Email to TitanTV

[Tom Snyder]

I sent the following email to the folks at TitanTV ( http://www.titantv.com  ):

WITI (channel 6/33) in Milwaukee may be claiming to be broadcasting in Digital, but they are running a signal of only a few watts from a relay tower 200 ft tall.

While they  claim to be in compliance with FCC rules, nobody in the Milwaukee area can pick up their signal, and they have made no public statements that they intend to change this any time soon.

It frustrates us to go to TitanTV.com and see their listings in the Digital program list when everyone here knows it's all a sham.

Thanks for letting me rant...

Tom Snyder
Milwaukee HDTV Users Group http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org

[Tom Snyder]

Holy Cow!

I got back the following reply almost instantly:

Tom,

Thank you for using TitanTV.com. I just viewed your site and it looks nice. You are welcome to link to TitanTV, many sites like yours find it helpful for their users.

I'm having our data team review WITI's technical parameters. And see if we need to have any corrected from the station.

Thanks for your feedback.
Best regards,
Deb Rolfes

[Matt Heebner]

MAybe an inquiry and corrections from TitanTV will shake something up over at FAUX. Well...hopefully anyway.

Matt

[Tom Snyder]

I hate to be a pessimist, but if FAUX doesn't give a rip about us, they probably don't give a rip about TitanTV either.

[Kevin Arnold]

The ONLY way to get Fox Sux's attention is to poke them where they live, i.e. the FCC. Since they are obligated to cover their city of liscense and since they don't (you can't tell me the northwest side of Milwaukee is covered) then a flurry of complaints to the FCC may light a fire. Maybe a FCC swat team won't show up to comandeer their mighty midget transmitter and rubber duckie antenna, but a few letters of inquiry from the feds may get their attention. This needs to come from residents of Milwaukee to carry weight. The FCC letters must be answered, lest they violate the procedural gods and generate more unwanted attention.

[Matt Heebner]

Post some links and addresses. I'd be willing to fire off a couple of emails with a .jpg attachment of a picture of their "mighty" digital anntenna.

Matt

[Tom Snyder]

But are they REALLY required to cover their city of license with a digital signal to meet the conditions of their digital roll out? I read somewhere (here or AVS) even a minimal signal is all that's necessary to be incompliance of 5/1... but I could be wrong.

Regardless, they are licensed to serve the community to which they are licensed. One of their requirements is keeping a public inspection fil. That file contains their license, renewal date (which presents the window of opportunity for people to protest their renewal), EEOC compliance documentation, and letters written to complain or praise their service to the community.

The file is available for public inspection during regular business hours, although, having managed a radio station myself, I know that hardly anyone ever requests to see it. The requests are so infrequent that when there is a sudden interest in the file, it often gets the attention of the GM... especially if the people requesting to inspect the file are asking a bunch of questions of the person (usually an administrative assistant) who gives them the file to peruse (often in the reception area). They keep a log of the names and adresses of all the people who inspect the file, and from time to time the GM will look through the list of names to see the activity.

The moral of the story is... if you're gonna write a letter to the FCC, send a copy to GM as well, then follow up in few weeks with a visit to the station to make sure that your letter is in their file.
 
Lots of FCC/Station manager letters, lots of visits will get his attention, especially if they come from people who live in the city of Milwaukee. But letters and visits from all of us would result in a fat file...

And whoever gets there first needs to write down their renewal date and post it here.

What do ya think... Same thing for 12?




[This message has been edited by Tom Snyder (edited 06-08-2002).]

[Kevin Arnold]

OK, here's the info I could find. The FCC does have a generic complaint page:

Filing a Complaint with the FCC Is EASY

You can file conveniently:  
Electronically:
 If you have a telephone complaint, you can file on line through our Internet site at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html.
 
