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HOUSTON HIT VIDEO TV 5 / HIT VIDEO USA

9

93QClassic.com

Guest
Hello, everyone. My name's Joe and I'm new to this forum. Just wanted to share a little bit and ask the community for suggestions.

Last year, when somebody resurrected the old album rock format of Rock 101 KLOL in an online streaming radio station, the media in Houston buzzed with talk and subdued excitement. Back in the day, I didn't listen much to KLOL; rather, I was a big fan of John Lander and the Q Morning Zoo. It was a learning experience, trial and error, but over a period of several months I managed to build a website (and streaming radio station) remembering the original format of 93Q. People love it so much that I am often exceeding the bandwidth limit on the streaming audio feed. The website is www.93QClassic.com

A little over a month ago, somebody suggested that I do a tribute website for the old "Houston Hit Video TV 5" and the "Hit Video USA" network. Back in 1985, I worked at AstroWorld and recall how guests, while waiting in lines for the rides, would pull back the plexiglass covers over the TVs showing advertisements. They'd change it to channel 5 and turn up the music videos. It wasn't easy getting images and material, but with the help of a few former "Video Jockeys" I've got a good start on a website that includes a 24/7 streaming channel with music videos, classic PSA announcements, and a few of the original station bumpers. See www.HitVideoUSA.com

Because the new website is still under construction, I haven't promoted it yet -- other than sharing it with friends on Facebook. Despite this lack of promotion, it has already passed 93Q Classic in terms of "hits" and time spent on the website viewing videos. This tells me I'm on to something here. People really like this old retro stuff!

A friend recently suggested that I try to put Channel 5 back on the air as a noncommercial venture. At the time I scoffed, thinking there was a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. Later, I got to thinking and started digging online. While all full power TV stations had to legally stop broadcasting in 2009, low power analog TV stations can continue operations until September 15, 2015. Although there are no longer any analog stations on the air in Houston, there are still a quite a few low powers operating around the state.

Then a search uncovered an interesting tidbit of data. There are still licenses for several low power TV stations in Houston -- active licenses that could be used, but which currently sit "dark" and abandoned. One of these licenses is for Channel 5 (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=KJIB), another for Channel 25 (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=KVDO). Obviously, a commercial operation is not going to invest time and money in operating an analog station that will have be silenced in a couple of years. But still, having a "dark" station is such a waste when, after all, every modern HDTV out there has the ability to receive an analog signal.

It may be a pipe dream of mine, but I'd really like to put my streaming music video channel out there on analog TV. An engineer friend of mine said just do it. There's a ton of the old obsolete analog equipment -- modulators, transmitters, power amplifiers -- selling dirt cheap on ebay. He said analog TV is dead, and its unlikely the FCC will care about somebody putting a low power station on a channel where there exists a current and valid license -- albeit one that is not being used and had all but been abandoned by the license holder.

I'm not about to get on the air vis-a-vis Pirate Broadcasting, but I still think its a good idea. I think it would be really cool to put the videos on, and then do a countdown show in 2015 when analog broadcasting must end -- the end of a broadcasting era. Anyway, the license holder is a man named Roy Henderson in Traverse, Michigan. I've sent him emails and left numerous phone messages, without response. Is there anybody out there who knows him?
 
I have resources on spend on this project, but its not something I want to spend a whole lot on -- since it wouldn't make any money and have to shut down in a year or two.
 
Have you considered leasing time on one of the existing low-powers? Much less bureaucratic hassle involved.
 
Gridlock Joe said:
Have you considered leasing time on one of the existing low-powers? Much less bureaucratic hassle involved.
Click to expand...

This. Transmission infrastructure already in place, and it will give you an idea of real-world operational costs. Better than being busted as a pirate, which is essentially what you were proposing.

Presumably you have looked into licensing/royalty fees for the broadcast material you are proposing?
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Gridlock Joe said:
Have you considered leasing time on one of the existing low-powers? Much less bureaucratic hassle involved.
Click to expand...

