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Largest US city without OTA Network reception?
- Thread starter Smittian
- Start date
What about Cuba? A good outdoor antenna should easily be able to pull in signals from Havana.
Smittian said:
Um, having been to San Antonio, I'm pretty sure they have network affiliates, (especially since WOAI is headquartered in Downtown). Amarillo has had all major networks as long as I've lived in West Texas, and that's going back 10 years.
So what criteria are you using exactly? Can you please clearify?
Garrett said:
This is not about San Antonio not having network affiliates.
This is about DEL RIO,TEXAS. A city of 37,000 residents that may be the largest US city where no major networks are available over-the-air due to the fact that Del Rio is 154 miles from San Angelo, 156 miles from San Antonio and 179 miles from Laredo
Garrett said:
You misread the post, Garrett. He's stating the distance from Del Rio to those cities to prove that Del Rio receives no TV from outside markets.
It's not larger than Del Rio, Texas, but Nogales, Arizona will not have OTA American network service after the DTV transition. Only Tucson's Fox affiliate KMSB serves Nogales now from facilities in the Santa Rita mountains between Tucson and Nogales, but their digital facilities are on Mt. Bigelow northeast of Tucson. TV signals from Mt. Bigelow are blocked by the Santa Rita mountains. The only reason analog KMSB is in the Santa Rita mtns is that the station was licensed to Nogales before 1991.
Like Del Rio, Nogales has no LPTV translators operating in the are, but gets ample Mexican network OTA TV service from stations across the border.
I think Cumberland MD comes pretty close to being a sizable city (about 30,000) which has virtually no OTA reception. I believe WJAC/6 from Johnstown PA and 10 from Altoona may be barely recievable there, but just barely. Cumberland recieves most of it's broadcast TV via cable and satelite from Washington DC, over 150 miles away (Cumberland is in the DC DMA) and has no local translators. Cumberland had two tv channel allocations, but no ever one bothered to put them on the air.
fortmill said:
Cumberland, MD actually can pick up the local Hagerstown, MD stations OTA quite well ( WHAG, WJAL, WWPX and Maryland Public TV ). Actually for years Cumberland was WHAG's bread and butter since so many of their ads came from the Cumberland area despite WHAG being a Hagerstown channel. However within the last 10 years or so, that has changed thanks to Frederick, Maryland. Despite Frederick being able to recieve TV OTA without any trouble from three seperate markets, WHAG has been marketing their stations as a "Frederick, MD" station and less with Cumberland mainly due to the economy in those two cities ( Frederick-booming while Cumberland has been in severe recession for years ).
Not sure how good the Cumberland area can pick up the Pittsburgh and Clarksburg-Fairmont channels OTA but I do know that for the longest time their local paper used to publish listings for Pittsbugh's KDKA, WTAE and WPGH and Clarksburg's WBOY and WDTV in their TV listings. Come to think of it, as of last year they still did.
Having visited many parts of the country with a portable TV, I can tell you it's nearly impossible to find a decent-sized city without network OTA reception. Key West stands out. When I visited many years ago, they had no translators. But it's not really a television-watching town.
I haven't visited Texas border towns outside of Brownsville, but I anticipate a majority of the population prefers to watch spanish-language stations.
I really can't think of any other cities larger than 15k outside OTA reception areas. Most cities caught in between markets (like Salina - Wichita and Topeka) at least have translators.
I haven't visited Texas border towns outside of Brownsville, but I anticipate a majority of the population prefers to watch spanish-language stations.
I really can't think of any other cities larger than 15k outside OTA reception areas. Most cities caught in between markets (like Salina - Wichita and Topeka) at least have translators.
Ithaca, NY...Without students (Cornell, Ithaca College) it's population is about 30,000...With students, a good 50,000 at least. If you live in the valley (the bulk of the city), you won't get a thing, even with a roof antenna. And it is only about 50 miles from 3 VHF's in Syracuse and one in Binghamton.
I am not counting a ch. 7 repeater that WENY-Elmira ch. 36 might still operate.
That's why Ithaca got a cable system, rumored, as early as 1949.
I am not counting a ch. 7 repeater that WENY-Elmira ch. 36 might still operate.
That's why Ithaca got a cable system, rumored, as early as 1949.
Yes, WNYI channel 52. Owned by Equity and licensed to Ithaca. It's a full-service station, but it operates at low power, 26 kW, serving basically the city of Ithaca and up Cayuga Lake. Supposedly started operating around Dec. 2002, so they don't have a digital companion channel at all.
They have a CP for a flea-power DTV station (15 Watts) on channel 20 that would replicate analog coverage. They haven't started construction yet, and don't anticipate doing so until year's end, yet they plan to have it up and running on 2/17/09.
Just yesterday, they filed an application for a 60 kW DTV station that would serve Syracuse from a transmitter to be located near the US20/I-81 interchange. How that would continue to serve Ithaca (due to terrain), I don't know, but it's supposed to serve the area roughly from Ithaca to Pulaski, Geneva to Oneida.
They have a CP for a flea-power DTV station (15 Watts) on channel 20 that would replicate analog coverage. They haven't started construction yet, and don't anticipate doing so until year's end, yet they plan to have it up and running on 2/17/09.
Just yesterday, they filed an application for a 60 kW DTV station that would serve Syracuse from a transmitter to be located near the US20/I-81 interchange. How that would continue to serve Ithaca (due to terrain), I don't know, but it's supposed to serve the area roughly from Ithaca to Pulaski, Geneva to Oneida.
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