How does your state work?

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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Vacationland
Does NE hate NY mostly because they are like rivals?
That's a big part of it. But Boston considers New Yorkers to be crude, rude, and trashy.

Why does New Jersey get such a bad rap?
I'm surprised there's a place in the US where they don't know about the reputation. I guess it's two-fold. New Jersey has miles and miles of trucks, highways, tanks, and factories along it's shipping port corridor. Also pollution, poverty and crime. It's the most densely populated state.

But also it was the cheap suburbs to NYC a long time ago. So New Yorkers regard it as trailer park trash.
 

Aaron

Moderator
Oct 10, 2008
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And I imagine now property values in New Jersey are pretty substantial. I knew people make fun of it, just didn’t totally get the reason why. It’s the Garden State, guess it’s not all concrete jungle.
 
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scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
25,812
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Vacationland

Exactly.

And I imagine now property values in New Jersey are pretty substantial.
Yes. The entire northeastern part of the state is highly developed, and some of the highest priced real estate in the US. There's a radius of around 100 miles outside of NYC that people commute from. And also, there's a lot of high-tech and business and industry within that area too.

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If you look at this map, there's a concentration of highways in the northeast and west central. That's where people live. The whole northwest and southern half (away from the coast) is rural. That's where all the farms are.

When my company sent me to do campus recruiting at NJIT, they put me in a hotel near the airport (not near the campus), surrounded by highways. I stayed where the red star is. This will give you a good idea of the highway network in NJ.

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sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
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Looks like someone dropped spaghetti on a map!

Does NE hate NY mostly because they are like rivals?
I watched the first two episodes of History Of The World Part 2. I'm disappointed because it's not that good. But there's a scene in episode two about the Civil War where two northerners go into a southern bar and...

...are pretending they aren't from the north. At some point they get accused of being yankees. Suddenly a guy with a thick Boston accent (I think he's even wearing a Red Sox shirt if I remember right) starts yammering on, bashing 'Yankees'. So yeah, the rivalry goes deep enough for Mel Brooks to use it in a brand new sketch.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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Vacationland
Not yet being retired, I had to start skipping around on that video; but I get the idea.

He would like the original 1901 Maine flag, which may be brought back (we have this on our flagpole)

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sadchild

Dude
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I watched the whole thing over a lunch break. I don't agree with all of his assessments (he gave a great grade to some real awful ones) but for the most part I agree with his F's
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
25,812
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Vacationland
So I grew up in NJ, then moved to New England, where I spent 30 years living in Southern NH (on the Mass border). And now I live in Maine. And for the first time since moving to New England, I'm not getting my news from Boston. The biggest difference (aside from the hokey, small-town feel) is the lack of a sports reporter, or even a sports segment on the news.

Most of New Hampshire is part of the Boston TV market; there's only one channel broadcasting from NH (an ABC affiliate). So we watched the Boston news and sports. There were also a few years (including just before moving to Maine) that we lived in Massachusetts; so obviously Boston news and sports.

In Maine, all the stations broadcast from Portland. The biggest one is called News Center Maine, the NBC affiliate. They have all of the news elements - different teams of anchors and meteorologists during the day, and a slew of reporters and investigators. They even have a newsmagazine program. But they don't have any sports anchors, sports reporters, or even a sports segment during the broadcasts (they also don't have a dedicated morning traffic reporter, but that's no surprise). Occasionally, the news anchor will make mention of some sports news, if it rises to the level of general interest.

Maine's ABC affiliate has one sports reporter, but I haven't seen what they cover. There's also a CBS affiliate that shares its broadcast with the Fox affiliate, and they have a sports reporter. But he leads with local sports - such as boys and girls high school sports, and regional-league sports - and might mention the Boston teams at the end. They actually show video clips of girls high-school softball, field hockey, basketball etc. for dozens of state games, and the reporter narrates the highlights, including all the players' names. It's quite bizarre. I used to see that only around Thanksgiving.

It's also weird because this region is certainly part of the Boston sports market, and the people who live here root for the Boston sports teams.
 
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sadchild

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My father-in-law always watches the 6 o'clock news on WMUR out of Manchester NH.

