Los Angeles, CA - OTA - Page 250

Originally Posted by Falcon_77

Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET exits network fold to go independent Wow

So much for the only "full-service" local PBS station, as it were. I wonder what will happen to BBC World News, which is made available to other PBS stations through KCET?

Originally Posted by turbobuick86

I've had a 10ft antenna on a 10ft pole for 10 years and I don't get KVCR. It's way off to the east instead of north where everyone else's transmitter resides. We need the major players to have transmitters on Mt. Wilson, not from someones garage in Riverside or Huntington Beach.

Originally Posted by narkspud

A nice powerful translator on Wilson, that's what KVCR needs. They can put it on channel ... uh ... hmmmm. Well anyway, they need a nice powerful translator on Wilson.

Can't get them here in this part of Tustin at all. Seems there's this mountain in the way. Stupid mountain.

Originally Posted by Falcon_77

I wonder if this means that the areas served by KCET translators will lose PBS programming. Well, I imagine cable/sat will be allowed to switch to KOCE, but what about OTA?

K47CC-D 47 VICTORVILLE, CA
K26FT 26 SANTA BARBARA, CA
K28GY-D 28 SANTA BARBARA, ETC., CA
K16FC-D 16 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA
K46II-D 46 BAKERSFIELD, CA
K51DD-D 51 RIDGECREST, CA

It's a good thing that we didn't lose KOCE to Daystar!

Originally Posted by Falcon_77

Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET exits network fold to go independent

Wow

So much for the only "full-service" local PBS station, as it were. I wonder what will happen to BBC World News, which is made available to other PBS stations through KCET?

Originally Posted by memo90061

The HD soap operas on Univision look so bad now. I use Tivo in my bedroom and watch channel 34 OTA. I went to my sister's room (she has DirecTV HD) and I saw the quality of Univision HD and was surprised. I never thought the quality would be better on satellite than from OTA!

Originally Posted by turbobuick86

What's up with KFLA - 8? Is the power so low you have to be hardwired to their transmitter to get a picture?

Originally Posted by Teeps

What TiVo do you have? There should be no difference if broadcast is in HD between OTA, Sat or cable.

Originally Posted by Sammer

Just 300 watts the maximum for low power VHF digital stations. They have applied for displacement and asked for 15 kW on channel 22.

Originally Posted by WackyPacks

Wonder if KCET received any offers from Sezmi.

Originally Posted by wtfer

Is anyone having trouble with NBC HD?

I haven't been able to get it since 2 days ago & it has a NFL game today.

I'm with Charter cable & the HD channel is usually 4-1 as opposed to the NBC SD channel which is 4.

Every other OTA HD channel is fine though.

Originally Posted by ercjncpr

They could use 28-4 (since they said PBS World was going away) and possibly 28-2 (their alleged OC Channel which most of the time repeats 28-4 anyway)

Originally Posted by HarrisonS

The loss of PBS World will be a disaster. Nobody else anywhere in the area carries it. Perhaps KOCE could pick it up on one of their subchannels. As for 28.2, I think it more repeats the programming on 28.1, but I really do like to watch the PBS NewsHour at the same time when it is aired on the east coast (3:00 PM Pacific time). It is not delayed, and, for me personally, this is a more convenient time anyway. Undoubtedly, all of this will be lost, unless someone else picks it up.

As for Sezmi, anyone who wants to go that route really should just subscribe to cable or satellite instead. We certainly don't need another pay TV service, especially when it fouls up the quality of OTA broadcasts!

After 40 Years Los Angeles' PBS Giant, KCET, Will Drop PBS Affiliation; Announces Plan to Become Country's Largest Independent Public TV Station (LA Times, AP)

KCET-TV, the Los Angeles area's public broadcasting station for 40 years, announced on Friday that it would cut its PBS affiliation beginning Jan. 1 and become the country's largest independent public TV station, reports Scott Collins in the Los Angeles Times. The station is channel 28 on the UHF dial.

While the news took PBS executives in Washington by surprise, KCET President Al Jerome said in a statement that the station had been talking with PBS for more than three years about "the need to address challenges" for the station and its market, the story says.

In an interview, he added that the station will spend two years to build out its own programming, with the station continuing to air locally produced public-affairs shows such as "SoCal Connected," the article notes. The break comes after the station had chaffed under PBS' required dues, which had jumped 40% after 2005, the story notes.

Viewers will also be facing changes, with Jerome acknowledging, "There are going to be some disruptions." The Associated Press notes that while there are three other PBS stations that serve Southern California, none carry the full slate of PBS shows.

Yet in a separate Los Angeles Times story, also by Scott Collins, PBS President Paula Kerger says that the city will get a full slate of PBS shows. She noted that KOCE-TV, a "secondary" affiliate in Orange County that carries just 25% of PBS programming, is likely to become a primary station, if needed.

While KCET, KOCE and two other public stations in the area had been talking about money-saving strategies and a way to keep KCET in the PBS fold, that consortium will continue without KCET, the story says.

KCET President Al Jerome has plenty of TV station experience. According to his bio, "Before coming to KCET, Jerome had a successful career in commercial broadcasting. His early experience was in sales and sales management at ABC and CBS. In 1975, Jerome began a seventeen year association at NBC, which included a decade as President of the NBC Television Station Group, responsible for oversight of the company-owned affiliates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, Cleveland, Miami, and Denver, as well as NBC Spot Sales. He also served as Vice-President and General Manager of WNBC-TV/New York."

The bio continues, "In 1992, Jerome was recruited to be president and chief executive officer of SpectraVision, Inc., the hotel industry's leading provider of pay-per-view entertainment and interactive television programming."

Jerome came to KCET in 1996.

Originally Posted by HarrisonS

KOCE is the only station that reliably covers the LA area, having a signal even more reliable and stable than KCET. But they too seem to be in dire straits financially.

KPBS only comes in during the summer months for most of us, when there is a "skip" into San Diego.

By fortunate coincidence, KVCR is almost exactly in the same LOS as Mt. Wilson, at my location.

Originally Posted by Falcon_77

... KLCS doesn't have HD, but seems to be in the tank right now (just a color bar pattern). I wonder what's going on? They could probably add World.

Originally Posted by BondiBluey

KLCS went down yesterday including their feeds to DirecTV and cable companies.

Back up now on DirecTV and OTA with only the primary channel (58.1) and no program info etc.

Originally Posted by Desert Hawk

Since Create is owned by American Public Television and not PBS, KCET picking up Create would seem to be a likely possibility. Here in Bakersfield, we already get Create from a translator of KVPT Fresno. Losing World will really suck.

Bakersfield will still get the full PBS schedule from KVPT. Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Palm Springs, and Victorville won't be so lucky. Cable companies in SLO/SB could carry KOCE, KLCS, and KVCR, or they could carry KVPT, KQED San Francisco, or the PBS station in the Monterey/Santa Cruz/Salinas market (not sure what it's call letters are), if those stations would agree to be carried. Palm Springs' cable company would carry all 3 L.A. stations or import KPBS San Diego. Victorville's cable company would probably have to carry the 3 L.A. stations, since Victorville is in the L.A. DMA.