Mobile, AL / Panama City, FL - HDTV - Page 132

Just found this small nugget of information... WPMI (Local 15) going HD by "Spring 2012"

(Can't link): 602communications****/2012/01/graphic-designer-local-15-utv44-mobile-al-pensacola-fl/

replace the * with ".com"

Cool. Thanks for sharing. I figure Spring 2012 is a very optimistic goal, however.

It sounded the same to me, but this was posted in January. Who knows?

The current advertisement for a graphics designer on the WPMI-TV site does not mention local news programming being in high definition by the spring of 2012. It was posted there on Monday, January 9th and updated on Tuesday, January 17th. The advertisement on the 602 Communications site was posted on the next day.

Update: the information in the 602 Communications advertisement regarding high-definition newscasts is correct, according to the station.

Then there is this post.

http://www.examiner.com/tv-in-mobile...alerts_article

Yeah, I saw that, too.

Let's see. WEAR went HD in late 2008, WKRG went HD in late 2010. Maybe that means WPMI will go HD in late 2012 and WALA in late 2014. Every two years! *snerk*

Are y'all shocked that WFBD appeared in Dish Network/DirecTV? I saw it moved to Alabama.

Only barely in Alabama, or the Mobile television market, to be fair. I mean it's just barely on the edge. I can't get it OTA in Foley and I haven't heard of anyone in Pensacola picking it up yet, either.

Depending on where the receive stations are, they may just be picking it up off WHBR 33.4, where Blab (complete with WFBD on screen IDs) has been airing in the clear for a while.

I get both WHBR 33.4 and WFBD 48.1 in Gulf Breeze OTA with a 4 bay bowtie antenna (and WALA 9.1 too).

^WALA-TV's actual broadcast channel number may be 9, but their virtual channel number remains 10-1 (or 10.1).

With WALA's move to a temporary set, could an HD upgrade be in the works as well? Seems like it could be timed to coincide with May sweeps. They would be foolish NOT to upgrade to HD at this point in time since things have barely changed since 2001 or 2002 when they moved into their new facility.

It will be an interesting couple of months to see who will make the jump to HD.

To be fair, I do get WALA on one TV, using a straight FM whip antenna from an old Chrysler. The amplified indoor antenna on the other TV? Not a peep.

After reading about the new set, I really do hope they're readying a jump to HD. Even if it's just an HD-friendly set to be used later, it's some progress. We may have ourselves a little (snail-paced) race between WALA and WPMI going on here.

Looks like WALA's jump to HD news has been confirmed on their Facebook page. April is the target date.

Bob Grip in 16 X 9 glory!
What more could we ask for?

It appears that WLOX is going to be adding CBS as a subchannel soon.
This could be interesting. Could we be seeing dual-stream 720p channels?
Or could CBS be another SD subchannel?

I could see them dumping their weather channel, Bounce TV, or both to fit CBS on their signal.

I don't see them bumping Bounce. Isn't WLOX a Raycom station? Raycom has backed Bounce TV in some way. They may try squeezing a 720p, a 1080i and a 480i channel all on the same multiplex but I can assure you, it will NOT look good.

I believe some ABC O&Os run ABC HD and the ABC health and living network, both in 720p from the same TX and they have generated tons of complaints about poor picture quality on both HD feeds.

But if WLOX runs CBS SD only, won't that become the de facto local CBS, forcing WKRG and WWL in HD off cable/sat systems in those markets?

The Sun Herald in Biloxi has published a news article about the situation involving WLOX-TV.

WPMI confirmed they will be upgrading to HD on their 10 pm news tonight.

They've been mentioning it at other times as well. Apparently there was an audio snafu during the 5 pm news the other day and Greg Peterson said it was due to all the upgrading going on for the switch to HD.

These sorts of problems seem to be pretty common when news goes HD; it's amazing that these stations work as seamlessly as they do, considering practically everything in the video chain has to be swapped out at some time or another.

When I saw esdx's post on my phone, I thought he meant WPMI was going high def that night.

I now see that you meant they were again confirming the HD upgrade now scheduled for next month. I turned on WPMI last night halfway expecting to see 16X9, and was a little disappointed to see the old square format.

In other news... I am still trying to figure out the WLOX story that was linked a few posts ago. The newspaper article was not a modicum of clarity.

I can't believe that CBS would allow WLOX to carry their regular network programming as a sub-channel. I would infer from the article, they are simply switching affiliations from ABC to CBS. If CBS were on a sub- channel, I doubt the must carry rules would even apply. Does someone know if they would?

