Well, RTV is gone for good in my area
 

I actually saw the writing on the wall only a few months after RTV was launced in my area. In my area RTV and FOX share the same subchannel, with FOX programming taking first priority. That was the first mistake by not giving RTV it's own subchannel so that all RTV programming could be seen. The second mistake happened when they started chopping off RTV programming in favor of the same stupid s**t that's on every other channel. The other day, I tuned in to RTV, only to be greeted by some stupid "Judge so-and-so" program. Looking at the programming schedule for the TV station, I noticed that most of the day is filled with "judge this" and "judge that". Of course, they didn't cancel "AFV", "Dr. Phil", or "deal or no deal" that took the place of the 4-7 PM RTV slot months ago. Today, I was working on a TV and the more I saw of what was on the former RTV slot, the more irritated I became. So, I fired off the following message to the CEO and to the station program director.

"When you launched RTV on channel 30.1 in, I believe, early 2009; I was very excited to finally be able to see decent TV programming on a local TV station. I recently noticed, however, that all RTV programming had been removed and replaced by the same type of "Judge This", "Judge That", and other "sludge" programming that can be seen on any other TV station in the area. Regretfully, you have lost a viewer over your recent decision to drop RTV and I'm sure there are many more people in the area who feel the same way over this matter."

If I get a reply at all, it will probably be the standard "we're sorry you feel that way; but, it was a business decision" line. It has really gotten to the point where pre-recorded DVD's and tapes are the only way to see the older shows.

BTW, our local line-up consist up: (ABC, MyNetworkTV, CW), (PBS-SD, PBS-HD, and the create channel), (CBS and some weather channel), (FOX and NBC). So, not much to pick from as far as OTA. Cable isn't much better.

Sort of a long shot, but any chance of getting RTV on ch 12.3 (WJTV) out of Jackson ?

jr

Even with RTV (in Chicago it's called Me-TV or Me-Too depending on whether it's comedy or drama), they've been filling a lot of the 30-minute time slots with newer programs including "3rd Rock from the Sun" (a show from the late-1990's), "The Bernie Mac Show," "Frasier," and "The Nanny." Now don't get me wrong, I like "The Nanny" just as much as the next person, but it's already being shown in one-hour intervals on both TV Land and Nick-At-Nite (both are cables channels now exclusively offered in digital with Comcast). Those other shows are also being shown on other channels (some local and others on cable). These four shows consume about two hours everyday on Me-TV that could be used to bring back some of the great programs they had to remove from the lineup such as Laverne and Shirley and The Brady Bunch. I don't mind if they show back-to-back episodes of Sanford and Son or Good Times since they are classic TV programs that belong on Me-TV, unlike some of the 1990's programs that only serve to chew up time slots. Oh, and don't even get me started on the three hours of back-to-back commercials late at night that supposedly help pay for the station.

Hey, at least I still have Me-Too as a low-power station here in the suburbs.

In all the years of messing with TV's, I've never been able to receive WJTV (analog or digital). My late Uncle lived about 35 miles closer to Jackson; and, he could receive WJTV with an outside antenna (early '90's). Although, it was sometimes snowy. I think WHLT out of Hattiesburg also carries RTV. Pre digital, I could receive a snowy picture (usually at night) on WHLT by using a bow tie antenna. Since digital, I've only been able to receive WHLT only once and it was only for a few minutes. That was when I had an indoor TV antenna stuck up in an oak tree by the shop. Maybe if I had a "real" outdoor antenna, I'd have better luck. If I thought a good outdoor antenna would bring in RTV from somewhere, I'd spring for it. Then, the station would probably drop RTV a week after I put up the antenna.

And, while I'm moaning about the loss of RTV, let me take this opportunity to moan about TV Land. Years ago, TV land aired nothing but older programs and in fact, they were probably better than RTV. Then, they yanked much of the old programming from TV land and replaced it with modern crap. As far as old shows, I think TV land only shows Sanford and Son, All in the family, Andy Griffith, Bill Cosby, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. That's a far cry from what they used to be. I did recently discover that CMT is showing "Dukes of Hazzard" again. So, at least the cable is good for something (for now).

I'm lucky to have RTV here in New England on it's own station, not a sub channel of another station. It's on WMFP 62 Lawrence/Boston which used to run a combination of infomercials and home shopping. We basically get all RTV all the time :)

FTA satellite? see post 15 on this thread...Lots of old dishes around likely free, the digital receivers are pretty cheap.
http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=248543
jr

Me TV and Me Too are not RTV, they are competitors to RTV and have different shows.

