The Hearst NBC affiliate in Monterey-Salinas, Calif., will add ABC on its ch. 8.2 beginning next spring.
DMA 124
KSBW To Offer ABC On Subchannel
KSBW, the Hearst Television-owned NBC affiliate serving Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, Calif. (DMA 124), will continue as the region’s NBC station, but, as a result of a new affiliation agreement, will add the ABC network lineup to a multicast channel.
Beginning spring 2011, the ABC lineup will be available throughout the Central Coast, on over-the-air ch. 8.2. The new ABC multicast channel will also be carried on Comcast Cable. KSBW will continue to be seen on KSBW’s primary over-the-air ch. 8 as well as Comcast ch. 6 and Comcast HD ch. 806. In addition to the network programming, the new channel will also carry local news, weather and emergency information.
“Digital TV spectrum enables us to bring the Central Coast more great programs and increased choices,” said Joseph W. Heston, president-GM of KSBW. “The Central Coast has never had a local ABC affiliate. Now we can bring viewers NBC shows, plus the great line up from ABC. Best of all, the No. 1-rated newscast in our region, KSBW Action News 8, will be seen on both channels.”
“We are looking forward to a strong distribution relationship with KSBW,” said ABC Affiliate Relations Senior VP John Rouse. “This will mark our 14th ABC affiliation with Hearst Television, a valued media ally in delivering exceptional programming to local markets.”
Historically, KNTV in San Jose was the nearest ABC affiliated station geographically for the Central Coast region. When that station became the NBC affiliate for the San Francisco market in 2001, the Central Coast was left without ABC service. Comcast viewers and satellite users had various long-distance ABC choices (San Francisco or Los Angeles stations), but no local ABC affiliate for over-the-air antenna TV viewers in Santa Cruz, the Monterey Peninsula or the Salinas Valley.
Comments (4)
Robert Klein says:
December 20, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Nice! This will replace KGO’s “ABC 7” cable channel in the area. A very good thing for the network under-served Monterey-Salinas market, especially for OTA viewers left out in the cold by ABC 7’s cable-only availability.
Colin MacCourtney says:
December 20, 2010 at 8:52 pm
I wonder how much bandwidth the ABC feed will get? Typically, I see NBC affiliates with 12mbs, I think that 12mbs may even be a contractual minimum for primary NBC affiliates. Of course, that may not be important in that while its a closely guarded secret, most cable systems transmit their HD channels at 6-8mbs, and satellite is typically about 6mbs. Perhaps someday broadcasters will begin to promote their potential benefits, in terms of lower motion artifacts, of their OTA signals.
Brad Tucker says:
December 21, 2010 at 12:30 am
The central coast had, and still has an ABC station on KEYT. From Ventura to San Simeon. We call that the Central Coast.
Emily Teaford says:
December 21, 2010 at 11:10 pm
What is also very important is that the “side channels” are getting used. I am looking for local stations to add secondary programs to these side channels, including longer format news, public affairs as well as entertainment. Perhaps even doing a flip flop of their schedule on their side channels giving daytime viewers night time TV and vice versa.