Misplaced Pages

#962037

86-605: WMSN-TV (channel 47) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin , United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group , the station has studios on Big Sky Drive on the west side of Madison, and its transmitter is located on South Pleasant View Road in the Junction Ridge neighborhood also on Madison's west side. WMSN-TV commenced broadcasting on June 8, 1986, airing on analog UHF channel 47. It

172-657: A barter in some cases. Digital television transition in the United States The digital television transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of terrestrial television programming. Under the Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 , full-power broadcasting of analog television in the United States was initially planned to have ceased after February 17, 2009, but this

258-495: A digital cliff effect, by which viewers will receive either a perfect signal or no signal at all with little or no middle ground. Digital transmissions do contain additional data bits to provide error correction for a finite number of bit errors ; once signal quality degrades beyond that point, recovery of the original digital signal becomes impossible, and the image on the screen freezes, or blinks back and forth to totally blank black. The maximum power for DTV broadcast classes

344-497: A "nightlight" service (under SAFER Act provisions) usually displaying a program about the DTV transition, ending no later than July 12, 2009. Low-power broadcasting would continue for some time. Initially scheduled to shut down on September 1, 2015, the conversion date was delayed to July 13, 2021, before finally being completed on January 10, 2022, due to several factors affecting Alaska's conversion to digital television. An attempt

430-624: A billion dollars educating about 60 million people, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration had received $ 5 million a year before the original transition date of February 17, 2009, and the FCC had received $ 2.5 million and was scheduled to receive $ 20 million more later in the year, for 300 million people, requiring voluntary education campaigns. It was also noted that low-income , elderly , disabled , inner city , immigrants, and rural Americans were targeted

516-470: A bulky external battery and mobile ATSC is not yet available. Another option to people would be getting a USB -based TV tuner card for their laptop computer , which in addition to its low costs became a popular option after Microsoft released Windows 7 four months after the DTV transition ended. A Google -sponsored program called Free the Airwaves sought to use the "empty" white space within

602-461: A car stereo equipped with an HD Radio receiver is required to listen to this broadcast. Planning for DTV reception assumed "a properly oriented, high-gain antenna mounted 30 feet in the air outside." The Consumer Electronics Association set up a website called AntennaWeb to identify means to provide the correct signal reception to over-the-air viewers. Another website, TVFool provides geographic mapping and signal data to allow viewers to estimate

688-467: A digital tuner had a unique problem of no longer being able to record programs across multiple channels. In order to record multiple DTV channels, the viewer had to use an external tuner box and set the device to record the output from that box, typically L-1 for the line input. Some manufacturers sold external converter boxes/tuners that automatically changed channels at preset times. The analog VCR or DVR may record at preset times, but will continue recording

774-444: A few broadcasters forced to shut down analog early due to technical problems. On April 12, Nielsen estimated that 3.6 million households remained unready; key problem markets (according to FCC and NTIA) included Albuquerque , Baltimore , Cleveland , Dallas–Fort Worth , Denver , Fresno , Houston , Brownsville , Indianapolis , Los Angeles, Minneapolis–St. Paul , Phoenix , Portland, Oregon , Tulsa , Sacramento , St. Louis ,

860-582: A few months as an independent , the station joined Fox as a charter affiliate on October 9, 1986. Since 1994, as a result of Fox 's NFC football package, WMSN has been Madison's primary home for the Green Bay Packers ; these broadcasts are routinely the highest-rated programs in the market during football season. In 1999, ABC affiliate WKOW (then owned by the Shockley Communications Corporation) entered into

946-660: A midnight February 10 deadline imposed by the FCC, broadcasters disclosed whether they would still cease broadcasting analog signals on the original date of February 17, or if they would delay until June 12, should the DTV Delay Act be signed into law. On February 10, the FCC published the list. 491 stations stated they intended to transition on February 17. The FCC reserved final say on which stations would be allowed to transition on February 17 and which ones would be required to continue analog broadcasts, depending on how many viewers in each market have been determined not ready for