RTV was founded by the now-defunct Equity Broadcasting and is now part of Luken Communications.

Me TV, Me Too, U Too (planned) and (part of) This TV are Weigel Broadcasting, owner of WCIU and several other stations.

RTV feeds are available on Free To Air satellite TV. And a few affiliates for RTV have FTA feeds too.

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Commercials! I was watching "dukes of hazzard" on CMT and there were 17 minutes worth of commercials in an hour. I too have noticed how they trim portions out of old re-runs in order to make room for more commercials. And, the situation is likely not going to get any better.

Yep, there's plenty of scenes deleted from "All In The Family" for an example. I've seen them so many times I remember everything they take out. I was waiting for a really funny part that I wanted my wife to see and no, it wasn't there, it cut to commercial right where it should have been. It was at the end of the "computer screw-up" episode where the system thought Archie was dead and Edith kept getting all those quarters.

---

Well, I got a reply from the station owner.

"We are sorry to lose you as a viewer. I completely understand your discontent and personally share your views. Unfortunately, RTV just never got the ratings and the response we thought it would. Despite our aggressive efforts to promote RTV, the viewers did not respond in a manner adequate to enable us to keep the programming. The new shows that replace RTV are already getting better and more positive feedback. As a business owner, I must make decisions that enable my business to be profitable. The decision to replace RTV was a difficult, but good business choice, but I do miss those great shows that were my favorites as a kid.


Thank for your letter and your comments are duly noted."

Like I've said before; it just shows how much society has gone downhill if they are so on fire for the brand of crap that's on now.

Well, at least he replied to your message. Some of these station owners can be jerks and too lazy to write back. It's nice to see you got a response and that he somehow "understands" your concerns (to an extent).

When they replaced the easy listening music with Fox sports radio I wrote a similar letter to the station manager. The reply I received was that "Eric and Kaare" (the two local talkers in the afternoon) were unhappy with the format. Well, they openly mocked the music on their shows, referencing the nursing homes and the 16 people listening to it. Real professional. Needless to say, sports radio has garnered them no additional advertisers nor an increase in the Arbitrons. But it's hipper than good music.

That's pretty much what happened to our good AM music station when the old man who owned it passed away and his greedy son took it over. The old man had already made his money and I think he would have shut it down before adopting an "everybody else" format. At the end of one broadcast day, the son called a staff meeting, informed everyone that the station was flipping to automated black gospel in the morning, and that their services were no longer needed. The DJ's didn't even get a chance to tell their listeners what was about to happen or to say goodbye. From what I understand, the station is making no more money now than when they played decent music. I even heard that clear channel tried to buy the station from the old man for a big sum of money; but, he refused to sell it to them. I think he knew what clear channel would do if they got their hands on it.

One thing I should have stated in my letter to the TV station is that I'm a male in my mid '30's. It seems that radio/TV stations all think that one has to be 85 and in a nursing home to get anything out of old music or old TV shows. Obviously, most of the old music and TV shows that I like were out before I was born; but, I still find more satisfaction in the old stuff. What's being put out today simply does nothing for me. I think the last two current TV shows that I watched were "The Commish" (early '90's-mid '90's) and "In the heat of the night" (late '80's-early '90's). So, except for re-runs of old shows, my TV watching has been fairly limited over the past 15 years. Another one that I used to like was "Jake and the fatman". It's been 20 years since I've seen that show and I don't think it's on DVD.

I did just that shortly after getting my first DVD player in 2005. I really enjoy watching the old shows I grew up watching in the '70s, now with no commercials. Between Netflix and my personal DVD collection (the latter small but growing every year), to say nothing of the old shows I taped on VHS years ago, I am enjoying TV again -- in a big way. Netflix is an idea whose time has come, and they obviously have been doing a lot of business across the US since they started, I don't know how long ago. For vintage TV fans, IMHO, this is the place to find those old shows TV Land gave up on. Even A&E stopped showing the old NBC Mystery Movies (McCloud, Banacek, McMillan and Wife, Hec Ramsey, et al) several years ago. Now that Netflix is here (and has been for some time), however, we can see all those shows again -- with no commercials and no missing scenes. One nice thing about Netflix is that, once you rent one or more DVDs from them, you can keep the discs as long as you want, as Netflix does not charge late fees. I often keep Netflix rentals here for weeks or even a month or so, watching the shows on them at my leisure. Much better than Blockbuster, et al. that do charge late fees if you keep the DVDs longer than two weeks, which is probably the standard time frame stated by most DVD rental services before they charge the viewer a late fee.

