Minnesota tourists who go to Thunder Bay for the weekend may be surprised to turn on their hotel TV’s and see stations from the Twin Cities. But depending on the hotel’s provider, they may also instead stations from Boston, Buffalo, or Rochester, NY.
Most Canadian providers offer two feeds of U.S. network affiliates, one from the Eastern or Central time zone and a second from the Pacific time zone. They also carry several traditional U.S. “SuperStations,” including the over-the-air feed of WGN (Chicago).
By my count, about three dozen U.S. stations from more than a dozen cities are carried on various providers in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario alone!
It can all be a bit head-spinning. Here’s a chart sorting out which major U.S. network affiliates are carried on some of the larger cable and IPTV systems in our region:
| ABC | CBS | FOX | NBC | PBS | |
| Altona, Morden, Winkler (Valley Fiber) | Fargo Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Fargo Minneapolis |
| Brandon (Westman) | Detroit Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Rochester, NY Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Fargo Seattle Detroit |
| Fort Frances, Marathon (Shaw) | Detroit Seattle | Detroit Seattle | Rochester, NY Seattle | Detroit Seattle | Detroit |
| Kenora (Shaw) | Fargo Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Rochester, NY Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Fargo Detroit |
| Manitoba (Bell MTS Fibe) | Fargo Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Fargo Seattle Detroit |
| Thunder Bay (Shaw) | Minneapolis Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane |
| Thunder Bay (Tbaytel) | Fargo Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Minneapolis Seattle | Fargo Seattle |
| Winnipeg (Shaw) | Fargo Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Rochester, NY Spokane | Minneapolis Spokane | Fargo Detroit |
| Winnipeg, Brandon (VMedia) | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle |
In addition, almost all of the systems above also carry WSBK-MNT (Boston), WPIX-CW (New York), WGN-Ind. (Chicago), and KTLA-CW (Los Angeles).
On satellite, Bell TV offers major network affiliates from Boston while Shaw Direct offers a mix of Buffalo and Rochester, NY. Both also carry Seattle stations as well as all of the U.S. “SuperStations” listed above.
Here is a longer list detailing which systems carry each station:
Atlanta: WPCH (Ind.) the former WTBS-TV
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Brandon: Westman
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
Boston: WGBH (PBS), WBZ (CBS), WCVB (ABC), WBTS (NBC), WFXT (FOX)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
Boston: WSBK (MNT)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Marathon: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Buffalo: WGRZ (NBC), WIVB (CBS), WKBW (ABC), WNED (PBS)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
Chicago: WGN (Ind.)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Marathon: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Detroit: WDIV (NBC) and WWJ (CBS)
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Marathon: Shaw
Detroit: WXYZ (ABC)
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Marathon: Shaw
Detroit: WTVS (PBS)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Brandon: Westman
- Kenora: Shaw
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Marathon: Shaw
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Fargo: WDAY (ABC) via WDAZ Grand Forks
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Fargo: Prairie Public Television (PBS)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Los Angeles: KTLA (CW)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Marathon: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: Shaw
- Winnipeg: VMedia
Minneapolis-St. Paul: KTCA (PBS) and KSTP (ABC)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
Minneapolis-St. Paul: WCCO (CBS) and KARE (NBC)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Minneapolis-St. Paul: KMSP (FOX)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
New York: WPIX (CW)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Kenora: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Marathon: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Rochester, NY: WUHF (FOX)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Kenora: Shaw
- Marathon: Shaw
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Seattle: KOMO (ABC), KING (NBC), KIRO (CBS), KCPQ (FOX)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Altona, Morden, Winkler: Valley Fiber
- Brandon: Westman
- Fort Frances: Shaw
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Marathon: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: VMedia
Seattle: KCTS (PBS)
- Bell TV (national satellite)
- Brandon: Westman
- Manitoba: Bell MTS Fibe TV
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Thunder Bay: Tbaytel
- Winnipeg: VMedia
Spokane: KREM (CBS), KXLY (ABC), KHQ (NBC), KAYU (FOX)
- Kenora: Shaw
- Thunder Bay: Shaw
- Winnipeg: Shaw
Spokane: KSPS (PBS)
- Shaw Direct (national satellite)
- Thunder Bay: Shaw