WCVB-TV 5.2 Testing

[Jim Hall]

Are there still "must carry" rules for cable, and do they apply to digital
sub-channels? Comcast does carry a lot of the sub-channels (e.g., WGBX), but
are they required to carry all the sub-channels from all the stations in a
given area?


As of Sunday, September 9th, WCVB-TV virtual channel 5.1 was testing virtual
channel 5.2, Me TV. I have an old
 CRT set in my dining and kitchen area I use almost solely on Sunday
mornings to watch the gabfest on ABC-TV at
 10:00 am (not simulcast on WMUR-TV actual channel 9 which I pick up better
than channel 5.1). I have a
 government-subsidized digital-to-analog box and an indoor powered allegedly
rotatable antenna by
 Radio Shack (it greatly resembles the Starship Enterprise). Usually when I
clicked on channel 5, even during the
 period they were using the auxiliary antenna following the antenna
malfunction last April, it just displayed channel 5.1.
 Yesterday, it showed 5.1 and 5.2. When I advanced to 5.2, there was a
color-bar style test pattern and a
 sine wave tone. It's not a big deal; I suspect that nothing will change at
Comcast which feeds my big-screen
 TV in the living room. I assume they'll keep Me TV from channel 9. If
WMFP-TV virtial 62
 adds a new subchannel offering, will Comcast put that somewhere else, or
ignore it?