Boston’s ABC affiliate WCVB-TV has officially entered the retransmission wars.
From The Boston Channel website:
Information Relating To Negotiations With Cable Operators
BOSTON — NOTICE TO CABLE SUBSCRIBERS:
WCVB-TV Channel 5’s parent company, Hearst Television, is currently negotiating a renewal of its carriage agreement with various cable operators, including Metrocast, RCN, Shrewsbury Electric and Cable, Beld/Braintree Electric, Norwood Light Broadband, Argent Communications and Southern Vermont Cable.
If negotiations are not successfully concluded before December 31, 2011, you may not be able to view WCVB on your local cable system, but you will be able to receive WCVB over the air and from other cable and satellite providers.
We will post updates on our discussions with these cable operators on TheBostonChannel.com.
Look for other local TV stations to jump on the pig pile soon.
If you try to receive WCVB-DT over-the-air, either with a digital set or an analog-to-digital converter, the station no longer broadcasts on channel 5 but on channel 20. Since the switchover to all-digital over-the-air TV, NO Boston-area station broadcasts on its historical analog channel. Channel 2 is now channel 19; channel 4 is now channel 30; channel 7 is now channel 42; channel 25 is now channel 31; channel 38 is now channel 39; channel 44 is now channel 43; channel 56 is now channel 41. (Up the road in New Hampshire, channel 9 is still on channel 9 and channel 11 is still on channel 11. Don’t ask).
Thanks, Laurence. Good info.