Alphastar and the local channels (1996)

JosephHolloway1998

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
432
17
Porter Ranch, CA
As the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) didn't take effect until Fall 1999, the only option on Alphastar for the broadcast networks was the PT24 lineup (KPIX 5 San Francisco (CBS-W)/KNBC 4 Los Angeles (NBC-W)/KOMO 4 Seattle/WRAL 5 Raleigh (CBS-E)/WNBC 4 New York City (NBC-E)/WJLA 7 Washington D.C. (ABC-E)/FOX Net etc...) or to buy a TV Antenna (Outdoor Rooftop and Rabbit Ears) for the local channels and have coaxial cable attached to the receiver (RG6/U is popular with TV antennas but RG11/U is for low loss). RF Modular AV could also work as well.
 
But as for the local channels they generally depend on where you live and where your antenna is pointed.
For example: Jacksonville, FL (pointing north towards the Brunswick, GA/Savannah area)
003 WSAV 3 (NBC-Savannah, GA)
004 WJXT 4 (CBS-Jacksonville)
007 WJCT 7 (PBS-Jacksonville)
008 WXGA 8 (PBS/GPB-Valdosta, GA)
009 WVAN 9 (PBS/GPB-Savannah, GA)
011 WTOC 11 (CBS-Savannah, GA)
012 WTLV 12 (NBC-Jacksonville)
017 WJKS 17 (ABC (soon to be WB)-Jacksonville)
021 WBSG 21 (WB (soon to switch to ABC)-Brunswick) though several cable systems in the Jacksonville area carried the superstation feed of WGN-TV which acted as a "de facto" national feed for The WB Television Network especially for areas that don't have an affiliate
022 WJCL 22 (ABC-Savannah, GA)
028 WGTS 28 (Fox-Savannah, GA)
030 WAWS 30 (Fox-Jacksonville)
034 WUBI 34 (WB-Savannah, GA), which later switched to UPN in early 1997 with WJCL ABC22 maintaining a secondary affiliation with The WB in off-net hours
047 WTEV 47 (UPN-Jacksonville)
059 WJEB 59 (TBN-Jacksonville)
 
FSS is Fixed Satellite Service. FSS does not mean that a service was transmitted unencrypted or FTA - Free To Air. Alphastar was an encrypted KU-band satellite service, which could not be viewed unless the customer used a subscribed receiver provided by Aphastar.
 
Or In my area (Northridge, CA which is part of the Los Angeles area), it would be more like this: Antenna pointing North towards the Central Coast
002 KCBS 2 (CBS - Los Angeles)
003 KEYT 3 (ABC - Santa Barbara)
004 KNBC 4 (NBC - Los Angeles), also appears on FTA Ku-Band, and on C-Band, DirecTV and Dish Network (as "NBC America West" as on-air identity)
005 KTLA 5 (WB - Los Angeles)
006 KSBY 6 (NBC - San Luis Obispo)
007 KABC 7 (ABC - Los Angeles) also the West Coast ABC feed on Primestar (W7-34)
009 KCAL 9 (IND - Los Angeles)
011 KTTV 11 (Fox - Los Angeles)
012 KCOY 12 (CBS - Santa Maria)
013 KCOP 13 (UPN - Los Angeles)
018 KSCI 18 (IND - Los Angeles)
022 KWHY 22 (IND - Los Angeles)
024 KVCR 24 (PBS - San Bernardino)
028 KCET 28 (PBS - Los Angeles)
030 KZKI 30 (InTV - Los Angeles)
034 KMEX 34 (UNI - Los Angeles)
040 KTBN 40 (TBN - Los Angeles)
046 KHSC 46 (HSN - Los Angeles)
050 KOCE 50 (PBS - Huntington Beach)
052 KVEA 52 (TEL - Los Angeles)
056 KDOC 56 (IND - Los Angeles)
057 KSTV 57 (WB - Ventura), also served as a WB affiliate for the Central Coast
058 KLCS 58 (PBS - Los Angeles)
063 KADY 63 (UPN - Oxnard), also the UPN affiliate for the Santa Barbara market
But not that many people in my area had satellite dishes back then.
 
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