This. Transmission infrastructure already in place, and it will give you an idea of real-world operational costs. Better than being busted as a pirate, which is essentially what you were proposing.

Presumably you have looked into licensing/royalty fees for the broadcast material you are proposing?
Click to expand...

The FCC will care about a low power analog station. They will find you and take your stuff.
Lease a subchannel on a digital LPTV station - or even see if one with an empty subchannel would let you do it for free just to fill an empty space.

Paying for the music licence is one thing, but you also have to make sure the old clips from the station are properly licences or (more likely) clear of any copyright holder.

Fun idea and I hope you find a way to make this happen.
 
This is a reminder about the issues with dormant broadcast licenses. The licenses for KJIB and KVDO should have been revoked years ago, as there has been no obvious attempt to get them on the air. Roy Henderson is notorious for letting licenses sit idle for long stretches of time; it appears he uses many of them as speculative investments for future sale rather than making a serious effort at actual broadcast operations.

If broadcast spectrum is supposedly so valuable, the FCC should enforce a strict "use it or lose it" policy. Owners will probably whine about "red tape" and "economic conditions" when the reality is that they lack the financial resources to launch and properly run a broadcast station.
 
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Yes, I considered the prospect of leasing one of the numerous available digital subchannels -- but just putting programming on the air is not really what I had in mind. I'm looking to recreate a sense of nostalgia. Thousands upon thousands of people in Houston recall, back in the 80s, tuning into a weak snow-filled channel to watch music videos on Channel 5 -- K05HU. Analog TV is almost gone, and in 2015 it will be dead. As odd as it may sound, I'd rather revive the 100 watt low power analog channel on a 50 foot backyard tower than put crystal clear HD programming on one of the new digital channels. I want it to look like the original channel... And then, in 2015, go out with a hellufa "big bang" party. ;D

I have noted your comments about pirate TV and what the FCCs reaction might be. My regular day job is in the "legal" field, so I'm quick to examine the legalities from all points of view. A quick internet search alerted me that Stephen Lee is the FCC resident agent in Houston, and that he's the man who would handle any "pirate" issues. I'm going to stop by his office in the next day of so to talk about options, but the legal "shark" in me is always looking. Where there's a will, there's a way!

I found a video on the internet of Mr. Lee shutting down Radio KAOS in Austin. http://kaosradioaustin.org/node/32295 At about two minutes into this video, Mr. Lee says he is issuing a NOTICE OF UNLICENSED OPERATION. He repeatedly asks the pirate if there is a license for the operation of the station. Implicit in the entire conversation is the fact that Mr. Lee didn't want to be there, but had no choice due to a complaint filed by the Texas Association of Broadcasters. Mr. Lee's statements left no doubt that if there was indeed a license, his inquiry would have been over and he would have been on his merry little way to deal with other more pressing issues.

Unlike Radio KAOS, here there is a valid analog TV license. Actually, two licenses -- Channel 5 (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=KJIB), another for Channel 25 (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=KVDO) -- that Roy Henderson apparently owns, but is not using in the public interest and has admittedly abandoned. According to an employee at one of Mr. Henderson's stations in Michigan, its unlikely these stations will ever be put in the air. The license for digital channel 31, maybe, but not the analog channels.

In Texas, there is a legal doctrine known as "adverse possession." When houses or land are abandoned for an extended period -- squatters can claim the property by filing an affidavit at the courthouse. The owner of the property then has a burden to show that the property was not abandoned, and legally "evict" the would-be squatter. If you hold on to it long enough, title to the property becomes vested.

I'm beginning to think it might be time to apply this legal doctrine to abandoned licenses? There's a well written scholarly paper supporting this. See http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=976757
 
I wouldn't count on "adverse possession" working here... stations do not "own" their channels. The government owns the channel; the station holds a license from the government to use that channel.

Analog channel 5 and digital channel 31 are the same license -- digital 31 is a modification of the analog 5 license. ("minor change", in FCC legal terminology) The station cannot legally operate on both channels simultaneously.

