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Comcast/NBC Moves Over-the-Air NBC Affiliation in Boston to New Hampshire

Phillip Dampier November 2, 2016 Comcast/Xfinity, Competition, Consumer News 4 Comments

whdhCord-cutting in Boston is getting more difficult if you are an NBC fan. Comcast, which owns NBC/Universal, has terminated its affiliation agreement with full-power Boston station WHDH and is moving NBC programming in Boston to a little-watched television station in New Hampshire currently affiliated with Telemundo.

Northeast Radio Watch reports major confusion in Boston over the network affiliation change that will relocate NBC’s programming for the most-viewed NBC affiliate in Massachusetts to a lower-powered station in another state.

The change takes place Jan. 1, 2017, and some Boston viewers are likely to have trouble getting a good over-the-air picture for NBC programming unless they subscribe to cable… which coincidentally is also provided primarily by Comcast.

whdh

Much of southeast Massachusetts will lose access to NBC shows, unless they subscribe to cable.

Sunbeam-owned WHDH-TV 7 has been Boston’s NBC affiliate since Jan. 2, 1995. For years, the relationship between Sunbeam and Comcast/NBCUniversal has been frosty because of station and affiliation disputes in other cities. On Dec. 15, 2015, Comcast informed WHDH management its NBC affiliation contract would not be renewed. Comcast then offered to buy what would certainly be a financially compromised WHDH for $200 million, prompting Sunbeam owner Ed Ansin to declare Comcast/NBC was “trying to steal our station.”

Comcast has decided on a suitable replacement to serve as Boston’s NBC affiliate – a small station 50 miles away in Merrimack, N.H., currently providing Spanish-speaking audiences with Telemundo programming.

WNEU-TV 34 runs an 80-kilowatt transmitter west of Manchester, N.H.,a pittance compared to the 1,000-kilowatt transmitter powering WHDH, located in suburban Boston.

“This has been NBC’s weak spot, and for all the talk about how Comcast will buy this or that other station, it’s going to war with the signals it has, not the signals it wants to have,” writes Scott Fybush, editor of Northeast Radio Watch. “That means WNEU, the Merrimack, N.H.-licensed signal that’s been carrying Telemundo, will be the only full-power home of NBC Boston, serving viewers in New Hampshire and (if they’re equipped with a decent antenna) parts of the Merrimack Valley.”

nbc_boston_logoEven Comcast recognizes the political controversy that is likely to erupt as a substantial portion of Boston’s cord-cutting over-the-air audience loses access to NBC unless they sign up for Comcast Cable or another pay television provider. So NBC has also arranged to buy low-power station WBTS-LD 46, which also currently airs Telemundo programming for the benefit of Boston residents within Route 128. WBTS does not come close to providing a good signal throughout Boston either, and Fybush notes over-the-air viewers in Worcester or on the South Shore are going to be out of luck.

“NBC acknowledges you probably won’t be seeing them over the air for now,” Fybush notes.

Comcast has also given its new NBC affiliate prime positioning on the Comcast lineup. NBC programming in Boston will appear on cable channel 10, with the HD feed on channel 810, bumping NECN-HD to channel 840. NBC has also reached private agreements with satellite providers to put NBC Boston of channel 10 as well.

The change means cord-cutters will be seriously disadvantaged in Boston, struggling to get a decent digital picture from a station never considered a primary Boston signal. For WHDH, it strands the station without any major network affiliation. In an effort to stay viable, WHDH intends to rebrand as a news-focused station that will air multiple local newscasts during the primetime hours of 7-11:30pm, unless another network comes along with an offer.

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Josh
Josh
7 years ago

Oh that’s “adorable”. I can’t believe we’ve allowed all this nonsense. There’s no way in hell we should have deregulated so channels could carry tons of their own content, and there’s no way we should allow stuff like Comcast buying NBC…

Jessica M
Jessica M
7 years ago

This article is leaving out a lot of info. I’m pretty sure that NBC already purchased another signal with the call letters W BTS as well as generators that boosts their signal to cover the entire DMA. You should definitely check your facts on that.

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