Birmingham TV shakeups down the road?

[Nate Wesley]

I found a link to the FCC's DTV reception map website where you can look at what DTV stations will have the best reception after the full transition from any U.S. location. I've been playing with it for a while, first for my location in south Alabama (where I am now) and for the Birmingham area (where I was for college).

The maps show you the potential viewing areas gained/lost post-transition, and just from my perusals, it seems that these are the biggest gainers: WUOA 23, WCFT 33, and WTTO 21 (assuming all CP facilities are built out). You'll notice that WUOA and WCFT are actually licensed to Tuscaloosa, and that both of them will now virtually map to 23 and 33 via VHF frequencies on digital 6 and 9 respectively. In fact, WUOA's new tower location seems to join the Birmingham and Homewood licensed stations.

Here's what I'm getting at: WCFT is part of the "ABC 33/40" simulcast with WJSU in Anniston, and WTTO 21 simulcasts with WDBB, licensed to Bessemer. Will WDBB and WJSU be continually needed to simulcast these their main channels? And what about WUOA's focus? It's owned by the University of Alabama, but it's commericially licensed IIRC--and will put a full terrestrial signal over all of Birmingham.

 

[whit979]

Hmm...that information about WUOA's virtual channel is different from what I had been told through the grapevine about their conflict with WBRC. The word was that UOA was going to become "channel 6" in Birmingham, and WBRC would have to become Fox 50 or something else in order to comply. Obviously that may have changed or may be way off-base. Will be interesting to see how this unfolds over the summer.

PS: Does anyone know when WBRC and 33/40 will begin doing local programming in HD?

 

[passtheword]

I found a link to the FCC's DTV reception map website where you can look at what DTV stations will have the best reception after the full transition from any U.S. location. I've been playing with it for a while, first for my location in south Alabama (where I am now) and for the Birmingham area (where I was for college).

The maps show you the potential viewing areas gained/lost post-transition, and just from my perusals, it seems that these are the biggest gainers: WUOA 23, WCFT 33, and WTTO 21 (assuming all CP facilities are built out). You'll notice that WUOA and WCFT are actually licensed to Tuscaloosa, and that both of them will now virtually map to 23 and 33 via VHF frequencies on digital 6 and 9 respectively. In fact, WUOA's new tower location seems to join the Birmingham and Homewood licensed stations.

Here's what I'm getting at: WCFT is part of the "ABC 33/40" simulcast with WJSU in Anniston, and WTTO 21 simulcasts with WDBB, licensed to Bessemer. Will WDBB and WJSU be continually needed to simulcast these their main channels? And what about WUOA's focus? It's owned by the University of Alabama, but it's commericially licensed IIRC--and will put a full terrestrial signal over all of Birmingham.

I was pondering the very same idea the other day (if both channels 33 and 40 would actually be needed, post-digital conversion) when I was looking at their respective coverage maps. The digital facilties for their LP station, WBMA, which rebroadcasts 33/40 will cover much more area than its analog counterpart. There is some overlap of all three digital signals, but I figure they will continue to use them. Obviously, some of those folks will be closer to WCFT's xmtr, while others will get better reception from WJSU. And for everybody else who lives close enough to Birmingham, WBMA will be available for those who are having difficulty in receiving either WCFT or WJSU.

It's really interesting that WUOA is going to be moving their xmtr to Birmingham on Red Mountain. And even stranger...WUOA will be moving on Channel 6, WBRC's current frequency. I've seen some info on recnet where WBRC is requesting to use WTTO's former channel 21 frequency, too. It's sort of confusing, not only with the change in channel numbers, but with some stations moving on other station's old analog frequencies, too. WTTO has requested to use channel 28. I'm sort of perplexed as to why WTTO doesn't/can't use channel 21 for its digital facilities if the option is available to WBRC to move there. Must be some technical reasoning behind all of it which is beyond my understanding, lol.


______________________
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www.LifeWithoutRadio.com

 

[Nate Wesley]

Hmm...that information about WUOA's virtual channel is different from what I had been told through the grapevine about their conflict with WBRC. The word was that UOA was going to become "channel 6" in Birmingham, and WBRC would have to become Fox 50 or something else in order to comply. Obviously that may have changed or may be way off-base. Will be interesting to see how this unfolds over the summer.

I'm hooked up to cable so I haven't had to buy a new digital television, but this is how I understand things to work: WBRC lives digitally on channel 50. But, if you turn to channel 6 on your DTV, up will pop...WBRC. Most stations are going to keep their original analog channel number and have it map over to their actual UHF/VHF position. So the new and improved WUOA, living digitally on 6, might appear on your TV as 23.1, 23.2, and so on.

I understand the reasoning for this -- channel 6 has always been associated with WBRC, where we can watch Fox -- so there's less confusion instead of forcing WBRC to re-brand as "Fox 50".

