Eight CBS-owned The CW affiliates to become independent stations in September 2023

[RONZ]

The bottom line is, if a broadcaster thought it would have been profitable to bring an additional station to a tiny market like Alpena, they would have done so already. No one petitioned for an addition to the table of allotments for the post-repack auction, no one applied for a new LPTV license when the window to do so was last open, and no one attempted to 30 mile hop an existing LPTV station to the area when the rules weren't as strict as they are now, instead they did the opposite and left Alpena:

If it was worth it for an additional station, WBKB's owner wouldn't have sold what was W18BT to TBN in 2000, who a decade later offloaded it along with most of their other LPTV signals to Digital Networks/Luken who was in the process of 30 mile hopping it from Alpena to Flint before losing the license for not actually being on air, and WFQX wouldn't have surrendered their Alpena translator W31BO back in 2005. If WFQX thought it was worth it to keep that translator and flashcut it to digital, Alpena would already have both FOX and CW+ in HD OTA along with a bunch of the Scripps networks.

Alpena does not have the commercial market to support many TV stations but I wanted to clear a couple things up
1. The low power ch 31 was replaced with the ch 45 Vanderbilt high power transmitter. You can argue that this does not cover the market and I would agree. However from a commercial standpoint it made sense to move the station to Vanderbilt.
2. Regardless of WBKB carrying the big 4 networks The cable system carries both Traverse City and WBKB which extends beyond the city.


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[KyL416]

1. The low power ch 31 was replaced with the ch 45 Vanderbilt high power transmitter. You can argue that this does not cover the market and I would agree. However from a commercial standpoint it made sense to move the station to Vanderbilt.

The Alpena translator did not move to Vanderbilt. WFQX's Vanderbilt satellite station predates W31BO by 5 years:

45 is the seperately licensed WFUP who first filed for their original construction permit and their license to cover in 1992 as WGKU when WFQX was still WGKI.
2 years later, W31BO Alpena first filed for their original construction permit in 1994 and didn't file for their license to cover until 1997, they renewed it in 1998, but their license was automatically cancelled in 2005 after they didn't file for a renewal.

 

[Mr Tony]

2. Regardless of WBKB carrying the big 4 networks The cable system carries both Traverse City and WBKB which extends beyond the city.

Spectrum in Alpena says otherwise. They do carry 2 FOX stations but otherwise its just Alpena locals

 

[Justin Hill]

If I worked in both marketing and broadcast engineering for Nexstar Media, after holding a meeting with the FCC to get the okay to use virtual channel 37, I'd change the name of "The CW" to "Nexstar 37" with plans to re-map all the Nexstar CW O&O stations to virtual channel 37 (a virtual channel assignment that still remains mostly unused in the United States, only RF channel 37 remains off limits to broadcasters, as it is being used for radio astronomy, that's not the case with its virtual channel assignment, which is currently being used by a NewsNet affiliate in New York City.), while each station is allowed to keep their RF channels (which are located either located on either VHF 2-13 or UHF 14-36)...this would be similar to how Mexico's Azteca 13 became Azteca Uno after moving all of their stations from virtual channel 13 to virtual channel 1 while retaining their original RF channel assignments for each station...

 

[KyL416]

That's not going to happen. The ATSC rules that the USA adopted require all full power stations to use their former analog number, with some exceptions where early on some stations were able to use their digital number if there wasn't a conflict, along with cases where due to spectrum sharing there are new overlaps that didn't exist when they had a standalone signal.

Mexico didn't adopt that portion of the ATSC rules, and most of their cities are scattered with only limited TV service in those in between areas, so they were able align virtual numbers nationally, except for the cities that border the USA like Tijuana and Juarez. Foro and adn40 are also limited to subchannels of Estrellas and Azteca Uno outside of Mexico City.

 

[Justin Hill]

That's not going to happen.

Yes. I know that.

 

[Justin Hill]

The bottom line is, if a broadcaster thought it would have been profitable to bring an additional station to a tiny market like Alpena, they would have done so already. No one petitioned for an addition to the table of allotments for the post-repack auction, no one applied for a new LPTV license when the window to do so was last open, and no one attempted to 30 mile hop an existing LPTV station to the area when the rules weren't as strict as they are now, instead they did the opposite and left Alpena:

If it was worth it for an additional station, WBKB's owner wouldn't have sold what was W18BT to TBN in 2000, who a decade later offloaded it along with most of their other LPTV signals to Digital Networks/Luken who was in the process of 30 mile hopping it from Alpena to Flint before losing the license for not actually being on air, and WFQX wouldn't have surrendered their Alpena translator W31BO back in 2005. If WFQX thought it was worth it to keep that translator and flashcut it to digital, Alpena would already have both FOX and CW+ in HD OTA along with a bunch of the Scripps networks.

I guess that settles it...
The distribution of channels in Alpena is limited to just one public television station (channel 6) and just one commercial television station (channel 11). The problem is with the subchannels, since they can't add too many subchannels without sacrificing the quality of the limited spectrum when doing so, not to mention the costs involved.

I guess WBKB-TV 11's subchannels will continue to be limited to:
11.1 - CBS
11.2 - NBC
11.3 - ABC
11.4 - Fox (primary), MyNetworkTV (secondary)

...while CW+ is available either through cable TV in Alpena via cable-exclusive "WBAE" or from a CW-affiliated network in an adjacent market, like Detroit, Lansing or Traverse City.

I've seen channels in many broadcast markets have upwards of 10 or more subchannels, but I guess that's not feasible in this market...

