Blog Post  Coming to a Channel Near You: NBC Boston

Do you like to watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon or Sunday Night Football? NBC’s contract with WHDH-TV (also known as Channel 7) expired at the end of 2016. For many viewers this change had no impact on their television watching. But for viewers living in the Boston-Metro market, NBC became a brand new station, NBC Boston, while WHDH operates as an independent station.

So how can consumers locate this new channel? It differs for various cable providers and consumers may have to re-scan their set-top box. However, if the provider is still actively negotiating to carry the new channel, individuals may not have access to it just yet.

• Comcast: 810 or 710 (HD), 10 (SD)
• Verizon: 516 (HD), 16 (SD). Please note that either on or after January 6, 2017, NBC Boston (WBTS) will move from channels 516 HD/16 SD to channels 510 (HD)/ 10 (SD).
• Braintree Electric (BELD): 510 (HD), 10 (SD)
• Norwood Light: 613 (HD), 13 (SD) starting January 17, 2017
• RCN: 10 (SD), 603 (HD) starting January 17, 2017
• Charter: 787 (HD), 10 or 17 (SD) starting January 17, 2017
• Shrewsbury Community Cablevision: 310 (HD), 10 (SD) starting January 17, 2017
• Time Warner Cable: 1024 (HD), 23 (SD) starting January 17, 2017

Satellite Providers:

• DirecTV: 10
• Dish Network: 10

If your cable company is Charter Spectrum, it’s important to note that Charter and NBC Universal (NBC’s parent company) are still in negotiations as to whether associated channels, such as MSNBC, New England Cable News, and Bravo, will be carried. Consumers who subscribe to Charter Spectrum should stay tuned. Negotiations are also ongoing with some satellite providers.

It’s possible that if you are not a cable subscriber, you could experience a loss of signal for this station and will not receive the new NBC Boston. While the Department of Telecommunications and Cable (DTC) is concerned about this possibility, this state agency does not have authority over this transition. That authority rests largely with the Federal Communications Commission.  The DTC will, however, log any concerns directly related to this transition. To contact the DTC, call (800) 392-6066 or (617) 305-3531. If you haven’t been able to access the NBC signal, you can file a complaint with the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) or through the FCC’s online portal: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us.