WFXT-DT power increase?

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:10:33 -0600, "Kevin Vahey" <kvahey@comcast.net> said:

> I would think that there would be serious overlap out around Sturbridge.
> With so many channels available there is no logical reason for
> Hartford and Boston to be on same channel.

There aren't "so many channels available", unfortunately, unless you
want to apply for a couple thousand watts on VHF-low.  Have a look at
the spacing rules for new allotments -- in particularly, the weird
"donut" restriction for DTV first-adjacents.  Just to consider the
Boston area:

7-13 are all taken (unless you want to build a channel 8 on Nantucket)
14-16 are land mobile
17-24 are all taken
25 is in the donut for 26 in New London
26-27 are taken
I think 28 is impossible (too far from 27 in Hudson and 29 in Boylston)
29-35 are taken
36 would be possible but only if you put it on the WZMY tower
37 is reserved for astronomy
38-41 are taken
42 might be a possibility, if Needham is far enough away from
Bridgeport (I haven't drawn the circles to be sure)
43-47 are taken
48 is impossible (too far from 47 in Paxton(?) and 49 in Rehoboth)
49 is taken
I think 50 is possible, as a Providence station with tx in Rehoboth
51 is taken

So among the remaining UHF channels the only one that WFXT might be
able to use is 42 (and that's only if it's actually fully-spaced).

The ultimate truth is likely to be that neither Fox nor Tribune cares
about fringe OTA viewers; there just aren't enough of them to justify
making the large discretionary expenditure that would be required to
make a channel change at this point, and in any case that audience is
unsaleable anyway.  (No business that far out could afford to buy
Boston or Hartford spot time to serve their local audience, and in any
case the locals have cable or satellite anyway, if they watch TV at
all.)

-GAWollman