Detroit, MI - HDTV - Page 377

Here is the reason for the delay. They are probably still testing as well:


WXYZ-TV/Detroit set to debut Bounce TV on Wednesday on Ch. 7.3

E.W. Scripps affiliate WXYZ-TV Ch. 7 Detroit will launch Bounce TV, the nation's first broadcast television network designed for African-American audiences, on Wednesday, September 26th, the day the network celebrates its first birthday. The new network will be seen over-the-air on channel 7.3.

source: http://www.michiguide.com/

Yep. Saw that also. More importantly, it says

Does anyone know if Comcast in Ann Arbor will be giving us National Geo Wild, in HD? I've noticed that it is available in HD from Comcast in some places.

Figured I'd throw a report up now that I moved in. I found that the capture of CICO with the CM 4221 inside was a fluke. Never saw it again. I determined I was looking through a lot of aluminum and also brick from a fireplace. However, I decided to do a little experimenting. First I took the same antenna and brought it outside and set it on a chair. I was able to sniff out both CICO and CBET with a somewhat weak signal. I then took the reflector off the antenna, and mounted it outside in a semi-permanent location on a previously used DirectTV mount on top of a 4 foot mast. It brings me about 20 ft off the ground. Once installed... success. I was able to get a strong signal on CICO, a moderate but lockable signal on CBET with no breakups, and as a bonus, WFUM with a moderate but locked signal on the back side. In addition, I was able to get all the Detroit full power stations, including WJBK and all of the low power stations. No amp needed. I am just going to feed one TV with this, so I like how it turned out.

You said WFUM and I was like WTF, lol... WFUM is the old call sign of WCMU on RF28.

Stand corrected on that one! :-) I've watched that channel forever, and it's still WFUM to me. Time to change with the times! On the antenna, day two and it's still working fine. Looks like this will be my permanent installation until next year.

I guess WHTV is moving to IONs old tower November the 1st.

Yep, but with different specs..

WPXD was RF 31 at 110kW when at Chelsea
WHTV will be RF 34 at 185kW when at Chelsea

From my location, WPXD was spotty at best when at Chelsea, compared to a more reliable signal from Southfield. Hopefully the extra juice and move to a rather clear frequency in the area on RF34 will result in better reception in metro down by the river. Only interference I can think of is CFTV which is low power community in Leamington, ON.

I also wonder, WHTV will have a Grade A signal in suburban Detroit and a Grade B signal in metro. Will that mean they can request carriage on cable now? That could really impact their bottom line when it comes to increased ad revenue.

On a different topic, anyone know what is going on with W33BY? I haven't seen a sniff of their analog signal on RF33 lately and I am hoping that they don't have any signal leakage into RF34 to mess with WHTV.
Edited by dsscpu - 9/29/12 at 8:07am

One other interesting rub in the move of WHTV to the Lyndon Township site: Their virtual channel 18. Low power digital station WDWO-CD in Detroit (Southfield TL) Is actual RF channel and virtual channel 18. This could leave a very large area of overlap of two unrelated stations remapping to virtual channel 18. Most receivers would have no problem with showing all of the channels and subchannels, but it would be very confusing to viewers. One wonders if the station may be switched to a different virtual channel.

As to what use this station could have, Spanish is an unserved market in the Detroit and Lansing areas, Spanish-speaking viewers are more likely to get their television OTA than those who speak English, and the Lyndon Twp. site does provide good coverage to a very large area from just west of Detroit out to Lansing, Jackson and beyond. Get an LP DTV (even a very little one) close to Southwest Detroit to repeat it, and they would have effective coverage.

Another possibility is that this is a spectrum-speculation move. WHTV's spectrum as of now could be a barrier to wireless spectrum-grab in the Lansing/Jackson area - with this move, they become a user of spectrum in the Detroit area, and could bring a far better price in a spectrum auction.

What were the changes? I missed the memo

Any word yet on the weather channel on WJBK?

They've not responded to any of my inquiries. And I've been too busy to follow-up. I'll try again.

I'm really loving how the new subchannel on WXYZ is sucking up more bandwidth from 7.1. Now a one hour TV show on 7.1 fits on a DVD5 disc, without editing out the commercials . . looks kinda like DVD quality too, awesome!!!

Hmmm.. My sarcasm light just lit up!

Really, I compared WXYZ and WTVG this evening, as both were airing "World News Tonight", and, wow, a huge difference in the picture quality. Both were 720p, but WXYZ had much more pixellation around the letters in the chyron, while lettering on WTVG was clean. Interestingly, WTVG, like WXYZ, has three open streams, with ABC in 720p on the .1, LiveWell in SD on .2 (both SD though one squeezes the picture and the other letterboxes it) and a third .3 channel (WXYZ recently added Bounce which could be expected to use more data than WTVG's Accuweather). I suspect WXYZ is still running an encrypted mobile stream, which would explain its poor .1 picture.

Sorry if this has been discussed before - I did do some searches before this post..

NBC WDIV channel 4 OTA reception has always been an issue for me. I get better reception in the summer but as fall approaches my signals get weaker and/or are non existent. I live in Oxford MI. in the village with a med sized rooftop antenna.

Is this a known issue? Can anyone attest to this or comment? Thanks much guys.

I am in Farmington Hills. Over the last several years 7.x PQ is only an issue during very bad weather. 9.1 ditto, in fact the best PQ I get. 4.x is frequently problematic or unwatchable. PBS 56.x is the worst, unusable more of the year than not. Never watch 62.x or 20.x. Don't watch 2.x enough to know.

Is WDIV not going to show Mockingbird Lane tomorrow night?

Dave

I can only speak for Comcast but it's on a channel called "This4." It's at 294 on the dial and it's not HD. I think it's on at maybe 11:00 Sat. night. Not sure of time. I found it by searching. Good luck. I have no idea why wdiv wouldn't broadcast, except maybe on account of world series.
J

They have their own Halloween special hosted by Gadiaca. Granted, it's only 30 minutes, which means they fill with a "Jeopardy!" repeat. Guess they figure it's a good spot for their show since "Mockingbird Lane" didn't get picked up as a series and is, therefore, a one-off. Guess I'll swing the antenna over to Toledo since I kinda want to see it. I've seen some reference to airing it on 4.2 Saturday night, but TitanTV doesn't reflect that. Still, I'd rather have it in HD.

I honestly don't think she'd care.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Portia got paid and I doubt there's a ratings bonus unless the show goes to series, which it most likely won't.

I was all set to watch the OU - ND game on Toledo, last night, due to the declining PQ on WXYZ but, to my surprise, the game looked very good, so I left it alone. Methinks someone tweaked, at least for the weekend.

Does anyone know when Comcast - Ann Arbor will get ESPN Goal Line? They advertise it as available 'in your area' but of course the phone jockeys can't tell me when 'available' will actually mean being able to physically watch the channel...

Currently only available in SD on channel 726.

Oh - okay. Thanks homcom for the info!

Judging from what I see on RF channel 34 (or, should I say, what I don't see), I'm saying they didn't make it.

I wasn't expecting to see them. Though the CP was on an existing tower, it stated a different model of antenna than the former user, and getting a crew 1000' up in the air usually takes time.