I don't get RTN or RTV, or even Akron, Ohio's WAX TV-35 (aka W35AX and WAOH) on my cable (I have the lowest tier of service available from Time Warner Cable, broadcast channels only plus WGN America), but since I have a subscription to Netflix and my own collection of vintage TV shows and movies on VHS and DVD, I don't feel I need high-priced (and getting more expensive all the time) expanded-basic or digital cable service. Digital cable would be a waste of money for me anyway, since I do not have and do not want a flat-panel high-definition TV -- all I have are my RCA CTC185 in my living room and a Zenith Sentry 2 in the bedroom. The sets are old, granted, but they work amazingly well on bare-bones basic cable (broadcast channels only) for their ages (eleven and 15 years, respectively).

Yes, I believe you have told us about the wonders of Netflix many times before.

Some of us still like to watch TV the "old way". :thumbsdn:

I feel lucky here in Pittsburgh to get two RTV's, Pittsburgh and Steubenville, OH. I like Steubenville a bit better, they broadcast the Filmation Saturday cartoons on Saturday morning which I tape since I work Saturdays. RTV Pittsburgh does not show them :(

Seems like RTV is on cable in most major cities except Cleveland. The cable in my area (33 miles east of town, near Lake Erie) doesn't carry the channel, and another standard TV station (WAOH-TV, channel 35 in Akron, Ohio, thirty miles south of Cleveland) that shows all vintage television programs does not reach here. My cable doesn't carry it (yet), and I don't know if it ever will. Why, I don't know. I think this channel should be "must-carry" on all northeastern Ohio cable systems, especially since TV Land and Nick at Nite no longer show classic TV as they once did. There are still a few classic shows on TV Land, such as Andy Griffith, et al. but today, that channel is nothing like what it used to be. I don't worry about it, though, as I have a small but growing collection of classic TV shows on DVD, and a bunch of old shows and movies I taped 25-30 years ago when TV Land was still showing older programs.

I grew up watching those Filmation cartoons on Saturday mornings, mostly on NBC. The kids' Saturday morning programming NBC has nowadays is from something called Qubo; the programs are mainly animated shows featuring characters I have never heard of. Just goes to show how much kids' TV has changed in 45 years.

RTV is carried by WAOH-LP channel 29 in Akron, Ohio and its translator W35AX channel 35, also known as WAX, in Cleveland, Ohio. Must-Carry rules do not apply to "low power" (LP) or translator stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAOH-LP

"Must-carry
One of the key distinctions between full-service television stations and low-power stations is cable and DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) carriage. Full-service stations are guaranteed carriage in their local DMA through "must-carry" and LPTV stations are not. In 2008 there was an effort put forward by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to grant must-carry rights to Class A LPTV stations. The effort failed due to a lack of support from the other FCC Commissioners."

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-power_broadcasting
jr

Yeah, I watched a lot of those cartoons as well plus the live action shows. I hope they show "Shazam," Isis" and "Ark-II" since I enjoyed those shows. I would say the golden age of kid's programming was from around 1960 to 1990, give or take. TV-Land is a shell of its former self. We also got my aunt's 1999 Sony 36 inch Trinitron since they went flat screen, so the 1982 Zenith is semi-retired but she still gets an hour or two, sometimes more, daily use. From what I see here, I'd better keep her ready to go in case if the Sony croaks. :D
WKBN-TV is coming in nice tonight from Youngstown, I'm watching the FOX subchannel showing the last "Rocky" movie on the old Zenith.

Here in Grand Rapids Michigan, we're lucky to have both RTV and the new Antenna TV Network which also shows old time programming and movies. We also have a music video channel called "Cool TV" that plays stuff from the heydays of MTV up through now. I hope the OP is able to at least get his RTV again.

I'm loving the heck out of Antenna TV....much better programming than RTV and far fewer commercials (for the moment anyway). Although they suffer from the same affliction as RTV in that the commercials are always the same few ones played over and over.

Thankfully Antenna TV doesn't hit you with different volume levels between the show and commercials the way RTV does. Plus Antenna TV doesn't blast you with their satellite transponder tones (or whatever they're called) on the station bumpers. On my surround sound these tend to come out of the left rear channel for some reason. Whenever I hear them they make me jump like a chihuahua on crack!

I don't find them much different than when they had the tone on the hour & half-hour.

I love Antenna TV's slogan: "Vintage, without the funny smell"