 

[KyL416]

The stations that do 10 are mostly carrying lesser networks that aren't too bandwidth demanding. You can't really do that if you are carrying all 4 major networks that on most weekends are airing sports at the same time.

Like here we have a 10 subchannel spectrum share, but the 3 HD channels are a tertiary PBS station, a local religious channel, and an independent station that mostly shows newscasts, Judge Judy, infomercials and church services.

 

[Justin Hill]

The stations that do 10 are mostly carrying lesser networks that aren't too bandwidth demanding. You can't really do that if you are carrying all 4 major networks that on most weekends are airing sports at the same time.

Like here we have a 10 subchannel spectrum share, but the 3 HD channels are a tertiary PBS station, a local religious channel, and an independent station that mostly shows newscasts, Judge Judy, infomercials and church services.

Understandable.

 

[RONZ]

The Alpena translator did not move to Vanderbilt. WFQX's Vanderbilt satellite station predates W31BO by 5 years:

45 is the seperately licensed WFUP who first filed for their original construction permit and their license to cover in 1992 as WGKU when WFQX was still WGKI.
2 years later, W31BO Alpena first filed for their original construction permit in 1994 and didn't file for their license to cover until 1997, they renewed it in 1998, but their license was automatically cancelled in 2005 after they didn't file for a renewal.

I agree with what you are saying but once the station was sold the new owners 9/10 did not see a need for the station. Ch 45 was in the range of their microwave link which feeds 10. W31BO in general had a lot of transmission issues and really did not serve the area well.

 

[RONZ]

Spectrum in Alpena says otherwise. They do carry 2 FOX stations but otherwise its just Alpena locals

Looking at their streaming services now I see both TC and Alpena channels on Roku. Not sure where you’re getting your info from. I have a place in this market


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[KyL416]

but once the station was sold the new owners 9/10 did not see a need for the station. Ch 45 was in the range of their microwave link which feeds 10.

The owners of 9/10 didn't purchase WFQX/WFUP until 2007, 2 years after channel 31's license was automatically cancelled. It was likely off air for longer than that because in 2000 they got a CP to move to RF 32 (many LPTV stations filed to change RF numbers around that time because of potential interference from transitional DTV signals), but that CP expired in 2003 without them ever filing for an extension.

 

[RONZ]

The owners of 9/10 didn't purchase WFQX/WFUP until 2007, 2 years after channel 31's license was automatically cancelled. It was likely off air for longer than that because in 2000 they got a CP to move to RF 32 (many LPTV stations filed to change RF numbers around that time because of potential interference from transitional DTV signals), but that CP expired in 2003 without them ever filing for an extension.

Honestly being in that area since 1985 I do not remember it being on the air. Though it was ID on Fox 33 back then. Today the main channels you get with 30 feet tower is ch 11, ch 6 and ch 4 when conditions are good. Remember ch 45 analog was on the air a while before 9/10 bought it out. Then that happened fox 33 dropped most of the low power stations in the LP. I have also noticed that the FCC data base is not that accurate It currently says WURO is on the air which shut down over three years ago. With the collage moving out and the power cut off the station is off the air.


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[Mr Tony]

Looking at their streaming services now I see both TC and Alpena channels on Roku. Not sure where you’re getting your info from. I have a place in this market


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zap2it for Alpena only shows FOX out of market. The rest are the Alpena stations

 

[Justin Hill]

I have recently found out that KASW 61 in Phoenix, Arizona became an independent station and now The CW shares space with Antenna TV on KNXV-TV 15.2. There's now four independent stations in Phoenix, Arizona, including KTVK 3, KAZT-TV 7, KPHE-TV 44 and KASW 61.

 

[Mr Tony]

I have recently found out that KASW 61 in Phoenix, Arizona became an independent station and now The CW shares space with Antenna TV on KNXV-TV 15.2. There's now four independent stations in Phoenix, Arizona, including KTVK 3, KAZT-TV 7, KPHE-TV 44 and KASW 61.

That has to do with the Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey being on OTA TV. They were on 15-2 but that is SD only so they got moved to 61 (also to be shown on satellite as Dish nor Directv carried 15-2 but carries 61)

 

[Justin Hill]

That has to do with the Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey being on OTA TV. They were on 15-2 but that is SD only so they got moved to 61 (also to be shown on satellite as Dish nor Directv carried 15-2 but carries 61)

That scenario somewhat reminds me of the 1994-1996 network affiliation realignment that was sparked during the analog age when Fox outbid CBS for the rights to air the NFL's NFC division football games, prompting many former NBC, CBS and ABC on various historical VHF channel positions dating back to the 1940s and 1950s (2-13) in various NFC division markets (plus Kansas City, their only AFC market involved in the deal) to switch to Fox, causing the aforementioned big three stations to move to the less-than-desirable UHF channel positions (14-36 & 38-69) that were vacated by Fox or another network in the same market.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I would think full powered KONG 16 in Seattle would be a good candidate for a new CW.

So, Seattle has KING and KONG? There has to be a joke in there somewhere..

 

[Bruce]

So, Seattle has KING and KONG? There has to be a joke in there somewhere..

 

[Mr Tony]

So, Seattle has KING and KONG? There has to be a joke in there somewhere..

well they are co-owned so that helps
But when it was applied for it had a complaint from KING
When it went on the air KING did had a local market agreement to help out even though it was owned by someone else. Belo bought it in 2000.
The KONG call letters were retained as a tongue-in-cheek reference to King Kong, which made both stations easily marketable together.