Is ABC doing that badly in the ratings?

CBS will be on a subchannel. See multiple examples of it happening elsewhere in the country, such as WBBJ Jackson TN.

- Trip

People in the WLOX area are really getting screwed if they lose an affiliate like WWL on their cable or satellite system and get a WLOX CBS feed at 1080i that has been crammed in with the 720p ABC feed. Both PQs will suck and they will be stuck unless they can add OTA and grab from NO or Mobile.

More than likely they'll keep ABC HD and put CBS on a second channel as SD. I don't know of any stations that mix 720 and 1080 programming on the same multiplex.

I'm pretty sure WLOX will exercise must carry, which will eliminate the HD versions of WKRG and/or WWL that my exist on cable or satellite. Bummer.

In the Mobile HD newscast race, WALA has already confirmed they're building a new set, but no word on if WPMI will do the same. Some stations can get away with reusing the old set, like WTVA in Tupelo did. It actually wound up looking pretty nice in HD, but their set is unlike any other I've seen, being completely open to the back office, with people walking across the set during newscasts.

We already know Local 15's graphics packages are HD ready with their HD promos, so, it may only be a matter of switching out studio equipment to get them up and running.

KWTX Waco TX
KBTX Bryan TX
WGBC Meridian MS
KXII Sherman TX
KTEN Ada OK
KALB Alexandria LA
KSBW Salinas CA
WISE Fort Wayne IN

- Trip

Wow, I didn't even know that was possible.

As I have done with a few other markets (Chicago, Denver, Richmond and Roanoke to name but four), I'm in the process of reading the entire Mobile/Pensacola thread from start to finish to get an idea of how DTV evolved over the years.

I've come up with two questions after culling what I could from the nine years of DTV history for this DMA.

1). WALA had a CP granted for 124 kW (BPCDT-19991028AEO) but ultimately built a 29 kW facility (BLCDT-20050316ADI) at a slightly higher HAAT. Why did Emmis, the owner at the time, opt out of the more powerful facility?

2). I understand that for historic reasons, the Mobile-licensed stations had their NTSC transmitter plants closer to the COL near Malbis. When DTV was on the horizon, why didn't stations like WKRG and WALA consolidate with the others by re-locating their ATSC facilities near Robertsdale?

After Katrina, WPXL was doing all sorts of heavy lifting with its multiplex. At one point it was airing WDSU in 1080i and at another WGNO at 720p along with WNOL at 480i as well as its own main (pax/i/ion) feed at 480i and its own sub channel(s) at 480i. And yes, the PQ sucked on all of the channels.

Do you happen to know the channel that 124 kW CP was for? That would be more power than allowed on VHF channel 9. I can only speculate since I can't find historical info on that application, that they got a UHF allotment, and reapplied for a VHF-high allotment to reuse their analog antenna.

As for #2, WKRG, WALA/WFNA and AETV own their towers so it would make sense to keep using them instead of going to a lease situation with American General's tower in Robertsdale.

The diversity of location helped when Hurricane Ivan came through and one of the Robertsdale towers fell. It took out several FM and TV stations all at once. Having some of the signals scattered means we're not likely to lose everything in one fell swoop.

The CP, approved in February 2002 by the FCC, for that 124 kW plant was indeed for channel 9. The "Tech Box" in that app shows:

Even at the lower height, I would think the 6.3 dB power difference would have served WALA well in terms of power density. And the cap on VHF high is 160 kW.

From this thread, it's difficult to determine if WALA ever operated with that greater power. There's some speculation around mid-March 2005 that they did based on reception reports in the Florida panhandle.


Point well taken on that second item. The cluster of towers along I-10 aren't all that far apart. The only one with a shorter stick (excluding WEIQ, which exists for APT to cover Mobile) is for WALA and its companion, WFNA. Both are under 1300' HAAT whereas the others are around 1800'.

D'oh, my stupid brain was thinking VHF-low with the power levels. It's been on of those days.

WALA is definitely harder to receive in Mobile and Pensacola; of the two TVs in my residence with OTA hookups only one gets it reliably, and I live north of Foley!

There's another station on RF channel 9 in Panama City, and the signals meet around Fort Walton Beach or thereabouts. Maybe the lower power has something to do with that spacing? I know people in FWB complain about not being able to receive any Fox programming because of the two signals.