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Graham Brock, Inc. |
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Broadcast Technical Consultants |
| Vol. XV, No. 5 |
R. Stuart Graham, Jr. |
| May 2008 |
Jefferson G. Brock |
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The Chairman of the FCC announced that three full power
commercial TV stations and two LPTV stations in the
Wilmington, North Carolina market will cease analog
operation on September 8, 2008. The cessation of analog
operation five months ahead of the February 17, 2009
cut-off date will allow the transition to be monitored
to determine the impact to both the stations and the
public. The Wilmington, North Carolina PBS station and
another LPTV station in the market will continue to
operate with both analog and digital facilities after
September 8, 2008. The stations that will cease analog
operation are already operating their respective post-
transition channels at authorized power levels. The
Commission also stated that it will coordinate with NTIA
to have converter boxes readily available in local
stores in this market. The FCC also stated that
Wilmington was “one of a limited number of potential
markets to test transition,” so there will be more to
come. |
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With Spring Comes Inversions |
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It is the time of year when stations may find their
signals being deflected out of the primary market,
and they can hear another station on the same
frequency that is hundreds of miles away. Neither
your station nor the offending facility has made any
changes, and each station is operating as
authorized. So what gives? Temperature inversions
can have a substantial impact on signals, primarily
in the early morning and late afternoon. If you are
interested in reading more about this, there is a
report on our website at www.grahambrock.com. Look
in the “Broadcast Industry News” section (about half
way down the main page). It might have more
information than you are looking for, but it will
better explain the phenomena. |
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The FCC has initiated a new online Class A FM
search program on its website. Based on a set of
coordinates provided by the user, the program
will determine whether there is a Class A
channel that meets the spacing rules at the
specified site. A mapping program can then be
used to determine whether the station would
provide the needed contour (city grade) over
your selected community. The program will not
determine FAA issues, environmental compliance,
or land use issues. The Commission advises that
anyone using the program should also confirm the
viability of the channel through the services of
a consulting engineer. They also state there is
no guarantee that the channels found would be
“available” at the time a request for rule
making is submitted for the FCC’s consideration.
Links to the program are listed on the Audio
Division page of the Commission’s website. |
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Localism Proceeding Comments |
| The Commission has been soliciting comments
regarding whether broadcast stations should be
required to locate the main studio in the community
of license, have someone at the main studio whenever
the station is on the air, and the possible
establishment of a local advisory committee. This
proceeding has drawn more than 100,000 comments.
Many of the comments are a single page, many are a
paragraph or less. Based on the volume of comments,
it is apparent that interest is very high in the
proceeding. It may be a while before the results are
known and any changes to be made are released. |
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