves as a "full service convenience store!")



It was neat to catch parts of the KELOLAND News via KDLO even thought it was showing up in very brief spurts. (I really can't complain when it's a station 906 miles away from me...) Here we have Sam Kooiker, the mayor of Rapid City, SD!



KELOLAND News was brought you by Aquafresh Home Federal Bank!



I was thrilled to be Inside KELOLAND this evening! I caught a glimpse of the local community show on KDLO just before the E-skip disappeared!



June 21, 2012

Erie, PA's WQLN (RF50) came in with a show sponsored by WQLN Education and IU5, which sounds suspiciously like a European dance group...



In the recap of my early Spring visit to Erie, I mentioned my hope of catching a newscast on WJET (RF24.) The ABC outlet finally JETted into my area with Jill McCormick anchoring! I've liked Jill since I saw her on WICU a few years ago, so it was neat to see her on morning TV again!



WJET's David Belmondo was searching Erie's restaurants for the best hamburger in town. Look closely in the background and you'll see an angry hot dog trying to douse a woman with ketchup! Delicious!



Meteorologist Tom DiVecchio made waves with his Lake Erie forecast that morning!



Good Morning Erie rocked my socks with Jill McCormick and Tom DiVecchio on hand! Be sure to check out Jill's Facebook page!



Craig Smylie gives viewers reason to grin with his sports coverage on WJET!



Just after Good Morning Erie, I captured a great station ID for WJET!



Later on, Cleveland, OH's WEWS (RF15) also arrived with a promo for a special called My Ohio With Leon Bibb! Viewers drooled with anticipation!



I was singing the praises of Akron, OH's WEAO (RF50) for being able to slip past the normally overpowering WQLN from Erie that night!



I was also singing the praises of the muy guapo Osvaldo Friger hosting Nota Musical on WEAO's Spanish language subchannel V-me! Friger es muy caliente!



I almost turned as red as Christine Ferreira's fierce dress when Jason Nicholas (far left) caused my temperature to rise. Jason and Christine were joined by Mark Johnson and Trent Magill in the "Power of 5" weather team promo on Cleveland's WEWS (RF15.)



Stay tuned to TV Garth for the next two installments covering what was jumpin' in June!