MikeSFNM said:
Apart from the merits of his request, what the owner is saying is that the Houma-Thibodaux market, technically part of the New Orleans market but a good distance from it and on the fringe, is in reality an OMB Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) with no full-power television station in it. (The MSA ranks 232nd with 201,137 people, 2007 estimate by OMB.)
I think if Houma Thibodaux was a little furthur away we would have TV affliates. I know many of the stations in the Houma/Thibodaux area are being robbed for New Orleans signals
Basically in the area depending upon where you live, on rabbit ears and a DTV box, you can catch one or two of the TV stations from New Orleans or Baton Rouge (except South Terreboone parish). New Orleans sees us as a afterthought. We actually get more coverage in the Baton Rouge media than New Orleans media. Martin Folse , since his station is here, focuses here, however he worries more about Terrebonne than Lafourche Parish even though Lafourche and Terrebonne is so tied together economically and physically it ain't funny. Many have issues in telling the two parishes apart sometimes.
MikeSFNM said:
The 200,000 people in this area in Lafourche Parish (County) have no over-the-air television signal when they are evacuated or when the power goes out and their TV sets go off.
No other area except New Orleans has had a signal elsewhere to tune into when they are evacuated. We didn't see LPB rebroadcast KPLC as far as I know for Rita and Ike. They only did it for New Orleans evacuees.
When the power goes out, most portables will pickup at least one TV signal from New Orleans (usually WWL as they are one of the highest powered I find)... With Digital in 2009, I think many people in many places will be toast. Folse's TV signal is basically aimed for Terrebonne, and I'm surprised that after this time, one of the media companies haven't said, let's put a translator (direct feed), a rebroadcaster (with local inserts), or even a full power TV station.
Direct TV only had to do a few minor changes and put WDSU on basic package for Katrina and Gustav. Martin Folse from what I'm reading would have to provide a signal at his cost to California and then it still would be only considered a New Orleans tier station. meaning unless the box has a ID tracing back to New Orleans area, you could forget it. I don't think Direct or Dish would give Folse prime real estate... They never have for many of the storms that affected people outside New Orleans as far as I know.
MikeSFNM said:
At one time, in the early 1970's, there was an actual full-power TV station on VHF channel 11, KHMA. It was independent and carried mediocre programming. I think it lasted two years. The channel had been allocated in the 1960s at the request of one "St Anthony Television Corporation," if memory serves me correctly, but they never went on the air. I believe, but I am not sure, that Dave Wagenvoord may have been the principal in KHMA. Somewhere in a box around here I have a slide of their ID.
In 1984 an "MGM Inc." dba as "New Dawn" received a CP for another station on channel 11 there, assigned callsign KNHH. They did not activate the CP and attempted to sell it to GACO, but apparently the deal did not go through and the FCC refused to renew the CP in 1987 and the callsign was revoked. GACO rings a bell somewhere; I have seen the name before but do not remember where or when.
I knew about the KHMA, it was from what people have told me, sort of a station like Martin Folse is doing right now. I only found out about the second station about a year ago.
MikeSFNM said:
No one ever applied for channel 11 again until WYES, channel 12, the major PBS station in New Orleans, filed in the early 1990's for a full-power repeater there. But the FCC did not accept the application and WYES was later assigned channel 11 for digital operations.
You have me curious now about how many other MSA's of more than 100,000 people have no local, full-power, over the air television stations. It's worth looking into.
Didn't know about the WYES repeater idea, But yes I'm surprised that with Digital signals becoming questionable with the plots I've seen, that Houma/Thibodaux might not have to move over to translators like many areas with MSAs like us use to deliver TV programming. On analog, we can watch all stations, on Digital it takes better antennas but a outside antenna can catch everything currently on digital from New Orleans and most of the Baton Rouge signals where I live in Lafourche parish.
Martin Folse tries and promote himself heavily, I think some of this is a gimmick for him to get into politics like Jerry "truck" Gisclair did (owner of KLRZ-FM/KLEB/KANE) after listening and meeting with elected officials during his morning talk show that he or others host called "Talk on the Bayou"
Martin Folse actually is pushing some of this for his own thing In my own opinion as his TV station is a class A television station. He doesn't have to flip to Digital for years to come. however he has the paperwork already to flip to digital filed and permitted by the FCC (but since he is a class A he has to flip in channel not on a possible another channel like the full powers) I think he wants to flip digital as many of the DTV boxes don't do analog pass through and people without cable may forget his station unless he was on digital. However no one will be able to watch or listen if he flips digital unless they have a convertor box or cable during the storm.... proverbial catch 22
The parishes could technically buy his analog equipment and put up a public affairs channel over the air, but the cost would have to be borne by the taxpayers who wouldn't pay for that. Most parishes in the area have tie in's with city media or like some, have a network of AM translator stations broadcasting under TIS (Traveler information service) rules to provide the info by radio.
He did a service for the community, I will hand him that, however he is expecting the Terrebonne parish government to bow down to him because of it and this won't fly legal muster (as technically most of the stuff reported in the media benefits one type of for profit corporation over another and Governments are not allowed to do this.
RFLA
