I am pretty sure whoever ends up with channel 2 will keep the 2 branding. Besides there might be another "repack" of TV signals sometime in the future. The cell companies seem to have more political clout than broadcast tv. 17 use to have all the Braves regular season games but that is too long ago to take advantage of.
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Gray and Channel 2
- Thread starter secondchoice
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New World got most of its stations as a result of a couple bankruptcies. Gillett was one, and Great American TV & Radio, the former Taft Broadcasting, was the other.
Great American kept its radio stations, which became Citicasters, and got rid of all but one or two TV stations in its bankruptcy.
After Fox got the NFC football rights, it agreed to guarantee New World's purchases if it would affiliate most of its stations with Fox (San Diego and Birmingham were excepted) as the NFL didn't want to be on a predominantly UHF network.
New World also got Times Mirror's TV stations, and the manner in which it did so caused Congress to kill the tax certificate designed to increase minority ownership in broadcasting.
In almost all cases, full-power stations have to use the analog channel number which they had prior to the conversion for PSIP purposes. One exception was WOAY in Oak Hill WV. They had been channel 4 on analog, but for some reason changed both their marketing and their PSIP channel to 50, which was their digital RF channel. Their logo proudly proclaimed them as "WOAY TV 50". Later on they reverted to channel 4 on both PSIP and in promotions, which they remain to this day.
The only thing I could figure out, either (a) WOAY had always been plagued by reception issues and was in general known to be a fairly awful station, so perhaps they saw the digital changeover to be an opportunity to get a fresh start of sorts, touting their new UHF channel as a solution to their age-old reception woes and giving them the opportunity for a kind of facelift in general (they've come a long way), or (b) somehow, they thought a high UHF channel sounded "cool" (keep in mind that WVNS-59 had become the market's CBS affiliate a few years before). Don't know how they got by with using the RF channel on PSIP, that normally wasn't allowed. (If a station went on the air after the transition, and had never been anything but digital, they were of course allowed to have their PSIP channel match their RF channel. WMBF in Myrtle Beach SC would be an example, both PSIP and RF 32.)
The FCC's rules sometimes incorporate outside technical standards, and that's been the case with the DTV transition.
The ATSC's A/65 standard lays out practices for virtual channel numbers and has been adopted into the FCC rules with the same force as the actual rules codified in Part 73:
www.atsc.org
It generally required stations to continue using their old analog channel number as their major channel number in the digital world, though there are some exceptions - duopoly stations can use one major channel number across both stations, like KSTP/KSTC in Minneapolis, which is all 5.x, for instance.
There's also been an informal exception where a few stations with very high virtual channels were able to move down to their original DTV RF channel if it didn't cause a conflict. WRNN in the NYC market was analog 62 and pre-repack RF 48. The use of virtual 48 caused no conflict with anyone nearby, and since no new station could be assigned RF 62 (which would have used virtual 48 under the A/65 standard), WRNN began using 48 and has stayed there even after a repack and channel share moved its RF channel again.
WOAY was one of a few stations that just sort of didn't follow the rules, or maybe didn't understand how virtual channels were supposed to work. Using 50 actually could have caused a conflict in the unlikely event the FCC ever assigned a new station in the area on RF 4, and while that never happened, somehow WOAY did go back to virtual 4. The other one I recall was KCEN in Texas, which went from 6 to RF 9 and rebranded as 9. The FCC eventually made them go back to 6.x, too.
The ATSC's A/65 standard lays out practices for virtual channel numbers and has been adopted into the FCC rules with the same force as the actual rules codified in Part 73:
A/65, Program and System Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast and Cable - ATSC : NextGen TV
This document defines a standard for System Information (SI) and Program Guide (PG) data compatible with digital multiplex bit streams constructed in accordance with ISO/IEC 13818-1 (MPEG-2 Systems). The document defines the standard protocol for transmission of the relevant data tables...
www.atsc.org
It generally required stations to continue using their old analog channel number as their major channel number in the digital world, though there are some exceptions - duopoly stations can use one major channel number across both stations, like KSTP/KSTC in Minneapolis, which is all 5.x, for instance.
There's also been an informal exception where a few stations with very high virtual channels were able to move down to their original DTV RF channel if it didn't cause a conflict. WRNN in the NYC market was analog 62 and pre-repack RF 48. The use of virtual 48 caused no conflict with anyone nearby, and since no new station could be assigned RF 62 (which would have used virtual 48 under the A/65 standard), WRNN began using 48 and has stayed there even after a repack and channel share moved its RF channel again.
