WPBA is having major problems all-around

[jal41]

WPBA 30 is having a lot of problems...on and off the air lately.

First...They AIRED ANOTHER PLEDGE BREAK TWO WEEKS AFTER THE BIG NATIONAL PBS PLEDGE BREAK. Luckily, this one only lasted the weekend. (GPB had normal programming.)

During this time, the picture quality was absolutely horrible. The picture was so bright that you could not see anything. Then the storms came and they were knocked off of the air (again) for about an hour or so.

Problems with the station have been going on for the past few years. Here is some of those problems...

Last year, WPBA was off of the air for over a week after their transmitter went kaput. AFAIK, Comcast and Dish customers still were getting programming, but those with non-Comcast cable and OTA got nothing.

The PBA 30 logo bug... never goes off of the screen as long as the transmitter is running. You would think the master control operator would take it off during breaks, but no. The PBA 30 logo stays on during promos, underwriting announcements, and everything else.

The spend nothing on their promos and graphics. Up until about 3 years ago they had decent graphics, but they changed them to what they are now. When they were airing classic movies, they produced promos using 70's disco and 80's teen pop as music for 1940's and 1950's films.

And why do they have to continue to broadcast the Atlanta Board of Education meetings on WPBA when there is Educational Access cable (Channel 22 on Atlanta Comcast..guess who operates it). Who goes on with the Atlanta school board has no concern to me in Cobb County.

If you go to wpba.org, you see a brand-spanking new logo for WPBA, but it is not OTA yet. I wonder why.

Is suspect WPBA is running out of money...fast. Everyone watches GPB because of it's better channel location (OTA and Cable Channel 8) and that they air most of the same programs. However, there are a lot of programs, like Charlie Rose, that are only carried on WPBA. Back when I was in grade school (early 90's) and school librarians were taping programs (before PeachStar), they went to then GPTV. (I never saw WPBA on a classroom TV in my life).

It sounds to me that Atlanta can't support two primary PBS stations. I think GPB needs to take over WPBA and operate it as a secondary PBS. Program it seperately to the unique needs of Atlanta. Let the Atlanta school board continue to operate WABE 90.1, which is no danger yet of losing money (because they broadcast with 60's era equipment).

 

[ssnake]

At least WPBA has a digital signal up. GPB's are still in the planning stages.

Note, however, that WPBA-DT's coverage area does not replicate the analog, and they have no plans to upgrade it. I can get their analog signal in Athens, but the digital channel is relatively low powered and suffers from major co-channel interference from channel 21 in Greenville.

 

[azumanga]

At least WPBA has a digital signal up. GPB's are still in the planning stages.

I thought all GPB stations (except Cochran / Macon's WDCO) already have their digital signals on the air?

 

[ngriffin]

None of them are on. They keep applying for extensions to buy time. The legislature hasn't apprpriated funds to purchase digital transmitters and antennas. There is federal money to assist with this, but matching funds at the state or local level are required. Those of us who live in GA know that state funds have been tight for the past few years, and convincing legislators to fund millions of dollars for digital transmitters that few people can receive is tough, especially when there are critical needs in education, health care, transportation, etc. This has been the case in other states, too.

What GPTV has done to cut expenses for the project is to get almost all of their digital channels reallocated to VHF channels, which would need less expensive transmitters and have lower power costs. The only UHF stations will be Columbus and Chattsworth. The high-VHF stations should do alright, but the low-VHF stations (Pelham and Wrens) might lose some coverage. In addition, they are running the Savannah analog transmitter at low power, rather than replace it since it would be shiut down in 2009.

At one point, the equipment for digital was a part of a large statewide technology bid that the Georgia Technology Authority put out, but they were unable to find a single bidder that could supply everything from TV transmitters to office computers. That didn't work out, and the GTA has gotten out of broadcast equipment acquisition.