What will Local Six call itself after 2/17/2009

[wpio]

I'm guessing that their brand is so embedded that they'll always call themselves "Local Six."

Or, are there plans to drop that "brand." And go for something new?

 

[cflradio]

What is going to happen on 2/17/09?

 

[fybush]

I'm guessing that their brand is so embedded that they'll always call themselves "Local Six."

Or, are there plans to drop that "brand." And go for something new?

Why would they change the brand? They'll still appear on "channel 6" regardless of what the underlying RF channel might be after that.

 

[w9wi]

I'm guessing that their brand is so embedded that they'll always call themselves "Local Six."

Or, are there plans to drop that "brand." And go for something new?

I'm sure if they have plans to drop that brand, they aren't going to tell anyone who's going to post it here...

But if they do change it will have nothing to do with the DTV transition. If you punch "06" to watch this station today, you'll still be punching "06" to watch it on Feb. 19th.

Today, to watch the station, you don't punch "83.25 video 87.75 audio" - you punch "06". The manufacturer programmed your TV with a lookup table that says "OK, the human punched 06, he wants me to tune to 83.25MHz/87.75MHz."*

When things go digital, the only difference is that the station - not the manufacturer - programs the lookup table. When you punch "06", the TV will look up "06" in the lookup table - and will tune the TV to 542.31MHz.

You don't have to deal with that MHz stuff in either case -- analog or digital, the TV will convert 06 for you.

The only way I can see the transition affecting a station's brand is if they choose to begin HD local news at the same time - in which case I can see them mentioning HD in the brand. "Local Six in HD", something like that. But I think the chances of that perfectly coinciding with 2/17/2009 are pretty small.

* sorry about anthropomizing your TV.....

 

[wpio]

The thinking was that using your assigned channel in your brand name might be an issue when your assigned channel changes. "Local 26?" would keep it logical, truthful, and meaningful.

When call letters change, you don't continue (nor legally can you) to market yourself using the old call letters.

By the same token, saying you're (if only implying) you're "channel 6" when you're really "channel 26" is a little deceptive.

FM's have channel numbers, and old radios show channel numbers. If FM had followed the tradition of TV and marked itself by channel number, you wouldn't have someone else's channel number in your brand.

 

[fybush]

The thinking was that using your assigned channel in your brand name might be an issue when your assigned channel changes. "Local 26?" would keep it logical, truthful, and meaningful.

When call letters change, you don't continue (nor legally can you) to market yourself using the old call letters.

By the same token, saying you're (if only implying) you're "channel 6" when you're really "channel 26" is a little deceptive.

FM's have channel numbers, and old radios show channel numbers. If FM had followed the tradition of TV and marked itself by channel number, you wouldn't have someone else's channel number in your brand.

And I'm thinking you may not understand how "channel mapping" works in the ATSC standard for digital TV approved for use in the US.

Under the new standard, stations are not only allowed to, but are in fact legally REQUIRED to, use their former analog channel number as their virtual channel number for their DTV signal. Stations transmit a data stream ("PSIP") that tells receivers how to map received signals to virtual channel numbers.

When you turn on your DTV (or converter box) in Orlando, once it's done a channel scan, all you'll see on WKMG-DT is "6.1." The fact that it's transmitting on a 6 MHz block of UHF spectrum that was "channel 26" in the analog days is of interest only for allocations purposes (not a branding issue) and for antenna-selection purposes (a low-band VHF yagi won't do much good at 550 MHz.)

It's no more deceptive than having my digital cable box tell me I'm watching "channel 49" when it's really tuned to a QAM signal somewhere up above 700 MHz.

 

[wpio]

For sure, this is a bit of an education.

Putting what you're saying another way; the frequency/the channel that the signal is transmitted at, is of no significance to the DTV receiver. 2,6.9 and 35 will continue to conduct business as though they are still using those channels (based on what you're posting)

I believe your also saying that the converter box, or DTV ready TV, allow you to assign the stations to any number you wish for display purposes.

Thanks for the explanations.

 

[w9wi]

For sure, this is a bit of an education.

Putting what you're saying another way; the frequency/the channel that the signal is transmitted at, is of no significance to the DTV receiver. 2,6.9 and 35 will continue to conduct business as though they are still using those channels (based on what you're posting)

I think I can safely put words in Scott's mouth on this subject

I wouldn't say that the frequency the signal is transmitted at is of no significance to the receiver, but it's of no significance to the viewer. Yes, channels 2, 6, 9, and 35 (and all the rest) will continue to conduct business as if they're still using those channels. Because the viewer who wants to watch WESH/NBC will still punch "2" on his HDTV/converter box; the viewer who wants to watch WOFL/Fox will still punch "35". The only difference is that instead of "2" causing the TV to tune to 55.25Mhz, after February it will cause the TV to tune to 198.31MHz. 99.99% of WESH's viewers don't know (or care) they're watching 55.25Mhz now, and they won't know (or care) that they're watching 198.31MHz next March. As long as punching "2" on the remote gets "The Office", they'll be happy.

I believe your also saying that the converter box, or DTV ready TV, allow you to assign the stations to any number you wish for display purposes.

It doesn't allow you to assign any number but it does, from a technical standpoint, allow the station to assign any number.

In practice, FCC rules require stations to assign specific numbers, usually the same number as the station's existing analog signal.

If WESH wanted to, it could program its encoder to cause the station to come up as channel 5, or channel 37, or channel 64. It would work fine. But the FCC requires them to program it to come up as channel 2. That way, they don't have to worry about more than one station choosing to assign themselves the same number.

 

[fybush]

I concur with Doug's explanation, as he knew I would.

I'd add only this: for less than you'll spend on your next tank of gas, you can experience channel mapping and all the other interesting aspects of the DTV transition firsthand. Simply go to dtv2009.gov or call 888-DTV-2009 and get your $40 off coupon, then go to your local electronics retailer and pick up a converter box. Personally, I like the Zenith DTT901 (sold under the Insignia brand name at Best Buy) - it'll cost about $60 before the coupon.

Plug in an antenna and play with the box yourself - you'll see pretty quickly how channel mapping makes the whole transition FAR more transparent and less confusing to the average consumer than it would be without mapping. (And depending on the box you buy, you can usually bring up a screen in the menus that will tell you what channels are being mapped to where, just in case you REALLY have to know.)

(This is especially true in markets where the transition requires more shuffling of channels than it will in Orlando; consider what happens in Baltimore, where WJZ-TV 13 now operates WJZ-DT on 38, and WMAR-TV 2 now operates WMAR-DT on 52. WMAR can't keep 52, which will be outside the core spectrum after February, and it doesn't want to stay on 2 because of the issues associated with low-band VHF channels and DTV. WJZ, meanwhile, will move its digital transmitter to channel 13 in February. So WMAR-DT will move from 52 to 38, taking over the current WJZ-DT transmitter. Imagine the confusion for Baltimore viewers if "channel 38" went from being WJZ to being WMAR overnight! Or imagine the confusion in Syracuse, where WCNY-TV 24 now runs WCNY-DT on 25, and WSTM-TV 3 runs WSTM-DT on 54. In February, WCNY will turn off its analog signal on 24, and WSTM-DT will move to that channel. This way, WCNY keeps its familiar "24" branding and WSTM its familiar "3" branding, and there's no confusion with having "24" now belong to the NBC affiliate instead of the PBS station.)

 

[kentraco]

That's all fine, but nobody's answered this yet:

Will I need new tinfoil on both rabbit ears or just the one?

 

[vadar]

I thought this was a RADIO board? Don't the TV geeks have their own little boards? ;D