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Today could be D-Day for Channel 7

UPDATE: Say hello to Channel 60, soon with Harry Connick Jr.'s new daytime show. And Pete Bouchard.

News One reports NBC could announce its Channel 7 killer, NBC Boston, today and that Channel 7 owner Ed Ansin will be in town to meet with his local staff and possibly announce a lawsuit to block NBC. NBC wants to own a channel in Boston; Ansin, who runs WHDH as an NBC affiliate, doesn't want to sell.

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Comments

Whatever replaces what they call news on that channel can only be an improvement; it is embarrassing.

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I dont think there is another channel in boston so good at jamming sensationalist fear mongering and celebrity humping into viewer's eyes as channel 7. It's like the New York Post of New England television. The graphics, the trailers, and the cliffhangers..thats not news..thats a hollywood production.

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... and the alliteration!

Adam, I'm disappointed you didn't work something more witty into the headline.

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Seriously, in terms of viewer "clickbait", I think WBZ takes the cake there. "You won't believe what we found when we took a fact out of context and presented it with a yellow journalism bent!"

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If it's on TV it usually ain't news no more.

The internet hath slain thee beast

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You don't appreciate when they bring you "breaking news" of something that happened hours beforehand?

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We're live outside the courthouse which has been closed for six hours but we're here in case anything happens!

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I remember they had the "Breaking news: Patriots win Super Bowl" graphic for hours after the game. Shit's already broke.

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always seemed to me to be the natural progression of what other stations are doing. Seems its still around and $5/month - far less than a Globe subscription.

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I recall him saying NBC offered him $100M, but he wants $500M.

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Not with my indoor antenna and digital-to-analog converter box, at least. How about you?

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Here's the coverage map:
http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=616149&map=Y

Note that the city of Boston is not even in their Grade B coverage which is questionable at best. It's ridiculous to think that they could call this a Boston station.

But there's plenty of time between now and December. NBC could make a deal with channel 68 or one of those other almost useless stations in the 60s.

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(teenager from the '80s)

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As I said before in previous threads.. NBC Boston will increase the transmitter power so it has the same signal strength (or comparable) to WHDH

NBC did this with KNTV in San Jose when they yanked the affiliation from KRON in San Francisco. Yeah it took a year or two.. but NBC moved its transmitter from Loma Prieta Peak to San Bruno Mountain (which is closer to San Francisco) to increase its coverage in the SF Bay area.

One thing that happened already that I predicted.. that NECN would be involved in its news operation, which was folding NECN and NBC Boston into one operation.

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Just because you have the money and desire to move transmitter locations and increase your output doesn't mean the FCC will approve it.

Given Comcast's lock on the local area I wouldn't be surprised if they just did away with a bulk of NBC terrestrial transmitting in Boston.

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FCC allowed it for KNTV.. why not NBC Boston? The situations between the two are almost identical now.

FCC does have requirements for licenses so they meet the needs of the communities serves.

Especially if NBC is moving its affiliation to another station. There would be a gap that would need to be filled.

PS - Comcast has the same lock for the SF-San Jose area also

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If the increased power and location would interfere with a distant station they will say no. Most stations are already operating at the highest output they can given the broadcast area.

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The tower would be moved away from its current location and moved to a better site that would give it better range like NBC did for KNTV to improve coverage in SF.

Also do not forget that stations can setup low power stations also to translate/rebroadcast the signal. Which is what most of the Class A stations do for the cape and the islands to meet their DMA requirements.

Plus there's nothing stating NBC can't petition the FCC to move the UHF dial number to somewhere else besides ch59 and use PSIP to move it back to 66.1

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My point is that all of this is irrespective to who owns the station and the content they air. I don't know anything about KNTV but I do know that almost all owners try to maximize their power output and transmitter location to reach the highest population density irrespective of their content. Presumably that's already been done with Ch 60. This isn't to say a power increase / transmitter move / frequency reassign is impossible, just that it isn't a matter of filling out a form and waiting 30 days. The FCC isn't going to care what NBC wants just because it's NBC. (Or at least they shouldn't.)

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The FCC isn't going to care what NBC wants just because it's NBC. (Or at least they shouldn't.)

However, there will be a lost of a major network in a the 8th largest dma in the country, and that's important to the FCC also.

Regardless, this whole thing should be very interesting to watch unfold. Both NBC and Ansin have lots of options between the both of them.

PS - Read up on KRON & KNTV .. the situation is very similar. NBC wants to make changes and/or buy KRON. KRON refuses to make changes and/or sell. NBC says FU, removes affiliation and buys KNTV and fixes up station to become the SF-SJ DMA's NBC station. It's almost identical to whats going on now.

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I think NBC is smart enough to know if they can or cannot get approval.

The question is how much can they improve the signal without running afoul.

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... I just checked, and I can't get either Telemundo or Univision over-the-air. I will be able to watch it on the cable boxes, but not while cooking.

Not that I'll miss it :)

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From the NBC memo NewsOne quoted:

This will be the 12th NBC station in our group, following last year’s launch of NBC Puerto Rico, which was station #11.

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