Lincoln Broadcasting requests to the FCC that Channel 15 (CW) be substituted for 51 (Fox)...why thi

sjvirchow

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Jan 15, 2011
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KFXL-TV Proposed Channel Substitution at Lincoln, Nebraska. | FCC.gov

For some reason, somebody filed a request into the FCC to substitute KXVO Ch. 15 (CW) out of Omaha for channel 51 (Fox) out of Hastings.

Referring to this thread: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/267096-kfxl-lincoln-ne-picture-looks-too.html, this is a bad idea because channel 51's picture quality is terrible. Everything looks like it's unconverted even the HD content. Plus, we already have another Fox station, 42 KPTM out of Omaha, looks much better. Both options are available on Time Warner cable in Lincoln, (not on Dish, but 15CW is on DirecTV) so why anyone would want this is beyond me. I'm very confused.


Thoughts?
 
You're reading that totally wrong. 51 is asking the FCC to change their OTA station from 51 to 15 (remapping to 51) due to right now they can't upgrade their facilities on 51 (the FCC wont let them)...it clearly says "Post-Transition Table of DTV Allotments"

from a great midwest tv/radio site (northpine.com)

The FCC has approved a plan that could give a Lincoln TV station coverage of Omaha. FOX affiliate KFXL-TV/51 currently transmits with just 14kW; it will move to channel 15 and upgrade to the maximum DTV power of 1,000kW, which will add about 700,000 people to KFXL's theoretical coverage area. The station must still apply for and receive a construction permit before it can implement the change. KFXL was restricted from upgrading on channel 51 because of the FCC's plans to auction channel 52 for other uses. KFXL will likely have to continue to remap to virtual channel 51.1 because of overlap with KXVO (Omaha), which broadcasts on channel 38 and remaps to 15, its old analog channel. KFXL is owned by Lincoln Broadcasting, LLC, and operated by Pappas Telecasting.
 
no. You're reading too much into it

51 Lincoln is at low power (14kw) on 51. They CANT upgrade power on 51 due to the FCC saying they can't (the whole 52-69 thing is causing that). So they want to move to RF15 (remapped to 51-1) and boost power to 1 million watts (the max power you can use on UHF). The only reason Omaha is mentioned is 2 reasons
-due to the markets being so close SOME folks in Omaha MAY get it (51-1) OTA once they move
-when they move to 15 they HAVE to remap back to 51 as Omaha's CW is on RF38 but maps to 15.

If they move to 15 all you can hope is the PSIP encoder doesnt take a dump. Had that happen here in Minneapolis and it totally screwed up everything. Our CW is on RF22 but maps to 23-1, 23-2 and 23-3. The 2nd PBS in the market is on RF23 but maps to 2-3 (2 is our main PBS). At x-mas time the PBS PSIP encoder took a dump so all of a sudden we were getting things like 23-1 as PBS, 23-2 and 23-3 as the CW subchannels and 23-4 & 23-5 as some PBS data stream. It was screwed up for a day or so.

Usually when a station asks the FCC for a channel change now it usually is a "fill in" transmitter for an area that use to get the signal but now can't due to whatever...interference...being on VHF again...etc.
This is 51 asking the FCC to completely change their channel they broadcast on (changing from 51 to 15)
 
Oh. Well that doesn't sound like a big deal after all. They probably wouldn't fix their picture quality issue (see other thread) and this only affects OTA people by the sound of it. :(
 
yeah its mainly just for OTA
unless that new station will be HD (because isnt it right now in 480i) then maybe they can alleviate it off the ABC as a subchannels
 
There's an HD and SD feed of KFXL on Dish, however the on the HD version, it looks VERY bad. It's cropped, full of compression artifacts, It's like someone is running it through analog equipment before it goes out. It just looks terrible. The SD version suffers from this too, though it's not as noticeable. This is why I've been wanting KPTM in the Lincoln-Hastings DMA (odd DMA) instead of KFXL for quite a long time. If DirecTV can get a couple out of DMA channels in the Lincoln market (KXVO, and myTV and oddly enough PBS on 29 instead of 12) out of Omaha, why can't Dish. Ugh.
 
There's an HD and SD feed of KFXL on Dish, however the on the HD version, it looks VERY bad. It's cropped, full of compression artifacts, It's like someone is running it through analog equipment before it goes out. It just looks terrible. The SD version suffers from this too, though it's not as noticeable. This is why I've been wanting KPTM in the Lincoln-Hastings DMA (odd DMA) instead of KFXL for quite a long time. If DirecTV can get a couple out of DMA channels in the Lincoln market (KXVO, and myTV and oddly enough PBS on 29 instead of 12) out of Omaha, why can't Dish. Ugh.

PBS 29 is out of Hastings which is still in the Lincoln Market. Since NET is statewide (same exact feed across the state) Directv probably just grabs one feed and remaps it to each market local.
Dish is also very constrained on what "out of market" station they can carry. Right now the only time they can import a station is when there is a missing net of the Big 4. So as long as there is a Fox in the market Dish cant import the Omaha Fox
 
I think this is Good news, most I talked to were very happy to get a free Fox Channel. Some don't have cable or SAT. Many in Nebraska out side of the cities do not get Fox over the air. There are a lot of small towns in Nebraska under served.

There must be a miss understanding.

1.
The Lincoln Fox channel will be moving form channel 51 to channel 15 so they can increase there power just like the Lincoln ABC and CBS already are.
Yes I get the Lincoln CBS and ABS in OMAHA plus i get the Omaha CBS and ABC so having two networks stations is nothing new. Same the other way in Lincoln you get both.

