WUSF, the public broadcaster in Tampa, Fla., will go dark at the end of Oct. 15, following the sale of its broadcast license in the FCC spectrum incentive auction, the station said today. The public broadcaster will continue its radio transmissions, it said. In addition to WUSF TV, WUSF Public Media operates the region’s NPR […]
spectrum auction
FCC Directs Treasury to Pay Reverse Auction Bidders
The FCC today announced it is ready to pay winners in the reverse auction to clear 600 MHz spectrum. According to a public notice issued by the agency this afternoon, commission staff has directed the U.S. Treasury to make payments to the stations. Those stations are the auction winners that have provided the government with […]
List Of Stations Changing Channel Assignments In Repack
No doubt many in the TV industry are poring over yesterday’s FCC public notice and associated documents wrapping up the incentive auction and officially starting the 39-month clock to complete the TV spectrum repack. Count me among those who are a bit bleary-eyed after focusing on one such document: “Final Television Channel Assignment Information Related […]
Dielectric Expansion Accelerates
A help-wanted ad crossed my desk this week from antenna and RF component manufacturer Dielectric for a machinist position. Remembering my road trip last summer to three major RF vendors, which included Dielectric, and each company’s plans to build out production capability to meet the demand generated by the TV spectrum repack, I assumed the ad […]
Dwindling RF Vendors Leave Reader Concerned
I received a note today from Frederick R. Vobbe, chief engineer-VP of Lima Communications, regarding my article on transmitter developments and the repack (“Transmitters May Be Repack’s Silver Lining”). It said: The one thing that bothers me about your optimism is fact that the number of transmitter and antenna companies has been thinned down since […]
SBS To Offer Three Puerto Rico Stations In Spectrum Auction
Spanish Broadcasting System today announced it will offer its stations in Puerto Rico in the FCC’s TV spectrum auction. The announcement comes one day after the station group said it would offer WSBS in Miami and KTBU in Houston in the auction. The group’s TV stations in Puerto Rico that will participate in the incentive […]
GatesAir Web Resources Offers Broadcasters Help With Repack, ATSC 3.0
The spectrum repack and ATSC 3.0 are the subject of a new informational page GatesAir has published online following its second annual Repack Summit last month. The page includes links to separate pages devoted to preparing for both the auction and the repack. Together the pages are a valuable resource for broadcasters who are getting […]
Yellowstone Incident Underscores Importance Of Layered Communications In An Emergency
Yellowstone National Park proved to be an object lesson in the value of having layered communications to ensure the health and safety of the public this year during my annual backpacking expedition to the backcountry. My trek on the Thorofare Trail — down the eastern edge of Yellowstone Lake, across its southern reaches and to […]
Mark Fehlig Joins Osborn Engineering
Communications engineer Mark Fehlig has joined Osborn Engineering’s media technology group and will lead initiatives related to FCC DTV spectrum auction and repack and repurposing of facilities. Fehlig, who has decades of experience at Scientific Atlanta, Harris, Wavestream and Georgia Public Broadcasting, was involved in the early years of developing satellite uplink and DTV video […]
There’s No Place For Fear In A Voluntary Auction
A disturbing notion surfaced at the 2015 ATSC Television Conference last week in Washington, D.C. It went something like this: Broadcasters better hope for and work towards the success of the FCC spectrum auction, otherwise the government may come back again with another auction and simply take the spectrum it wants. Erik Moreno from Fox […]