 

[passtheword]

Hmm...that information about WUOA's virtual channel is different from what I had been told through the grapevine about their conflict with WBRC. The word was that UOA was going to become "channel 6" in Birmingham, and WBRC would have to become Fox 50 or something else in order to comply. Obviously that may have changed or may be way off-base. Will be interesting to see how this unfolds over the summer.

I'm hooked up to cable so I haven't had to buy a new digital television, but this is how I understand things to work: WBRC lives digitally on channel 50. But, if you turn to channel 6 on your DTV, up will pop...WBRC. Most stations are going to keep their original analog channel number and have it map over to their actual UHF/VHF position. So the new and improved WUOA, living digitally on 6, might appear on your TV as 23.1, 23.2, and so on.

I understand the reasoning for this -- channel 6 has always been associated with WBRC, where we can watch Fox -- so there's less confusion instead of forcing WBRC to re-brand as "Fox 50".

I suppose it's a good thing that all these new digital TV stations are going to be mapped to the original channel number on newer TV's. Although there are some people who will actually know that WBRC will be broadcasting on channel 50 instead of channel 6, the average Joe has no idea, and rebranding all those channel names would cause mass confusion. TV will continue to (appear) to tune as it always has, at least in people's minds. People wanting to watch WBRC will still set their TV to 6 (well, 6-"something"), anyhow. After a few years, it probably will be a non-issue and no one will even be aware of it anymore. When I was growing up, all the TV stations were named after the channel number. You watched "channel 6", "Channel 13", "Channel 21", etc. These days, just about every TV station in America has dropped the "channel" aspect of their name off, so now you have stations being referred to usually by their network affiliation followed by the channel number..."Fox 6", "NBC13", "CW21", etc. Most people today, myself included, refer to these stations in this manner most of the time, so the channel number designation really becomes second nature. It's the same way with cable and satellite channels, most of us know where to find "CNN" or "Fox News" on our particular cable or satellite system, but those channel numbers are different on other systems.


_______________________
What If...
Radio Didn't Exist?
www.LifeWithoutRadio.com

 

[whit979]

When I was growing up, all the TV stations were named after the channel number. You watched "channel 6", "Channel 13", "Channel 21", etc. These days, just about every TV station in America has dropped the "channel" aspect of their name off, so now you have stations being referred to usually by their network affiliation followed by the channel number..."Fox 6", "NBC13", "CW21", etc. Most people today, myself included, refer to these stations in this manner most of the time, so the channel number designation really becomes second nature. It's the same way with cable and satellite channels, most of us know where to find "CNN" or "Fox News" on our particular cable or satellite system, but those channel numbers are different on other systems.

Or, if you're one of my relatives, you don't watch "ABC 33/40", you watch "James Spann." LOL

 

[tomservo]

Okay, here's my understanding of the channel numbering situation, and hopefully someone will jump in if I'm off-base somewhere.

The guidelines for channel numbering give priority to a broadcaster's original analog channel number. So if WUOA builds out on RF channel 6 in Birmingham, they won't be able to ID as WUOA-DT 6.1 because that assigment is already given to WBRC-DT. WUOA would probably identify as 23.1 even though they're physically on RF channel 6.

Now, as to my guess about WUOA's construction permit for channel 6: I am guessing that WBRC is going to stay on RF channel 50 and "donate" their equipment and antenna to the University as a tax write off. WUOA will move the equipment down Red Mountain to whatever tower they're gonna use over by WIAT and WTTO and bingo, they become a full power Birmingham station. If it brings America One's Macabre Theatre to the masses, all the better. 8)

As for WTTO, I don't see why they'd want/need to move back to RF 21. I don't think there's much difference between 21 and 28 when it comes to signal propagation. ABC 33/40 has been eating the cost of three transmitters for a long time, I guess they're gonna keep all three on to keep serving the entire TV market better than the Birmingham stations can from Red Mountain. And I'm still waiting for confirmation that the WBMA-LP 58 has cut over to -LD as a low power digital station.

FWIW, I have to wonder how effective it will be for these digital channels relocating back to the VHF-low band. I've heard elsewhere that the digital scheme + lower frequencies = reception issues aplenty. And since most folks will wind up with UHF-only or UHF/VHF-high antennas, it's gonna compound the problem.

And now I'll shut up and stop the baseless speculation.

 

[w9wi]

The guidelines for channel numbering give priority to a broadcaster's original analog channel number. So if WUOA builds out on RF channel 6 in Birmingham, they won't be able to ID as WUOA-DT 6.1 because that assigment is already given to WBRC-DT. WUOA would probably identify as 23.1 even though they're physically on RF channel 6.

The ATSC standard calls for a DTV station that has/had an associated analog station to use that analog station's channel number as their "major channel". That standard is incorporated by reference in the FCC regulations.

So, WUOA, having an analog signal on channel 23, is required to use 23 as their major virtual channel. Regardless of what frequency their digital signal is actually broadcast on. It would be **contrary to FCC regulations** to use major virtual channel 6, or any other major virtual channel besides 23.

For the same reason, WBRC-DT *must* use major virtual channel 6.

Now, that just applies to what appears in the datastream. If WUOA wants to call themselves "TV-23" or "TV-6" or "TV-37" on their ID slide, that's perfectly legal.

Now, as to my guess about WUOA's construction permit for channel 6: I am guessing that WBRC is going to stay on RF channel 50 and "donate" their equipment and antenna to the University as a tax write off. WUOA will move the equipment down Red Mountain to whatever tower they're gonna use over by WIAT and WTTO and bingo, they become a full power Birmingham station. If it brings America One's Macabre Theatre to the masses, all the better. 8)

WBRC indeed intends to remain on RF channel 50.

As for WTTO, I don't see why they'd want/need to move back to RF 21. I don't think there's much difference between 21 and 28 when it comes to signal propagation. ABC 33/40 has been eating the cost of three transmitters for a long time, I guess they're gonna keep all three on to keep serving the entire TV market better than the Birmingham stations can from Red Mountain. And I'm still waiting for confirmation that the WBMA-LP 58 has cut over to -LD as a low power digital station.

I don't see anything on the FCC database suggesting that WTTO-DT would move back to RF 21.

None of the ABC 33/40 transmitters plan to move -- their permanent DTVs are on the same towers as their existing analogs. I *think* WBMA is allowed to operate analog 58 and DTV 11 simultaneously. DTV 11 is a construction permit, I have no way of knowing whether it's on the air.

FWIW, I have to wonder how effective it will be for these digital channels relocating back to the VHF-low band. I've heard elsewhere that the digital scheme + lower frequencies = reception issues aplenty. And since most folks will wind up with UHF-only or UHF/VHF-high antennas, it's gonna compound the problem.

People are certainly trying their best to avoid low-band. It'll probably work for WUOA because they'll be running a fair amount of power and located in the middle of the market. It may, ironically, become very difficult to receive the station in Tuscaloosa!

Hopefully most viewers will use their existing analog antennas for digital. In most cases it should work fine. (especially in Birmingham and Montgomery where you've had to have VHF/UHF antennas to receive all three major networks in analog)

 

[Nate Wesley]

I think we (myself included) drifted away from my own original question--but I've learned plenty that I didn't really know of earlier.

As for WTTO, I don't see why they'd want/need to move back to RF 21. I don't think there's much difference between 21 and 28 when it comes to signal propagation. ABC 33/40 has been eating the cost of three transmitters for a long time, I guess they're gonna keep all three on to keep serving the entire TV market better than the Birmingham stations can from Red Mountain. And I'm still waiting for confirmation that the WBMA-LP 58 has cut over to -LD as a low power digital station.

Ah, your 33/40 comment has me back on original thought. Do you think Albritton/TV Alabama wants to keep owning and operating them all, or would they consider spinning one of them off? At the very least, WBMA-LD might seem the first to go if they did.

Same sentiments with Sinclair's WDBB 17. Would they hold onto it to keep a competitor out, or would they sell it deciding WTTO's digital signal is sufficient for Tuscaloosa and other points west?

 

[tomservo]

Ah, your 33/40 comment has me back on original thought. Do you think Albritton/TV Alabama wants to keep owning and operating them all, or would they consider spinning one of them off? At the very least, WBMA-LD might seem the first to go if they did.

Same sentiments with Sinclair's WDBB 17. Would they hold onto it to keep a competitor out, or would they sell it deciding WTTO's digital signal is sufficient for Tuscaloosa and other points west?

Isn't WBMA-LP officially the ABC affiliate for Birmingham, and WCFT and WJSU just 'full power repeaters'? I guess moving affiliation to one of the other channels wouldn't be hard now that all of central Alabama is one TV market.

The next question is, what is the Birmingham market missing when it comes TV outlets? The only thing I can think of is one of the Spanish-language networks, but I dunno if there are enough OTA households to make that a worthwhile endeavour.

 

[Charles1]

[/quote]


(W)hat is the Birmingham market missing when it comes TV outlets?
[/quote]

Just my 2 cents worth, but we're missing a decent NBC affiliate. It's amazing to me how far Channel 13 has slipped over the last 15 years. They still haven't recovered from the Kevin McDowell-Terri Merriman debacle on the newscast. Ownership by NBC brought the station down, and they really aren't any better under Media General's stewardship. I never thought I would say this, but Channel 42's newscast does circles around Channel 13.

 

[Nate Wesley]

The next question is, what is the Birmingham market missing when it comes TV outlets? The only thing I can think of is one of the Spanish-language networks, but I dunno if there are enough OTA households to make that a worthwhile endeavour.

Univision and Telemundo came to mind, but those conceivably could live on a some full power station's subchannel. And as you mentioned, there might not be enough Spanish-speaking households to justify any primary affiliation.

Hey, new indy stations! There's enough movie & TV programming out there to buy, and there's a few opportunities for local sports coverage (high schools, UAB/Samford/BSC/Miles, Barons baseball?). There's always a church or two without a TV program, and those checks clear pretty reliably.