SECTION 10

#1732793776963

1032-484: A movie theater, the Marcus Point Cinema . The station was originally owned by Channel 47 LP, a group of investors led by Ronald J. Koeppler. On April 1, 1996, Channel 47 LP filed to sell WMSN-TV to Sullivan Broadcasting, owners of the existing Act III Broadcasting stations, for $ 26.5 million. Sullivan would later sell all of the stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group in a group deal two years later. After

1118-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

1204-481: A news share agreement with WMSN, which resulted in Madison's first nightly prime time newscast, known as Fox 47 News at 9 . The newscast, initially 35 minutes in length on weeknights and 30 minutes on weekends, was originally produced from a secondary set at WKOW's studios on Tokay Boulevard in Madison. The newscasts employed no WKOW on-air branding, instead using Sinclair's standard music-and-graphics packages. Although

1290-406: A result of the digital transition. Viewers in rural and mountainous regions were particularly prone to lose all reception after digital transition. U.S. markets which have presented unique problems for digital transition include: There are 80 media markets in which more than 100,000 households receive television signals by over-the-air broadcasts. The reclaimed channels were to be used for

1376-417: A signal which in its analog form reached the edge of Myrtle Beach , could no longer be received by many who had watched the station for years—a victim of a move to UHF 44 at a different transmitter site. WECT's coverage area had been substantially reduced; for many who were on the fringes of the analog NBC 6 signal, WECT was no more. However weeks before, new digital-only WMBF-TV , a new NBC affiliate, came to

1462-524: A station the advantage to broadcast their audio via FM radio without having to contract with another FM operation to do so. WDSU in New Orleans, Miami's WTVJ and WECT in Wilmington, North Carolina were among the most well-known Channel 6 broadcasters which used this approach to provide emergency information during hurricanes. Digital television, however, does not have this feature, and after

1548-402: A toll-free number or a website. The program was paid for with a small part of the $ 20 billion taken in from the DTV spectrum auction. However, these government coupons were limited to an initial sum of $ 890 million (22.25 million coupons) with the option to grow to $ 1.34 billion (33.5 million coupons), which is far short of the estimated 112 million households (224 million redeemable coupons) in

1634-406: A variety of mobile services, including mobile phones, the now-defunct MediaFLO (55), and public safety (63/64 base , 68/69 mobile). Most of this mobile spectrum has been sold to existing incumbent providers, with AT&T Mobility and Verizon as the largest bidders (see United States 2008 wireless spectrum auction ). The elimination of UHF channels, rather than VHF channels as in the rest of

1720-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

1806-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

SECTION 20

#1732793776963

1892-408: Is also substantially lower; one-fifth of the legal limits for the former full-power analog services. This is because there are only eight different states in which an 8VSB signal can be in at any one moment; thus, like all digital transmissions, very little signal is required at the receiver in order to decode it. Nonetheless, this limit is often too low for many stations to reach many rural areas, which

1978-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

2064-737: Is complete before hurricane season . In some cases, the Federal Communications Commission forced stations to continue full-power analog broadcast of at least a local newscast and information on the digital transition for an additional sixty days—a costly move for individual affected broadcasters. Of 491 stations which had indicated their intention to go digital-only in February 2009, 123 affiliates of four major U.S. commercial networks ( ABC , CBS , Fox , NBC ) were targeted by Federal Communications Commission opposition, precluding or applying additional restrictions to

2150-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

2236-1008: Is produced by WISC-TV pursuant to the above-mentioned news-share agreement, no such segment was produced for WMSN, and was disclaimed as such on WMSN's social media channels. The station's signal is multiplexed : WMSN-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 47, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 11, using virtual channel 47. Since then, WMSN would relocate twice, to channel 49 in November 2010 and to channel 18 in October 2019. In September 2010, WMSN-TV established its first digital subchannel , adding TheCoolTV music video network to subchannel 47.2. The subchannel would go dark in September 2012 at

