Plattsburgh-North Pole Burlington to be replaced by Boston?

   Many of us here in Montreal don't spend much time thinking about the smaller rural towns outside of the city, particularly those of us anglos who tend to think of those areas within the province as scary separatist hotbeds that don't exactly share our interests or attitudes.    But for decades we've been in contact with another set of small towns through our TV sets as the ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox TV feeds have included programming that fill us in on the latest Rutland vs. Winooski high school lacrosse games and the familiar doe-eyed anchors with their threadbare blazers keep telling us about snow warnings near Champlain while shaking their old style shoulder pads under the harsh studio lights.
   A little sometimes-unreliable Boston TV birdie told me that Videotron is planning to replace our Plattsburgh-North Pole (North Pole wtf? - Chimples) - Burlington ABC/CBS/NBC TV feeds with feeds from Boston via Shaw.
   I called 'Tron to see if it's true but a low-level clerk checked with a higher-up and then told me that it's just a rumour at this time. Not exactly the most emphatic denial that I've ever heard.
  But if our TV feeds get switched from upper New York state/Vermont to Boston, that means that we might have to finally bury our psychic Bird Berdan attachment to the border area, say goodbye to the earnest folksiness and tune into the big brashy news from Beantown.
   Being raised on the five English TV channel universe (PBS doesn't count) made us all familiar with Vermont and upper New York State: Frontier Town, the chair shaped as a hand, Aubuchon "where you can charge it" Hardware, Tom Messner, the Plattsburgh Mall and so many other goodies.
   Now if this ever happens, I would imagine that these little channels might lose a lot of viewers and ads.
   It might also take some time to get accustomed to watching Boston announcers thrilled to beat our dearest of hockey teams. So here's a quick effort to give a side-by-side analysis of what we have versus what we could get if this goes through.
We'd lose:
WPTZ

So let's start with NBC - WPTZ. The current one you might know is Stephanie Gorin, with the big shoulder Courtney Kabot, Stephanie Gorin, Cat Janisko, George Mallet, David Schneider, Bridget Shanahan.  Reporters : Ashley Allen, Alison Carey, David Charns, Stewart Ledbetter, Vanessa Misciagna, Jack Thurston, Lauren Victory. Sports reporters: Ken Drake, Stephen Watson and weather folks Gib Brown, Hayley Lapointe and Tom Messner

pads and that smiling Tom Messner weatherguy too.


We'd get:
Boston's NBC
   This big staff of 25 NBC, includes three Asian women and one very light-skinned black guy, the rest being all Caucasians including eight anchors.  Most of 'em look like they've been around for a long time. Kim KhazeiAdam WilliamsAmanda GraceNick EmmonsChrista DelcampKayna WhitworthSarah FrenchTim Caputo Reporters: Byron BarnettNancy ChenSteve CooperJennifer EaganBrandon GunnoeJonathan HallDan HausleAndy HillerNicole OliverioHank Phillippi RyanRyan SchulteisSusan TranVictoria WarrenJanet Wu Weather: handled by three men: Pete BouchardJeremy ReinerChris Lambert Sports: Joe AmorosinoRhett LewisAlex Corddry

We'd lose:
CBS (WCAX) 

Sweet Melissa

Kristin Kelly

Anchors: Steve BottariKristin CarlsonBridget Barry CaswellRoger GarrityJulie KelleyKristin KellyMike McCuneDarren PerronMolly SmithAdam Sullivan
Reporters: Gina BullardLogan CrawfordAli FreeMelissa HowellElizabeth KeatingeKeith McGilveryKyle MiduraJennifer ReadingJudy Simpson Weather: Sharon MeyerGary SadowskyDan DowlingDave BuschDave Busch Sports: Mike McCuneScott FleishmanDylan ScottMarselis Parsons




We'd get:
CBS Boston
Seems to have at least a bit more ethnic diversity in the form of a couple of black sports anchors. The most promising character for a folksy connection is a guy named Joe Shortsleeves. Anchors: Bobby SiskDavid WadeJack WilliamsKate MerrillKerry ConnollyLisa HughesPaula Ebben Reporters: Beth GermanoBill ShieldsBree SisonChristina HagerDavid RobichaudJim ArmstrongJoe ShortsleeveJon KellerKaren AndersonKen MacLeodLauren LeamanczykMichael RosenfieldMichelle RobertsPaul BurtonSera CongiDan RocheLevan ReidSteve Burton Weather: Barry BurbankDanielle NilesEric FisherTodd Gutner

We'd lose:
Fox 44
Fox channel. I've got to say that this Lauren Maloney grabs my attention and I'm still

Lauren Maloney

unsure if it's for the right or wrong reasons. Weather: Kerrin JerominSteve Glazier sports Mike CurkovRoss LippmanBrittney Hibbs Matt AustinJenny DayKirsten TripodiMichael PageDavid HodgesSteph Machado

We'd get:
ABC Boston (WCVB)

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Kimberly Bookman Kathy CurranJack HarperTodd KazakiewichJulie LoncichLiam MartinJorge QuirogaRhondella RichardsonMary SaladnaKelley TuthillJanet Wu Bianca de la Garza (left0 Randy Price Susan Wornick Pam Cross Jim Lokay Antoinette Antonio John Atwater

Please pipe in with comments below concerning this issue, otherwise I'll otherwise feel like a freak caring about, (ok, almost caring about) something this obscure.