• 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

Auctioned!

According to results released from the FCC reverse auction for TV signals, it looks like WIVB is giving up their OTA signal. They're the only one of the TV Big Three to give up their frequency. They could conceivably put the WIVB signal on their WNLO frequency as a sub-channel (or, main channel for that matter), but that moves it to Grand Island. They'll no longer need the Colden transmitter site.

That leaves Star 102.5 as the either the only occupant of that site, or facing a move. They could relocate to the WKSE tower on Grand Island, but that would blow out any coverage in the Southern Tier. If the WBUF move of a few years ago is any indicator, it will also mean a drop in power from the current 110,000 watts. There are first-adjacents in Ontario on 102.3 and 102.7 (Scarborough - directly across Lake Ontario).

This could get interesting.
 

That leaves Star 102.5 as the either the only occupant of that site, or facing a move. They could relocate to the WKSE tower on Grand Island, but that would blow out any coverage in the Southern Tier. If the WBUF move of a few years ago is any indicator, it will also mean a drop in power from the current 110,000 watts. There are first-adjacents in Ontario on 102.3 and 102.7 (Scarborough - directly across Lake Ontario).

Wouldn't this mean that when this happens, does this mean Star 102.5 will lose their grandfathered status soon?
 
The article you referenced says:

"But he added there is plenty of spectrum on Channel 23's frequency to keep both it and Channel 4 on the air to carry the same programming both stations have been carrying."

I posited:

"They could conceivably put the WIVB signal on their WNLO frequency as a sub-channel (or, main channel for that matter), but that moves it to Grand Island. They'll no longer need the Colden transmitter site."

So, I'm not so "dead wrong". It would still shift the OTA signal to Grand Island, and essentially end OTA coverage in the Southern Tier. That still leaves Star in the lurch. I guess that Entercom could buy the tower site, but my guess is that American Tower or one of its competitors will be a lot more interested in that real estate. Of course, they could offer Entercom space on the tower - at a price.

It would also mean that Gannett would have a lot more channels available in WNY than Nexstar. Gannett has a lot more content being broadcast right now than Nexstar, so it wouldn't change the current offerings, but it limits the OTA potential for Nexstar.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom