Herve said:
JHBrandt said:
Mako should consider re-arranging their channels, especially after they get around to converting KATA 50 to digital too:
KJJM 34 could have all the religious subchannels
KATA 50 could have both the music subchannels
K31GL 31 could have RTN and AMGTV
KHPK 3 could then be used for infomercials, Gems TV, etc.
If they leave one of their best networks on KHPK 3, I'll be forced to mount an antenna on the roof to get it. (And it'll probably still go out every time there's a thunderstorm - worse than satellite.) That's ridiculous: I can get everything else I want with attic antennas - even KXII 12, which is 83 miles north of my house!
I called Mako, they do not control the channel line up. That is up to the folks who lease the channels. MTV3 and Cool Music for example do not want to be on the same station; as they see themselves as competitors and do not want to crosspromote each other. Same for the religious broadcastors. It would seem to be a "first come first serve" coupled with how much a leasee wishes to pay, coupled yet again to what is available. Also, the telephone numbers that sometimes appear on the Color Bar subchannels are not those of Mako, but of the leasee who is looking to sub-lease.
I put up an outdoor antenna, to get away from the high compression and just general shody picture on cable. I look at these LPTV digitals as just added bonus. Cool Music for instance sometimes just plays in the background as if it where radio.
I understand what you're saying. Mako isn't programming these stations; they just lease them to whomever is willing to pay for them. Then the lessees divide the stations into subchannels, use what they want, and sublet the rest of the bandwidth.
Nevertheless, it makes for a frustrating experience for the viewer. One of the most popular DTV converter boxes (Magnavox, sold at Wal-Mart) doesn't let you add or remove individual subchannels (if you add 31.3, you get 31.1 and 31.2 too - even though I bet almost no one has any interest in more than one of these). It would be better if Mako leased individual subchannels themselves, rather than entire stations. Then they could be like the phone company: you could pay a lower price and they get to assign your number, or you could pay a higher price and pick your own number. (Of course, subchannels 3.x would likely command lower prices than the UHF ones.)
I don't buy that MTV Tr3s and Cool Music are
that competitive with each other - they target different demographic groups, for one thing. But if they do have a problem having channel numbers that differ only in the third digit, they could always pay a little extra for the privelege of differing in the second digit instead.
Of course, none of this could happen soon. But as leases come up for renewal, Mako could renegotiate lease terms. Over time they could phase a plan like this in. It's just too bad they didn't foresee these opportunities earlier.
As for your outdoor antenna, it sounds like you put yours up for unrelated reasons - channel 3 was merely a bonus. In contrast, I, and I suspect many other viewers as well, have no need for an outdoor antenna
aside from channel 3. As an incorrigible DIY'er, I'll probably do it, but I'm pretty sure few other viewers will go to that much trouble just for RTN. In fact, most won't even know it exists!