Followed by "ABC World News Tonight With David Muir" which I can't watch because that guy always sits leaning to his left, looking at you with his head turned to the side a little, and hands folded on the desk. Same awkward pose every time. That kind of thing annoys me.

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Aaron

Moderator
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Wow I would have assumed all local affiliates would have had a sports segment.

The New Orleans stations here have lots of sports coverage.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
25,812
20,578
168
Vacationland
Wow I would have assumed all local affiliates would have had a sports segment.

The New Orleans stations here have lots of sports coverage.
It looks like they take the weather segments, and double the frequency. So if the weather guy appeared twice and the sports guy once, now we get 4 weather reports. They show the national trends, the immediate forecast, the long-range outlook, and a recap. Lots of weather.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
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It looks like they take the weather segments, and double the frequency. So if the weather guy appeared twice and the sports guy once, now we get 4 weather reports. They show the national trends, the immediate forecast, the long-range outlook, and a recap. Lots of weather.
All of it wrong.
 
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kingchuck69

Joker! Joker! Joker!
Oct 11, 2008
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Here in Grand Rapids, we have a few choices for local news.

We have three stations based in town: WOOD-TV 8 (NBC), WZZM-13 (ABC) and WXMI Fox 17. WWMT-3 (CBS) is out of Kalamazoo, 50 miles south of town.

Grand Rapids is unique in the fact that we have not one, but TWO(!!!) ABC affiliates. Along with WZZM-13, there's WOTV 41 out of Battle Creek.

So, why does west Michigan have two ABCs? Well, it's kinda complicated. During television's early years, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo were their own TV markets. Both 3 and 8 carried all the networks, though 8 favored NBC while 3 was mostly CBS. By the late 50s, it was proven that being so close together, the two stations could benefit each other and better serve the local viewing audience by competing. They both moved to new and more-powerful transmitter sites between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. As a result, 3 went with CBS while 8 went with NBC, though both shared certain ABC shows.

By the early 60s, ABC had only two full-time affiliates in Detroit and Flint. Being Michigan's second-largest TV market, they definitely wanted a station in Grand Rapids. But, being too close to neighboring markets like Chicago and Detroit didn't help. The only option at the time was UHF, but not many TV sets had the capability. But a group of Grand Rapids investors had an idea.

The owner of channel 3 (then known as WKZO-TV), John Fetzer also owned WWTV channel 13, a duo CBS/ABC station out of Cadillac and Traverse City. Along with the FCC's blessing, WWTV moved to channel 9 in 1961, paving the way for a channel 13 in Grand Rapids. One small problem though: WSPD-TV 13 in Toledo. Out of fear of interference, WZZM-13 played it safe and chose to transmit from a facility in Grant, some 30 miles north of Grand Rapids. Kalamazoo viewers did get a low-powered translator that broadcasted on channel 12. WZZM-13 signed on in 1962 from the Pantlind Hotel in Grand Rapids and almost immediately became a ratings smash despite their signal shortcomings.

In 1964, the FCC ordered all new TV sets to have UHF capabilities, making it easier for more TV stations to sign on and eliminating stations from having to cherry-pick from multiple networks. Another group of investors applied for a station at channel 41 in Battle Creek in 1971. Broadcasting from an old air force base, the call letters WUHQ ("Where yoUr HeadQuarters") were chosen and for the first time ever, the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area had a full-time ABC affiliate.

However, 41 has never been a successful station and mostly serves as a pass-through for ABC in the area. In 1990, WZZM tried to buy 41, but WOOD-TV's owner, LIN Television outbid them and it created a duopoly. WUHQ was renamed WOTV (WOOD-TV's call sign from 1972-1992) and even attempted a local newscast, but that failed.

Today, WOTV simulcasts WOOD-TV's newscasts, which features stories from the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo areas. Now, here's the funny thing: I use an antenna to get my local channels. I live just a few miles south of Grand Rapids and 41 comes in clear as a bell. As for 13, their signal here is nonexistent. Then again, 1) my antenna is pointing south and WZZM-13 is north of here, and 2) WZZM-13 is a little further away. No huge loss since Juliet Dragos irritates me.