The Press and Tower

Editor’s note: Sound off, give a shout out on “Deep Background,” our totally-random open discussion of all things Erie media.

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  Wind storm pushes the “Q” to full digital: High winds from Hurricane Ike blew through the Erie area on Sept. 15th, and along with power outages left considerable damage to the over-the-air signal of WQLN TV-54, where the main antenna coupler now needs to be replaced (cool pictures from over 600 feet in the air). It will take eight weeks for that to happen, so in the meantime, the public broadcasting station will begin to broadcast in full-power digital early, via a side-mounted antenna. Folks with rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna will need a digital receiver or converter box to watch Elmo.

• Finding Erie stuff easily: the folks who bring us ErieBlogs.com have developed a Google Custom Search that makes finding news about Erie a breeze. When Mike from ErieBlogs set about to create ErieFinder.com, he was inspired to “make something that searches over 120 websites about Erie. Let’s make it include all the local media, all the local blogs, universities, businesses, sports teams and then add in a whole bunch of other sites in and about Erie.” A search for the “John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation” included hits from ErieBlogs, GoErie, GlobalErie, YourErie, and of course, The Press and Tower.
• Radio execs bite the hand that feeds them: more fallout from last week’s NAB Radio Show. An article posted on Thursday on Media Daily News featured the country’s top radio executives complaining that advertisers do not understand their 80 year old medium. “We have a perception problem, not a consumption problem,” said Jeff Smulyan, the president-CEO of Emmis Communications. The chiefs point out to the strength of ad sales at the small market level, while agencies in larger markets bypass terrestrial radio, considering it obsolete.
• Major Erie advertiser rebrands: since 1940, John V. Schultz Furniture has been a fixture in the Erie marketplace. This week this top Erie advertiser launched the retrofitting of their brand, now referring to themselves as Schultz Furniture Superstore, and kicked off a Grand Opening sale. Gone is the classic logo on their building and TV spots. However, their webmaster still has some work to do on the site, where everything from the domain (johnv.com) to the content is still showing the old branding.
• The NFL on HDTV…no Browns this week: P&T gives you the NFL schedule so that you don’t have to call the TV station and be rude when your team is not aired. Time Warner Cable subscribers can now get the National Football League in high definition, with the exception of the NFL Network. In addition, antenna users can enjoy both WSEE and WFXP in HDTV. Below are your over-the-air and Time Warner Cable HD channels:
  • Sunday, 1 PM – Green Bay @ Tampa Bay - WFXP: DT 66.1/City 418/Suburbs 706
  • Sunday, 4 PM – Washington @ Dallas - WFXP: DT 66.1/City 418/Suburbs 706
  • Sunday, 4 PM – Buffalo @ St. Louis – WSEE: DT 35.1/City 405/Suburbs 709
  • Sunday, 8:15 PM – Philadelphia @ Chicago – WICU: City 412/Suburbs 712
  • Monday, 8:30 PM – Baltimore @ Pittsburgh – ESPN: City 430/ Suburbs 772