# WPCW and Johnstown (and other "default" affiliates)



## PF9 (Jul 10, 2009)

For many years, WPCW was a Johnstown station. It moved its city of license to Jeanette in the 1990s, but maintained its old transmitter in the Johnstown market.

With the digital switch, WPCW is now on channel 11 (virtually 19), and moved to a new transmitter closer to Jeanette (and therefore Pittsburgh).

This meant that most people east of Westmoreland County were no longer serviced by the station. So it has filed to build a translator on channel 27 in Johnstown.

Which got me to thinking, why build a translator when there is certainly enough room for a full-powered satellite? WHTM in Harrisburg no longer transmits on channel 27, so CBS should go change it to a full-powered satellite.

And I can think of other markets without their own affiliate of a certain network served by another station in a bordering market.

KGO (ABC in the Bay Area) has a cable-only version of itself for the Monterrey-Salinas market. Now with the digital transition, KGO should build a satellite station to serve those without cable. It would be on channel 24 (the former channel # of KGO's digital signal), and licensed to Seaside (which currently does not have a full-powered commercial station licensed there), with the call letters KGMS-TV.

Can anyone else think of similar situations?


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## Jerry Springer (Jun 24, 2009)

I am in Punxsutawney Pa, and I have a Winegard 8200U antenna and a Channel Master CM 7777 pre amplifier and I can receive with no issues Channel 19 at all times of the day and night.

Even though the idiots at TV fool says that you cannot receive it's signal, even at 300 feet of tower.

My antenna is 18 feet off the ground.

I have a Channel Master antenna up the road, 50 feet higher in elevation, but only 20 feet off the ground that cannot receive it - due to the fact that there are trees in that location that blocks the signal and a hill between the antenna and the signal.

WPCW is very receivable, the problem is - the people in Johnstown cannot receive it with rabbit ears antenna's. The market area for that station is Pittsburgh and not Johnstown.

The problem with starting a new station is that the market cannot support another station in that area. That was one of the main reasons for the move to Jenette PA.

Used car dealers, furniture stores, drug stores, pays the bill for the commercials and the economy is so depressed in the Johnstown area that the stations that are already there barely survive.

WPGH - Pittsburgh just filed for Chapter 11 protection the other day and their sister stations - WPCB, WPMY has already gone to low power.

WQEX has leased their license to the home shopping network to provide money to compensate them for the loss of government and state money for their station and their sister station WQED.

WQED has now left 9 people go, in a effort to reduce expenses. The President of WQED sits on 9 boards including AIG and took a pay cut from $390,000 a year to $260,000 a year.

You have to have sympathy for a guy that collects more money per a year in salary's than the president of the United States.

One of the senior engineers was left go, along with several key personnel.

Next month they will be dangerously close to loosing their license, due to the fact that the license has a mission to provide X amount of hours of local programming per a week and with the loss of Dave - of Dave and Daves Adventure - they are not going to have the minimum hours of programming necessary to be a PBS licensed station.


A translator is a low power antenna with limited range that only serves a specific area and is not allowed to transmit outside of the licensed transmitter area. It's only cost - is the cost of construction and electric bill.

A television station might gobble up as much as $18,000 an hour in electricity. No to mention salary's and expenses - such a a building for a television studio and a tower and transmitter and license.

WATM get's it's news on a delayed signal from WJAC in Johnstown in order to save money.

WJAC in Johnstown is planning on putting up another low power translator ( channel 26) in Du Bois PA to service that area. Due to the fact that you cannot receive their signal reliably with rabbit ears in the Du Bois area. It will be on channel 22.

Channel 26 - which is receivable in Punxsutawney,is not necessary because WJAC is 1000 KW and can be received 290* around the antenna. Even though the translator will only be about 7.5 Kw and a range of about 12 miles, it will have an effect on other local channels..

YOUR QUESTION SEEM'S SIMPLE ON PAPER, BUT IS VERY COMPLEX.


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## Jerry Springer (Jun 24, 2009)

State College has a network television station. WHVL - My TV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHVL-LP


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