Posted by David Parker on November 04, 2009 at 22:01:18:
For the last few weeks I've been pulling in WCBS NewsRadio 88 on what seems to be their "live line" without a seven second delay at 450.5125 MHz.
This is a 24/7 stream and when I plugged that frequency into Google I came up with a list of broadcast stations that use that frequency and those adjacent to it as frequencies for field reporters and helicopters to call in on.
So tonight while the Yankee game has been on, I tuned in to this UHF frequency and was surprised to hear not the game, but Linda Lopez carrying on from the studio as usual. On top of that she had a live report from a reporter coming in live from Times Square reporting on the Yankee fans who were watching the game from there on a video screen; this while News 88 carried live play by play of the game on-air.
In place of commericals they're playing hokey music the likes of which I haven't previously heard, but only now. They normally run all commercials on the UHF feed, just seven seconds ahead along with everything else.
I then pulled in News 88's Internet steam and heard the same live news coverage that I was hearing on UHF, however, with a much longer delay, and with commercials.
I'm left pondering a few things:
1. Why is WCBS-AM running live on 450.5125 MHz without a seven second delay ? What's the purpose of this feed?
2. Why are they running news from the studio instead of rebroadcasting the game? I'm guessing perhaps they only have broadcast rights to the game on-air.
Note: As I mentioned, I've been listening to this UHF feed for the past few weeks and haven't heard anything different from what's normally broadcast on News 88, apart from the seven second delay. This is the only time that I've heard a difference so try to catch this local-dx oddity while the series is still on if you have a UHF receiver.
I wonder if I can get a special QSL card for this feed? ;-)