For what very little it's worth, I don't think the current analog 5 license (KJIB-LP) is the same station that was "Hit Video USA". There was a *previous* low-power license for analog channel 5 in Houston with the call letters K05HU. The last activity in the FCC database on K05HU was a renewal in September 1988; if I remember the rules properly, that license would have expired in 1995. (it would also appear K05HU and the station that's now KJIB-LP co-existed on the same channel for seven years -- which is quite possible given the low power.)
 
w9wi said:
(it would also appear K05HU and the station that's now KJIB-LP co-existed on the same channel for seven years -- which is quite possible given the low power.)
Click to expand...

At the same time K05HU was on the air from downtown Houston, there was another LPTV on Channel 5 in the Clear Lake area, K05IL. The two stations were far enough apart to mutually exist. IIRC KJIB is the descendant of K05IL, not K05HU.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
IIRC KJIB is the descendant of K05IL, not K05HU.
Click to expand...

Darn it, I have the database & should have looked that up.

You're absolutely right: K05IL are the original calls for KJIB-LP.
 
93QClassic.com said:
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Yes, I considered the prospect of leasing one of the numerous available digital subchannels -- but just putting programming on the air is not really what I had in mind. I'm looking to recreate a sense of nostalgia. Thousands upon thousands of people in Houston recall, back in the 80s, tuning into a weak snow-filled channel to watch music videos on Channel 5 -- K05HU. Analog TV is almost gone, and in 2015 it will be dead. As odd as it may sound, I'd rather revive the 100 watt low power analog channel on a 50 foot backyard tower than put crystal clear HD programming on one of the new digital channels. I want it to look like the original channel... And then, in 2015, go out with a hellufa "big bang" party. ;D

I have noted your comments about pirate TV and what the FCCs reaction might be. My regular day job is in the "legal" field, so I'm quick to examine the legalities from all points of view. A quick internet search alerted me that Stephen Lee is the FCC resident agent in Houston, and that he's the man who would handle any "pirate" issues. I'm going to stop by his office in the next day of so to talk about options, but the legal "shark" in me is always looking. Where there's a will, there's a way!

I found a video on the internet of Mr. Lee shutting down Radio KAOS in Austin. http://kaosradioaustin.org/node/32295 At about two minutes into this video, Mr. Lee says he is issuing a NOTICE OF UNLICENSED OPERATION. He repeatedly asks the pirate if there is a license for the operation of the station. Implicit in the entire conversation is the fact that Mr. Lee didn't want to be there, but had no choice due to a complaint filed by the Texas Association of Broadcasters. Mr. Lee's statements left no doubt that if there was indeed a license, his inquiry would have been over and he would have been on his merry little way to deal with other more pressing issues.

Unlike Radio KAOS, here there is a valid analog TV license. Actually, two licenses -- Channel 5 (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=KJIB), another for Channel 25 (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=KVDO) -- that Roy Henderson apparently owns, but is not using in the public interest and has admittedly abandoned. According to an employee at one of Mr. Henderson's stations in Michigan, its unlikely these stations will ever be put in the air. The license for digital channel 31, maybe, but not the analog channels.

In Texas, there is a legal doctrine known as "adverse possession." When houses or land are abandoned for an extended period -- squatters can claim the property by filing an affidavit at the courthouse. The owner of the property then has a burden to show that the property was not abandoned, and legally "evict" the would-be squatter. If you hold on to it long enough, title to the property becomes vested.

I'm beginning to think it might be time to apply this legal doctrine to abandoned licenses? There's a well written scholarly paper supporting this. See http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=976757
Click to expand...

I thought Federal law takes precedent here since it is dealing with broadcast television. If states controlled the airwaves, air travel could be affected for instance. I always think of the flight attendants saying power off your radio devices until we tell you that you can turn them on. You don't want your TV station to interfere with air traffic do you?
 
Good luck on acquiring a Houston-area analog LPTV license. RabbitEars.info shows a few Houston stations that are either still in analog or off the air; assuming Trip's listings are up-to-date, you might be able to strike a deal with one of those stations. If a station has been off the air for a year or more, you might be able to get a better deal if they're worried about the FCC revoking their license.

