Will Analog LPTV EVER go away?

[arnoldevns]

LPTV stations will be quite happy to go digitial. Here's why:
1. Most people who get over the air reception have just gone to considerable trouble to switch to DTV. If you're analog, they're not going to watch you.
2. If you're digital, you can put 5 signals on one channel with far less power than you're using now.
3. If people can get your signal in digital, you can easily look as good as a full power station. No more snowy picture.

A good example is here in the DFW area where several LPTV stations have flipped to digital. I was never able to get good reception of these stations at my home in the northern part of the metro area. Now I can get most of them with a picture that's as good as any of the full power stations. It's made them a viable viewing option if they offer programming that's worth watching.

 

[willcail]

Al Timiter,

Yes WGCT-CA VHF 8 is still on the air and continuing broadcasting at 83 watts. They do have an application to broadcast digitally at 0.3 KW ERP or a whopping 300 watts.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WGCT-CA

 

[dhett]

Yes WGCT-CA VHF 8 is still on the air and continuing broadcasting at 83 watts. They do have an application to broadcast digitally at 0.3 KW ERP or a whopping 300 watts.

That's all a digital LP VHF station gets - 300 watts - vs. 15 kW for a UHF station. Still, I think you'll find it more than adequate. Where their current 83 watts analog is barely enough to cover downtown Columbus, the 300 watts digital should cover most, if not all, of Franklin County, provided you have line-of-sight to the tower (i.e., no terrain blockage).

FCC predicted contour: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DC1260736.html

 

[vchimpanzee]

3. If people can get your signal in digital, you can easily look as good as a full power station. No more snowy picture.

Right. Now it pixilates (if you're lucky) if you have the least interference. And the sound goes away too when that happens.

 

[willcail]

I'm glad that WDEM broadcast on the UHF band.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

We have two general entertainment secular LPTVers in this market.

One is "The Cat", a duo comprised of WAOH-LP 29 Akron/W35AX Cleveland, owned by the same people who own Akron market talk station WNIR/100.1 Kent. They run a pretty typical mix of one or more of the networks that serve LPTVers (America One/UATV/whatever it's called now) with a smattering of local programming, mostly low-rent TV talk shows about sports, etc. - and some brokered local programming. (Much of this programming has landed on Multicultural Broadcasting informercial outlet WOAC/67 Canton, though it'll go away when WOAC is sold to religious broadcaster TCT.)

Unless it happened since the last time I looked, WAOH/W35AX have not filed for any digital facilities. It's my best guess that they hope to continue to live on cable carriage - they show up on Time Warner Cable's analog 14 in Akron, and in Kent, though they haven't managed to show up on TWC's Cleveland-based system yet.

29 and 35 are both Class A outlets, despite the call letters.

The other operation is Canton-based WIVM-LP/52 and its southern simulcaster, WIVN-LP/29 Newcomerstown, aimed at the Dover/New Philadelphia area. They air similar programmiing to "The Cat", but have a little more local programming - including a TV simulcast of NextMedia talk WHBC/1480's morning drive show.

While Image Video hasn't filed for a digital facility in Canton, they have filed for one out of Newcomerstown - and recently applied to move that proposed stick closer to Dover/New Philly. They have also recently bought some LPTV/translators from Ohio State University in places like Loudonville, and there's a digital app or two floating around there as well.

 

[willcail]

GTN 23 is this other semi-secular LPTV in Columbus. They do air Star Trek TOS and Lost reruns. Quite surprise that a LPTV have the second run syndication Columbus Ohio rights to Lost.

If a LPTV secular entertainment station(s) offers an webstream I usually bookmark them via Winamp.