-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WBNX To Convert To ATSC 3.0 On April 30
- Thread starter snowdog88
- Start date
Are they turning off ATSC 1.0 like so many cord cutting pundits swore TV stations wouldn't?
"ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) tuners are primarily found in higher-end, newer models from Sony, Samsung, Hisense, and LG, typically costing over $1,000."
An ATSC 1.0 receiver cannot decode ATSC 3.0, so not backwards compatible.
If other markets are a guide, WBNX will also serve as essentially an ATSC 3.0 hub for other stations (like 5 and 19/43, as well as sister 8 and "down the line" sister 3), and in return they will "donate" a subchannel on their ATSC 1.0 spectrum for WBNX to carry their programming on that platform.
Almost certainly. No application has crossed the FCC yet, so we don't know who's involved here, either.
The only official announcement so far is the on air banner on 55.1, which appears to run during syndicated programming around :15 and :45 minutes of the hour. Local viewers here can confirm this as well. There is nothing yet on their webpage (which already seems mostly forgotten by Nexstar) or their Facebook page about the transition. I suspect the FCC filing will be submitted sometime this week.
The dispersal of subchannels are not dependent on common ownership, especially given the legal chasm Nexstar-Tegna is already falling into.
The thing about 55.1 is that they are 1080i, which is also the resolution of 3.1, but 5.1 and 8.1 are 720p ... it's possible that 55.1 winds up on the WJW or WEWS multiplex, and the subs wind up elsewhere. But 55.1 is going to eat up a lot of spectrum.
My understanding as to why WJW never expanded beyond 1 HD and 4 SD subs was that they wanted enough bandwidth available for a future ATSC 1.0 host. Since all the other major stations are packed with subchannels and WOIO/WUAB share spectrum, it was probably the reason why the Cleveland market fell so far behind with the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse, as there was really nowhere to host several subchannels across 2 or 3 other stations.
After taking over, I thought Nexstar would start dropping network affiliations from WBNX in order to fit all of their subchannels onto WJW or some on another station if they intended to convert to ATSC 3.0, but they ended up renewing their contracts with H&I and Buzzr, which was very strange as Nexstar hardly carries any of the Weigel networks on their stations, or even BUZZR. So unless those contract renewals were short term until the transition, they are still going have to find a way to host 5 subs on other stations.
Oh absolutely - it's like that in all the other markets with ATSC 3.0 - the 3.0 lighthouse let's the other stations piggyback their signal in return for the 1.0 tossing them a subchannel.
And at the end of the day, only nerds like us really care, because Joe Blow TV viewer at home will still see the channels as 55.1, 55.2, etc.
on his 1.0 TV
And at the end of the day, only nerds like us really care, because Joe Blow TV viewer at home will still see the channels as 55.1, 55.2, etc.
on his 1.0 TV
That is a current battle between video providers and broadcast TV stations. The broadcasters want the providers to “pass through” the ATSC 3.0 signals “as is” with all the added functionality. Providers are resisting this due to upgrade costs, and want to convert those signals to whatever current digital standards used in their distribution systems.
Unless they currently can't receive WJW. In that case, they won't get some or all of WBNX, assuming that WJW is an ATSC 1.0 host.
Doubt it.
That's the kind of scenario I was thinking of. The viewer gets a certain station, and then all of a sudden they don't get it anymore. That would require an explanation.
If they "move" their 1.0 programs to other station sub channels, then they would be seen if those other stations like 8 and 10 can be received, eh? 55 has the better signal, perhaps why they chose it for 3.0.
i still don't understand who is pushing this so hard..it sure isn't the consumer. Much TV watching isn't done over TV sets as such, but PC's, phones and "smart" TVs which all pick it off the internet. Consumers bought new TVs when they had to. Now they don't have to. So why the rush? Who will benefit? Is it the ability to encode and charge per program that they are lusting after?