WCPO Transition Finished - And So Is This Blog (New-Post Wise, Anyway)

WCPO finished their digital transition last night, with their fully authorized DTV facility turned on around 12:18 this morning.

Here's a repost of the email received this morning from Friend of TSMW Rich Emery which is posted here on our main blog:

Good morning again!

Just saw your 8 AM item on TSMW, and wanted to confirm what I said below -- I'm definitely seeing a huge improvement in WCPO's signal near Hamilton, and several other people on AVS discussion threads report the same. Looks like they've successfully erased lots of their reception problems through their tower work!

Which leaves WHIO as the last one likely to improve in the short term for me -- whenever that happens, I'll be a very happy DTV camper.

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For what it's worth, I'm seeing greatly improved WCPO signal strength at my house. "voyager6" posted a message on the Dayton AVS thread describing exactly what he saw after midnight -- I'd given up and gone to bed, after nothing happened by 12:10 AM -- and he reported a huge improvement. Activity actually started shortly after 12:15 AM, it seems.

I can definitely confirm far better signal strength for WCPO in the Hamilton area this morning. As I'd commented on AVS, one set-up I have doesn't even need to have rabbit ears extended to get a solid signal, and that's quite an improvement!

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With WCPO now finished switching over, that means our main market of Cincinnati has fully switched over (minus a possible increase in power by WKRC if they determine that it's necessary to boost their VHF signal).

And with that said, it is now time to close the books on Tri-State DTV Watch. From now on, we'll just be posting our regular mix of items on Tri-State Media Watch, as we did before opening this effort 4 months ago, but this blog will remain up and open - we just won't really be posting to it anymore. We thank you for reading.

Another Update on WCPO's DTV Antenna

This is a repost of a portion of a larger item on our main blog.

WCPO Update: We told you we'd have more on this one.

WCPO has finally installed the digital antenna which will be the fully-authorized facility for the station's Post-DTV Transition Facility.

The station reports that they began the installation during the daytime hours yesterday. All that's left, now that it's been mounted to the top of the tower, is to connect the wires and turn it on, which they still expect to happen by Monday.

WCPO Transition Update

We are getting this about a week or so late - but there's still part of this story to come, so stay tuned for more...

WCPO.com has the latest on their transition:

WCPO-TV's analog antenna is no longer.

Workers removed the antenna from the tower on the morning of Wednesday, June 24. After they removed the analog antenna, crews began the process of moving the new one to the top of the tower.

The new antenna will provide viewers with a much more powerful digital signal.

The transition will be completed when the new top-mounted antenna is turned on around July 13.

We'd heard the end of June or first of July as dates for the switch to be finished over at WCPO. But this is the first solid date we've gotten.

On a related note: We will close this blog to new posts after WCPO finishes their full transition. From that point on, any and ALL Cincinnati-area TV information will be back on Tri-State Media Watch.

DTV Update - Why Is VHF An Issue?

NOTE: This is a repost from the main TSMW blog.

We received an article from Friend of TSMW Rich Emery last week about the problems with VHF signals nationwide, including here in Cincinnati, where WCPO-TV/DT 9 and WKRC-TV/DT 12 both are experiencing trouble.

I spoke with Kurt Thelen at WKRC, and he had a few things to say about it.

Thelen tells us that he and his team have driven around the I-275 loop with portable equipment, and have had a good signal at that range. However, the station has lost quite a few viewers around the area, and Thelen says it was a combination of bad equipment being sold to viewers as well as bad modeling by the FCC.

According to Thelen, some antennas and converters are leaving the upper half of the VHF band completely out, and aren't picking them up. For whatever reason, the converters "drop off about mid-band and then pick it back up in the UHF band", Thelen tells us.

Thelen tells us that he knows an engineer who is going to a symposium being held by the FCC, and the FCC is expected to address the issue later today.

Thelen also blames flawed computer modeling by the FCC for the reason WKRC, WCPO and other stations have had issues with VHF broadcasting, as it looks like those stations may have needed double the amount of power to keep all of their viewers. Thelen says, "I think broadcasters and viewers got the short end of the stick."

However, some of the problems are end-user related. Thelen tells us that many of the issues with individual viewers have been easy fixes so far, including cases where the converters and TV's weren't picking up the new DT 12 signal because they were stuck on the old RF 31 information. In those cases, deleting all the information that was in the converter, followed by a re-scan, has worked.

