New Year, and the OTA TV chaos has started

[LVSteve]

Turned on the Haunted Fish Tank last night to discover a whole host of new channels had been added, some moved, and maybe a couple nuked. Whole load of stations no longer seem to be broadcasting program information. They just show the something like "H&I Programming" and nothing else. Re-scanning the TV has made no difference. Maybe they have changed the format such that my 15 year-old Sony no longer understands. Mind you, I have newer gadgets and they are equally uninformative.

My TV says there are 148 channels in the Vegas valley, but at least 30% of them are useless, being either multiple feeds of the "Buy Stuff" channels, in languages i cannot speak or broadcasting a digital signal that stops and starts all the time despite a good strong carrier.

Oh well, it's free, so I guess I'm getting what I paid for.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Turned on the Haunted Fish Tank last night to discover a whole host of new channels had been added, some moved, and maybe a couple nuked. Whole load of stations no longer seem to be broadcasting program information. ...

LOL! I've heard TV called a lot of things, some of which I can't print here, but "Haunted Fish Tank" is a first

Your description of the New Year's muddle reminds me oft he opening of The Outer Limits: "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission..."

 

[DWalt]

We have about 16 or so local OTA multi-channel transmitters but it is pretty much a lost cause in getting any watchable reception from any. Many are Spanish language or total garbage content anyway. I have tested several different antenna types but none work well so I gave up trying several years ago. I wonder why they bother having OTA, probably a minuscule number of viewers use it. But it is probably an FCC regulatory requirement.

 

[Rudi]

I'm very happy without TV. Mostly trash these days.

 

[coltle6920]

Oh well, it's free, so I guess I'm getting what I paid for.

Totally agree...

Up and down the lineup is mostly duplicated showings. Only difference seems to be the strength of the signal. Fortunately I have my goto channels but will still occasionally browse through each channel to see if something worth watching is added.

I'll survive as long as there are still old movies, Westerns or documentaries.

 

[twodog max]

Out in the sticks where we live free TV reception is a false dream. Oh I suppose if I put up a tall antenna I could receive a signal but for what??? So we are using Dish and I watch it little. Mostly just old westerns and an occasional something else. No network propaganda for sure. My wife is the TV watcher and she has not yet given up hope of finding entertainment. Over the holidays my brother and his family came over and got into a discussion about shows on streaming services. It sounded like total garbage to me. No thanks.
If it were up to me I would ditch the "haunted fish tank" and put a potted plant there.

 

[Bekeart]

FCC and Channel Llimiting Assingments

I wonder why they bother having OTA, probably a minuscule number of viewers use it. But it is probably an FCC regulatory requirement.

1) There were a limited number of frequencies (aka Channels) available for television broadcasting.

2) To insure public access - Only one license for broadcast in an area could be held by one corporation (aka Station)

3) When cable became primary service to homes, MUST CARRY rules were introduced.

4) Interviews with BIG MONEY wanted the TV frequencies to use for greater profits.

5) Over The Air got reassigned new (much higher) frequencies.
Even replacing the home antenna many homes no longer had a USABLE off aria signal.
These New and Not Improved Frequencies resulted in smaller coverage area.

Example: Microwave is mostly Line-of-Sight / Short Wave Around the World.

*********

Broadcast Corporations wanted the limiting ownership rule changed.

The Federal Communications Commission dashed the hopes of TV and radio ownership groups that wanted the commission to loosen ownership restrictions.

The broadcasters had argued that lifting ownership restrictions would allow local stations to more aggressively compete with social media and streaming sources that are eating away at audiences and revenue. Social media and streaming services — which did not exist when the original limitations on broadcasters were put in place — now claim more than half of some markets’ ad revenue.

FCC rejects TV and radio owners’ call for deregulation - Poynter

Bekeart

 

[LVSteve]

5) Over The Air got reassigned new (much higher) frequencies.
Even replacing the home antenna many homes no longer had a USABLE off aria signal.
These New and Not Improved Frequencies resulted in smaller coverage area.

Example: Microwave is mostly Line-of-Sight / Short Wave Around the World.

I assume you are referring to the move to UHF. It was not 100% by any means. Here in the Vegas valley all three TV bands are used, although only one station transmits on Band 1 at 57 MHz, and in Band 2 (VHF ~158-213 MHz IIRC) the stations are mostly on every other channel. The high end UHF band got reallocated to 5G phones and data in recent years. Even so, there is still a lot more bandwidth available at UHF than at either of the VHF bands. Band 1 has only four really usable channels, with seven in Band 2.

Geography is not always kind to TV and radio signals in any band. Band 1 definitely has an advantage over rolling terrain and heavily wooded areas. That said, a full power (1 MW ERP) UHF station can be received at a great distance IF the consumer is will to erect a suitable antenna. Trouble is that many TV antenna designs are compromised to cover multiple bands or to fit a certain design aesthetic.

Below is a picture of the tri-band antenna I had put up here. Note that two of the elements have extensions attached to make it work at Band 1. There is clearly some electrical black magic being applied to match all those different sized elements to the coax to your TV and still achieve some kind of gain. Really efficient antennas are only possible within the individual bands and isolated from antennas in other bands, but very few consumers want an antenna farm and having to operate a band switch just to watch TV. They want "one and done" hence the design compromises.