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Almost half of DFW TV is Christian or spam!

JHBrandt

JHBrandt

Remember the silly thread I started a few months ago?

JHBrandt said:
Well, this may be the dumbest thread I ever started. (Wishful thinking on my part?)

68.4 (Worship) may be gone, but the other Godcasters are doing just fine. Besides 38.1, Hispanics recently got Pasion por Cristo on 18.2, and Anglophones got 38.4 and 51.1-4. (Not to mention KQFW, coming to Garland soon on channel 56!)
Click to expand...

I just did a count, and wow was that ever an understatement! Not counting the various duplicates (44.1/44.2/50.3, etc.), I counted 56 unique broadcasts in DFW. Six (11%) broadcast primarily infomercials or shopping channels, and 21 (38%) are Christian-oriented or primarily so. And that's not counting KQFW or KSFW, both of which will likely add to the Christian side of the ledger if/when they light up.

(Back when I started that thread, about a third were Christian. They sure don't call this the Bible Belt for nothing!)

Spanish-language programming has consistently been about a third of the total (I counted 50.1 as 1/2 Spanish for a total of 16 1/2). Almost half of it (8 unique broadcasts) is Christian, but Hispanics currently have no infomercial/shopping channels. 26.2 was in Spanish for a while, but lately it's been in English every time I've checked it.

If anyone's interested, the six I counted as infomercial/shopping channels are 25 analog, 26.2, 26.3, 34.4, 50.4, and 55.1. (The latter also broadcasts some Christian programming, but 51.1 broadcasts a shopping channel on weekends, so I figured they balance each other out.)
 
I guess DFW is preparing for December 21st, 2012 when we will possibly all need to find a religion... ;D
 
eskipper411 said:
I guess DFW is preparing for December 21st, 2012 when we will possibly all need to find a religion... ;D
Click to expand...

Ah, yes.... When Brett Favre finally retires ;)

I wonder if DFW is typical of large Texas markets. Houston, Austin, & SA viewers, what say you?
 
Gridlock Joe said:
I did this breakdown the other day for Houston:

http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/statistics/

# English secular: 23
# Spanish secular: 16
# English religious: 7
# Spanish religious: 7
# English infomercials: 2
# Spanish infomercials: 2
# Vietnamese secular: 2
# Chinese secular: 1
# South Asian secular: 1
# Blank/test: 6
Click to expand...

That seems much more reasonable to me. At present DFW has weeded out all but one of the dark channels and test patterns, but I think we currently have six subchannels broadcasting duplicated content. A couple are SD versions of HD broadcasts, but the other four are pure duplicates. Why bother? Can't they just turn the subchannel off until they need it?
 
JHBrandt said:
That seems much more reasonable to me. At present DFW has weeded out all but one of the dark channels and test patterns, but I think we currently have six subchannels broadcasting duplicated content. A couple are SD versions of HD broadcasts, but the other four are pure duplicates. Why bother? Can't they just turn the subchannel off until they need it?
Click to expand...

A blank subchannel (no video/audio) takes no space other than the space in the program table.

The only duplicate we have left in Houston is Azteca América. The main signal is on 51.2 (and will be on 51.1 when the sale is finalized), and it's rebroadcast on 10.4. Azteca's agreement to be carried on 10 runs for another year.
 
Why not put at least one of the LP subchannels to good use? A LP analog station in Minnesota has the Weather Channel on there, why not use an LP to have The Weather Channel?
 
eskipper411 said:
Why not put at least one of the LP subchannels to good use? A LP analog station in Minnesota has the Weather Channel on there, why not use an LP to have The Weather Channel?
Click to expand...

