Well as for the over-the-air Canadian broadcasters that carried WB programming (especially those far distant from the American/U.S. border that couldn't receive over-the-air signals of other WB affiliates (KTZZ (Seattle), KLGT (Minneapolis, later KMWB-TV), WDWB (Detroit), W21BF-LP Toledo-based in Fremont (for non-cable viewers), WBNX (Cleveland) WNYO (Buffalo), cable-only WBT (Rochester, NY) which was exclusive to Time Warner Cable (which is unviewable outside of that area due to piracy issues), WBVT-LP (Plattsburgh) which lost it's affiliate to UPN the following year, WPME-now WIPL (Portland, ME) which was UPN/WB secondary, WLVI (Boston) etc...), I know CTV had "7th Heaven" whiles Global carried "Dawson's Creek", Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on YTV (which wasn't over-the-air, but was carried on ExpressVu (now BellTV), StarChoice (now ShawDirect) and several Canadian cable systems). I'm not sure which Canadian over-the-air broadcaster carried Buffy around that time? (in spite of the show's violent content), but see If you can do the rest (Three (remaining 5 episodes unaired in U.S.) Unhappily, Ever After, Smart Guy, Sister, Sister, Alright Already, Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (latter ended its run after the 1997-98 season), Jamie Foxx Show, Steve Harvey, The Parent' Hood, Kelly, Kelly, You're the One (remaining 4 episodes unaired in U.S.).
WB Network programming on Canadian over-the-air broadcasters (1998)
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The issue that made getting US programming sent to Canada comes from the Canadian regulatory agency, the CRTC, and its Parliament mandated rule that the content shown must not "disadvantage" (compete with for viewership) programming made by Canadian producers. It wasn't a technical problem.
It means that it is illegal to "cast" much of the available US-produced content in Canada. This is why the US satellite services aren't allowed to sell into Canada and the Canadian cable and satellite operators aren't allowed to carry many US channels.
So that must be the reason why ExpressVu and StarChoice did trade-ins on all American receivers that were deemed illegal in Canada (including 4DTV (though the DSR-921 model was for Canadian viewers), PrimeStar, DirecTV, Dish Network etc...), by offering them free programming ($100 rebate) for those who chose to go legal.
I believe that this JosephHolloway1998 is either a time traveller or somehow able to get to the future internet from the past. He might even be a stockholder in the WB who wants to know why it failed. All of his posts seem to be about the WB in the past.
I just hope that he doesn’t cause a “Mandela Effect” when he makes the WB the number one network for the 2000’s .
It really isn't about WB. It just happens that there's lots of information in various WB post-mortem analyses that he sees as important while others see that same information as a cautionary tale about what not to do to hang around in a cutthroat business where localism is the only reason they exist.
The real danger is that current broadcast management will see the fruits of his research and slam the door on the use of FTA to deliver their product. That is unfortunately something that there's been an obvious refusal to accept.
The real danger is that current broadcast management will see the fruits of his research and slam the door on the use of FTA to deliver their product. That is unfortunately something that there's been an obvious refusal to accept.
I know I'm going to regret this, as I don't understand the obsession with a TV network, which really wasn't considered a network, that's been defunct for a decade and a half, but the fake call letters for the cable only WB in Rochester was WRWB (We're Rochester's WB) not WBT, it was cable channel 26, and then later moved to 16. Shortly after the creation of the CW, whoever owned WHAM 13 at the time purchased the channel from Time Warner Cable and made it a digital OTA subchannel.
Growing up, my parents would watch 7th Heaven on whatever Canadian network it aired on instead of the local WB as it would air a day early in Canada.
Growing up, my parents would watch 7th Heaven on whatever Canadian network it aired on instead of the local WB as it would air a day early in Canada.
UPN and The WB both had severely restricted schedules (as compared with the Big Four) that carried on when they merged into The CW.
I reiterate that this and other threads started by JoesephHolloway1998 are less about the named networks or stations and more about how he reasons they could have been utilizing Ku band uplinks initiated at or near (ENG, sports, etc.) the affiliate stations in 1998 (something that has mostly been debunked as wishful thinking).
I reiterate that this and other threads started by JoesephHolloway1998 are less about the named networks or stations and more about how he reasons they could have been utilizing Ku band uplinks initiated at or near (ENG, sports, etc.) the affiliate stations in 1998 (something that has mostly been debunked as wishful thinking).
Judging by this video, the cable-only Rochester WB affiliate (Time Warner Cable channel 26) actually went by the on-screen call letters of WBTW around that point. In some promos it's often referred to as "WBT" (indicating the fictional call letters, similar to WB 100+ (The WeB) which launched in September that year). They didn't use the "WRWB-TV" call letters until 2000 (2 years later).
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Nope, CBS was actually the top network in the 2000s (Thanks to the NFL and King of Queens), ABC dominated the ratings for the first half of Y2K (thanks to the success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). WB would often be battling UPN for fifth place (They surpassed UPN in the ratings for the 1997-98 season, thanks in part to "Dawson's Creek" and the affiliate switchover campaign with the Sinclair stations (most of which were UPN)).
I always thought that the WB would have been OK had WGN not switched to two different stations. Many people were without a station or had to set their VCR to record a show between 2:00-4:00 AM. I bought an off air UHF antenna so I could could watch the Raleigh WB, since the Roanoke channel was cable only and the Greensboro channel was too weak. Eventually, Dish Network came out with the superstations package and I was able to receive the WB from 3 time zones. It stayed that way until the must carry laws made Dish and Direct carry the Roanoke channel. Even with the must carry, Dish Network customers had to have a second dish installed to receive the WB and UPN channels.
If you're going to mandate the condition that the context of the discussion is 1998, you should stick to it. It is hard to do because the past is the past and in the the case of commercial television production and distribution has very little relevance in today's TV marketplace.
WPXT 51 (Portland, Maine) became a WB affiliate in 1999 after it disaffiliated with FOX. FOX would return to Portland on WPFO 23 (formerly PAX affiliate WMPX 23).
Nope it was 2001 actually, WPME (then UPN) offered WB programming as a secondary affiliation. Those in the Portland, ME area would watch WB programming full-time through Chicago-based superstation WGN-TV and several nearby affiliates (WBGR Bangor, ME).
Well StarChoice and Bell ExpressVu both carried the superstations (KTLA Los Angeles, WGN Chicago and WPIX New York), especially for those far from the American/U.S. border.
Speaking of the affiliates closest to the Canadian border, I also wanted to point out that WNEM (CBS 5 Flint, MI/Bay City/Saginaw) carried WB and UPN programming as secondary affiliations during the late night hours around that time, before relinquishing the secondary WB affiliation to WEYI (NBC 25 Flint) the following year (around the same time the National feed of WGN-TV (outside the Chicago area) stopped carrying WB programming). Since the city of Flint, MI did not have a full-time WB affiliate prior to the launch of WBSF-TV (WEYI-DT2) in 2004 (You might be thinking that these call letters would be more for a city like San Francisco but "BSF" stands for Bay City/Saginaw and Flint).
I know ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network) in Newfoundland carried "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", in spite of the show's violent content. But I'm not sure about the others?
