feedback.pdxradio.com forums › feedback.pdxradio.com forums › Portland Radio › ATSC 3.0 Coming to Portland Soon
- This topic has 108 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 2 weeks ago by
LinleyG.
-
AuthorPosts
-
March 14, 2020 at 4:30 am #45058
washnotore
ParticipantSome recent FCC files took place this week. At least two of our local TV stations. Will be converting to ATSC 3.0 signal only later this spring.
KPDX RF 30 and KRCW RF 33
There current ATSC 1.0 feeds will be relocated to other ATSC 1.0 stations.
More details such as a re-scan date should be coming later time.
March 14, 2020 at 9:37 am #45059DarkStar
ParticipantI can definitely help answer questions about the Portland-area “NextGen TV” transition (ATSC 3.0 is technical specification, but for whatever reason they have a new “consumer” name for it).
The Portland transition date is currently scheduled for April 20, 2020 — so that is the rescan date you’ll start seeing advertised next weekend.
It will be interesting since KRCW and KPDX will have all of their existing channels distributed by all of the other broadcasters, and in turn they will be broadcasting our .1 stations split between the two ATSC 3.0 transmitters.
Feel free to throw questions out and I’ll get answers for them!
March 14, 2020 at 12:42 pm #45062mwdxer1
ParticipantThat is good news. But there are no tuners available as yet unfortunately. I live on the coast, so I presume Meredith and Nexstar may be the first to convert the translator systems?
Tribune never believed in translators, so we never got 32 out here (Megler-Astoria), so I was happy when Nexstar bought 32, as they have 6 out here. Hopefully we will get 32 in the near future. We are starved for diginets, but at least we have some. The viewers really appreciate the Portland stations giving us the free TV out here. Without it, there would be no OTA.March 14, 2020 at 2:22 pm #45063msndrspdx
ParticipantSounds very much like the setup that’s being put together in Phoenix for 3.0 telecasts there. The new blog post on RabbitEars has the latest details. Reading it should give you a sense of what the setup in Portland might look like. ABC, NBC, CBS, and (I think PBS as well) Fox stations there are all going to be part of the new setup. Might be worth it to watch for new subchannels that might get added in the process. Some of you have suggested earlier that one of the HC2 stations might host 3.0 signals for the other stations in town, but HC2 has been noticeably quiet about their plans. Channel shares might be implemented by some channels down the road.
March 14, 2020 at 4:00 pm #45064DarkStar
ParticipantYes, KATU, KOIN, KGW, KOPB-TV, KRCW-TV, KPTV, and KPDX are all participating in the NextGen TV deployment in April for the Portland market. Doing the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse stations allows the 5 year clock to start, so expect all those stations to go ATSC 3.0 full-time in April 2025. Diginets won’t be coming to ATSC 3.0 until stations are full-time.
Translators will continue to be ATSC 1.0 during the lighthouse period. This will make things interesting! For example, KRCW-TV doesn’t have any translators, however since KATU will be hosting their .1 channel, you will be able to rescan and receive 32.1 from all of the KATU translators. With KOIN hosting the remainder KRCW-TV channels, if you can receive both translators you should be all set!
Translators will be upgraded over the next 5 years to support ATSC 3.0, so that once the primary stations flip the translators can flip at the same time.
Lighthouse Arrangements
ATSC 1.0
KATU
2.1 ABC
2.2 MeTV (going to 480i)
2.3 Comet
2.4 Staduim
32.1 CW (KRCW-TV)KOIN
6.1 CBS
6.2 GetTV
6.3 Bounce
32.2 Antenna TV (KRCW-TV)
32.3 CourtTV (KRCW-TV)
32.4 TBD (KRCW-TV)KGW
8.1 NBC
8.2 Justice
8.3 Quest
49.2 Escape (KPDX)
49.4 GRIT (KPDX)KOPB-TV
10.1 PBS
10.2 PBS Encore
10.3 PBS Kids 24/7
10.4 OPB RadioKPTV
12.1 Fox
12.2 COZI-TV
12.3 Laff
12.4 Dabl
49.1 MyNetTV (KPDX)ATSC 3.0
KRCW-TV
32.1 CW
2.1 ABC (KATU)
6.1 CBS (KOIN)
10.2 PBS Encore (KOPB-TV)KPDX
49.1 MyNetTV
8.1 NBC (KGW)
10.1 PBS (KOPB-TV)
12.1 Fox (KPTV)Hope this helps!
March 14, 2020 at 5:05 pm #45065Broadway
ParticipantMy question is…is this the beginning of each channel being able to have upwards to 100 sub channels and could they even be controlled by subscription like cable thus even having HGTV-FoxNews-CNN from OTA?
March 14, 2020 at 8:47 pm #45071DarkStar
ParticipantBroadway: With the internet connectivity component that ATSC 3.0 has, not only can additional channels be offered seamlessly beside off-air channels, off-air channels can be augmented with higher resolution or enhanced (HDR or maybe 3D) versions.
The actual bitrate available for off-air content is roughly 25 Mbps, but HEVC encoding means only 4 to 5 Mbps will get you good 720p or 1080i playback.
