Could more TV Stations move their sister outlets to digital?

[tothedj]

I've noticed in some television markets that "low-powered" television stations
are moving to "full-power" digital signals.
A good example is Charlotte, North Carolina, where WGTB Channel 28 moved
their station to one of WMYT-TV's digital channels.
This would be a good trend, especially if a low-power station wanted to rent space
on a digital station that would give them far more coverage area then they would
ever get alone, in addition to a place on cable.
I can think of several stations in our state that should consider this move, depending on whether this can happen, or if the FCC may allow it.

 

[dhett]

It's quite common, actually. I see it especially with Univision and Telefutura, and in the Palm Springs market, ABC affiliate KESQ's digital stream includes local LP stations KCWQ (CW 5 - analog ch 2) and KDFX (Fox 11 - analog ch 33). All are owned by Gulf-California Broadcast Company.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

It isn't uncommon for co-owned stations to do this. WEVV 44 Evansville has its sister MyNet station on its subchannel. WTHR 13 Indianapolis has its sister -CA all-weather station on its subchannel. I've seen several other instances, but can't recall them at the moment.

As far as I know, there are no FCC regulations regarding this.

 

[w9wi]

It isn't uncommon for co-owned stations to do this. WEVV 44 Evansville has its sister MyNet station on its subchannel. WTHR 13 Indianapolis has its sister -CA all-weather station on its subchannel. I've seen several other instances, but can't recall them at the moment.

As far as I know, there are no FCC regulations regarding this.

True, it's perfectly legal to do this. The subchannels are subject to the rules that apply to the main channel - no indecency, must ID on the hour. (with the full-power station's ID, not the LPTV's, though it's legal to run *both*) Probably the hardest ones to comply with are the need to run EAS tests on the subchannels, and to run E/I programming for children. (then again, -CA stations are already required to comply with these too...)

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

WCBI-Columbus, MS operates the "MY Mississippi" feed on one digital sub-channel and offers a CW feed on the other. Though, I don't think Starkville cable system (where I reside) actually picks up the WCBI digital "North Mississippi CW" feed, opting instead for the direct CW Plus cable feed (formerly the WB 100+ stations feed which ID'd as "WBWP Channel 12").

However, if they do pick up the digital CW feed from WCBI, someone needs to inform the station of the need to ID every hour. 4.2 (MNTV) IDs but I don't believe I've ever seen a local ID on the CW.

 

[FightingIrish]

WDJT (CBS58) in Milwaukee has two stations on their subchannels. They carry a LPTV sister station (a rather popular independent) and a full-power station that they recently acquired, which airs classic TV shows. The newly acquired station doesn't have it's digital operation in place yet. And they still run HD programming from CBS on the main channel!

The owner, Weigel Broadcasting, piggybacks their LPTV stations on full-power signals in Chicago and South Bend as well. They do full ID's on all their subchannels.

I predicted that some stations eventually would likely lease out subchannel space to LPTV operators. While multiple subchannels do get in the way of HDTV broadcasts, this could work on smaller stations that broadcast in SD (like Ion affiliates, though those already have up to four subchannels already). This kind of arrangement would work on independent operations, or low-budget foreign language, home shopping or religious stations.

 

[w9wi]

However, if they do pick up the digital CW feed from WCBI, someone needs to inform the station of the need to ID every hour. 4.2 (MNTV) IDs but I don't believe I've ever seen a local ID on the CW.

Do remember that TV IDs may be either visual *or* aural. You don't have to do both. They might be IDing 4.3 verbally. (or they may indeed be hoping nobody notices...)