That installation is an old-school "wireless cable" system using scrambled UHF LPTVs, often used in far-flung remote towns with terrain problems or just no traditional cable. Not only Willmar but Alexandria in Minnesota has one. The one nearest to me (Duncan, Arizona) has been taken off the air: their website (which is still up) is atrocious still and makes you want a time warp to circa 2000, when TNN still existed and KVOA (the NBC affiliate in Tucson: they had a mix of Tucson and Phoenix stations despite being solidly in the Phoenix TV market) had a...unique block 4.

That Willmar link up above will show you what that channel looked like in June 2007. That particular machine was introduced in 1990!
 
This idea of using broadcast TV as wireless cable went away when Directv and Dishnetwork caught on. Why have a handful of channels when you can have the same channels metro dwellers have? I recall TV stations in Kansas or Nebraska surrendering the license for their full power rural repeaters rather than go to the expense of converting them to digital. The return on the investment was just not there when they were sharing the farm audience with satellite TV.
 
Getting back on topic, I noticed that 38.4 and 51.4 are now color bars.

I'd guess that the market for OTA religious viewers is finite, even in D/FW. Maybe the Godcasters overdid it enough that a couple of broadcasts couldn't draw in a big enough slice of that pie to make it. If so, KQFW and KSFW may have a hard time making ends meet if/when they ever light up.

But I've learned not to expect a trend from a minor change like this. It wouldn't surprise me at all if KQFW, KSFW, 38.4, and 51.4 all have programming next month.
 
fredcantu said:
This idea of using broadcast TV as wireless cable went away when Directv and Dishnetwork caught on... I recall TV stations in Kansas or Nebraska surrendering the license for their full power rural repeaters rather than go to the expense of converting them to digital.
Click to expand...

In metro areas such as DFW, a company called USDTV tried using TV stations as a base for a wireless-cable system, but using subchannels of the station's digital frequencies, instead of microwave (another common method of wireless cable) or LPTV repeaters -- it didn't work, as many still favored the small dishes or cable.
 
JHBrandt said:
Getting back on topic, I noticed that 38.4 and 51.4 are now color bars.

I'd guess that the market for OTA religious viewers is finite, even in D/FW. Maybe the Godcasters overdid it enough that a couple of broadcasts couldn't draw in a big enough slice of that pie to make it.
Click to expand...

51.4 has been back for awhile. 38.4 is still color bars, though.
 
JHBrandt said:
I just did a count, and wow was that ever an understatement! Not counting the various duplicates (44.1/44.2/50.3, etc.), I counted 56 unique broadcasts in DFW. Six (11%) broadcast primarily infomercials or shopping channels, and 21 (38%) are Christian-oriented or primarily so. And that's not counting KQFW or KSFW, both of which will likely add to the Christian side of the ledger if/when they light up.
Click to expand...

Restricting the analysis only to the full-power facilities, the picture is not so dim for English-only speakers seeking secular programming.

We have 18 market-wide non-LP DTV facilities. The breakdown is 3 religious (2, 47 and 58), 4 Spanish language (23, 29, 39 and 49) and 1 infomercial outlet (55, slated to become Azteca). The net is that of the 18 majors, 10 are programming general interest fare to Anglophones.

We have all four major networks represented (4-Fox, 5-NBC, 8-ABC, 11-CBS), the three minor networks (27-My, 33-CW and 68-Ion), one pubcaster (13-PBS) and two indies (21 and 52). That matches or exceeds the lineup in similar sized markets. For example, Philadelphia lacks a full-power, market-wide independent although it has two pubcasters. Even Chicago doesn't have two indies but it does have the excellent WCIU, quite possibly the best independent in the country -- and one that makes great use of subchannels.

Offhand, I can't think of any other market that has three full-power religious stations as does D/FW.
 
Bob E. Nelson said:
JHBrandt said:
I just did a count, and wow was that ever an understatement! Not counting the various duplicates (44.1/44.2/50.3, etc.), I counted 56 unique broadcasts in DFW. Six (11%) broadcast primarily infomercials or shopping channels, and 21 (38%) are Christian-oriented or primarily so. And that's not counting KQFW or KSFW, both of which will likely add to the Christian side of the ledger if/when they light up.
Click to expand...