2322-590: The CRTC followed suit in placing a moratorium on future television stations using Channel 51 for broadcast use, to prevent ACI to the A-Block of the 700MHz band. Now that the switch from analog to digital broadcasts is complete, analog TVs are incapable of receiving over-the-air broadcasts without the addition of a set-top converter box. Consequently, a digital-to-analog converter, an electronic device that connects to an analog television , must be used in order to allow

2408-584: The Morgan Murphy Media –owned CBS affiliate in Madison; as a result, WISC cancelled its own 9 p.m. weeknight newscast it had produced for its subchannel TVW , making Fox 47 News at 9 the only remaining prime time newscast in the Madison market until WMTV established its own 9 p.m. newscast on its CW -affiliated subchannel in November 2016. Mirroring its agreement with WKOW, Fox 47 News at 9 originates not from WMSN's studios but from WISC's Raymond Road studios, utilizes WISC's news staff (except

2494-490: The San Francisco Bay Area , Salt Lake City , and Seattle . On February 11, 2009, the FCC announced it would allow 368 of the 491 applied stations to go all-digital on the original February 17 date, 100 of which will be allowed to use their analog signal to inform unprepared viewers of the new transition date, or for emergency situations such as severe weather (called "nightlighting"). The FCC concluded that

2580-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

2666-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

WMSN-TV - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-535: The 123 stations in "at-risk" markets to proceed unless they certify with the agency by 6 pm ET on February 13 that they comply with eight additional requirements, including ensuring that at least one station that is currently providing analog service to an area within the DMA provides DTV transition and emergency information, as well as local news and public affairs programming ("enhanced nightlight" service) for at least 60 days following February 17. On February 13,

2838-590: The FCC for assistance. Officials were concerned by the implications of this for larger markets or those where reliance on over the air broadcasts exceeds 30%. While many calls from viewers were straightforward questions about the installation of antennas and converters, or the need to scan for channels before being able to watch digital television, hundreds more were from viewers who had installed converters and UHF antennas correctly but had still lost existing channels. Most affected were full-power broadcasters which had been on low-VHF channels. WECT ( NBC 6 Wilmington),

2924-579: The Fourth, Valentine's Day— there are going to be some people that aren't ready." On January 29, the DTV Delay Act passed in the Senate. On February 4, the House also approved this measure. The bill was submitted to President Obama on February 4, who did not immediately sign it into law. On February 9, President Obama posted the bill on whitehouse.gov , giving the public five days to weigh in on it. Under

3010-737: The L-1 line input, which would be the same channel unless the channel is manually changed. Alternatively, the user may purchase a new TV, DVR, or DVD recorder with a built-in digital tuner. However, these newer technologies have their own drawbacks, such as being limited to only 1–2 hours with high-quality XP mode (DVD-R). A major concern is that the broadcast technology used for ATSC signals called 8VSB has problems receiving signals inside buildings and in urban areas, largely due to multipath reception issues which cause ghosting and fading on analog images, but can also lead to intermittent signal or no reception at all on ATSC programs. DTV broadcasts exhibit

3096-559: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

3182-464: The United States. Nevertheless, not every household took advantage of the offer, as reports indicate half of all households already had at least one digital TV. In January 2009, the NTIA began placing coupon requests on a waiting list after the program reached its maximum allowed funding. New requests for coupons were fulfilled only after unredeemed coupons expired. These coupons could be redeemed toward

3268-487: The action-oriented Grit network. Grit would be replaced on June 1, 2017, by another action network, Sinclair-owned Charge! . On that same date, a fourth subchannel, 47.4, was activated and affiliated with TBD . Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it

