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Spectrum Auction Results


tyrannical bastard

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So the question is now... what will Univision do with the WBIN license?

 

They should put it in a little picture frame and post it in a place open for public inspection during normal business hours.

 

I sure hope they don't just fold it in half ...leave it in a pant pocket...and put it in the washer machine. It may get ruined that way, and then Univision may have to purchase a replacement license for like $25 or 30 dollars.

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KTXL is likely to be Sinclair or FOX's. i'm not going to jinx it though, then again Sinclair is coming back to Sacramento when KOVR was Sinclair's from 1997-2005 before CBS took the station from Sinclair.

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So LocusPoint is selling another station. A station that was unable to sell its spectrum in the auction. WMGM.

 

Who are they selling it to? Univision. For $6M.

 

Looking at Univision's operations in Philly and it looks like Unimas is only on a low-power station.

 

If I were to take a guess, I'd say that they'd make it a compliment to their current low-power station in Philly. I doubt they're going to keep it as an English-language station.

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I have a feeling they'll probably move WMGM from its current location near Wildwood to Roxborough (where most of the Philly stations are). WUVP is turning off its main signal (since it was sold during the spectrum auction) and will channel share with WPHL.

 

Moving WMGM to Roxborough would get greater coverage within the Philly area, while also keep good coverage in South Jersey. And if they find an available channel, convert WMGM's current stick near Wildwood to a translator. Hell, they probably wouldn't need to channel share with 17.

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So LocusPoint is selling another station. A station that was unable to sell its spectrum in the auction. WMGM.

 

Who are they selling it to? Univision. For $6M.

 

I would say that LocusPoint is suffering from their hubris being slapped back with pretty harsh karma.

 

As for Univision, it's likely the in-Atlantic City LP analog channel 7 moves to the digital facilities to serve AC, then as Circle said, the full-power moves to Roxborough, and channel 65's numbering is either dispensed with or moved to never being mentioned with UniMas (which gets the WPHL channel share). After that...welcome to Univision 40.

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I'd be very surprised if Univision is able to pull off a "move in" with WMGM. They'd would have a heck of a time moving in WMGM on their current channel (RF 36) without causing co-channel interference with WCBS, WITF and/or WTTG. They are pretty much hemmed in where they are at. And, I don't know that they can find another channel without the same or similar problem. That Northeast Corridor is pretty crowded.

 

I am kind of curious to see what the plan is here. What is WFPA-CD's cable carriage like? Could they just be making a play to get a full power licence to leverage for improved cable carriage?

 

One other minor item wort noting is that WGTW will be Channel Sharing with WMGM with WMGM acting as the "host".

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I am kind of curious to see what the plan is here. What is WFPA-CD's cable carriage like? Could they just be making a play to get a full power licence to leverage for improved cable carriage?

They're DT2 on WUVP, so it's covered by must-carry; 562 on Comcast. So they can only go up (though that system is already crowded below channel 25).

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It appears that it's going to be some channel shifting in Baltimore soon.

 

As you know the MyNetwork TV station WUTB was sucessfully sold at the auction. Now it appears the MyNet programming will be moved to WNUV's point-2 subchannel. They did not say when the channel shifting will go in effect.

 

From dcrtv.com:

Sinclair Announces Channel Sharing Arrangement For Baltimore - 7/4 - Sinclair has announced its channel sharing agreement for its Baltimore station, Channel 24/WUTB, and a revised over-the-air channel lineup for its Baltimore stations, Channel 45/WBFF and Channel 54/WNUV. WUTB, Baltimore's My TV affiliate, will be on a subchannel of WNUV. The Grit and Charge channels will be gone in Baltimore for the time being. The new lineup includes: 54-1 WNUV-HD, 54-2 WUTB, 54-3 American Sports Network, 45-1 WBFF, 45-2 Comet TV, 45-3 This TV, 45-4 Antenna TV.....

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One other minor item worth noting is that WGTW will be Channel Sharing with WMGM with WMGM acting as the "host".

 

WGTW would lose a lot of coverage in the Philly metro (and COL Burlington NJ), assuming WMGM stays put.

 

194709249_WGTW-WMGMCoverageMap.thumb.png.eb87156934541ffd59f7edab8f1b97b5.png

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It appears that it's going to be some channel shifting in Baltimore soon.

 

As you know the MyNetwork TV station WUTB was sucessfully sold at the auction. Now it appears the MyNet programming will be moved to WNUV's point-2 subchannel. They did not say when the channel shifting will go in effect.

 

From dcrtv.com:

Is Sinclair retaining the license and IP for WUTB? Or is it just their IP, thus making their home market effectively a duopoly again? Or is it both the license and IP, but forgoing the 24 PSIP ID?

 

The way that DCRTV blurb was worded, it sounds like the latter.

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Is Sinclair retaining the license and IP for WUTB? Or is it just their IP, thus making their home market effectively a duopoly again? Or is it both the license and IP, but forgoing the 24 PSIP ID?