Remember, though, that a license is specific to the transmitter - even if the FCC pulled KJIB's license, that doesn't mean they'd automatically grant you one on the same channel. Unless you can use existing licensed equipment, you'd have to start from scratch with a new application - a daunting task even if there's no freeze on new LPTV applications.

KJIB & KVDO have construction permits to go digital, but each could still operate the licensed analog transmitter until they decide to fire up the digital one. Of course, KJIB/5 doesn't cover much ground :( KVDO/25 would be a better choice if you actually want folks to watch your programming.

I've heard, though, that analog LPTV will only last until the end of 2015, so eventually you (or the station you're working with) will be forced to go digital. Worse, the FCC is rushing to take a big chunk of spectrum away from broadcast TV around the same time, so many LPTVs will likely lose their licenses completely by then. So you're probably looking at a fairly short-term project even under the best circumstances.
 
I remember watching Channel 5 before it officially signed on. There was a computer graphics program being broadcast and it looked like someone was designing the logo from on the computer and the computer screen was being broadcast. Or maybe it was just a time lapse of the logo slowly being drawn to build interest? Not sure what was going on at the time but the logo started off incomplete and then gradually filled in over time.
 
JHBrandt said:
... eventually you (or the station you're working with) will be forced to go digital.
Click to expand...

Of course, I suppose you could deliberately add in some "simulated snow" a la that .GIF, to keep that "retro" feel even if/when your station goes digital :D
 
I'm sitting in a McDonalds about an hour south of Traverse City, Michigan. Jeeze, I shoulda took a plane. Longest drive I ever did. Will try to see Roy Henderson tomorrow. Wish me luck, folks! Thanks. ;D
 
I'm sorry, but you drove to Traverse City Michigan and your going to "try" to meet? Did you not call and speak with the man before you drove there, or did I miss something? I really don't think there's that kind of demand for a music video channel on (about to be dead) analog TV to warrant that much effort or gasoline. I'd have called first, gauged his interest, and set up a meeting to discuss what your trying to do and whether he's willing to lease or sell the station to you to air your material. If you're showing up unannounced, I think it's a mistake, but I wish you luck. You've literally got some real drive in you.
 
Well yesterday evening I enjoyed watching a minor league baseball games... a team called Traverse City Beach Bums. Went to Roy Henderson's flagship station Sunny Country 101.9 this morning and met the nice young lady who, in the last couple of weeks, has taken half a dozen messages from me for Mr. Henderson... albeit messages never answered. She finally confessed that Mr. Henderson hasn't got the messages because he is not here. He's in Brenham.

Alas, a wasted trip... But I needed the vacation. I just finished driving across Michigan's upper peninsula and will be in Wisconsin shortly. Gonna head to Montana to visit friends. I'll look for the elusive Mr. Henderson when I get back to Texas.
 
Joe, I have been following your posts and adventures. All I can say is WOW! You get your mind set on a mission and just keep going at it like the Energizer bunny! Enjoy the cool weather up there.

To everyone else following: Joe probably will get mad about this post, but he'll get over it. There's a lot more to this story than he's telling. First, Joe works for one of the most hated federal government agencies in the country. I won't say where, but here's a hint: "In this world there is nothing that is certain except death and taxes." Quote from Ben Franklin.

If one can overlook who he works for, Joe is one of the best guys you'll ever meet. He's an ordained minister, volunteer director of three transitional houses for the homeless, and a volunteer producer at both KPFT and KKHT. His interest in broadcasting has always been peripheral, and comes from a woman he had a crush on back in the day. He was in love with Casi Love, a DJ at KRBE who died in 1987. In fact, he set up a website remembering Casi with clips from her last broadcast. www.power104.net

For whatever reason, Joe has got it in his mind to put Channel 5 back on the air. Why someone would want to bring back that lame station with cheesy 80s music is beyond me, but its what he wants to do. Knowing him like I do, I'd bet money he finds a way to do it. When he sets his mind on something, he just doesn't quit.

Good luck, Joe!
 
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