Mobile, AL / Panama City, FL - HDTV - Page 121

I grew up in Mobile, but spent 06-08 in Charleston Sc, and then 08-10 in Norfolk Va. This market is below both of those, as far as HD local news, and PQ. Using a TiVo for OTA recording, one should be able to enjoy a halfway decent PQ, but I'd not even give that to WKRG.

From what I heard on today's WKRG noon newscast, WKRG could very well be launching HD news either today or tomorrow! John Nodar mentioned to Devon Walsh at the end of the show that the picture tomorrow will be "bigger and brighter...we're going HD!"

It could very well happen today at 5...or tomorrow morning.

Nah, they are going upconverted SD, cuz thats about as good as their PQ is. Studio will prob be ok, because it wont have a lot of motion, and blocking.

WKRG attempted to go HD at 5pm, but had to dump down to SD because there was no audio. They went full HD at 6pm. Unlike WEAR, they are showing stories in SD widescreen, with other SD file video being flanked with sidebars.
I'm watching it on replay with DirecTV and it looks pretty crisp, with some blocking during effects. I'll catch it OTA at 10pm to see if there's much of a difference.

There were many errors (audio, graphics, and a report ending too soon) during the 5:00 PM newscast on TV5 (WKRG-TV) today and the opening was updated to include the words "in high definition" and a logo with the letters "HD", but the picture was in the 4:3 aspect ratio. The 6:00 PM newscast was broadcast in the 16:9 aspect ratio and some reports made for the station were in the same format. I will post more detailed observations on my homepage tomorrow.

After watching the 10pm show over the air, the picture overall was sharper and brighter than what DirecTV offers (at least on my 720p Vizio 37"; WKRG is 1080i like most CBS stations)

The locally originated footage shot in widescreen is looking much better than I expected...it's more obvious on footage that is sent over from Baldwin County or from other sources. However it still looks better than the constant 4x3 side-barred news video that WEAR has been putting out for the past two years.

The spots look the same, noticibly softer than the HD content. It took WEAR about 6 months to make this upgrade...I wonder how long this will take at WKRG.

Being the first set of shows in HD, there's bound to be some problems. Overall, this is a good upgrade that makes the other stations in town even harder to watch.

WFGX-TV is now available to cable TV customers of Comcast Cablevision of Mobile. I noticed the station shortly after 6:30 PM.

Since I am a highly satisfied former Comcast customer...i'm curious what channel did it land up on? Is it in basic-cable land or is it buried somewhere in digital?

Basic cable channel 19 between the TV Guide Channel (or Network) on channel 18 and Quality Value Convenience on channel 21.

Okay, I think we need few more Spanish-languages channels to Mobile and Pensacola for people who speak Spanish.

V-me (WSRE 23.4) and TBN (WMPV 21.4) Enlace we're only both channels arrived in Mobile and Pensacola.

Should we need Univision, Telemundo, and other.

TBN Enlace in Alabama's first Spanish-Language channel.

I don't know of any local cable systems with Spanish channels and (historically) no stations (OTA or on local cable systems) have ever broadcast Spanish on the SAP in this market (heck, most OTA stations didn't have stereo until they started installing the new HD equipment.) The best source for OTA Spanish is probably the Dora The Explorer show on WKRG. It's been on for years and I have no idea what they are talking about.
I doubt Mobile is high on the list for OTA Spanish Television. We don't even have any full time local Spanish radio here.

Isn't FTA satellite the solution for Foreign Language speakers?

As far as HD news.. It's nice that WKRG Mobile finally caught up with Pensacola, Dothan, Panama City, Tallahasse, you get the point. How far behind are WALA and WPMI?

I've been surprised at the number of Hispanics I've come across in Baldwin County. Usually once there's a few thousand, a struggling AM station flips to a Spanish format.

AT&T U-Verse has about 15-20 Spanish language channels, as well as a few Asian choices. (And after seeing the Mobile HD lineup, I'm officially jealous that it's not going to be available in Foley.)

Pensacola's Cox Cable has about 5 Spanish language channels that I could see.

Really… if people are clamoring for Spanish language channels, DirecTV or Dish are the way to go.

After having spent a few days watching local news and programming OTA, I gotta say the PQ on many of the market's stations leaves a lot to be desired.

WKRG is using the same graphics package as WVTM in Birmingham. WVTM also does most of their remotes and taped segments in widescreen SD. WKRG seems to have the crispest picture during studio shots, at least compared to WEAR.

What really surprised me was how poor the subchannels on WKRG look. The weather radar is about as static an image as one can get, yet it constantly blocks up and shimmers. The audio is too loud and seems to mute a lot, as if it's dropping out (but it isn't, at least on my end.)

RTV just looks awful. Any movement at all and it becomes a blocky mess.

WSRE is really squeezing blood from a turnip, too. It's a shame WEIQ is so hard to get because it looks ever so slightly better from my short comparison. None of the PBS HD stations I've been able to see have looked all that good though, to be honest.

If nothing else, it's nice being located somewhere where I actually have quite a few channels to choose from OTA. An alligator clip holding a piece of copper wire two feet long in the bedroom gets me most channels at 100%. Only WDPM-DT is absent, which is no great loss. I haven't yet snagged anything from Biloxi or Ft Walton Beach/Destin yet but middle Baldwin County may just be too far away.

