I have the itchies to ask my local stations owners what will happen in all this but, and I am not trying to be ugly, but I don't think they would know how to answer my question. So I'll wait to see what happens...
Incentive Auction Discussion
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I bet that if you see HD channels go SD, you'll change your tune. Even if they get the aspect ratio issues right (no window-boxing), it will be a difficult time.
It sounds like you really don't want to know.
The way I figure it, they're going to want to get the news out sooner than later as there will be a need to do occasional channel scans along the way as the Plain Dealer story suggests.
Notice how he doesn't explain that Channel 43 will be on a different frequency. Just that you will have to rescan your TV. WOIO is on digital channel 10 (VHF). WUAB is currently on digital 28 (UHF).It sounds like you really don't want to know.
The way I figure it, they're going to want to get the news out sooner than later as there will be a need to do occasional channel scans along the way as the Plain Dealer story suggests.
The general public never really wrapped their heads around the idea of PSIP data and different broadcast vs. virtual channel numbers. There is bound to be at least as much confusion around stations sharing a broadcast frequency and/or different stations sharing a virtual channel number.
So after March 30, what comes next for the stations impacted by the repack and how much time and effort is required to comply? I guess what I'm specifically wondering is, if a station is simply moving from one frequency to another in the same band (e.g. from UHF 40 to UHF 22, or from VHF 8 to VHF 7), does that require new equipment to be bought and installed by the station? Or simply for an engineer to climb the tower and make an adjustment? Or can the change all be done remotely, electronically through software?
Same question for those stations changing to a different band (e.g. from UHF to high VHF) -- based on something I read at one point, I got the impression that those stations will have to switch out equipment on their towers but I could be wrong.
Same question for those stations changing to a different band (e.g. from UHF to high VHF) -- based on something I read at one point, I got the impression that those stations will have to switch out equipment on their towers but I could be wrong.
I look forward to an answer to that. It is my understanding that parts of the transmitter will have to be changed. And to go from UHF to VHF would require a different antenna.
But details as to WHY would be most appreciated.
But details as to WHY would be most appreciated.
It isn't as simple as just changing frequency. Some will be combining with other stations and others will have to find different tower locations.
Most small frequency changes require at least an antenna modification (they get larger as the frequency decreases) and a trivial change the frequency of the transmitter. If the change is greater, they may have to change the transmitter out.
If the station has to move to a different tower, that's probably going to represent all new equipment unless the station opts to go off the air entirely for a time.
Stations that hot cut will need a new antenna and transmitter.
There are likely to be some opportunities for stations to trade equipment as well.
The twist is that this whole mess is likely to be stirred up again in the next five years as the broadcasters seek to deploy a new modulation scheme and they have to find partners to share frequencies for both their DTV broadcasts and their next generation broadcasts.
Interesting. As for the move to ATSC 3.0, I'm betting a lot of broadcasters (at least those owned by the biggest groups like Sinclair, Scripps, etc.) are incorporating those plans into whatever moves they're going to have to do for the repack so that both can be taken care of at the same time. Stations will have until at least the end of June 2020 to comply with the repack.
This already happened to me with our local PBS, KCPT. When they added PBS Kids, they lowered the bandwidth of the main PBS channel. The quality is noticeably worse than it was before. My DISH feed is better than my OTA feed now.
FWIW WHUT in DC which has said earlier they would liekly give up their license announced today that they were disappointed in bid prices and will still be around after the repack.. I am not sure if they might move to VHF but it does not seem likely.
If they were moving to VHF, they would have received money to do so. "Dropping out" indicates they're staying on UHF.
Of course, there's nothing saying they couldn't be a channel sharing host for a different station in the market that did take the money.
- Trip
Of course, there's nothing saying they couldn't be a channel sharing host for a different station in the market that did take the money.
- Trip
Maybe yuou hae seena quote where they say "dropping out". all i have seen are paraphrases referring to them not doing what they indicated before all this started.
Er, my fault for not reading properly. The term they used was "withdrawing" which means the same thing. If they had gotten paid to go to VHF, they would be touting how they made so much money while still keeping their spectrum. They say nothing about making any money and lots about keeping spectrum, implying they didn't.
- Trip
They can do all the planning they want (and they certainly should have it all figured out), but they won't get serious about broadcasting ATSC 3.0 until it is approved by the FCC for commercial use and tuners for ATSC 3.0 are sufficiently available to the general public.
This isn't how I read the plan. Phase 1 markets will be scheduled for completion by July of 2018 (give or take). While some will undoubtedly file for waivers, I can't imagine that they'll be handed out without a fight.
What the NAB counters with doesn't change what the FCC has adopted and the fact that the FCC adopted the plan suggests they weren't moved by the arguments.
Not so fast I think that the big boys with the hi number 40 range UHF will be for a long time I don't hear the FCC rewriting licenses yet and yes that is where they will stay and that is where the grandfather comes in to play
Again you must have seen something different than i have . I thank you for that. i was curious about what was going on and I think WHUT serves a particular community well. I am glad tney are not going away.
The Howrd twitter account hasa link to a letter about the suction where they conform what trip has been saying----that they WITHDREW so presumably they are not going anywhere since their prior allocation was 33.
Please read the plan document that I linked to in Post 455. It doesn't leave "the big boys" or even the established hardship cases much wiggle room. All frequencies above RF36 are off the table for broadcast television.
If the station can't meet their deadline to transition to their assigned channel, they may be assigned a temporary channel. One way or the other, they won't be operating above RF36 after their assigned Phase Completion Date.
Sinclair and members of the PEARL consortium seem pretty serious about broadcasting in ATSC 3.0. And based on all indications so far, it would be very surprising if the FCC doesn't give the official green light to begin commercial broadcasts in 3.0 by the end of this year. I expect we'll see 3.0 tuners, in HDMI dongles and other form factors such as network gateways, on the market in early 2018. I also expect LG, Samsung and probably most other manufacturers will include both 3.0 and 1.0 tuners in the TVs they introduce next year. ATSC 3.0 will be one of the big topics at next January's CES. Broadcasters, of course, won't wait until there's a significant number of 3.0 tuners in local homes before beginning 3.0 broadcasts as they know they'll have to first make the signals available to entice consumers to bother with the upgrade. There's been some speculation that broadcasters may subsidize the cost of 3.0 upgrade tuners to bring the cost down to something comparable to a Chromecast. Will be interesting to see if that happens.
As for the timeframe for stations to move to their new frequency assignments during the repack, yes, there are different phases or intervals that the FCC will assign to different stations as to when they must make the move. (A bit on that here.) The entire repack is supposed to be completed (barring any extensions granted) by 39 months from the end of the auction.
I'll be interested to see what comes out of the big NAB convention in April, at which point the auction results and frequency assignments will be made public and we'll be a couple months past the FCC's initial meeting on adopting ATSC 3.0, which takes place this Thur., Feb. 23.
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