WOAY was one of a few stations that just sort of didn't follow the rules, or maybe didn't understand how virtual channels were supposed to work. Using 50 actually could have caused a conflict in the unlikely event the FCC ever assigned a new station in the area on RF 4, and while that never happened, somehow WOAY did go back to virtual 4. The other one I recall was KCEN in Texas, which went from 6 to RF 9 and rebranded as 9. The FCC eventually made them go back to 6.x, too.
During the transition, KOAM used say that you could find it in HD with a digital TV on 13.1, but I believe it went back to 7 after the transition. Seems like KFJX is on 13 now. I want to say it signed on too late to get a companion channel. I can't say for certain, but I remember watching Fox NFL games on KODE 12, which was an ABC affiliate that aired Fox programming in the overnights, when I was in college, and the DTV transition table was still being worked out. Pretty sure it didn't sign on until after I graduated.
I'm kind of lost here. If there had been a new digital station in the area (West Virginia or possibly neighboring Virginia) using RF 4, I would think that they would use PSIP channel 4 as well, and WOAY-50 would have been out of luck if they'd wanted to reclaim PSIP channel 4. What part am I missing here?
And how is it handled if a new digital station goes on the air, and has an RF channel number that is the same as a nearby existing station's legacy (from the analog days) PSIP channel? Would they be assigned an arbitary PSIP channel number, or be allowed to select one of their own choosing, as long as it didn't conflict with any other stations nearby? (Something similar to this actually happened in the case of WJLP-3 NJ/NYC, the conflict being with KYW and WFSB. The FCC assigned PSIP channel 33, presumably because it was the closest thing.)
That's why the ATSC standard specifies these things.
If a new digital station goes on the air, the standard says it's supposed to use its actual RF channel if that's not in use as a virtual channel. If that's not possible, the next choice is to look at who's using that virtual channel, and to use THAT station's RF channel number.
That's where WJLP got 33 from - it was the RF channel for WFSB. It's why the RF channel 5 on the eastern shore of Maryland uses 36 - that was the RF channel of WTTG 5 in DC. And it's why a new RF 4 in West Virginia, if one had ever been licensed, would have been given 50 as its virtual channel. The possibility of a fight with WOAY over that issue is exactly why WOAY was supposed to keep using 4 as its virtual channel in the first place, and why it went back there.
With most of local economies in WV mostly dependant on thermal coal, and labor saving innovations like long wall mining, and most of the "easily mined" coal mined out the last 100 + years, I doubt there will be a bunch of new commercial stations radio or TV stations in my home state. In fact between 2010 and 2022 West Virginia lost 4.3% of it's population while the US gained 7.7% according to USAFACTS.org
BTW: if you are more than 50 miles from the Ohio River (not counting the Eastern panhandle), the steep hillsides and small valley floors makes any kind of OTA a challenge.
I was under the impression that the old analog 2, 3 and 4 were not that great for digital TV.
BTW: if you are more than 50 miles from the Ohio River (not counting the Eastern panhandle), the steep hillsides and small valley floors makes any kind of OTA a challenge.
I was under the impression that the old analog 2, 3 and 4 were not that great for digital TV.
I didn't know that. I looked at the source you cited, and there was so much information there, and it was so dense, that I wouldn't have known where to start looking. Thanks for the clarification.
I really don't see any new TV stations starting up in West Virginia (and then there would be the task of either finding an unused allocation, assuming there are any, or petitioning the FCC for a new one), unless it would be some religious organization. Given the population and the demographics (including those relating to the economy), they're pretty much maxed out.
I don't think you're going to see many new TV or radio stations much of anywhere. The large and major markets are already saturated, and both mediums are on the decline. Radio and TV will always be around in some form, but the way we consume them will continue to evolve.
That is true. The wavelengths of those stations are long, and a digital antenna optimized for Channel 2 would have to be almost 10 feet long. With analog VHF TV, your audio was FM, and your video was AM. Digital doesn't work that way. You get it, or you don't. High VHF works better, but even that has caused issues for some broadcasters. KMBC, KTVT, KWCH, and KWTV either went back to their UHF transition channels, found a new spot, or swapped spots with a sister station after receiving complaints that people couldn't receive their high VHF signals over-the-air after the transition. They weren't the only ones to do that.
We have 3 examples of that here in Minneapolis
KTCA/KTCI PBS uses 2.x (KTCI was analog 17)
KMSP/WFTC Fox/My uses 9.X (WFTC was analog 29)
The example you posted above
I figured they did it so their stations were ‘next to each other’ so tv scrolling folks could see all of KTCA channels together instead of 2 and 17.
