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Why can't Austin have more DTV selections?

J

jras20

Last I went through my HDTV, 54 took off cooltv? It seems it's only Spanish and if your into PBS stuff. Heck even Victoria has better TV selections. They have Antenna TV, This TV plus all the networks.
 
Austin does have This TV via KCWX 2.2. But you're on the wrong side of Austin to pick them up.
Austin doesn't need as many digital subchannels since KXAN has full power KNVA and KBVO to program.
Fox is supposed to launch some kind of movie channel on 7.2 soon. Stay tuned for that.
 
And LIN has said it's looking for replacement programming for The Cool TV. Some of the honchos at LIN don't think TCT is long for this world, anyway.

But as far as KCWX is concerned, I'd love to know where in the Austin area their signal can be seen.
 
I can pick it up near Brodie and Wm Cannon. But you need to aim your antenna at it.
I have three antennnas ... West Lake Hills, KCWX and Elmendorf (San Antonio) and I use a simple 3-way splitter installed backward to join all the signals together. No rotator necessary and all channels are available on all TVs at any time.
 
I'm about 30 miles southwest of Austin, I have a antenna for back up in case Direct TV goes out, I have my antenna up in the attic and got it pointed to San antonio, I can pick up all of San antonio and Austin with it.
 
KCWX does have CPs for low-power digital facilities in the immediate Austin and San Antonio areas. Will be on digital channel 8 in both cities, but map to 2.1.

Not sure how the MyNetwork TV affiliation will work out since KBVO is the MyNet affiliate for Austin. My humble guess is that KBVO might agree to let KCWX be the exclusive MyNet affiliate for Austin and KBVO go independent.
 
KCWX's full-power transmitter is on RF 5, so you'd need a VHF-Lo-capable antenna to pick it up. 30 mi SW of Austin is right on their fringe, so you'd need a very good VHF-Lo antenna pointed at their transmitter near Fredericksburg.

The LP translators will be (are?) on RF 8 which is VHF-Hi, but they're probably both out of the question for your location. Check TVFool.com to make sure though.
 
KBVO changed its branding a while back from MyAustinTV to just the KBVO call letters, so I wouldn't be shocked if they dump MyNetworkTV. Either way, the station's ratings are pretty much nonexistent. They have no measurable audience for a good portion of the day, even though they have some good programming that does pretty well in other cities, like "Seinfeld" and "Family Guy."
 
If the networks would go back to the old model where they paid the stations to carry them there would be all kinds of channels out there.
 
I'm surprised no one has signed on low power digital TV station in Austin and put those channels on the digital subchannels like such Me-TV, Antenna TV, Cozi TV,etc. Wichita,KS is ahead of Austin with 3 LPTV stations with a wide variety of programming on their subchannels. Maybe some of these markets can learn some lessons from them. Here are the sites if you want to check them out.

www.wichitachannels.com
www.kctu.com
 
What Wichita is doing with KCTU, KGPT, and KSMI is amazing. Over a dozen SD networks, most of general interest, in a TV market with fewer than a million potential viewers. It's a model that could and should be replicated in many markets, not just Austin.

Even in DFW we only get seven of those (though to be fair, we get a couple of the Spanish ones in HD: Azteca and MundoFox). I wish someone could buy KODF, KHPK, and/or KJJM from Mako and use them for some of those other networks.
 
Programming costs money.
The bigger the market the more the programmers charge.
There's also music rights and such.
It may be cheaper to pull off in a small market.
 
I'm sure it's cheaper to air programming in a smaller market, but there's also correspondingly less opportunity for ad revenue. Unless programming costs are completely out of proportion to market size, I'd think the opportunity for at least modest profits is higher in the larger markets.
 
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