3354-416: The air to serve Myrtle Beach with a city-grade signal; like WECT, WMBF was owned by Raycom Media at the time. On November 7, 2008, the FCC issued an order allowing distributed transmission systems (DTS) to be constructed by stations that otherwise cannot cover their original analog footprint with their new digital channels and facilities. While broadcasters may now apply for DTS facilities, this decision

3440-563: The analog switch-off, the FCC reallocated channels 52 through 69 (the 700MHz band) for other communications traffic, completing the reallocation of broadcast channels 52–69 that began in the late 1990s. These channels were auctioned off in early 2008, with the winning bidders taking possession of them in June 2009. Four channels from this portion of the broadcast spectrum (60, 61, 68, and 69) were held for reallocation to public safety communications (such as police, fire, and emergency rescue). Some of

3526-572: The bill into law, officially moving the cutoff date to June 12, 2009. In total, 191 stations already had turned off their analog transmitters for good. On February 20, 2009, the FCC released an order stating that stations that wish to go all digital before the final June 12, 2009, date must inform the FCC of that decision by March 17, 2009. While 93 large-city network owned and operated stations (controlled by CBS , ABC , NBC , Fox , and Univision ) would continue analog broadcasts until June 12, many small-market broadcasters were unable to justify

WMSN-TV - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-437: The bill passed, and any frequencies freed up by such action could be used by fire and police departments and other emergency services . Those whose converter box coupons had expired would be allowed to apply for new coupons. The House postponed a similar bill (by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman ), until the Senate's version was complete. The Senate unanimously voted on January 26, 2009, to delay

3698-455: The bill. Hutchison supported the idea because Rockefeller did not intend to ask for another postponement. On January 22, The Nielsen Company said 6.5 million Americans had not prepared for the switch. Opponents pointed out that TV stations would face extra operating expenses, and those who paid to use the spectrum to be made available would have to wait. Under later amendments, stations could choose to end analog broadcasts before June 12 even if

3784-454: The coupon amount, which in effect reduced its value by about $ 3 (based on 7.5% tax). There has been possible evidence that the presence of the government coupon program has inflated the prices of converter boxes by between $ 21 and $ 34 above what they would be otherwise. These converter boxes require royalties to be paid to license the MPEG-2 and ATSC patents, which may contribute (for example,

3870-427: The digital TV transition to June 12, 2009. However, the House of Representatives voted on and defeated a similar measure on January 28. Rep. Joe Barton led the movement in the House to defeat the measure, saying that "the DTV transition is neither stuck nor broke", and that any problems with the DTV transition can be fixed. Barton also said, "I guarantee you, no matter when you set the date— February 17, June 12, July

3956-530: The existing Japanese FM radio service (which begins at 76 MHz) for use as an extension to the existing North American FM broadcast band. On August 22, 2011, the United States ' Federal Communications Commission announced a freeze on all future applications for broadcast stations requesting to use channel 51, to prevent adjacent-channel interference (ACI) to the A-Block of the 700MHz band. Later that year (on December 16, 2011), Industry Canada and

4042-426: The expiration of Sinclair's carriage agreement with TheCoolTV. In July 2014, the channel was reactivated as an affiliate of GetTV , which would be replaced on October 31 , 2015 by Sinclair-owned sci-fi network Comet . When it relocated to physical channel 11 in 2010, WMSN would add a third subchannel, 47.3, with content from The Country Network , later known as ZUUS Country. That network would be replaced in 2014 by

4128-413: The extra cost, with non-commercial and independent stations very adversely affected. No funding was provided to reimburse broadcasters who incurred additional costs due to the DTV Delay Act. Public Broadcasting Service CEO Paula Kerger had estimated a $ 22 million cost to the nation's PBS member stations to extend simulcasting until June 12; more than a hundred PBS stations ultimately elected to stick to

4214-409: The first market in the nation to go digital-only. Wilmington was chosen as the test city in part because the area's digital channel positions would remain unchanged after the transition. Wilmington was also appropriate because it had no hills to cause reception problems and all of the stations would have UHF channels. The low-power CBS affiliate WILM-LD signed on its new digital signal in time for

