NBC 29 in Charlottesville, widely viewed in the Shenandoah Valley, is petitioning to have Richmond and Washington NBC affiliates removed from cable systems in Harrisonburg, Broadway, Bridgewater, Dayton, Timberville, Charlottesville and unincorporated areas of Rockingham and Albemarle counties. It's not final yet, but the preliminary order looks favorable for NBC 29 to get the out-of-market affiliates removed (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-4106A1.pdf).

The larger story is that the Charlottesville station is competing aggressively for Shenandoah Valley viewers. (Gray Broadcasting, owner of TV3 locally, entered NBC 29's home market with its own new affiliates in recent years). In addition to its cable moves, local broadcast insiders say the Charlottesville station will be spending to upgrade its Shenandoah Valley translators. These over-the-air translators take the 29 signal and rebroadcast it into areas of the Valley that don't get good reception of the signal otherwise. (If you get NBC 29 on Channel 28, 31 or 19, you're getting a translator signal.)