 

The way that DCRTV blurb was worded, it sounds like the latter.

 

I'm not sure because they haven't formally release its their channel share agreement paperwork. When they sold its station at auction, they did commit to a post-auction CSA. But my thinking is, is this was a true CSA, wouldn't WUTB still use the 24.1 virtual channel instead of 54.2? So that makes me think that they're just going to shift the 24.1 programming to 54.2 as a sub to WNUV, and once WUTB formally turns its station off, that would effectively kill that license. But we should see how that goes.

 

This is setup similar to what they did in Vegas, where the MyNet channel was move to a point-2 on KVCW, and will probably do the same thing in Milwaukee when WCGV goes off the air.

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They're DT2 on WUVP, so it's covered by must-carry; 562 on Comcast. So they can only go up (though that system is already crowded below channel 25).

Only the primary stream of a full power licence has must carry rights. Must carry doesn't apply to low power licences or subchannels. They can negotiate for carriage, which appears to be what Univision has done here. In any event you answered my question so, thank you I appreciate it. And, you do bring up one other point that they could co-opt WMGM's "old" cable spot if they have a spot lower in the lineup.

 

Given WFPA-CD has carriage I'm almost wondering if this purchase is maybe to backfill and make up for the likely loss of the simulcast on WUVP. I can't see WUVP continuing the simulcast once they move to their shared facility. So, I guess this would allow them to at least make sure some of that southern portion of the market keeps OTA coverage.

 

WGTW would lose a lot of coverage in the Philly metro (and COL Burlington NJ), assuming WMGM stays put.

 

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Welp, as it stands right now WGTW is "moving out" which I agree is a bit odd. I expected to see more channel share "move in's" like WBIN is doing...this the reverse of that.

 

I'm guessing WGTW cares more about keeping their license (and the must carry rights) then OTA coverage. So, in that sense it doesn't matter where they are located in the DMA as long as they have an active license. Since, the shared facility doesn't cover Burlington, NJ; WGTW will be changing their COL to Millville, NJ as well. I suppose it's possible but, I just don't see them being able to pull off a "move in."

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Only the primary stream of a full power licence has must carry rights. Must carry doesn't apply to low power licences or subchannels. They can negotiate for carriage, which appears to be what Univision has done here. In any event you answered my question so, thank you I appreciate it.

 

I always seem to mix up must-carry and Univision exercising retrans, which is the appropriate situation with WUVP-DT2. Gotta remember the right term.

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Here are some interesting CSAs.

 

Two TBN owned stations are going to be channel sharing with two Class-A low power stations, with the Class As being the "sharer" or the host station. Both Class As are owned by LocusPoint Networks (Could TBN end up buying these two from them? LocusPoint has been on a selling spree lately).

 

WWTO in LaSalle, IL, which took a whopping $304.25M in the auction (the largest amount for a single station), will channel share with Plano, IL's WLPD-CD. WLPD is in the process of moving from RF 35 to RF 32.

 

And WTBY in Poughkeepsie, NY, will be channel sharing with Edison, NJ's WDVB-CD. That station is moving from RF 23 to RF 22.

 

Keep in mind, both WWTO & WTBY's main signals were so far, it was hard to reach if you lived closer to Chicago or New York City respectively. Now they've made CSAs with Class-As that have in-city coverage, but will no longer have coverage from their respective communities of licenses (LaSalle and Poughkeepsie).

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Here are some interesting CSAs.

 

Two TBN owned stations are going to be channel sharing with two Class-A low power stations, with the Class As being the "sharer" or the host station. Both Class As are owned by LocusPoint Networks (Could TBN end up buying these two from them? LocusPoint has been on a selling spree lately).

 

WWTO in LaSalle, IL, which took a whopping $304.25M in the auction (the largest amount for a single station), will channel share with Plano, IL's WLPD-CD. WLPD is in the process of moving from RF 35 to RF 32.

 

And WTBY in Poughkeepsie, NY, will be channel sharing with Edison, NJ's WDVB-CD. That station is moving from RF 23 to RF 22.

 

Keep in mind, both WWTO & WTBY's main signals were so far, it was hard to reach if you lived closer to Chicago or New York City respectively. Now they've made CSAs with Class-As that have in-city coverage, but will no longer have coverage from their respective communities of licenses (LaSalle and Poughkeepsie).

 

And because of this, WWTO will be changing its community of license to Naperville, IL, and WTBY will be changing its community of license to Jersey City, NJ.

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Here's something I have not seen in almost seven years. Channel Substitution.

 

The FCC posted this NPRM this afternoon (7/17).

 

Gray is proposing to move Anchorage's KYES from VHF-low RF 5 to VHF-high RF 7.

 

Channel substitutions were the norm after the 2009 digital transition, when viewers were having difficulty receiving the new digital signals. Some asks for fill-in translators (with some in-city). Other stations went with major power increases.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if WMC is trying to find an available UHF channel to go to.