We'll keep you informed as to what happens with the VHF situation here at TSMW and TSDTW...

An Editorial - Have Some Compassion, People!

6/13/09 2:02 AM

Wow, are we a harsh bunch.

As the editor of both this effort, and Tri-State Media Watch, and no, I'm not affiliated with the Enquirer...I was stunned today.

Not that the switch was happening. I was glad to see it come to fruition so we could stop talking about it.

Not that there were a few thousand still unprepared for the switch. I expected that. After all...I read the Nielsen study released Wednesday, which said 19,685 households in the Tri-State weren't ready two days ahead of the switch.

No, what amazed me was the lack of compassion...from the Enquirer TV/Media Blog, to the Skyeyeweather.com Forum...and I'm sure it was repeated nationwide...a refrain that went something like this:

"I don't feel sorry for those having trouble today. They've had YEARS to get ready for this."

Well, of course we've had it pounded into our heads that we would switch to DTV-only broadcasting. Congress and the FCC kept moving the date, in an attempt to have as many ready as possible.

But think about this. I heard several people say today that they first knew about it in 2003, when the original timeframe was sometime in 2005. Okay, I won't dispute that.

But...do you know someone with dementia? Or Alzheimer's? Do you realize how much trouble people with these diseases HAVE with some of the slightest tasks? It isn't THEIR fault they wound up with either of these. Nor is it really their fault they weren't ready for DTV. Think about it. Those with Alzheimer's start out with mild symptoms - but they gradually increase over time. Maybe they were ready for DTV - but because of Alzheimer's, forgot about their cable/satellite/whatever, and have just let it lapse, and they have nobody in their lives to help them!

Now to share a personal part of this...

My grandmother is in the early to possibly middle stages of Alzheimer's. At this point, we believe she is in stage 4, maybe 5. She might not make it another year or two.

What if the DTV switch had been postponed another 1-2 years from now? Do you realize that people with Alzheimer's, or dementia, have trouble remembering information? It's the nature of these disorders...you forget things quickly!

No matter how much you try to beat the DTV switch into their heads...and the information about the converters, etc....they wouldn't remember it 10 minutes from now, MUCH LESS 12 hours later when they could CALL someone for assistance. Yes, the average person with Alzheimer's lives 4-6 years post diagnosis...but some make it 20 years or more!

And this says NOTHING about the other types of dementia...

Point is this: Have some compassion. There were some, after all, who even if they DID hear about the switch, could not remember it or what to do about it due to dementia or Alzheimer's. And I bet you the elderly, is the majority of people caught by the switch...

WLWT-TV Switchover

This is the post where we will chronicle the WLWT switchover.

So far, the station did about 5 minutes on the switch, then at the end of the newscast announced they will have people ready to answer DTV questions. We're looking for that information now...

11:41 PM: For us, it's a matter of checking to be sure WLWT's digital signal gets through to Insight Cable. Conan O'Brien is joking about the switch now...odd, considering it's taking place in the middle of HIS show on the East and West Coasts, in those markets electing to go at 11:59 PM station local time...

11:45 PM: We're going to grab a cold one, and will be watching to see what happens...

11:59 PM: Conan just went to break, with a DTV-switch-inspired signoff. WLWT about to sign off analog far as entertainment and local programming. Looks like Insight has all the digital signals now.

12:03 AM: And we're clear. All full-power Tri-State (and East Coast/Eastern Time Zone) stations are now DTV-only! (WOTH is anticipated to go digital-only, if they have not done so, next week.)

And with that, we will sign off for this weekend. We will have a full wrapup on Monday.

By the way, this blog WILL continue to exist. After about July 25, we will no longer be posting to it. About all that is left to do is continue tracking the converter box coupon program, which goes through July 31...that, and look into the Nightlight aspect of things at WLWT-TV, whose analog signal exists now only as a "Nightlight", broadcasting information about the switch. They will continue this through 6/26, at which point WLWT will turn off the analog transmitter entirely.

BREAKING: WOTH-DT Back - For REAL this time!

I just got word from Rich Emery via my personal twitter account that WOTH-DT 25 (RF 47), is back on the air tonight as of 8 PM.

WOTH's digital signal has, of course, been off the air since last weekend, with problems from a messed-up feed line on the WCPO/WOTH transmitting tower at I-71 and McMillan Avenue...