As with ATSC 1.0, subscriber access is still an available component (aka, pay-TV), though I haven’t heard any plans of implementation yet.
March 14, 2020 at 9:32 pm #45073mwdxer1
ParticipantAll I can say is WOW! Fantastic news. I wonder what equipment if any the stations will have to switch to add all of those diginets to the translators? Will it be this coming Summer? Going from 16 to 25 diginets will be amazing! Antenna TV is one we have really been waiting for. I tried to get Tribune to get a 32 translator out here. Apparently the company that did own 32 before Tribune had planned a ch 19, but it was never built, as 32 was sold to Tribune. We also have CPs for a bunch of others including a LPTV ch 22, 28, 30 (moved from 38), and 36. 28 tested out here years ago in analog. With the increase in OTA TV out here in Clatsop County, I wonder if any others will sign on? Again Thank You! for the great news!!!
March 15, 2020 at 8:51 am #45080DarkStar
Participantmwdxer1: We actually don’t need to add anything to change what the translators broadcast.
The translators receive the primary station either via microwave, fiber, or off-air* and then just rebroadcast it.
(* the exceptions being KOIN’s Neahkahnie Mtn translator being fed via DirecTV, not having any of their diginets and having open captions — and KPTV/KPDX, they send a special mux to their translators)
I don’t know what KPTV/KPDX’s plan is for feeding translators after April 20th, but if I was them I would feed KPTV exclusively to them since it will include 49.1 and KGW will have the KPDX diginets.
So, once the Portland stations have done their re-alignment here in April, you should be able to rescan and get some new stations from Megler Mtn.
March 15, 2020 at 10:44 am #45085nosignalallnoise
Participantand could they even be controlled by subscription like cable thus even having HGTV-FoxNews-CNN from OTA?
Yeah, all you have to do is find a Delorean and go back to the early 80s or early 2000s to find out how well THAT worked out.
“Fool me once, shame on thee. Fool me twice, shame on me.” –TV broadcasting industry
March 15, 2020 at 11:35 am #45088Andy Brown
ParticipantATSC3 isn’t going to save the industry which is in decline despite its billion dollar level.
Are TV sales declining?
According to a report from Bloomberg, TV advertising sales fell 7.8 percent to $61.8 billion last year. Per the report, this is the steepest drop outside of a recession in more than 20 years. … Television ad sales are declining even as global advertising spending grows.Is television viewership on the decline?
The numbers help put the decline of on-air ratings in context. … In the Nielsen ratings for 2018-19, the broadcast networks averaged 28.5 million viewers in primetime, a decline of 7.3 million viewers (20 percent) since 2014-15. The drop-off among adults 18-49 was steeper, falling 35 percent to a 6.2 rating.Sep 21, 2019More channels competing for shrinking ad dollars isn’t growth. Also, no one is going to pay for OTA anything when hi bandwidth internet is available anywhere there are folks that can afford to buy entertainment.
Advances in compression algorithms may be scientifically interesting but TV is destined for larger changes because what they are doing now is not sustainable.
March 15, 2020 at 12:10 pm #45093mwdxer1
ParticipantThanks again. That is sooner than I thought! I presume the main network feeds (ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX), will remain in HD and everything else will be in SD? PBS, no changes in their feeds?
Yes, the KPTV/KPDX mux is different. I have always enjoyed the small period of time when the mux gets messed up and we are left with KPTV/COZI/Laff. As COZI is another we really enjoy.March 15, 2020 at 1:11 pm #45094DarkStar
ParticipantYes, all of the .1 broadcasts will continue to be in 720p or 1080i HD.
Unfortunately the only change is that MeTV will be scaled to 480i on broadcast. I believe it will continue to be 720p on Comcast (since we feed them directly via fiber).
March 15, 2020 at 2:56 pm #45096mwdxer1
ParticipantThanks again. Yes, I do get all 5 translators at Megler at 100% as I am 12.2 miles LOS and run a high gain UHF yagi (Antenna Diret 91XG). I put it up as I tried to get the Grays River translators, but I have a hill in the way. No lock, but I do get 20-25% in digital signal if I point the yagi that way. But the Megler translators are all strong. KOIN’s is the lowest power with an ERP of 576w, and the hardest to receive for some, but being LOS they all work well.
HD is nice if available, but I grew up with B&W TV (I’m 71), so SD is fine with me. I am happy to have the channels out here.The locals really appreciate the time and expense that has been spent to give us free OTA TV. I know several that was dropped cable as the OTA channels are good enough. They want the networks and older shows. They are happy.March 15, 2020 at 9:46 pm #45106mwdxer1
ParticipantI was thinking that one reason METV is going to 480 is to make a bit more room for KRCW 32 in HD. I would be surprised if KRCW would be in SD.
Also, I wonder how good will the pq be on especially on KOIN with 6 channels? I believe KOIN runs 1080, so I wonder if there is enough room for decent pq for the extra diginets? That is a bit of cramming.
Since 49 & 32 will be piggybacked, are those transmitters going to stay on? -
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.