4300-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

4386-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

SECTION 50

#1732793776963

4472-465: The low-VHF (channels 2–6) did not return to these frequencies after the transition. About 40 stations remained in the low- VHF after the transition, with the majority in smaller markets (with a few notable exceptions). The FCC has long discouraged the digital allocation on low-VHF channels for several reasons: higher ambient noise, interference with FM radio (channel 6 borders FM at 88 MHz), and larger antenna size required for these channels. After

4558-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

4644-534: The main news anchors), and employs studio backdrops and Sinclair's standard news graphics that help differentiate the newscasts from those on WISC. It was also during this period with WISC (in February 2016) that Fox 47 News at 9 would move to a full-hour time period each night. In 2018, Sinclair required all of its television stations to air a message that called out "biased and fake news" and says "national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first." However, because WMSN's newscast

4730-411: The most, because these groups mainly watch analog antenna TV more than any other groups. While broadcasters were forced by Federal Communications Commission regulations to devote the equivalent of more than a billion dollars worth of airtime to public service announcements regarding the digital transition, the amount of information conveyed in these short advertisements was by necessity limited. Both

4816-426: The newscasts featured appearances from additional WKOW personnel, WMSN maintained separate weeknight anchors that normally did not appear on WKOW except to fill-in when needed. On January 1 , 2012, WMSN's news share agreement with WKOW expired after nearly 13 years (WMSN General Manager Kerry Johnson termed the split as a "business decision"). On that same date, WMSN began a new news outsourcing agreement with WISC-TV,

4902-399: The number of channels which will be gained or lost as a result of digital transition; while it estimated that marginally more stations would be gained than lost by viewers, this varied widely with viewers of low-VHF analog signals in distant-fringe areas among the most adversely affected. An estimated 1.8 million people were expected to lose the ability to access over-the-air TV entirely as

4988-520: The on-air announcements and government-funded telephone hotlines receiving viewer inquiries directed consumers to Internet sites to seek information, at a time when most affected were not familiar with the Internet. After the switch, consumers' old analog televisions, VCRs, DVRs, and other devices which lacked a digital tuner no longer received over-the-air television, though previously recorded content can still be replayed. The one, direct solution to

5074-569: The option of programming multiple digital subchannels (multicasting). However, it provides these advantages at the cost of a severe limitation of broadcast range. Digital signals do not have "grade B" signal areas, and are either "in perfectly" or "not in at all". Further, since most stations have preferred to use UHF rather than older VHF channel allocations, their actual broadcast range is far less than previously. Viewers in major metropolitan areas will likely not notice problems; however, rural TV users have generally had most and in some events all of

5160-547: The original deadline. Some individual commercial station groups, most notably Sinclair Broadcast Group and Gray Television , shut down the vast majority of their analog signals on the original deadline. Others left the question to their individual local stations. Many local markets, ranging from Burlington, Vermont and Sioux City, Iowa to San Diego, lost analog signals from most or all major U.S. stations. Some stations in coastal regions such as Fort Myers, Florida had chosen not to wait until June 12 so as to ensure transition

5246-456: The other 123 stations who applied present a "significant risk of substantial public harm," if they go all digital on February 17. The FCC stated "We considered the presence of major networks and their affiliates critical to ensuring that viewers have access to local news and public affairs available over the air because the major network affiliates are the primary source of local broadcast news and public affairs programming". The FCC would not permit

SECTION 60

#1732793776963

5332-474: The problem was to buy an external tuner (called a converter box ) that receives DTV signals directly and converts them to analog for the television, VCR, or other analog device. Another solution was the use of cable TV or satellite TV service, as these providers handled the necessary conversion within their respective systems and could provide the analog signal these older analog devices required. Users of analog VCRs, DVRs, or other recording devices which lacked