Restricting the analysis only to the full-power facilities, the picture is not so dim for English-only speakers seeking secular programming.

We have 18 market-wide non-LP DTV facilities. The breakdown is 3 religious (2, 47 and 58), 4 Spanish language (23, 29, 39 and 49) and 1 infomercial outlet (55, slated to become Azteca). The net is that of the 18 majors, 10 are programming general interest fare to Anglophones.

We have all four major networks represented (4-Fox, 5-NBC, 8-ABC, 11-CBS), the three minor networks (27-My, 33-CW and 68-Ion), one pubcaster (13-PBS) and two indies (21 and 52). That matches or exceeds the lineup in similar sized markets. For example, Philadelphia lacks a full-power, market-wide independent although it has two pubcasters. Even Chicago doesn't have two indies but it does have the excellent WCIU, quite possibly the best independent in the country -- and one that makes great use of subchannels.

Offhand, I can't think of any other market that has three full-power religious stations as does D/FW.
Click to expand...

It's true that if you restrict attention to full-power stations, the big picture isn't nearly as bleak. It looks even better if you count subchannels: On the English side, there are 17 of general interest vs. 6 Christian and one (KLDT) spam (plus a little Christian). On the Spanish side there are 5 of general interest vs. one Christian (58.4). And the future looks even brighter as KDAF/33 adds Antenna TV and This TV, and KLDT goes to general-interest Spanish programming.

OTOH, if you look only at LPTV, the picture is truly dismal! But it makes sense that most of the Godcasters and all of the spam (except, for now, KLDT) are confined to the LPTV ghetto. Except for the big televangelists - and there are only so many of them to go around - this isn't highly profitable programming. ;)
 
JHBrandt said:
Not counting the various duplicates (44.1/44.2/50.3, etc.), I counted 56 unique broadcasts in DFW. Six (11%) broadcast primarily infomercials or shopping channels, and 21 (38%) are Christian-oriented or primarily so. And that's not counting KQFW or KSFW, both of which will likely add to the Christian side of the ledger if/when they light up.

(Back when I started that thread, about a third were Christian. They sure don't call this the Bible Belt for nothing!)

Spanish-language programming has consistently been about a third of the total (I counted 50.1 as 1/2 Spanish for a total of 16 1/2). Almost half of it (8 unique broadcasts) is Christian, but Hispanics currently have no infomercial/shopping channels. 26.2 was in Spanish for a while, but lately it's been in English every time I've checked it.

If anyone's interested, the six I counted as infomercial/shopping channels are 25 analog, 26.2, 26.3, 34.4, 50.4, and 55.1. (The latter also broadcasts some Christian programming, but 51.1 broadcasts a shopping channel on weekends, so I figured they balance each other out.)
Click to expand...

Updated counts: As of yesterday, there were 59 unique broadcasts in DFW (up from 56), of which 21 (36%) are still Christian. We lost one spam channel (55.1) but picked up two more (20.2 and 31.5), for a net increase of one to a total of seven (12%). The other two new channels are KDAF's subchannels (33.2 and 33.3).

There were additions and subtractions, but no net change on the Hispanic side. There are still 16 1/2 Spanish-language channels, including 8 (48%) Christian and no spam. That leaves 42 1/2 English-language channels, of which 20 (47%) are Christian or spam.
 
JHBrandt said:
Videospammers are having issues today. 26.2 and 31.5 are dark. (But infomercials are back on 20.1.)
Click to expand...
Damn videospammers.
 
JHBrandt said:
Videospammers are having issues today. 26.2 and 31.5 are dark. (But infomercials are back on 20.1.)
Click to expand...
26.2 was back the next day. 31.5 has no video, but the audio is back and it's still infomercials. And 20.1 still has infomercials too, so we're up to 8 spam channels.
 
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