E-Mail:
 You can send us a complaint through fccinfo@fcc.gov
 
Mail:
 Written complaints can be sent to:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554
 
Fax:
 Complaints can be faxed to us at: 202-418-0232
 
Phone:  Toll Free: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice, 1-888-TELL- FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY. Our Consumer and Mediation Specialists are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET  
We need the following information:  
Your name, address and the telephone number or numbers involved with your complaint; (if telephone related)

A telephone number where you can be reached during the business day;

Specific information about your complaint, including the names of all companies involved with your complaint;

Names and telephone numbers of the company representatives that you contacted, the dates that you spoke with these representatives, and any other information that would help process your complaint;

If telephone related, include a copy of the bill(s) listing the disputed charges;

What type of resolution are you seeking?

For more detailed information, see our fact sheet.
 
--------------
and the site this came from is:
 http://ftp.fcc.gov/cgb/complaintfiling.html

Tom's idea is a good one. Unusual interest does attract attention and may force the powers that be to interact with us. I'm going to try and file the first one.

[Kevin Arnold]

Although the html they direct you to is more geared toward phone complaints, I used the email address to send them my thoughts. Here is the body of the letter:

I wish to file a complaint about WITI DT television station here in the Milwaukee market. Although they maintain they have met the May 1st deadline with a digital signal, I find that even with top notch receiving equipment, I am unable to receive their signal. Research on the FCC site shows that they have a low power transmitter and an antenna mounted only 38 meters above ground level. I cannot imagine any television station covering a major market could be allowed to serve that market with such a poorly constructed station. As part of the ongoing transition to digital television, I have purchased the necessary equipment to receive these signals. I was assured by the federal law that there would be appropriate digital signal to receive from all market television stations as of May 1st. WITI has failed to hold up their end of the bargain by serving the 32nd largest market in the US with an underpowered, poorly transmitted signal. I expect the FCC to enforce the requirements they agreed to when they accepted a gratis digital channel.


Well, I feel better anyway. And so it goes...

[Tom Snyder]

FCC is as bad as the stations... what a crock!

I sent them basically the same letter.. and here is my "personal" reply:

Reference:TSR02, ID# 02494998

The following is the information you requested from the FCC Consumer
Center.  Thank you for your inquiry.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554


NEWS Report No. MM 97-8  MASS MEDIA ACTION               April 3, 1997


COMMISSION ADOPTS RULES FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION SERVICE(MM DOCKET NO. 87-268)

etc. etc. etc..
------

The rest of the original 1997 docket is edited out because all of us ALREADY KNOW WHAT IS SAYS!!!!! It says WITI (like every other station) is supposed to be serving their market with a digital signal by May 1, 2002.

Here is my reply (which will undoubtedly go to Bureaucratic Hell at the FCC):

While I appreciate the response, and know that you BELIEVE this is the information I requested, what I have actually requested is an investigation of WITI's disregard for the attached rule.

Their current digital signal does not come close to meeting any standard of market coverage, and with no waiver, extension or other permission to do what they are doing, they are in violation of the rule.

Will you continue to just turn a blind eye to their disrespect and disregard for your authority?

I feel like Sam Kinnison! http://www.globalserve.net/~weirz/screams/ahhhhh.wav


[This message has been edited by Tom Snyder (edited 06-12-2002).]

[tenth_t2]

Maybe we should also send our frustrations to local/state representatives?  It's pathetic to think that I can receive Madison stations yet can't get these guys here.  If I can't receive their DT signal and they claim to be serving their market and complying, then I'd better not see the the WISN/WISN-DT being promoted across my screen, right??

I, like many others here have gone through great lengths to receive their digital signal, and it's not happening.  Analog is just fine.

Maybe this is the angle we need, obviously they are taking advantage of the omitted power requirements in the FCC mandate.  But clearly they are not serving their market with a digital signal, so maybe they should be required to run their analog signal at the same power, or run analog at 50% and digital at 50% of their present analog power.

Those B***tards!!

[Tom Snyder]

BINGO...
 http://kohl.senate.gov/fcc.html  

Looks like it's time to send Mike Murphy a letter (email doesn't work with these guys).

And here's also http://feingold.senate.gov/services/fedhelp.html#Contact

[tenth_t2]

Well done Tom!!

Ok everyone, GET ON IT!!

Greg O.