WGBH-TV coverage after August 2

[Ben Levy]

Where are the Quality of Service Listeners when we need them?

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From: Kevin Vahey
Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2019 1:08 PM
To: Ben Levy
Cc: A Joseph Ross; boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org
Subject: Re: WGBH-TV coverage after August 2

A friend in Warwick RI  says 2.1 4.1 7.1 and 15.1 now coming in - 5.1 has vanished 

On Sat, Aug 3, 2019 at 11:10 AM Ben Levy <LostCluster@lostcluster.me> wrote:
They needed VHF in order to fit all of the analog and digital stations at first. Then the former stations were reserved for new stations, but no new owner showed up so now the unused space is reserved for 5G cell phones.

This “repack” is annoy OTA viewers everywhere… but there are some hidden gems out there like the new CourtTV channel which is 27.5.

BTW, anybody see a Univision logo on 27 and a UniMas logo on 66… those two swapped everything over two years ago..

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From: A Joseph Ross
Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2019 2:34 AM
To: boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org
Subject: Re: WGBH-TV coverage after August 2

I don't understand why the FCC didn't simply delete the VHF band 
entirely and put all off-air TV on UHF with the conversion to digital TV.

On 8/1/2019 10:03 AM, Bob DeMattia wrote:
> All of that may be true, but what they will definitely lose is people who
> are viewing off-air with receiving equipment
> that cannot pick up the VHF-LO signal.   Maybe some of those people will
> switch to live streaming, but people
> viewing off-air already have that option and thus far haven't felt inclined
> to avail themselves of that option.
>
> BTW, I'm live streaming now in NH where off-air is not an option.  The
> picture quality does not compare to off-air.
>
> -Bob
>
> On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 9:48 AM Ken VanTassell <kenwvt@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I am going to disagree. Cord cutting is becoming rampant, people are
>> really sick of paying huge cable bills. There is a non-profit called
>> locast.org that has a roku app with the local Boston stations for free (5
>> per month suggested donation). I know several people using this. I think we
>> have resurgent times for OTA TV ahead.
>>
>> -Ken
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 9:46 AM Bob DeMattia <bob.bosra@demattia.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Not to mention many off-air viewers are probably using UHF-only antennas.
>>> Even if they have VHF antennas, the only DTV in this area on VHF up until
>>> now was
>>> on VHF-HI.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 9:39 AM Norm Pierce <npierce.aq3h@dappermapper.com
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> After a lifetime of watching Channel 2, I'm wondering if those days are
>>>> numbered.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the application for their construction permit for the new RF
>>>> channel 5 assignment [1], it appears that the WGBH engineers have done
>>>> their best to give the strongest signal that the FCC rules allow them to
>>>> do on that channel.
>>>>
>>>> According to the "Post Auction Baseline" spreadsheet [2], the baseline
>>>> population served by WGBH-TV, as limited by terrain, is given as
>>>> 7,633,586.  In WGBH's application for a construction permit for the new
>>>> RF channel 5 assignment, they give a slightly higher number of 7,669,250
>>>> because of the change of tower, and the fact that they were able to
>>>> increase the ERP from 5.3 kW to 6.7 kW without exceeding the geographic
>>>> coverage area of the largest station within the same market (see
>>>> §73.622(f)(5)) -- something they are apparently allowed to do because
>>>> the proposed coverage contour may extend beyond that of the CCRPN
>>>> parameters for a station that changes bands (see §73.3700(b)(1)(iii)).
>>>>
>>>> But even with the higher ERP, does anyone think that the population
>>>> served won't actually be much smaller than it currently is, given the
>>>> problems with DTV on VHF?  Will it really reach an over-the-air audience
>>>> slightly larger than it currently does on RF channel 19, and comparable
>>>> to channels 4, 5, and 7, or do the above coverage numbers suffer from
>>>> gross optimism?
>>>>
>>>> Norm Pierce
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [1]
>>> WGBH-TV_reassignment_initial_minor_mod_application_ENG_06-18-2017.pdf
>>>>
>>> https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f915c78b6bf015cbcb83aa224c3
>>>> [2] "Post Auction Baseline" spreadsheet"
>>>>
>>>>
>>> https://data.fcc.gov/download/incentive-auctions/Transition_Files/Post_Auction_Baseline.xlsx
>>>> "Incentive Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice"
>>>> (CCRPN) (DA 17-314)
>>>> https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-17-314A1.pdf
>>>>
>>>>

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