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January 11, 2006Need a Pistons' fix? TV12 adds games to coverageIndependent station will air 12 more gamesTRAVERSE CITY - For those of you wanting to get a little extra Detroit Pistons fix, you'll have to dust off those old rabbit ears.WLLZ-TV12 in Traverse City, an independent station currently not available on cable or satellite, will broadcast 12 Pistons games the rest of the regular season among its programs, as well as non-network playoff contests. TV12 is free, but is only available through antenna. With Pistons game split up between Fox Sports Detroit, WDIV in Detroit and the WB affiliate in Detroit (WDWB), northern Michigan NBA fans may have been feeling a little jilted since the latter two are not available on most local cable providers. That's where TV12 comes in. The two-year-old VHF station is perhaps one of Traverse City's best kept secrets. "A lot of people don't find it because they don't know it's there," says Bob Naismith, president of Media Adventures Inc. "It's like the preset buttons on your car radio - once you get them set you don't look for much else." Likewise, in order to pick up TV12, viewers have to unhook their cable or satellite and use either rabbit ears or an antenna to receive the signal. Once they do that, they'll find TV12 offers 24-hour programming from the Urban America TV and sports coverage through America One Sports. In addition to a 20-game slate of Pistons games - eight have already been shown - the network offers East Coast Hockey League game of the week each Thursday at 8 p.m., boxing on Tuesdays and Fridays, the National Lacrosse League game of the week each Saturday, Canadian Football League action in the summer, stock car racing and various other programs on topics such as poker, outdoors, billiards, tennis, fishing, golf, soccer, pro wrestling, extreme sports and video games. TV12 picks up America One Sports programming after 6 p.m. each weekday and Sunday. Program listings for America One can be found at www.americaonesports.com and for Urban America TV at www.urban-america-tv.com. The Pistons games are picked up from the Pistons Television Network and feature George Blaha and Bill Laimbeer. TV12 also picks up the Pistons Game Night pregame show about half the time. The channel is available in a geographic area that includes Suttons Bay, Mancelona, Elk Rapids Kalkaska, Kingsley and Lake Ann in addition to Traverse City. Some areas may not get reception as well as other due to terrain and signal strength. TV12 broadcasts at 1230 watts, Naismith said, whereas channels such as TV 9&10 are at 316,000. "We're the same as any station but we're lower power," Naismith said. "We hope to change that. "You know the old saying 'Not ready for primetime'? We're now getting ready to kick it into full gear with TV12." The station has been on the air for two years. Media Adventures also owns similar stations in Grand Rapids WUHQ-TV29) and Flint (WHNE-TV32). The Flint station is set to begin broadcasts in February, Naismith said. Naismith said he is talking to Charter Communications about having TV12 included in Charter's cable package.
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