Hotel Cable Report: Brattleboro, VT - 2/13/2012

[KML-224]

I'm presently at the EconoLodge on US Route 5 in Brattleboro, VT. While the service seems to be showing some ads from DirecTV, the rest of the service sure doesn't look like it. It's bad enough the room's TV is a old 27" Panasonic CRT tube TV. Here's the room's very limited lineup. You'll notice one major player is missing:

14- Shotime
16- Shotime Extreme
18- Lifetime
20- Discovery Channel
22- TLC
28-WCVB-TV (ABC) channel 5  Boston
30- WFXT-TV (FOX) channel 25  Boston
32- CNBC
34- NESN
36- Fox News Channel
38- FX
40- Cartoon Network
44- HLN
46- TBS
48- TNT
50- USA
56- WGBH-TV (PBS) channel 2  Boston
58- The Weather Channel
60- Nickelodeon
62- WBZ-TV (CBS) channel 4  Boston
64- ESPN

Yes, that's right...No NBC! Period! WSBK-TV (MY) channel 38 of Boston was nowhere to be found either. I did a cable scan at least twice with no luck.  

[MarcB]

Yuck.

Off Topic - BTW, how's Brattleboro? Anything ever open in the old Bickford's? How bout the Friendly's? Is Friendly's still open?

[KML-224]

I'm in the south end tonight near Exit 1. What you asked about is up by Exit 3, a good 4 miles away. I only went as far as the junction of VT Route 9 downtown and over the other Connecticut River bridge into Hinsdale, NH. Their riverside Walmart is gone and moved about 3 miles to the east.

I was hoping it was the actual Comcast lineup here in Brattleboro. Their lineup is fantastic for network affiliates. Again, no NBC (WHDH) for whatever reason. Just CBS (WBZ), ABC (WCVB), FOX (WFXT) and PBS (WGBH).

[DToTheJ]

... that's right...No NBC! Period!

I'm guessing that place was a ghost town last Sunday night - that, and/or EconoLodge having to cough up a lot of comp... 

[KML-224]

I wouldn't know! WVIT-TV (NBC) channel 30 of New Britain/Hartford is one of my two strongest signals at home, should I need to throw on an antenna! Up here in Brattleboro? Good luck picking up either White River Junction (WNNE) or Springfield (WWLP), both of which are an hour away by car!

[ansky212]

I wouldn't know! WVIT-TV (NBC) channel 30 of New Britain/Hartford is one of my two strongest signals at home, should I need to throw on an antenna! Up here in Brattleboro? Good luck picking up either White River Junction (WNNE) or Springfield (WWLP), both of which are an hour away by car!

Isn't Brattleboro part of the Springfield market?  Why do they only have Boston stations?

[KML-224]

Windham County, Vermont is the fringe of the Boston/Worcester DMA, according to AC Neilsen. Go west to Bennington County, Vermont (including the town of Bennington) and you're at the northeastern edge of the Albany/Schenectady DMA. Cheshire County, NH (which includes Keene and Hinsdale) is also a portion of the Boston/Worcester DMA. Brattleboro, of course is on the Connecticut River, next door to Cheshire County, NH. That fact, plus viewing habits and the Connecticut River terrain, are likely why the town is in that market.

Personally, I think Brattleboro should be in the Burlington/Plattsburgh DMA. Making the comparison to the center of other markets here, using straight-line distance:

Brattleboro to Boston: 87 miles
Brattleboro to Springfield, MA: 52 miles
Brattleboro to Albany, NY: 64 miles

Lastly, I know it will never happen, but if southern New Hampshire was ever its own market, having Brattleboro as part of that would fit perfectly, since their nearest big neighbor is Keene, only 15 air miles to the east. Some Keene radio stations include Brattleboro in their advertising, such as WKNE-FM 103.7 (103.7 KNE-FM, a Hot AC station).

[raccoonradio]

I would have thought maybe they could have had Ch 31 from Hanover/White River Jct on for NBC. I have
stayed in Brat. before (Motel 6, Econo Lodge, America's Best) and don't recall not having NBC.

Ch 31 http://www.wptz.com/wnne/index.html
Wiki.:"It (WNNE 31) broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 25 (or virtual channel 31.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter shared with PBS affiliate WVTA on Mount Ascutney in Windsor, Vermont."

That's about 45 mi away. DirectTV in Brat not offering them, or just couldn't pick up to re-transmit?

[KML-224]

I know that Comcast in Brattleboro carries WNNE-TV (NBC) channel 31. Brattleboro to Windsor, VT is 44 air miles, according to indo.com's distance calculator (which gives straight line distance).

Weird thing is? When I type in Brattleboro's zip code of 05301, titantv.com pops up "GRAFTON, VT", which is 21 air miles NNW of Brattleboro. As for Comcast, I entered the street address of the EconoLodge itself. The header on the top tabs read "BURLINGTON, VT", but shows the correct local Brattleboro lineup:

2 WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57  Springfield, MA         
3 WCAX-TV (CBS) channel 3  Burlington, VT            
4 WBZ-TV (CBS) channel 4  Boston            
5 WCVB-TV (ABC) channel 5  Boston         
6 QVC         
7 WHDH-TV (NBC) channel 7  Boston            
8 Brattleboro Community TV    
9 WMUR-TV (ABC) channel 9  Manchester, NH      
10 Public Access       
11 WVTA-TV (PBS) channel 41  Windsor, VT      
12 WFXT-TV (FOX) channel 25  Boston            
13 WNNE-TV (NBC) channel 31  White River Junction, VT      
14 WBIN-TV (IND) channel 50  Derry, NH      
15 WSBK-TV (MY) channel 38  Boston      
16 WEKW-TV (PBS) channel 52  Keene, NH         
17 WNEU-TV (TEL) channel 60  Merrimack, NH      
19 WCDC-TV (ABC) channel 19  Adams, MA            
20 WVBK-CA (IND) channel 2  Manchester, VT [original station is analog channel 2 with no digital signal]
98 WLVI-TV (CW) channel 56  Cambridge, MA
99 WYDN-TV (REL) channel 48  Worcester, MA

The cut-and-paste from Comcast's site was loaded with errors. WVTA-TV was only listed by its service name as "Vermont ETV" and not as WVTA-TV. (They do the same thing with WEDH-TV (PBS) channel 24 of Hartford, only listing as "CPTV", as if those were the station's call letters.) WNNE-TV was listed as Hanover, NH. WBIN-TV was still listed as a MY affiliate while WSBK-TV still said "Independent". WEKW-TV was listed as "channel 11". WNEU-TV was simply listed as "multicultural".