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KRS-81-86 and KRW-67

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

I am, for lack of a better term, intrigued about this collection of stations, which is based in the Westchester/New York City area. They call themselves "Instructional Television/Archdiocese Of New York" and their legal ID is "KRS 81-86 and KRW-67". They have been carried on Cablevision for years (during off-air hours, they air EWTN in its place).

Here is my question: Exactly what method is used to deliver the transmissions of these stations' signals? I imagine they're not analog channels. Yet, I recall many years ago in a Catholic school, a teacher had hooked up the television and the class had watched a couple of instructional programs on one of these channels.

Additionally, there are only a few search results on Google for these call letters, one of them belonging to the FCC's website:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Applications/ap961028.txt

Scrolling down a bit to the part titled, "Instructional TV Fixed Applications For License Or License Modification Accepted For Filing," there are entries for KRW-67, Loomis, NY; KRS-81 and KRS-82, both in New York, NY; KRS-84, Haverstraw, NY; KRS-85, Beacon, NY; and KRS-86, Rhinecliff, NY.

In addition to the transmission question posed above, I would also like to know:

1. Which of these channels' signals is carried by Cablevision
2. If the whole "KRS 81-86" thing is what inspired the rapper from Boogie Down Productions to call himself "KRS-One"
3. Where's KRS-83?
 
These are (or at least used to be) "ITFS" (Instructional Television Fixed Service) channels, operating up in the 2 GHz range. They're not licensed as broadcast stations, exactly - the ITFS service was meant to deliver instructional programming from a central location to a number of schools, for instance, in the days before inexpensive VCRs and DVD players and streaming video made the service somewhat obsolete.

The FCC allowed existing ITFS licenses to use their transmission capacity for other purposes - eventually, some were leased out to "wireless cable" operators, for instance.

There's a good history here: http://www.nebsa.org/about_itfs.htm

The service was originally analog, but most ITFS licensees now use digital compression. I don't know whether the Archdiocese services are analog or digital.
 
Interesting, definitely puts things in perspective - and from who else but one of the resident tech experts here on the forum. Thanks!
 
As far as KRS-83 goes, it definitely still exists. I found its license right along with all the rest of them in the FCC's ULS.

Why it's not in that link you provided is beyond me.

- Trip
 
Wow, that is weird. I Googled "KRS-83" and got mixed results, so I added "KRW-67" as an additional search term, and... nothing. I'll take your word for it though, Trip.

Would you happen to know what cit KRS-83 is licensed to?
 
tripinva said:
As far as KRS-83 goes, it definitely still exists. I found its license right along with all the rest of them in the FCC's ULS.

Why it's not in that link you provided is beyond me.

- Trip
Click to expand...

The link he provided listed stations that were modifying their license. I would presume they were happy with KRS-83 the way it was & didn't need to make any modifications.

Where did you find those in ULS? I dug around for them yesterday & didn't have much luck. It appears the ITFS service has been renamed?

(it would have been a lot easier to find if they'd left them in the Media Bureau!)
 
Do a license search by callsign for KRS83 (no hyphen) and it'll be the first result.

- Trip
 
I attended Catholic grammar school in the South Bronx during the 1980s, and I remember watching ITV very fondly (er, not really). What I remember is they programmed two channels, each with a different schedule. I think channel 10 was the KRS 81-86 signal, and KRW-67 was on channel 12. We watched it for those instructional shows that WNET and WNYE-TV also carried. But those two secular PBS stations were no-nos in the Catholic schools. Also, the daily Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral is aired by ITV, as well as lots of Catholic programs during non-school hours.

When I was younger, I always wondered why I was never able to see these stations at home. What I understood later on was that the Archdiocese of New York transmitted these channels from St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers via closed-circuit carrier.

When Cablevision finally came to the Bronx in 1994, ITV shared a "religious composite" channel with EWTN and TBN. I haven't seen the channel since I lasted lived in the Bronx in 2002, but I think ITV now has its own dedicated channel on Cablevision.
 
Indeed it does, on Channel 30; previously, it was on Channel 59 until they revamped their channel lineup years ago. When it was on Channel 59, I believe it did have its own signal all to itself; now, when ITV is "off the air," EWTN is beamed onto Channel 30.
 
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