5418-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

5504-442: The purchase of a digital-to-analog converter at brick and mortar , on-line, and telephone retailers that had completed the NTIA certification process. Retail prices for the boxes range from $ 40 to $ 70 (plus tax and/or shipping); after applying the coupons, the price to the consumer would be between $ 5 and $ 40 per box. Because it was actually used as a payment , despite the name " coupon ", consumers paid state and local sales tax on

5590-539: The relatively longer wavelength low-VHF channels. Stations that broadcast in analog on channel 6 have had an additional benefit of having its audio feed broadcast on 87.7 MHz, which is at the very low end of the FM radio dial. As such, many stations that use channel 6 have taken advantage of this, and directly promote this feature, especially during drive time newscasts, and as a critical conduit of information in markets where severe weather (such as hurricanes ) allowed

5676-483: The remaining TV for unlicensed use, like for Wi-Fi . In March 2008, the FCC requested public comment on turning the bandwidth currently occupied by analog television channels 5 and 6 (76–88 MHz) over to extending the FM broadcast band when the digital television transition was to be completed in February 2009 (ultimately delayed to June 2009). This proposed allocation would effectively assign frequencies corresponding to

5762-554: The remaining freed up frequencies were used for advanced commercial wireless services for consumers, such as Qualcomm 's planned use of former UHF channel 55 for its MediaFLO service. According to David Rehr, then president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters , this transition represented "the most significant advancement of television technology since color TV was introduced." The then-new FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said on June 30, 2009, that

5848-525: The royalties for ATSC were $ 5 per receiver). On January 21, 2009, Senator Jay Rockefeller introduced a bill in the Senate titled the DTV Delay Act because millions of Americans would not be ready for the cutoff on February 17 due to a shortage of converter box coupons, and planning that the transition date be moved to June 12. Rockefeller, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation , and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison , worked together on

5934-553: The shutdown of their analog signals in markets where the only analog service remaining after the February 17 shutdown would have been an independent or educational broadcaster, an adjacent-market station or a low-power station. Of approximately 1,800 U.S. full-service TV stations, an additional 190 were already digital-only before February 2009; these included Hawaii (digital since January 2009), Zanesville, Ohio (digital since July 2008), and Wilmington, North Carolina (the FCC's 2008 digital test market), as well as some new stations and

6020-469: The stations they previously received with acceptable but not "perfect" signals fall over the digital cliff (where analog signals slowly degrade over long distances rather than digital suddenly cutting off when out of range). Lastly, many low-power broadcasters have been temporarily permitted to transmit in analog for several years. Although the United Kingdom spent the equivalent of more than

6106-513: The television to receive digital broadcasts. The box may also be called a "set-top" converter, "digital TV adapter" (DTA), or "digital set-top box" (DSTB). To assist consumers through the conversion, the Department of Commerce through its National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) division handled requests from households for up to two $ 40 coupons for digital-to-analog converter boxes beginning January 1, 2008, via

6192-466: The transition had "succeeded far beyond expectations", but his predecessor Michael Copps said that the transition led to a "significant impact on consumers" and that it was "not a closed book". As part of a test by the FCC to iron out transition and reception concerns before the nationwide shutoff, all of the major commercial network stations in the Wilmington, North Carolina market ceased transmission of their analog signals on September 8, 2008, making it

6278-412: The transition, many viewers using "high-definition" antennas have reported problems receiving stations that broadcast on VHF channels. This is because some of the new antennas marketed as "HDTV antennas" from manufacturers such as Channel Master were only designed for channels 7–51 and are more compact than their channel 2–69 counterparts. These manufacturers did not anticipate widespread continued use of

6364-551: The transition, this additional method of reception is no longer available. WRGB , channel 6 in Albany, New York , used a separate transmitter on 87.7 that transmitted a vertically polarized analog audio signal, which would theoretically avoid interference with the horizontally polarized digital TV signal. This would allow the station to keep its audio on 87.7 FM after the transition to digital. WRGB ran this transmitter for approximately 6 weeks on an experimental basis, only to find that