2. as for the remapping, who cares. customers never see the real channel anyway. They could map there new channel to channel 3 CBS Omaha and it would not matter, that is just the remapping you see on the channel guide, its not the real channel. As for where it shows up on the guide for Dish, same thing, they do the remapping so it does not matter. Same for DireCTV and cable.

3. As for the power level. The Lincoln Fox channel can not bee seen by most even in there own city of Lincoln. They need this extra high power. It is there FLAG Ship station for there Nebraska Fox station so there repeaters need to pick it up out west near Grand Island, that station needs to be strong so the next one can pick it up north of McCook for South West Nebraska. This Lincoln DMA is very Unique, in most case it goes far west into many ares of the North Platte DMA as they do not have but One NBC and PBS station at full power.

4. Both Dish and DIrect have there HeadEnds in Lincoln and GI as the market is so large. FOX 51 has published plans to go all HD like the other Fox stations to meet Fox network requirements. This means Dish and DireCTV will have the HD feeds under this plan. So gain good news for all

5. As for Omaha, well the current Omaha Fox and CW tower is just 20 miles from the Lincoln DMA boarder line. It is very common in the Nebraska for over lap of DMAs. The boarders were drawn so longer ago before some of the Cities grew big enough to have there own station. In far some counties in North West Nebraska are in the Denver DMA when they really should be in the North Platte DMA market or Wyoming. Again this is all normal. Nothing to worry about, it is a good thing for everyone.

I just hope they really go FULL power like the FCC permit says they can, the market is so small people wise compare to say Denver, they may choose to go lower power to save cost.
 
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Where is the Dish headend? I know in my market, they (Dish & Direct) pick up the locals OTA before sending to Colorado (or wherever it goes). So while yes, this "only" affects OTA viewers, Dish & Direct (along with cable companies) COULD BE OTA viewers.
 
by the way ther FCC approved the move

Just a few weeks after approving a change to the table of allotments, the FCC has granted a construction permit for FOX affiliate KFXL-TV/51 (Lincoln) to move to digital channel 15 and upgrade to 1,000kW. The upgraded station will theoretically reach some broadcast viewers in Omaha. KFXL is owned by Lincoln Broadcasting and operated by Pappas Telecasting
 
Where is the Dish headend? I know in my market, they (Dish & Direct) pick up the locals OTA before sending to Colorado (or wherever it goes). So while yes, this "only" affects OTA viewers, Dish & Direct (along with cable companies) COULD BE OTA viewers.

The head-end for Dish and DirecTV is at KHAS-TV in Hastings. This is why DirecTV shows PBS on channel 29, as they are picking up KHNE 29. Dish is probably also getting KHNE and simply displaying it as KUON 12, the flagship station. This is also why KLKN sometimes pixellates on the satellite feed, as their signal is spotty in Hastings. (I believe the satellite providers are picking up KGIN for CBS and just labeling it as KOLN.)

The KFXL power upgrade will not affect Dish or DirecTV as since the uplink is in Hastings, KHGI 13.2 will continue to be the originating station for Fox programming. Even after the upgrade 13.2 will be the only Fox signal in Hastings -- 51 isn't going to make it out there. The talk of KFXL being the "flagship" is pure marketing - the studios are in Axtell, NE at KHGI-TV and I highly doubt that changes.

Also, to correct a previous post, DirecTV is only picking up CW out of Omaha because the Lincoln market does not currently have an OTA CW signal. The MyNetwork TV and NET/PBS signals originate from the Lincoln market. Dish is not carrying MyNetwork TV as it is a subchannel (KOLN/KGIN .2) and they only seem to air subchannels if they're a Big Four network affiliate. Channel 25 used to be KOLN's digital allotment and that is why DirecTV runs it on channel 25.
 
you'd be amazed at how far digital signals can travel with that little power. Low powered stations can only be 15kw and depending on antenna height they can go a good 40 miles

Not on a fairly short tower, on channel 51, and adjacent to a creek's floodplain. At the moment, the signal doesn't go any farther than 15 miles. And that's if the antenna is decent. At this moment they have the coverage area of a LPTV. Not like it matters as I have yet to see anyone watching the OTA or cable signal (based on informal surveys of friends, observations in public places and sports bars, etc.) In Lincoln, OTA/cable viewers seem to universally prefer KPTM; KFXL seems to only be watched on satellite packages (where the HD signal of KHGI 13.2 is carried as KFXL). The power upgrade and (hopefully) conversion to HD should start to change that.
 
Also, to correct a previous post, DirecTV is only picking up CW out of Omaha because the Lincoln market does not currently have an OTA CW signal. The MyNetwork TV and NET/PBS signals originate from the Lincoln market. Dish is not carrying MyNetwork TV as it is a subchannel (KOLN/KGIN .2) and they only seem to air subchannels if they're a Big Four network affiliate. Channel 25 used to be KOLN's digital allotment and that is why DirecTV runs it on channel 25.

In the Flint market our CW46 WBSF is a subchannel of our NBC25 WEYI. We are one market where NBC is broadcast OTA in 720p instead of 1080i. Both WEYI and its subchannel WBSF are in 720p but dish only carries WBSF in SD.
 
Actually, I stand corrected. Out of curiosity I looked up WBSF on wikipedia and apparently it is the other way around in Saginaw. WEYI NBC and WBSF CW are sister stations.

In Flint we get WBSF CW as a subchannel of WEYI NBC on 25.1 and 25.2 but in Saginaw they get WEYI NBC as a subchannel of WBSF CW on 46.1 and 46.2. Both towns carry both channels in 720p. Dish might be pulling our CW from Saginaw where it is the main channel instead of Flint where it is a subchannel.

I can only get 25.1 and 25.2 so I thought that was the way it was broadcast for our whole DMA but it looks like that isn't the case.
 
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