Who's worse-Fox 6 or WISN?

[seahanks]

Well, let's hear it.  For my opinion from what I've read, I'd be more pissed at Fox.  Sure they beat the May 1 deadline, but nobody can get their signal because of the half-assed way they put up their transmitter.  WISN, as stubborn as they are, is at least trying to do the job right the first time.  Plus ABC is a leader in HD programming, while FOX gives us "FOX Widescreen", which is crap.  That's my two cents.

[Matt Heebner]

The thing about WISN though, is that they have been in these permit "negotiations" with Milwaukee for atleast three years.
Both stations get a BIG thumbs down from me. I wish the FCC would step in (and believe me, I am NOT an advocate for government mixing with business!) and start cracking the whip with some serious fines!

Matt

[Tom Snyder]

There is probably no one as "anti-government meddling in business" than I. However 70 billion dollars worth of broadcasting real estate (i.e. frequencies and bandwidth) were given to the TV stations for nothing more than a promise that they'd use them, and turn back the old analog frequneciesthey were given for auction to the highest bidder.

But there's actually an easy answer... a simple hands-off solution. The goverment doens't need to meddle or force the broadcasters to comply. They simply need to take back their frequency, auction it off to the highest bidder who is willing to comply with the law and put a digital signal on the air ASAP. Of course, the original owner would still need to give back their analog channel in 2006 and shut down.

Capitalism, Free Enterprise and Government non-interference at is best!  

[RobbQ]

 

Originally posted by Tom Snyder:
They simply need to take back their frequency, auction it off to the highest bidder who is willing to comply with the law and put a digital signal on the air ASAP. Of course, the original owner would still need to give back their analog channel in 2006 and shut down.

I would love to see the little whiners scramble if that happened!  

[kjnorman]

 

Originally posted by Tom Snyder:
Of course, the original owner would still need to give back their analog channel in 2006 and shut down.

I would love to be the guy that walked up to the stations one morning an told them "Broadcast digital, or in 2006 you are going out of business when we take back our frequences!"

Sadly, as so much programming is delivered though cable, WISN probably would not care...

Kerry

[Gregg Lengling]

Fox 6 isn't far behind WISN....here's the latest I've heard (I don't want to get anyone in trouble so I won't name names).

The digital project at FAUX6 is hush hush, no-one but maybe 2 engineers at the station know anything about the DTV transmitter.  The rest are kept in the dark.  The time-line for assessing and structurally reinforcing the main tower to handle the DTV antenna is 18 to 24 months.  This means no real signal for the next 2 years.

I thought though that maybe some night just sneak up to their studio, climb the tower and reposition the antenna so the main lobe of the signal goes more west and north and then Tom and a few of us could actually see their unconverted analogue signal via digital transmission.  Who knows when they'll actually have some HDTV or even up-converted content.  I mean even showhd is better than that.


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Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
gregg@camelcomm.com

[Joseph S]

 

The time-line for assessing and structurally reinforcing the main tower to handle the DTV antenna is 18 to 24 months. This means no real signal for the next 2 years.

Talk about a total lack of respect for the FCC mandate. FCC chairman Powell is a complete pushover in how he is letting these stations get away with this stuff. How much money did Murdoch, Sinclair, and Hearst-Argyle give to the Bush campaign??

Maybe we could all rent out Ryder trucks to transport TVs and generators to power them to watch DTV from their parking lot??? Perhaps then they would get the picture. That deck for the weather guy would be a nice spot to camp out on.  

[Gregg Lengling]

Now there is an idea.....we can set up TV's in the parking lot across the street and let channel 4 and 58's news crews cover it.  Then the next night we can go by channel 12 studios and just show snow on the screen.

OH BABY>>>>>GETTING MEAN HERE>


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Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
gregg@camelcomm.com

[Tom Snyder]

 

I thought though that maybe some night just sneak up to their studio, climb the tower and reposition the antenna

Just for the sake of clarification in case any Fox 6, FCC, FBI, CIA or local law enforcement officials monitor this site...

I have no intention, desire, idea to climb up anyone's tower, nor do I, or the other administrators of this site condone or encourage that kind of activity.  

Although it really makes no sense for them to aim their 2 watt signal directly into the part of the coverage area least likely to have the discretionary income to afford an HDTV, when just aiming it to the WSW might give some sort of a signal to a handful of us. If nobody can get the signal, why even bother to have it turned on?

Obviously there are no minmum dBu contours that they are required to meet with the digital signal, so it really shouldn't matter to them which direction they aim the thing. Why not toss us poor early adaptors a bone.

[This message has been edited by Tom Snyder (edited 05-29-2002).]

[Gregg Lengling]

I actually told an employee this AM that when he gets back to the station he should tell Tom Nielsen to climb up and redirect the antenna to the viewing areas where there is a little more discretionary income.  He actually thought it was a good idea...of course what Tom or his boss thinks would probably be different.

And the line about climbing the tower was just a PUN, which I'm sure everyone realizes.


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Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
gregg@camelcomm.com

[GS kid]

 As to the comment about Fox 6 keeping it hush-hush and not wanting anybody to know they are secretly transmiting a low power digital signal. As for talking about it to the public either on their news or in the newspapers, I haven't heard a thing. But, they are not really hiding this fact. If you have noticed since they went digital, they have at the bottom of the screen at times WITI / WITI-DT which is admitting they are a digital station. They are transmiting to meet the deadline. I haven't read the full mandate, but I think Fox 6 looks at it this way. The FCC said we had to be transmiting by MAY 1st, they didn't say how much power output we had to be at! A sly way of avoiding the fines I guess.
--- GS kid