6450-420: The transition. Most O&O stations of six major networks ( ABC , CBS , Fox , NBC , Univision , and Telemundo , plus The CW , MyNetworkTV , TeleFutura , and independent stations ), as well as the station groups of Gannett , Hearst-Argyle , and Meredith , committed to keeping all or most of their analog signals active until the new June 12 cutoff date. On February 11, 2009, President Obama signed

6536-456: The transition. The test excluded UNC-TV / PBS station WUNJ , which kept their analog signal on, as they were the official conduit of emergency information in the area. Viewers were notified of the change by months of public service announcements, town hall meetings, and local news coverage. Only 7% of viewers were affected by the loss of analog broadcasts, the remainder subscribing to cable or satellite services, but this produced 1,800 calls to

6622-438: The twenty kilowatt limit of low- VHF DTV) or abandoning a frequency which it occupied since the 1950s in order to transmit more power (up to 1000 kW) on the less-crowded UHF TV band. Such stations can keep the same channel number, however, because of ATSC virtual channels . The higher frequencies are challenged in areas where signals must travel great distances or encounter significant terrestrial obstacles. Most stations in

6708-558: The vertically polarized 87.7 MHz signal interfered with the digital video, while broadcast of analog signals on 87.9 MHz met with FCC objections. WITI in Milwaukee took a more direct though still experimental approach to restore their TV audio, having it restored in August 2009 to an HD Radio subchannel of WMIL-FM via a content agreement with WMIL owner Clear Channel Communications . A purchase of HD Radio equipment or having

6794-620: The world, precludes the use of band III (high VHF) for Digital Audio Broadcasting as is used in a few other countries. It also makes more difficult the reassignment of channels 5 and 6 (76 to 88MHz) to expand the FM radio broadcast band. There are also no channels set aside for analog broadcasts of the Emergency Alert System , rendering most portable emergency TV sets useless. While a small number of portable ATSC sets have started to appear, these are costly. A portable converter box (such as Winegard's RCDT09A) would require

6880-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

6966-409: Was an alleged benefit in the FCC's choice of ATSC and 8VSB over worldwide-standard DVB-T and its COFDM modulation . Additionally, without the hierarchical modulation of DVB, signal loss is complete, and there is no switch to a lower resolution before this occurs. A hundred-kW analog station on TV channels 2 to 6 would therefore be faced with the choice of either lowering its power by 80% (to

7052-713: Was delayed to June 12, 2009, after the passage of the DTV Delay Act on February 4, 2009. This date was a further delay from the original date of December 31, 2006, as stipulated in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 . The delay to June 12 was to assist households on a waiting list for coupons for digital converter boxes , funding for which was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . While full-power broadcasting ceased on June 12, 120 full power stations would maintain

7138-493: Was made far too late to allow the extra transmitter sites to be constructed and operational before the original February 17, 2009, analog shutoff. On February 8, 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 bill to end analog television by February 17, 2009. Digital TV encoding allows stations to offer higher definition video and better sound quality than analog, as well as allowing

7224-520: Was made in 2007 to extend analog services by another five years in areas within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the Mexican border, but it was unsuccessful. In preparation for the end of analog services, all new television devices that receive signals over-the-air, including pocket-sized portable televisions , personal computer video capture card tuners, and DVD recorders , had been required to include digital ATSC tuners since March 1, 2007. Following

7310-574: Was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

7396-513: Was the first new commercial station to launch in the Madison market since WISC-TV signed on thirty years earlier. One of WMSN's earlier programs was Big Sky Theater , a Saturday night presentation of classic movies (mostly westerns ) from the drive-in era. The program's name was an acknowledgement to the Big Sky Drive-In Theater, which shared a street with the newly built studios for WMSN; its next-door neighbor remains

#962037