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Gray is proposing to move Anchorage's KYES from VHF-low RF 5 to VHF-high RF 7.

 

Channel substitutions were the norm after the 2009 digital transition, when viewers were having difficulty receiving the new digital signals. Some asks for fill-in translators (with some in-city). Other stations went with major power increases.

 

Probably because KYES's old owners literally got their digital channel set-up on a shoestring. Their setup worked fine for what it was, but boost it to Gray standards and they have issues (they had a notice on the KTUU site talking about an 'upgrade' last month so something likely ended up not working with that). Also don't forget, they're working under an agreement where they won't campaign for a Big Four affiliation until next year; you get an upgraded KYES up on channel 7, and suddenly they're no longer a do-nothing MyNet station and could shake up the market and the state with one move.

 

Here are some interesting CSAs.

 

Two TBN owned stations are going to be channel sharing with two Class-A low power stations, with the Class As being the "sharer" or the host station. Both Class As are owned by LocusPoint Networks (Could TBN end up buying these two from them? LocusPoint has been on a selling spree lately).

 

Even if they don't sell, both stations are likely happy to dump Youtoo and The Country Network in a heartbeat. What is the must-carry situation like with a move from a full-power to a low-power, do they stay maintained under a channel share? Though because of where WTBY was, it will lose all coverage in the Hartford market.

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Probably because KYES's old owners literally got their digital channel set-up on a shoestring. Their setup worked fine for what it was, but boost it to Gray standards and they have issues (they had a notice on the KTUU site talking about an 'upgrade' last month so something likely ended up not working with that).

 

 

What is the must-carry situation like with a move from a full-power to a low-power, do they stay maintained under a channel share? Though because of where WTBY was, it will lose all coverage in the Hartford market.

 

Yeah, the NPRM that CircleSeven linked to above talks about some of KYES' problems, including that they currently use a repurposed analog antenna that the previous owner built himself! If you want an even better idea of what their current facilities are like, just check out this DTV Transition Report that was filed back in 2008 (especially Exhibit 2!).

 

As for full-power stations sharing with Class A stations, full-power stations that sold spectrum and choose to share with a Class A station keep all of the benefits of a full-power license (including must-carry), except that they will be limited to Class A/LPTV power limits (15kw UHF, 3kw VHF).

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Yeah, the NPRM that CircleSeven linked to above talks about some of KYES' problems, including that they currently use a repurposed analog antenna that the previous owner built himself! If you want an even better idea of what their current facilities are like, just check out this DTV Transition Report that was filed back in 2008 (especially Exhibit 2!).

 

As for full-power stations sharing with Class A stations, full-power stations that sold spectrum and choose to share with a Class A station keep all of the benefits of a full-power license (including must-carry), except that they will be limited to Class A/LPTV power limits (15kw UHF, 3kw VHF).

 

From exhibit #2...

 

" DUMPSTER DIVING MAY RESULT IN AN 8VSB SIGNAL, BUT THE RESULT WILL BE LESS THAN IDEAL."...

I love it!

 

Now show us that antenna...cuz I'm missing some wire hangers.

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Probably because KYES's old owners literally got their digital channel set-up on a shoestring. Their setup worked fine for what it was, but boost it to Gray standards and they have issues (they had a notice on the KTUU site talking about an 'upgrade' last month so something likely ended up not working with that). Also don't forget, they're working under an agreement where they won't campaign for a Big Four affiliation until next year; you get an upgraded KYES up on channel 7, and suddenly they're no longer a do-nothing MyNet station and could shake up the market and the state with one move.

 

 

 

Even if they don't sell, both stations are likely happy to dump Youtoo and The Country Network in a heartbeat. What is the must-carry situation like with a move from a full-power to a low-power, do they stay maintained under a channel share? Though because of where WTBY was, it will lose all coverage in the Hartford market.

 

WTBY was never carried anywhere in the Hartford market. It took forever for them to get any sort of consistent carriage outside of the Hudson Valley counties even.

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If KYES moving from VHF-lo 5 to VHF-hi 7 is a little surprising. Hopefully, they're able to get Fox from KTBY and actually give the network some justice.

 

This is what bugs me about the FCC...

 

Here you have a station in money trouble, the owner builds his own antennas, they have a shitty signal, no test gear, giant labor cost when they do hire someone...

 

Give the guy anything he wants!

Within reason of course.

 

Find him a suitable UHF or VHF with minimal hassle.

It's Alaska...and there is plenty of "spectrum" available as long as he doesn't jam up others. Let him have a higher power to blanket the area...give the guy some low interest loans if you can.

 

Help the guy out by reducing regulations that don't apply to the area in question.

 

Alaska needs as much OTA as possible.

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I wouldn't be surprised if WMC is trying to find an available UHF channel to go to.

Wouldn't hurt. Broadcasting on a VHF-low feed isn't very desirable, which is why WTVF switched back to a UHF signal a couple of years after the digital switchover happened.

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