What's wrong with this story? Central TX PBS station says it can't afford repack move

[joebtsflk1]

Apologies for quoting from another thread, but the story below caught my eye. KNCT is going dark supposedly because it can't afford the cost to change channels (a total of $5.4 million, including the cost of a new tower) with the upcoming repack

Two station shutdowns to report, first in Texas:
http://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/local-pbs-station-knct-going-dark-soon/500-524275867

And in Quebec:
http://blog.fagstein.com/2018/03/09/mnd-budget-ckrn-bad-blood/

I thought stations affected by the repack were going to see money from the FCC repack fund. Am I missing something here? I can appreciate KNCT ceasing operations as an independent entity because of operating losses, but why not donate your license to a neighboring PBS station if that's the case?

 

[Ccook55]

That would make sense since Tampa’s WEDU acquired WUSF’s license and is operating on one of its subs as WEDQ. Waco’s other PBS station, WAMU (College Station COL), should look into it.

 

[itsTheRolyPoly]

That would make sense since Tampa’s WEDU acquired WUSF’s license and is operating on one of its subs as WEDQ. Waco’s other PBS station, WAMU (College Station COL), should look into it.

WEDQ is on 3.4

* KAMU-TV 12 and yeah they should. But I have a feeling that Waco will see PBS on cable only and not come back to OTA again unless KERA or KLRU or even KAMU set up a low-power digital translator for Waco so that at least somewhat PBS programming is served there OTA.

 

[tripinva]

I thought stations affected by the repack were going to see money from the FCC repack fund. Am I missing something here? I can appreciate KNCT ceasing operations as an independent entity because of operating losses, but why not donate your license to a neighboring PBS station if that's the case?

The part you're missing is that it's an excuse to blame someone else (the FCC) for unrelated issues that are actually causing this situation. The repack will be paid for; the FCC has only allocated 62% of expenses right now, but will be making additional allocations to cover the rest, so the statement about only 60% being covered is disingenuous at best. The fact that the station is losing large amounts of money is being glossed over is better reflected in this article:

http://kdhnews.com/news/education/e...cle_a6913bfc-1f36-11e8-bcc7-6b3a272b23ff.html

And I agree, someone else, preferably KAMU, should take over the transmitter and operate it as a satellite station serving the Waco/Temple area.

- Trip

 

[Ccook55]

* KAMU-TV 12

My bad. It's KAMU. I forgot they're on the other side of the Big Muddy.

 

[ixnay]

You mean "repack" is the term for a station changing channels/frequencies? I never saw that term before. You learn something new every day.

ixnay