WALA is putting out a windowboxed SD picture on DirecTV. This could be a result of having to downconvert the World Series to show it letterboxed and the infamous "Fox Splicer" malfunctioning. Anyone having the same problem with the SD feed on Dish or cable?

I checked a friend's tv who subscribes to Expanded Basic Cable in the Midtown-Loop area (who hasn't switched over to digital yet) and nothing was on Channel 19. Do you have the converter? Is it being phased in as each area is switched over to digital?

I have a digital transport adapter and WFGX-TV became available to me in midtown Mobile before Comcast could gradually switch the city to digital cable TV programming only.

The Country Channel is now available on WFGX-DT 35.3.

You must have just caught the launch. I rescanned the TV at my office around 3pm today (10/29) and added 35.2 The Cool TV (it's been that long since I rescanned) but 35.3 wasn't there. 35.3 Country is indeed on now.

That's odd. I have a Channel Master DTV converter in a bedroom and it was already added when I got home. I didn't know these boxes or TVs would do that.

All this and the rest of your post seem spot on.

WDPM is odd and seems to come and go, I would guess they are frequently at reduced power or off the air. They are a rather new station so who knows what's up with them. BTW, I'm still getting WDPM on virtual channel 4, I thought I read they got a spanking for trying that?

Fort Walton stations aren't worth the trouble as you would need a directional rooftop antenna pointed away from all the "good" Mobile stations... just a waste of time in my opinion. Even with a rooftop directional antenna pointed east, don't expect much more than a good signal on WFBD and a weak signal on WPAN. Forget about WAWD and Panama City. Oh, and WFBD is a sorry excuse for a TV station.

One more thing for that future rooftop antenna... we still have analog TV here! I just watched a GWAR video on WBQP-LP 12.

I got nothing on 12, analog or digital. Their website says they're on digital with four subchannels. Is that in addition to the analog? I can't find anything on the FCC query showing them having a digital assignment anymore.

An outdoor antenna isn't an option, and unfortunately the attic is t-i-n-y; I can't even stand up easily up there, so that's out. But with the signals being so strong, I may try to fashion something indoors and unobtrusive.

I'd love to have access to White Springs TV, it sounds interesting.

It's on channel 7 (maps to 12-x) and has no license.

- Trip

[quote=Tom Servo;19411176]I got nothing on 12, analog or digital. Their website says they're on digital with four subchannels. Is that in addition to the analog? I can't find anything on the FCC query showing them having a digital assignment anymore.
[quote]

WBQP-LP is analog only.
WBQP's been going downhill for several years. WBQP-2 (the old on-screen ID for Pensacola's LP channel 8) went off the air three+ years ago. I thought they were making a comeback when they put up the digital channels, 7.1-7.4, but those dissappeared close to two years ago. I'm guessing analog channel 12 is mainly on the air to feed the head end for Cox cable in Pensacola.

You should be inside the fringe for the Pensacola LPs over in Foley (unless you're really closer to Magnolia Springs), channels 46 and 19 are rather strong LDs.

If a directional rooftop antenna is out of the question at your location you would be wasting money on anything else. Best case scenerio would get you a week signal on WFBD and/or WLOX.

It was definitely on the air six months ago, if it isn't now.

- Trip

What is the deal with Ch 44. I have a small terrible picture on all of my TV's using either Directv or OTA. Anybody know whats going on?

This occurred just three days after an article published by the Radio Business Report/Television Business Report about ten stations operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group broadcasting programs from The Country Network and the network expecting to broadcast in 18 more markets over the next several weeks. Mobile-Pensacola was one of the 18 markets. I was not aware of the new sub-channel from WFGX-TV until today, as I was expecting it to come in a matter of weeks and I was too busy to check one of the other TV sets in my home with an antenna, since I unplugged the antenna and digital converter from the TV set in my bedroom soon after WFGX-TV became available on digital cable (I was primarily recording "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and "Inspector Gadget" from ThisTV when I needed an antenna in my bedroom).

WKRG uses much of their bandwidth for their subchannels. That is why their HD 5.1 signal is so bad. There is not a lot of bandwidth left for the HD channel.

Yepp, looks like crap and they should be embarrassed.

Thanks for the info; I may try to tinker with the setup to see what I get. I'm northwest of Foley by a few miles. If I could get above the tree line I'd be able to see all the Baldwin County broadcast towers from here.

My office can't be 3 miles from the tower and I've never picked up a hint of the WBQP LD signal there. When WBQP LD 7.1-7.4 came on the air a few years back I could get a solid signal out by the beach, about 20 miles from the tower. Now I get nothing. Also, when I was able to pick up WBQP-LD it was not mapping to channel 12, it displayed actual chanel numbers 7.1-7.4.
Pensacola has another analog LP on channel 39 (the strongest LP in town, I believe). It just comes on the air for a few days every few months and runs a loop of old commercials, station ID's, and public domain stuff to keep the license alive. I wouldn't be suprised if WBQP followed their lead. It's also odd that the FCC has never shown any data on WBQP's digital channel 7 operation... at least that I can find.