Tentative Digital Channel Designations for Stations Participating in the First Round

[riffjim4069]

I've had two UHF Antennas (one pointed toward Richmond and the other pointed toward Washington DC) for the past three years, however if I had to erect an antenna today I would give serious consideration to a VHF/UHF antenna. According to FCCs recently published "Tentative Digital Channel Designations for Stations Participating in the First Round of DTV Channel Elections", the days of local area broadcasters using their UHF spectrum for digital broadcasting appears to be coming to an end (3 years?).

In my case, some local broadcasters (WJLA and WUSA) have elected to return their UHF frequency and operate their digital channel on their old VHF frequency at the end of the digital transition. Just something to think about if you maintain a UHF antenna to receive your local DTV or plan to install an OTA antenna in the near future:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publ...A-05-1743A1.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publ...A-05-1743A2.xls

Washington DC DMA:

Call Sign Community State DTV NTSC Tentative
------------ ----------------- ------- ---- ------ -----------
WBDC-TV WASHINGTON DC 51 50 50
WETA-TV WASHINGTON DC 27 26 27
WHUT-TV WASHINGTON DC 33 32 33
WJLA-TV WASHINGTON DC 39 7 7(moving to VHF)
WRC-TV WASHINGTON DC 48 4 48
WTTG WASHINGTON DC 36 5 36
WUSA WASHINGTON DC 34 9 9(moving to VHF)