RE: Old Channel 5 tower

[Garrett Wollman <wollman@lcs.mit.edu>]

<<On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:46:35 -0500, "Paul Hopfgarten" <paul@03038.com> said:

> Speaking of which....I was under the impression that once the Analog Signals
> were shut off that the HDTV signals would move to their "old" location (2
> back to 2, 4 back to 4, etc, and the UHF positionings were only temporary
> during the analog-digital simulcast years.

Not quite.

For those stations with both analog and transitional digital
allotments in the ``core'' spectrum (channels 2-51), in 2005 they must
elect which of the two they will operate on in the future.  There is
some speculation that stations may not want to operate DTV in the
VHF-low band permanently, unless the rules are significantly changed
to allow higher power, because of a relatively high noise floor on
those channels.

For stations with one in-core and one out-of-core allotment, there is
no choice: they must operate on the in-core channel.

For stations with no in-core allotment, and for new stations granted
after the transition cut-off, they must wait until 2005 to apply for
one of the channels being vacated (and must then wait for the
transition to actually be completed).

In the Boston market, the only out-of-core transitional allotments are
WWDP on 52, WENH on 57, and WMUR on 59.  Southern Maine has none (but
23 Waterville and 35 Lewiston were licensed too late to receive
transitional facilities).  The only double-out-of-core stations in the
immediate area are WNAC in Providence (64 and 54) and WGBY in
Springfield (57 and 58).

So, here's my best guess as to what the Boston TV dial looks like
after the DTV transition, assuming that the VHF-low band is vacated.
Stations marked with an asterisk have a choice about where they end
up.

 7 WHDH* (from 42)
18 WMFP
19 WGBH* (from 2)
20 WCVB*
23 WUTF
25 WFXT* (from 31)
27 WUNI* (from 29)
30 WBZ*  (from 4)
32 WBPX  (may operate analog first without transitional digital facility)
38 WSBK* (from 39)
40 WDPX
41 WLVI
44 WGBX* (from 43)
48 WYDN* (from 47)

-GAWollman