Not even then. OTA reception in West Virginia, I've found most of all with DTV (attempts in Huntington, Charleston, Beckley, and Gallipolis --- okay, Ohio, but right across from Point Pleasant --- granted, using rabbit ears), is tough any way you slice it. Pretty much everything is down behind this hill or that one, not necessarily a river valley, just a dissected plateau. Given the terrain and the problems it creates, it is probably not at all incongruent for WCHS and WOAY both to be ABC affiliates but only 40 miles apart, they are in separate markets and I can't imagine ABC would expect either one of them to change their affiliation, the duplication is tolerated. No more out of the ordinary than Washington and Baltimore, or Cincinnati and Dayton.
I was reading about the flooding and I noticed WBOY went back to channel 12 from 52 around 2009. Wasn't this around the last repack time? or does the old VHF channel 12 work better than UHF.
Weird WV OTA reception: When I lived in Babour county back in the 1980's l turned the antenna at a hillside opposite of Clarksburg (rotating from channel 5) and got 12. If it was pointed in the direction of Clarksburg I got nothing. I never investigated, got cable next day.
Weird WV OTA reception: When I lived in Babour county back in the 1980's l turned the antenna at a hillside opposite of Clarksburg (rotating from channel 5) and got 12. If it was pointed in the direction of Clarksburg I got nothing. I never investigated, got cable next day.
2009 was the transition. There have been several repacks since.
If I remember correctly, post-transition, the TV dial stopped at either 50 or 51. So, with 52 being outside the TV spectrum, WBOY would've either had to go back to Channel 12, elect another available channel, or ask the FCC to designate it another channel.
On paper, 7-13 work better than UHF for digital TV, but it doesn't always work that way in practice. Another factor that determined some stations going back to their high-VHF analog channel was that they could run at lower power, which meant their transmitters could be air-cooled. Those megawatt transmitters had to be water-cooled, and some transmitter sites weren't easily re-engineerable for that, or so I was told.
I didn't know they have "megawatt" transmitters for TV now. Back in the day you could get 8 + times gain out of the antenna. Of course there more than 10 bays on some of those antennas.
I guess you could run several transmitters into a combiner. I would hate to pay the electric bill on a million watts which would be a 1000 megawatt hours.
Funny how stuff goes around. In the 1970's WFLI had an ancient water cooled transmitter. (Since replaced). The chiller was right beside the parking lot. Sometimes you got a free "carwash". I always rolled up my windows even when it was in the 90's dropping off or picking up tapes.
Now water cooled transmitters are back.
I guess you could run several transmitters into a combiner. I would hate to pay the electric bill on a million watts which would be a 1000 megawatt hours.
Funny how stuff goes around. In the 1970's WFLI had an ancient water cooled transmitter. (Since replaced). The chiller was right beside the parking lot. Sometimes you got a free "carwash". I always rolled up my windows even when it was in the 90's dropping off or picking up tapes.
Now water cooled transmitters are back.
1,000,000 watts is the maximum ERP for a UHF TV station. Those stations might not run a full megawatt to the transmitter, but those digital transmitters for high UHF signals require enough power that they run really hot and can't be cooled by air. I've been told some of the lower-UHF transmitters can still be air-cooled, but most low-UHF signals run less than 1,000,000 watts ERP.
TV is a little outside my wheelhouse (and I'd welcome anyone who knows firsthand's input), but I've been under the impression that digital TV stations don't have bays on their antennas.
They never went away. UHF TV stations have used them pretty much forever.
At the much smaller wavelengths of UHF you have panel designs which are quite different from the more familiar bays used for FM radio and VHF television.
Some examples of UHF antenna design are here: TV Antennas - Dielectric
You can do that sometimes in the mountains. Apparently the hillside acts as a large reflector, and might give you a better signal than if you were facing the transmitter (and there could be shielding between you and the transmitter). I heard of that being done in the area about 60-70 miles west of DC and Baltimore, viewers with those huge towers would actually turn the antenna facing the mountain, away from the cities, and the signal would bounce back.
Somewhere along the same lines, how did WVFX Clarksburg get by with keeping their 10.x PSIP data? They began as analog OTA channel 46, then were assigned to digital RF channel 10, and took up both branding themselves as "Fox 10" and using channel 10 as their PSIP channel. Finally they ended up on RF 13, but still have 10 as their PSIP channel to this day.
Another example of "just sort of not following the rules"? Seems as though they'd be forced to revert to PSIP 46.