is channel 25 signal down?

[peterk]

Is channel 25 WNYE analog signal down?

 

[azumanga]

And they were knocked off the air how many times? It seems that their transmitter has been quite unreliable during the past months.

 

[neo11]

Yeah, they've been down for days. WNYE doesn't seem to care too much about the downtime, especially with the digital switchover coming up. Perhaps they're planning on abandoning the analog signal sooner than the deadline.

 

[DToTheJ]

I remember the old days when WNYE's transmitter problems were so bad, at one point, TV Guide designated WNYE in its channel listings with "intermittently off the air".

 

[dhett]

Perhaps they're planning on abandoning the analog signal sooner than the deadline.

I don't believe the FCC would allow that. Only out-of-core stations (chs. 52 - 69) have been allowed to abandon analog, and even then, they've had to prove to the FCC that it wouldn't result in significant loss of service.

 

[ansky212]

Does WNYE broadcast from the ESB? Has their digital signal ever been on the air? I live right over the river in Jersey City and I have never picked up WNYE-DT. Supposedly 25-2 is a traffic channel but I can't pick it up.

 

[fybush]

WNYE analog is on the ESB. WNYE-DT is on the WNYE-FM tower at Brooklyn Tech, operating at fairly low power, which would help to explain why it's not getting to Jersey.

 

[ansky212]

WNYE-DT is on the WNYE-FM tower at Brooklyn Tech, operating at fairly low power, which would help to explain why it's not getting to Jersey.

Are there plans to increase the power in the future? It must be extremely low power and/or directional right now since I'm only a few miles away from Brooklyn.

 

[peterk]

I live in Queens and cannot recieve Digital signal from Brooklyn Tech (My alma matter)

Peter

 

[ansky212]

I live in Queens and cannot recieve Digital signal from Brooklyn Tech (My alma matter)

Peter

That is a tremendously short distance even for a low-power broadcast. I wonder if the DT signal is even broadcasting.

 

[DToTheJ]

I remember the old days when WNYE's transmitter problems were so bad, at one point, TV Guide designated WNYE in its channel listings with "intermittently off the air".

I guess I'm the only person on Earth that remembers this... :

 

[cawasinnj]

I guess I'm the only person on Earth that remembers this... :

You aren't. I think I have some vintage 80's TV Guides that would bear this out. I think it had to do more with WNYE having a very limited schedule and not being listed in the Guide than with any transmitter issues. I could be wrong.

 

[neo11]

Seems that things haven't gotten much better since those days for WNYE. From their website:



Early Saturday, December 8, NYC Media Group’s analog television transmitter at the Empire State Building lost power, resulting in a loss of signal for our over the air viewers.

We have been unable to regain power to date, due to complications caused by the age of the transmitter. As a result, we have been working to find rare replacement parts as well as working to re-fabricate damaged parts.

Please be assured that NYC Media Group is making every effort and exploring every avenue to regain power as soon as possible and to retain carriage on a consistent basis.

 

[DToTheJ]

Early Saturday, December 8, NYC Media Group’s analog television transmitter at the Empire State Building lost power, resulting in a loss of signal for our over the air viewers.

Please be assured that NYC Media Group is making every effort and exploring every avenue to regain power as soon as possible and to retain carriage on a consistent basis.

But what's the point to do all those restorations if it'll only be good for one year, tops?

 

[dhett]

Early Saturday, December 8, NYC Media Group’s analog television transmitter at the Empire State Building lost power, resulting in a loss of signal for our over the air viewers.

Please be assured that NYC Media Group is making every effort and exploring every avenue to regain power as soon as possible and to retain carriage on a consistent basis.

But what's the point to do all those restorations if it'll only be good for one year, tops?

Exactly. A lot of stations experiencing transmitter problems have just filed STAs with the FCC to go digital-only, saying it wasn't worth it to fix the problem for a year, and WNYE chose channel 24 as their final DTV channel, meaning they'll be surrendering the channel 25 license anyway. How long until WNYE requests to do that? Alternatively, they may request to put a low-power transmitter in service under STA, just as KGFE did in Grand Forks, North Dakota, when their transmission facilities were damaged by ice and water.

 

[fybush]

I'm told that the WNYE-DT full-power facility at 4 Times Square is now built out and on the air. I forgot to bring my DTV tuner down with me this week, so I can't check this from my usual listening/viewing post in Suffern (Rockland County). I do note, however, that WNYE's channel on the local Cablevision system (the "Ramapo" system) is dark, so I guess Cablevision was getting WNYE analog OTA. I'm surprised they didn't have some sort of fiber feed.

 

[ansky212]

I have confirmed from Jersey City that WNYE-DT is on the air. 25-1 is the same as the analog feed, 25-2 is showing traffic cameras.

 

[DToTheJ]

25-2 is showing traffic cameras.

25-2 is likely the "City Drive Live" channel that is carried on Channel 72 on Cablevision in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

 

[neo11]

25's analog signal finally seems to have returned. I first caught it yesterday evening but it may have come back on earlier in the week.

 

[neo11]

And just like that, they're off the air again. I don't care if analog is being switched off in a little over a year, this is pretty pathetic for a station in market #1.